August round-up, and a stashbusting update

How is it September already? This summer's been kind of a sleep-deprived blur for me, I guess for obvious reasons. But it's still weird to think that soon I'm going to be having to start layering up for colder weather.

Before I get into this post, I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who commented on my last post! It was really interesting and encouraging to hear your thoughts on creativity when interpreting vs. designing/composing.

So, all factors considered, this was actually a pretty productive month for me as far as sewing goes! And I do have a couple of projects that I haven't shown on here yet. I did finish up a second Rae skirt yesterday, but I haven't had a chance to photograph it yet, so I'll save that for a later post. But aside from that, and the first Rae skirt and the flamingo skirt, here's what I've been up to:

My in-laws have been bringing a lot of stuff over lately. They recently came for lunch with three boxes of kids' books and a few toys that they picked up at a yard sale for $1/box. I didn't keep everything--there were a lot of things like coloring books that were already colored, and they ended up taking the girlier stuff for when our niece is over there. But there were some excellent book finds, too. Somehow, several puzzles ended up in the bottom of the basket of things I kept. Since Hobbit is still a few years too young for even these simple ones, I made a bag to keep everything together until he's old enough. It only took one naptime, I recycled a zipper and effectively used up the largest piece left over from the diaper bag, and my label worked. So I'm happy with this spontaneous project.



The other thing I spent a good chunk of the month on was a costume for my best friend, who is going to DragonCon again this year. She gave me permission to post this photo. She wanted to do a Disney princess this year, and chose Merida. We actually started this back in the winter, with a plan that I'd work through it with her so she could learn a little sewing along the way. But life and mostly my pregnancy meant that there was still a good chunk to do with the deadline approaching, so I finished it. The pattern is McCall  , and while she bought the main green fabric and trims, I happily donated part of my stash to the cause--the sleeve lining bits and the white brocade was my contribution. (Now if I could just figure out what to do with the other polyester brocades that have been hanging around!) I'm happy that, although I can't go with her this time, and I'm ok with that because the baby needs me here, some of my sewing will still be there.

Stash used: Not counting the skirt I finished yesterday, mostly because it was half a refashion and I have no idea how much I used on top of that, this leaves me with a total of 8 yards used up, and 6 that were straight out of the stash. I counted the flamingos, even though I broke habit and used it almost immediately.

Stash added: I bought 2 1/2 yards of chambray with a gift card that had been sitting around, because I felt that I needed a denim skirt for the fall. Then I made the happy discovery that my TARDIS skirt really is bigger on the inside, and I can squeeze myself into it again! So now I need to figure out what to use it for, since there's a LOT of options. A shirt? A dress? A shirtdress? Augh! And then remember what I said about my in-laws? Someone they knew, I think one of Doug's aunts, was getting rid of fabric, so they brought it here. Again, I didn't keep everything, because I don't have much use for upholstery fabric. But the potentially useable stuff still totaled 18 1/2 yards! Yikes!

The best find in there, hands-down, was this. It's large scale and crazy bright and I must use it. But not until I start next summer's clothes, I'm sure. I have more pressing wardrobe needs. And Sarah is hosting my favorite annual sewalong again, so of course I want in!

Since we're starting the last third of the year, I thought this would be a good time to give an overall stashbusting update. I started off the year with about 375 yards of fabric, and according to my records, I've used close to 79! (Thank you, diapers.) The best news to me, though, is that even with the additions, my current tally runs around 351 yards.  So as of now, I have about 24 yards less than I started with. I still feel like I have a ridiculous amount of fabric, especially now that I just ended up with over 20 extra yards in a month. But every project gets me one piece closer to my goal of a manageable-to-store, better-curated stash.

(Quick question-- is anyone else having trouble with Blogger's layout of photos lately? I really hate that it keeps separating the text and photos like this, but I've triple-checked that photo alignment option, so I don't know what else to do!)

an American fabric-shopping in Paris!

Yeah, that happened! There's a lot more I could say about my trip, but we all know you're really here for the fabric chatter, right? Of course right.

Several people were kind enough to give me recommendations for places to check out, via Twitter. Specifically Sonja and Sarah--thanks, ladies! I knew I would have to limit myself on how many places I could visit, since I'd be dragging Doug with me, so I ended up picking one recommendation from each sewcialist.

