Threads Magazine Podcast: "Sewing With Threads"
Episode 97: Color Confidence and Curating Your Stash
Date: January 6, 2026

Overview

In this episode, host Carol Frase sits down with certified image consultant and author Nancy Nix Rice, and Palmer/Pletsch certified fitting instructor Jan McMinn, to explore the process of curating a sewing fabric stash with an eye for color confidence and wardrobe versatility. Drawing on their recent collaboration for a Threads Magazine article, the discussion centers on using color analysis as a foundation for personal wardrobe planning, adapting a fabric collection after major life changes, strategies for editing a stash, and practical tips to turn materials you already own into wearable, coordinated outfits.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Why Curate Your Fabric Stash?

Life Changes as Catalysts

• Jan shares how retirement, moving, weight loss, and going gray made her wardrobe (and therefore her fabric stash) no longer match her lifestyle or personal coloring.
  • [02:18] “I felt like I was ready for a new me.” – Jan McMinn

Emotional Attachment to Fabric

• Long-time sewists often find it difficult to part with fabrics, especially those with sentimental value or high quality.
  • [05:08] “I really liked them, but I wasn’t sure what I could do with them.” – Jan McMinn

The Power of Color Confidence

Why Color Comes First

• Nancy emphasizes that understanding which colors best suit an individual is the indispensable first step in wardrobe planning.

  • [06:01] “Color knowledge...is the most foundational concept in building a wardrobe that really works. No matter how fine the fabric...if the color makes the person look like she died yesterday...then the outfit just can’t be a success.” – Nancy Nix Rice

• When wardrobe pieces share temperature, value, and intensity, coordination happens almost automatically.

Jan’s Color Assessment

• Jan’s coloring is “cool, soft, and gentle,” calling for mid-tone, subdued, and cool shades.
  • [07:45] “Her coloring is also soft and gentle...there’s not a lot of light, dark contrast...” – Nancy Nix Rice

Letting Go of Old Favorites

• High-contrast, darker clothing from Jan’s brunette days no longer works with her current coloring.
  • [10:45] “Some of those pieces I had were made when I was dark haired...I am better in cooler colors now with less contrast.” – Jan McMinn

When Clothes Wear the Person, Not Vice Versa

• [11:30] “They were so bright and so high contrast that they were creating what I call the clothes wearing the person instead of the person wearing the clothes.” – Nancy Nix Rice

Sewists’ Unique Advantage

• Sewists can select fabric color, quality, and style from the outset—if they possess foundational color knowledge.
  • [14:32] “We get to choose...the best for us. We just have to have that base of information...” – Nancy Nix Rice

How Color Palettes are Built

Customized, Not Categorical

• Nancy develops individualized color palettes covering:
  • Strips duplicating skin, hair, eye, and personal “body red” tones
  • Most effective dark neutrals (often not black)
  • Pale neutrals (e.g., blush, ivory, or sandy tones)
  • The full color wheel: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple
  • [16:03] “Almost everyone can wear almost every color family...everyone has their best choices from the red family, their best choices from the blue family...” – Nancy Nix Rice

Assessing if a Fabric Works

• Three methods: strip harmony, overall color fan match, and abstraction matching skin/hair/eyes.
  • [19:27] “Any one of those [methods] is a good clue and all of them used together make it right next door to foolproof.” – Nancy Nix Rice

Applying the System: Core Four Wardrobe Building

What is a "Core Four"?

• Two bottoms (often pants/skirt), an underlayer top, and an overlaver top made in the same or compatible colors.
  • [24:22] “Doing multiple garments in the same fabric or closely related color family is...the basis for unbelievable degree of mixing and matching.” – Nancy Nix Rice

Planning Yardage

• Rough estimate: 5 yards of 60-inch-wide fabric will suffice for a Core Four for many body types.
  • [26:15] “Five’s a pretty good guesstimate.” – Nancy Nix Rice

Expanding or Adapting the Core

• Don’t be rigid: sometimes a "core three" or "core five" fits your lifestyle and stash.

