Simplify - Day 1

There've been a lot of changes in my life in the last year. I've quit my job last summer, moved to a new city to start a PhD and had my boyfriend move into my apartment. One thing that I've been trying to do for years, but haven't yet managed  is to de-clutter things. Things just seem to be getting worse.

Currently, my closet looks like this:

Oh dear! A jumbled mess, This doesn't even show all of the stuff piled up on the floor (although you may notice that most of the hanging clothes are men's)! No matter how many times I clear out the closet, it just seems to re-fill itself (by magic I swear!!). I find it especially hard to get rid of things that I've made - how can you throw away/donate things that you've spent hours making? I've toyed with the idea of selling things, I haven't convinced myself that people would want to buy me-made clothing. 

My sewing hobby has run amok. My fabric stash is overflowing and my sewing machine collection is now back up to 5! I can't help it, it makes me happy. If I have a bad day, a trip to the fabric store makes it all better. For the past 5 years, my fabric stash has been growing exponentially faster than I can sew. 

 Last weekend, I had a moment of madness where I bought two vintage sewing machines at Value Village. One, the beautiful blue one below, was a reasonable purchase that replaced a machine that just stopped working. 

I also bought a vintage Singer in a sewing table that weighs a ton. It weighs so much, it's still in the car because I dread getting it into the apartment. Despite having coveted having a similar machine for years, I regretted buying it immediately. Why do I need 5 machines? Where am I going to put it? I'm a PhD student, why am I wasting money on things I don't need?1?! At this point, I'm not even 100% sure that it works. Eek!

The aftershock and guilt of my buying spree led me to the following resolutions:

(1) I will not buy ready-to-wear clothing for 1 year. If I need something, I will make it myself (ideally with fabric that I already own). I'm giving myself a get of jail free card for three pieces of clothing (because you never know).
(2) With the exception of food, I'll try not to buy other products. I have more than I need so why add to what I already have?
(3) I will get rid of things that are not useful or improving life in some way.

Day 1 down. 364 to go. :)