First up was Les Coupons de Saint-Pierre. I'd been forewarned that this place was one you'd have to dig through piles, but I've been a thrift shopper since I was 13, so I have no problem with that.

To be honest, I could have spent hours in this part of town alone--there were so many tables full of fabric sitting outside multiple shops, just begging to be noticed! For a girl who only has a handful of Joann's in her entire state to pick from, this was a dream! But for the sake of my long-suffering husband, I restrained myself. Yes, there was a lot of digging to do. All of the fabric is piled onto tables by type, in 3-meter cuts--there was a huge pile of cottons, a section for linen, a part with leather hides, a huge section on the one side of the store for "silks", etc. (I put the silk in quotes, because upon closer examination, I deduced that the sign probably meant silky and the biggest pile was actually polyester. All of the labels were in French, of course, but I made sure to look up the words for the different fiber types before I left!) So I bought 3 pieces of fabric here. When we were walking to the metro, I spotted a fourth "coupon" on an outside table that I couldn't pass up, so we quickly bought that as well and kept moving. I forget the name of that shop, but it also had "Coupons" in the name, and looked to be pretty similar.

Here's what I ended up with, from left to right:

1. A fine-wale corduroy, covered in embroidery and sequins. This was on the 5 Euro table outside the store. My first instinct says jacket, but since I already have a brown corduroy jacket, I'm pondering a fall skirt. A Beignet, maybe? French named-pattern for a French fabric!

2. The piece on the side of the road I couldn't leave! It's a thin jersey, and I do so love brown and teal together. I think this could be very nice as the lately-released Muse Jenna cardi, though I don't have that pattern yet. 4,75 Euros.

3. A denim with a slight amount of stretch. I liked the cross-hatching in the weave. These will eventually become jeans, of course. I'll have to decide whether to make them skinny, since that's pretty much the only pants I saw anywhere in Paris, or give myself another pair of bootcuts.

4. An ITY floral jersey. This color scheme is odd for me, and almost completely outside of my palette, but something about it called to me. I don't know what this one will be yet, but it's not like I have a shortage of jersey patterns. I'm open to suggestions, though!

All together, the cost of these fabrics was just under 30 Euros. Which made the whole shopping trip cheaper than almost every single meal we ate. Those cafes are expensive when you're buying for 2! Even for just sandwiches!

The second store I visited later in the week was La Drougerie. I didn't end up buying any fabric here, because there was only a small selection and it looked like mostly quilt-type cottons. It was also sold by the meter instead of the 3-meter cuts, so it looked like that would add up quickly. It looked like the big draw here was the yarn--it's the first thing you see when you walk into the door, and dominates the whole first half of the store. There's also a room to the side where you can browse beads and buttons and trims, and again, I could have spent a lot more time here.




I decided to limit myself to just a small yarn purchase here, since the yarn is sold by weight. It's a good thing I came armed with fiber translations, because as usual, there's wool in almost everything! But I did find this super-soft linen/bamboo blend. It's called Kaleido, Ravelry has it categorized as fingering weight, and I ended up with about 330 yards. So probably enough for a hat or a lacy scarf or something along that line.


Finally, I did do some crafting while I was gone! This was mostly done during times like airport layovers and sitting in the hotel room at night-- I was originally thinking to knit on the plane some, too, but for both of the long flights, I ended up in the middle seat with not a ton of elbow room. This is the Unleaving Shawl from Knitty, which really looks a lot more like a scarf than a shawl and highly increases the chance of this actually getting worn. And it's a really simple pattern, unless I'm so tired from flying for 8 hours straight that I screw up the pattern and can't figure out how to backtrack and fix it. (Yeah, that happened once. Hopefully it's not too terribly obvious. I really should not knit anything other than straight stockinette when I'm super-tired.)

One other fun sewing-related story from the trip: Doug and I had just gotten on the metro later in the day after dropping off my fabric at the hotel, to head to Notre Dame. There were two older ladies in the seats near the rail we were holding onto, and one was telling her friend (in English) about something having to do with a silk-cotton blend and the pattern she was working with. So when there was a pause in the conversation, I asked them if they sewed, they answered in the affirmative, and the three of us got to chatting about sewing clothes! I didn't have time before our stop to ask their names or where exactly they were from, though I'm guessing America based on the accents (or lack thereof, to my ears). But they did like my Cooper bag that I was carrying, and had heard of Colette when I replied to their question of what pattern I'd used. It's amazing that I could instantly find someone to talk to in a random subway on the other side of the world because of sewing!