Special Tips and Memorable Moments

Light Neutrals: Beyond White

• Most people look better in soft ivory, blush, or pearl tones rather than optic white.

  • [28:30] “Most people are much better in some sort of ivory or pearl...that blush...relates to the tone of virtually all Caucasian skin.” – Nancy Nix Rice

• Pale versions of your eye color or complementary colors like teal/aqua can also work as a light neutral.

  • [30:00] “That teal turquoise aqua is the direct color wheel opposite of almost all human skin tone...” – Nancy Nix Rice

Remote Color Analysis—It Works!

• Nancy has found virtual color consultations unexpectedly effective, even though she initially doubted their viability.
  • [34:15] “It has been unbelievably effective...I can’t explain why it works. By all logic, it shouldn’t...but it has worked beautifully.” – Nancy Nix Rice

Letting Go: Fabric Swaps and Giving Fabric New Life

• Donating or swapping non-optimal fabrics benefits the community and keeps quality material in use.

  • [41:17] “Shortly after [a workshop], the chapter decides they need to do a fabric swap so that people can trade the things that aren’t mountaintop choices for them to somebody on whom they’re terrific.” – Nancy Nix Rice

• Jan prefers to donate or repurpose rather than discard fabric.

  • [41:50] “I would never just throw a piece of fabric away. I would always find a place to donate or gift it to someone.” – Jan McMinn

Self-Reinforcing Choices

• Once sewists build a wardrobe with their right colors, the satisfaction and compliments they receive help them stay the course.
  • [38:24] “They get so many compliments, they get so much more versatility out of their wardrobe that it’s very self reinforcing.” – Nancy Nix Rice

Organization Tools

• Jan maintains swatches from her coordinated stash in a notebook, organized by “core” groupings, bringing it shopping for easy reference.
  • [47:29] “I take it with me whenever I go to a fabric store...I can look at it in the different light and know that it would match something I’ve got...” – Jan McMinn

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [02:18] Jan’s reasons for curating her stash
• [06:01] Nancy on why color is foundational
• [07:45] Analyzing Jan’s personal color characteristics
• [10:45] Jan reflects on letting go of old favorites
• [11:30] “Clothes wearing the person” concept explained
• [14:32] Advantages of sewing your own wardrobe with color knowledge
• [16:03] Building a personal color palette
• [19:27] How to test if a fabric is right for you
• [24:22] What is a ‘Core Four’ and why does it matter?
• [28:30] Light neutrals: the alternatives to white
• [34:15] Virtual color analysis works—and how!
• [41:17] The value of fabric swaps and donation
• [47:29] Jan’s system for organizing swatches

Notable Quotes

• “Color knowledge...is the most foundational concept in building a wardrobe that really works.” – Nancy Nix Rice [06:01]

• “Some of those pieces I had were made when I was dark haired...I am better in cooler colors now with less contrast.” – Jan McMinn [10:45]

• “They were so bright and so high contrast that they were creating what I call the clothes wearing the person instead of the person wearing the clothes.” – Nancy Nix Rice [11:30]

• “We get to choose...the best for us. We just have to have that base of information...” – Nancy Nix Rice [14:32]

• “You get so many compliments, you get so much more versatility out of your wardrobe that it’s very self reinforcing.” – Nancy Nix Rice [38:24]

• “I would never just throw a piece of fabric away. I would always find a place to donate or gift it to someone.” – Jan McMinn [41:50]

Final Takeaways

• Start stash curation with honest color analysis: the right hues make all the difference.
• Organize fabric by suitability to your current coloring and lifestyle—let go or repurpose what doesn’t serve you now.
• Use a “core four” approach—making multiple matching separates—for wardrobe flexibility.
• Swatch your chosen fabrics and keep those references with you for smarter shopping and coordination.
• Letting go of beautiful but unsuitable fabric (or finished garments) is easier when you can give them new life through swaps or donations.
• Virtual color analysis can be as effective as in-person, especially with experienced consultants.
• Consistency and discipline yield a wardrobe that feels as harmonious and customized as those in high-end shops—but truly made for you.

For further visuals, additional resources, and the referenced article, see the show notes at threadsmagazine.com.