Because I spend so much time perusing the patterns online, I have a hard time remembered what I have and have not purchased. If I have sewn a pattern, especially for myself, I can usually recall, but that is not always the case for something I haven't made yet. As such, I've ended up with a couple of duplicates in my collection.
Knowing something had to be done, I turned to Google Documents. Any sort of records for my patterns had to be accessible from my computers and my phone, so their spreadsheets were ideal for this task. I created six: Butterick, McCall's, New Look, Simplicity, Patterns to Purchase, and Other (which includes Burda, Laughing Moon, Vogue, etc). Each has four columns: pattern number, description, the fabric I made it in (blank if I hadn't sewn it yet), and notes.
While this makes me feel a little anal retentive, I feel accomplished that I managed to organize them and there will hopefully be no more mistakes.
I've long had a saying: any problem in life can be solved with a spreadsheet! I have tons of them. Red & Black Week would be a horrific failure without spreadsheets. ;) I love the way you think!!
ReplyDeleteWell, I feel like less of a giant nerd knowing that others share my affliction.
DeleteI did this last summer with mine! I had a really embarrassing number of them. So many patterns, so little time! And I still want to get more. I think I have a slight problem. And echoing VictorianKitty, spreadsheets are great. :)
ReplyDeleteI also have an embarrassing number of patterns. As in, several hundreds. Yeah. Luckily, I have a sewing room, and individual patterns don't take up that much room. But several hundred do. Also luckily, the boxes I have for them stack nicely under the bed in that room.
DeleteNow if only I could work on whittling down the fabric stash.
While I also feel like I have a problem, I almost always wait until the patterns are on sale for $1 or $2 before I buy them. So while I might have a ton, at least I didn't spend loads of money on them.