If you do want to see travel photos, I have a small selection up on my Instagram. I still need to sort through the photos on my SLR, and when I uploaded those and the ones on my phone this morning, I have over 700 photos from the week! But I'm also going to make a Flickr album of my favorites, mostly to make it easier to upload and print. After all, this is exactly the sort of trip that makes me want to dig into my scrapbook paper and play!

Wardrobe Architect, week 5- Colors!

This week's assignment was a lot of fun! I've been meaning to work on a color palette ever since Gillian posted her how-to months ago, so this was the kick in the pants I needed to sit down and actually do it.

After examining my closet, my fabric stash, and thinking about what colors I'm drawn to anyway, this is what I came up with:

Not really much of a surprise, if you've been reading this for any length of time! And I did say that one of my core words is "colorful". I did mostly colors up top and neutrals at the bottom, so here's my thoughts otherwise: 

• I'm counting the olive green and the navy as neutrals--the former because the general consensus online seems to be that it is one, and the navy because jeans are totally a neutral!
• There's black, because as long as I'm doing anything related to classical music, that's a must-have in my wardrobe. Plus it goes so well with bold colors. Grey is pretty much an extension of that. I don't mind it when it's a cooler grey, like stone or charcoal.
•  Aside from those, I seem to lean towards warm neutrals--I like the way ivory looks on me more than white, at least in larger doses. If it's part of a print, I'm fine either way. I also like warmer browns, like caramel and chocolate and tea-type colors. No beige or taupe for me, thanks--that just reads to me as the colors of boredom!
• So aside from the ivory, black and tan, this is pretty much every single pair of Thurlow pants I've sewed over the last several months. (Stone grey is in progress.) Go me!
• The colors themselves aren't much of a surprise-- lots of ocean colors, right? But I do also like plummy-type shades of purple, and I've realized that my closet needs some warmer colors. I've been told that I look pretty good in orange on multiple occasions, and while I can't find the picture, Gillian actually made a palette for me awhile back that involved coral. I don't have much coral in my closet, but I do have one RTW blouse in that color and I think it looks pretty good. Also, it's more orange than pink, so I can live with that. As for the yellow, I don't think I'd want it right next to my face, but I've found myself getting fabrics lately that have yellow in the print. Plus my favorite flower is sunflowers, so it is definitely a color that I'm drawn to. It's the color of sunshine and happiness, and I'd love to have more of that in my wardrobe. Especially when the world around me is all grey, white and taupe right now. (Winter. Ugh.)
• Haha, the blue and gold right next to each other are pretty much exactly the colors of my college. I swear I didn't do that intentionally.

Just for fun, I took a picture of my stash shelves to see how that matches up with this color scheme.

It's pretty close, actually-- you definitely get a decent representation from blues and greens. There's a little purple, a little orange, and the couple of prints near the bottom have some splashes of yellow. I actually have some kind of knit (probably polyester, it was free so I have no idea) that's a solid coral, though it's hiding somewhere on the top shelf. The neutrals stay pretty much in the ivory/tan/brown/black range, though I do have a couple of prints with a navy background. There are a couple of oddball things--that red twill on the third shelf down, for instance. But for the most part, the colors I have are mostly the colors I like. And there are a few more solids than I tend to picture when I think of my fabrics! So that gives me hope that my stashbusting efforts will still work out as I'm trying to create more cohesion in my wardrobe.

(Incidentally, that's not all the fabric-- I specifically pulled a few of these that were already paired with patterns and notions out of my closet for color representation, and there are a few more things in there. Plus coat fabric yardage that just won't fit on the shelf. My ultimate goal is to get this to a point where I can keep all of my fabric and yarn, aside from maybe scraps, on this one set of shelves, and still give it breathing room!)

New York, New York!

I feel like I have so much catching up to do right now! I finished two more Thurlows late last week, and still need to take pictures of those. There's the latest Wardrobe Architect study. And then, over this past weekend, my husband and I went to New York City! His birthday was yesterday and mine is later this month, so we thought a little getaway would be a fun way to celebrate.

