[Something like a creative piece] I'll use it all up because it's a waste not to

It's past midnight, the date has changed.
This time, when my parents are asleep, is my relaxing time.
I've always been a night owl and not a morning person.
Ever since I can remember, the time at night when my family is asleep and I can do what I like without being disturbed has been a time when I can feel at ease.

Tonight, I'm sewing small fabric scraps onto plain fabric.
Stitch by stitch, by hand.
When you sew colorful patterned fabric onto plain fabric, it becomes an accent and looks cute.
Yesterday, I was knitting.
Using yarn that I gratefully received after being told, "I don't use this, so please take it."

I've loved handicrafts since I was a child. My grades in home economics were good, too.
I especially loved knitting. Embroidery came next.
I can do sewing that uses fabric, but I wasn't that interested in it.
I liked thread more than fabric.

The turning point when I started doing sewing on a daily basis was 2019. The arrival of COVID.
I had already been selling my own handmade items at events, but with the spread of the infectious disease, almost no events were being held.
The part-time job I did between making my works also disappeared because the shop closed.
The world was in total chaos.

That's when I started making cloth masks.
Masks and alcohol disinfectant disappeared from pharmacies, making them difficult to obtain.
So there was a demand for cloth masks. It felt almost like madness.
At the time, many people were making cloth masks.
And then, gauze and mask elastic for making masks became hard to get.
I started using bleached cotton instead of gauze, and when that became hard to get, I started using cotton fabric.
In the end, even white sewing thread became hard to get.
What was that period that felt like madness?

I don't make masks anymore unless I'm asked to.
But that was the trigger for me to start using a lot of fabric, and as a result, I started making small items.
I was also able to get to know someone at a recycling shop for handmade supplies, and I became able to obtain materials at affordable prices.
A lot of unused handicraft supplies and materials are sent to that shop.
The overwhelming majority are fabric scraps and partially used yarn.
They say they are sent by people who think it's a waste to throw them away and want someone who will use them to make use of them.

I've also been approached by elderly people while selling at events who said, "I have a lot of yarn at home, could you use it?"
I understand the feeling of not being able to dispose of things just because you don't use them anymore, so I gratefully accepted them.
I originally had resistance to throwing away things that could be used, but after getting to know the person at the recycling shop, that feeling became even stronger.
There are so many handicraft materials in the world that people want to be used.

Since then, in my creative activities, in addition to my usual production, I have come to place importance on using up materials.
I don't throw away even really small, fragment-like scraps.
I make covered buttons or crazy quilts.
As I'm doing now, I sew them onto plain fabric to create colorful fabric, and use that to make small items like book covers and mini bags.
A one-of-a-kind item that has no equal is completed.

There are also tiny fragments that are too small to sew and thread scraps that are too short to knit.
But I don't throw them away. I won't throw them away even if it kills me.
I use those things mixed into the stuffing for amigurumi or stuffed animals.
The materials don't go to waste, I can reduce trash, and they are reborn as works, so I am personally satisfied with that.
The challenge is that the yarn and fabric I've received have become massive and are occupying my room, and my stiff shoulders are painful.
For the past two years or so, my goal has been to not buy new materials unless I receive an order, and to use what I have on hand to increase the floor space in my room even a little.

Hello. This is Hanemiya.
Since one of the project themes was "because it's a waste," I wrote this.
It's almost entirely a true story, but to prevent being identified (?), I've included some fakes in parts not directly related to the project's theme.
I am not someone who would call myself a "handmade artist."

But making things has always been something I love, and for me, it's an important time to go "blank" and empty out my frustrations.
I like knitting with thin thread and stitching by hand, and I like detailed things that take time, so it takes a fair amount of time to finish something.
Because I want to finish it, I spend time on it, so I can't get other things done. I have a pile of books I want to read, so I want to read, but...
I haven't been able to read much today either.
Maybe I'll read a little now.

Thank you for reading this far.
This was Hanemiya, who is bad at prioritizing and has stiff shoulders.

#BecauseItsAWaste