Our hotel, as it turns out, was in the Fashion District, since we arrived via Penn Station and that was very close by. So that means our hotel featured things like this artwork made entirely from spools of thread! There was also some kind of sewing workroom directly across the street (though several floors down), which I could peek into every so often and see what they were working on. That was pretty neat.


We did do a lot of the typical touristy things, like Times Square and stopping into the Empire State Building. We went to the NY Public Library and the American Museum of Natural History (the one from the first "Night at the Museum" movie), and spent some time in a big NHL store, because he's a big hockey fan. But what you probably care about the most is that he let me go to Mood!


He even held my coat for me while I was shopping. He's the best. Though I think he was a little overwhelmed--he's seen it on TV while I've been watching Project Runway, but I don't think he quite expected it to be quite so jam-packed with fabric!

We didn't see Tim Gunn, for the record. Or Swatch. But I did see a bag of his dog food on a shelf by the register.

I know this picture is a little blurry, but I'm posting it anyway because it makes me laugh. ALL THE FABRIC WILL BE MINE!!! Precioussssss fabric.... Ahem.












So what did I end up with, you ask?

I made up a careful game plan before I left home--while I did build a travel allowance into my Stash Diet pledge, I wanted to be responsible, so what I decided to focus on looking for was 3 yards of some colorful lining for the winter coat I already have outer fabric for, and some notions for a Cooper bag, which I also already have fabric for, and can't get anything locally.

Aaaaaaaand I didn't buy a single thing from that list. They didn't have the bag notions, and the only lining type stuff I could find was all solid colors--everything else was too sheer and would likely get shredded quickly. So I'll just get some polyester silky print at Joann's sometime instead.
This is what I actually bought. There's 3 yards of each piece. The top one is an embroidered cotton that was in with the eyelets, black on either ivory or light tan. (I haven't seen it in the sunlight yet, and it's looked different depending on the lighting.) The bottom one is a lovely soft knit, I think maybe an ITY. I probably should have looked more closely at fiber contents, but I was too busy looking for prices, to be honest! (It was $14 per yard for both pieces, which is a little higher than I usually pay, but how often do I get to go fabric shopping in a fabric district?)

I already have a loose game plan for both pieces, too! For the embroidered fabric, I'm thinking a fairly casual jacket that I can throw on over either t-shirts or dresses, probably with some kind of contrast (read: black) collar and possibly cuffs, if it's 3/4 sleeves. (Which I'm strongly considering, since the fabric seems more suited to warmer weather layering anyway.) As for the knit, definitely some kind of dress, though I'm not sure what sleeve length to do, if I make it with sleeves at all. I just need to figure out what patterns to use!

of shapes and stitching (in-progress sewing and Wardrobe Architect, Week #3)

I don't really have anything new to show sewing-wise, as I'm currently in the throes of assembly line sewing. (Which is actually working out pretty well, but "throes" is just fun to say.) And since this week's Wardrobe Architect worksheet was pretty short and straightforward, I figured I'd just do a little roundup of in-progress sewing and that.

Pictures first. I'm currently making the two denim versions of the Thurlows, and therefore am doing a few more jeans-like details. Namely, I topstitched the darts. And I'm also topstitching around the welt pockets, which has the bonus of reinforcing the stitching. (The brown pair is coming undone already, because I've washed and worn it so much!)





Also, pockets! The cherry print is particularly fun, I think. It's a shame I didn't have enough of that for the waistband facing, too--that will have to be plain black. But I did have just enough to squeeze these and the welt pockets out. As for that purple-y hand-dyed stuff, I had more than enough for the pockets and facings for both this pair and the future grey pair. Plus a ton left over. I may have to resort to using it for things like wearable pajama muslins or something...

As for the Wardrobe Architect project, this week's assignment was thinking about garment shapes. Which was really nothing too ground-breaking for me, but I figured I'd share some results anyway.

I seemed to end up in the middle of a lot of things-- I like most things either somewhat fitted or somewhat loose, but not too tight or especially too loose. Some more garment-specific results:

•  Skirts: I'm most comfortable in skirts that are either knee- or maxi-length, A-line or with some other kind of flare (but not too full, as that always makes me feel like my hips look huge), and with either a hip-hugger waistline, or occasionally a more natural waistline. I'm still getting used to the latter, which is probably a result of being a teenager in the 90s when everything was cut lower and I just got used to it. I don't like high-waisted things, mainly for the practical reason of they feel restrictive when I'm playing my flute and need to breathe deeply. Also, I don't tuck shirts in too often anyway. I'm also not very comfortable in shorter skirts, though I'm more comfortable when my legs are covered by tights or something.
• Dresses: I'm most comfortable when things are either somewhat fitted or somewhat loose, though I tend to lean more towards fitted. Too tight and I feel self-conscious, too loose and I feel like I'm wearing a sack. Length and skirt fullness preferences are pretty similar to my skirt answers, though I'm more likely to wear a fuller skirt here since the dress can provide more obvious waist definition than one can often get with separates. I'm also more likely to go for a higher or natural waistline here, or none at all if it's a princess-seam type dress. No dropped waists, since 20s-style silhouettes were not meant for curvier ladies!
• Pants: My waistline preferences are similar to my skirt preferences. I prefer somewhat fitted to loose (hello, Thurlow marathon!), though I do have the one pair of skinny jeans and was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked the look on me. I'm more comfortable in full-length pants as opposed to shorts, though when I do wear shorts, I prefer them to be around mid-thigh length.
• On top: somewhat fitted is my main preference, though I'll also go for very fitted or somewhat loose, depending on what I'm wearing on the bottom. Length preference is above the hip to tunic-length, as opposed to cropped. I'm more likely to bend these rules when it comes to layering pieces like cardigans and jackets. 

There were also a few more detail questions about necklines and sleeves.
Favorites: V-necks, cowl necks, or scoop necks; sleeveless, above-elbow length or long sleeves (depending on the season).
Also like:  Boatneck, Square, Sweetheart necklines-- I'll wear these, and have made things that I like that feature these necklines. Three-quarter sleeves and short sleeves fall under this category as well--I have lots of things that are these lengths, and like them, but I think the other three sleeve lengths are perhaps slightly more flattering.
Neutral: Spaghetti strap and halter necklines. This is more under the category of it's not that I don't like them, it's just harder to wear a bra, so I have to take extra considerations (like the bra I built into my Lonsdale dress specifically for this reason.) To be honest, most of my spaghetti strap tops are actually camisoles, and only worn as layering pieces.
Dislike: Off-the-shoulder and strapless. The former is just super-annoying, both due to arm position when playing flute, and the feeling of having to adjust it from falling down all day. I always feel like strapless is going to fall down on me, too, and the only thing I own of that category is the red dress I took with me on the honeymoon. And only because it fit me so perfectly at the time that it couldn't fall down. I certainly wouldn't plan to make something strapless. Unless it was something like a strapless corset top that I was specifically planning to wear over another top. (I wouldn't put that past myself.)

So, like I said, none of this is really any surprise to me. Or probably to you, if you looked through my collection of finished objects that I've shown on here. But it was still a useful exercise.

Wardrobe Architect, Challenge #1

So you've all heard about this project that Sarai started over at Colette Patterns by now, right? Since I've been working on trying to figure out my style for years now, and one of my goals for the year is a more cohesive wardrobe, the challenge couldn't have come at a more perfect time!

She posted a series of questions recently to help narrow down your own individual fashion story. So I figured I'd answer these questions, with photographic evidence when I can.

1. History- How has your personal history informed the way you dress? When did your tastes crystallize? Have they changed over the years, and why?
I grew up going to a private Christian school, up until my college years. I did not have a uniform, but we had a fairly strict dress code that included things like no blue jeans, no t-shirts, and no skirts shorter than 4" above the knee when kneeling. So aside from weekends and summer vacations, much of my teenage wardrobe was a combination of staying within the rules while still displaying my own personal style. In addition, my mom made a lot of my clothes when I was a kid, and started teaching me to sew before I was done elementary school. So this meant I was used to having clothes that weren't exactly like what the other girls in my class wore. As I went into junior and high school, I discovered thrift shops, so my style was generally a combination of things I found there, things I made myself, and things inspired by the 60's and 70's, some of which were things my mom had sewn for herself in the 70's. I think this is still a big part of my style today. I also still love blue jeans and t-shirts, and pretty much wore that straight for a lot of my college years, since I couldn't in high school.

I couldn't find many photos of my day-to-day look, unfortunately, since digital photography was just starting to appear and wasn't quite affordable for a college girl yet. So most of the photos I have from high school and college were from "special" occasions that I could justify using my precious film on. I think this pic of me and my two best friends from college was probably fairly typical, though. (Even though I have no idea what sort of goofy pose we were doing at the time...)

Now that I'm in my early 30s, I still love a lot of the same things, though I've tried to maintain at least some level of professionalism in a lot of my clothes, as I'm partially self-employed and would like to make a good impression with my students.

2. Philosophy- How does your philosophy, spirituality, or religion affect your aesthetics and buying habits? Or, what aspects of those things would you like to see reflected?
Growing up (and still being involved) in a church culture definitely affected my style. We didn't dress like nuns or anything, but modesty was important. I still shy away from things that are too tight, too low-cut, too short, etc. It's honestly not really a sense of being uncomfortable with my figure. I just don't really care to flaunt it in an overly provocative way, though I still want to be stylish.

3. Culture- How has your cultural background shaped the way you look? How did the aesthetics and values you grew up with affect your tastes as you got older?
My background is classic western European--heavily German on my dad's side, and predominately English/Irish/Scottish/Welsh on my mom's. I definitely look more like my mom, and do have a strong leaning towards Celtic-influenced designs and British culture. (What can I say, their books, tv and music tend to be great!) 

4. Community- How are you influenced by the people around you, including friends, family, and other communities you're involved in?
My family is generally pretty casual, and my church increasingly so. Also, a lot of my friends are moms of fairly young children. This means that I often feel overdressed when I wear my dresses in particular, even though they're really fun to sew! My mom has always had a thing for bright colors and funky prints, and this has most definitely rubbed off on me. I do have to admit that I'm also often influenced by geek culture, and like to work subtle references into my clothes when I can! (You know, TARDIS skirts, Lord of the Rings-inspired shirts...) This also explains my t-shirt collection, which I've included a sampling of here! Finally, as a classically-trained musician, I do tend to keep an eye out for black clothes that have interesting details, because I always need black for performances.

5. Activities- How do your day-to-day activities influence your choices?
When I'm at my garden center job, I don't really have much choice in the way I dress. Just thrifted jeans that I don't care if I wreck, and the company t-shirt (and whatever layers I need to get by if I'm outside). When I'm teaching, I generally like to go for an artsy-professional look, which is a lot of what I sew and show on here. If I'm just bumming around the house, or hanging out with friends on weekends, I tend to go for jeans and t-shirts or other casual tops.  

6. Location- Does the place you live inform the way you dress? How does climate factor in?
I do get 4 seasons, so I need to have clothes for both hot and cold weather. It gets really humid here in the summer, which is when I tend to go for things that are flowy and sleeveless and such. I also get cold easily, so in the winter, I just want things that will keep me warm! Which usually equates to sweaters and jackets, as long as they aren't made of wool. Spring and fall here can go either way--it can (and often does) swing from the 40s to the 70s within the same week, or even the same day! So layering pieces are a necessity for me. I'm much more likely to wear skirts/dresses in the warm weather, and pants in the cold weather.

7. Body- In what ways does body image affect your choices in clothing? What clothes make you feel good about the body you live in? What clothes make you feel uncomfortable or alienated from your body?

I wouldn't say I have huge body image issues, though I can be a bit self-conscious about my butt and thighs, and prefer to keep them covered up. I generally feel best in clothes that have waist definition and are fairly modest. I feel like a slob when I wear sweatpants (and only own them for exercising), or clothes that are just shapeless.

Are you playing along with the challenge? I'd be interested to see others' take on this!

Stash Diet 2014

Happy New Year, sewcialists! If you follow me on Twitter, you know that I've been spending a lot of time in my sewing/craft room lately, going through things and just trying to get it neat so I can start 2014 off with a cleaner slate. There's a lot of stuff that never really got put away after the move, so I'm trying to do it right this time! Though, as of last night (and with a little help from my husband), I have it at "good enough" for now, so now I can start making things again. Woohoo!

I've also been doing a lot of tracking of what I have, and have discovered that I have an embarrassing amount of stuff. I'd mentioned in my Hits & Misses post that I didn't feel like I did such a great job of buying vs. using my stuff. But it's all useful stuff, and the cheap frugal part of me doesn't like to get rid of things that are useful. Especially when I still like the fabrics, you know? But hubby and I are also talking about potentially putting our house on the market this year and moving back up north. (Which, in this state, means 20 minutes away from where I am now, and above the canal so we don't have to keep paying that stupid toll any time either of us go to work.) And that means the more I use, the less I have to pack, right? We're also going to be attempting to crack down on our budget this year, so me using what I have instead of buying new craft supplies will be a huge help!

Andrea and Gwen have started a Stash Diet initiative for 2014, and I think it's just what I need. I'm going to be doing mine for yarn, too, since I also have a lot of that. But I also need some ground rules, so here goes:

The basic rules:

1. I will allow myself one new piece of fabric for every 4 from the stash that I use up. I will include lining fabrics into "things used up", since I already added those into my yardage totals, but will not include scraps or muslin. Giving away fabric will also count, since that means it's out of the stash.
   
   Side note--since I do have several curtain-type things on hand, I will count home dec fabrics towards the yardage totals, but not for new fabric purchases.
2. I will allow myself one new yarn purchase for every 3 that I use up, proportional to the size of the project. For instance, I can't buy enough yarn for a sweater if I only use enough for a hat. (Note to self: need ideas for yarn leftovers, since I frequently end up with about half a ball after knitting something.)
3. I will allow myself one new pattern purchase for every 4 that I use. For the purposes of this project, reusing the same pattern multiple times in a row will only count as 1, like the Thurlows that I plan to make all at once. Using a previously used pattern for a different view or after a passage of time, like if I make another Tiramisu dress, will still count. (This way, I can still buy the hot new indie patterns that strike my fancy!)

Exceptions:

1. Fabric or yarn that I need to complete a project. For instance, I already know that I'll need to purchase both Thinsulate and lining for the winter coat I recently purchased fabric for, because the lining that I did order fell through, and I don't have enough yardage of anything on hand for that.
2. Same goes for notions--I'll use what I can where I can, but sometimes you just don't have the right color zipper or enough buttons.
3. Materials for gifts, if I don't have anything I can use. I know of at least one friend who will be having a baby shower this upcoming year, and though I don't know what I'm making for her yet, I don't really have much in the way of baby-appropriate options on hand!
4. Travel exception: If we can swing the vacation we're hoping for, or if something magical happens and there's a blogger meetup I can actually attend, I will allow myself up to 3 pieces of fabric/skeins of yarn.
5. If unforeseen life circumstances happen, I will make an exception as needed. I say this because the last time I tried to do a major stashbusting effort, I ended up needing to buy over 20 yards of fabric for ny wedding dress! So, given my stage in life, although we are not currently trying, it's not completely out of the realm of possibility that I could unexpectedly get pregnant. It's also not completely out of the realm of possibility that we might decide to start that process sometime over the course of the year. If that happens, I'm sure I would need to buy some fabrics and patterns, because I definitely don't have enough knits or stretchy fabrics to make a cohesive maternity wardrobe! (But I would try to use what I had as much as possible.)

Here's where I'm starting at:
Fabric currently in: Approximately 333.5 yards, not counting scraps or muslin
(Edit: Make that about 339.5. I forgot to factor in a Gorgeous Fabrics order that I'd already made before seeing this post. Though, since one is to make a garment out of an otherwise too-small stash piece, one of those pieces does fit my parameters!)

Yarn currently in, according to my Ravelry stash: Approximately  19,928 yards. (Though this isn't entirely accurate, due to in-progress projects and some secret knitting.)

And this is how the shelves currently look. The 3 blue bins hold yarn, but I still had to leave a few projects' worth in a separate bag, not counting the bag of knitting projects I'm actually working on at the moment. The rest of it is all of the fabric, minus what's sitting in the basket in front--those are all of my Thurlow fabrics that I'm hoping to use soon. And there's also at least 5 pieces of fabric that are bagged in the closet with their corresponding patterns. And everything I've bought recently for coats and whatnot, which still hasn't made it in here from the laundry room. And anything for muslins, and scraps, and the several decent-sized pieces of fabric that had to get left in the scrap bins. Obviously, I need help!

What about you? Are you planning on doing any major stashbusting this year?

Top 5's of 2013, part 2: Goals

Since I didn't actually use this format last year, I'm going to pick the more sewing-relevant goals from last year's list, and deal with the rest later. 

In 2013, I wanted to....

1. ...finish my wedding dress, obviously. Definitely a check! 
2. ..find a way to work craftiness in on a more daily basis. I had mixed success on this one. Having my own permanent creative space in the new place definitely helped! And I've found that knitting and even scrapbooking, to some extent, make pretty good projects for when I'm hanging out with Doug and watching tv. Sewing has been a little harder to work in than I'd hoped, since I'm still trying to get control of my work schedule and longer commutes. So I think this one will be an ongoing goal as I try to keep working on a better work/social time/housework/personal time balance.
3. ..sew a few basics--or cake, if you will--that will help tie various parts of my wardrobe together. Somewhat successful. I did make pants, which is big. And a few other more basic pieces that ended up being pretty good wardrobe additions. But this one is ongoing as well, I think.
4. ...IF time permits, try another mini-wardrobe. I did manage to put together a pretty decent wardrobe for my honeymoon, though I only sewed two new things for it. Not quite what I meant, but oh well.
5. On the blogging front, I really would like to make some changes around here--a new blog design, if I can figure out how, and most definitely improving my photographs. I did make a new blog header, which I think is pretty nice! The photography....well, that still needs work. Part of the issue is that my new house doesn't really have a good outdoor spot for photos--I'm in a middle townhouse, our front yard faces all the other houses, and our backyard overlooks one of the busiest highways in the state! Especially in the summer, as it's the main route to the beaches. (The yard is basically a big doggy toilet, anyway.) Part of the issue is that by the time I get home from work, the natural light is often gone. And, though he puts in a valiant effort, Doug doesn't really like using my SLR camera. I think that I'm going to have to invest in a remote one of these days. 

Top 5 2014 Sewing Goals:

I'm mostly trying to avoid calling out specific projects this time, due to my complaints in the last post about time management issues. I don't want to plan a whole bunch of things and then not get to them, like I did this year. And I also want to allow myself some flexibility to participate in sewalongs as they come up, or try out new patterns that excite me! So here goes...

1. Create more cohesion in my wardrobe. This goes back to sewing those basics. For instance, I still plan on making those other Thurlows I didn't get to this year! But this also encompasses being more mindful in my fabric choices, and trying to choose things that can go with things I already have. Especially when it comes to prints, because you know I'll never give them up. They're just so much more fun to shop for! I also seem to have an ongoing idea that I need to develop my "style", so this ties into that, too.
2. Beef up my cold-weather wardrobe. This carries over to knitting as well, tbh. But this is a huge one, because once again, I found myself bored with all of my clothing choices by November! This isn't to say that I won't sew anything for the warmer months, especially the things I already have fabric and patterns for, but the fall and winter months are honestly the bigger need. (And the bigger challenge, given my extreme wool issues.) This also includes a needed new winter coat, since my current one is getting shabbier by the week. I'm pleased to say that I did purchase some non-wool fabric (even though it was another scenario of them running out of fabric and me having to substitute and pay more money, grr!), so now I just need to get some Thinsulate and I'm good to go.
3. Branch out. I'm reluctant to set a specific goal here, since who knows what fraction of what bounces around in my head will actually make it to the machine. But, as stated in the last top 5 post, I have several new-to-me pattern companies to try out that I already have patterns from. I have a couple of patterns in styles different from what I usually wear, like the Archer--way looser than I usually wear--and Espresso leggings--aside from under my jeans when I'm stuck on outside register, I haven't worn leggings pretty much ever.  I've had the thought of trying to sew some underwear, since I always have knit scraps that aren't big enough for much else, and I hate throwing away potentially useful fabric. Or maybe trying new colors--who knows where this will take me?
4. Start refashioning again. I didn't consciously choose to stop doing it. But I barely did any in 2012, and unless you count my dyeing experiments from about a month ago, and a bag I remade for a friend and didn't blog, or the sweater I'm currently knitting from another sweater I'd unraveled, I did absolutely none this year. I have a giant bin full of clothes to chop up and use for projects, and I need to start dealing with that. And I think it's good for me to have that creative challenge every so often, of working within those constraints. Some of my most interesting projects have come from those! 
5. Use up some of my more challenging stashed fabrics. After all, there has to be some way I can incorporate organza or brocade into my everyday life, right? And the more on-hand things I use up, the easier it will be for me to justify buying more fabrics to help me with #1 and #2 in particular.

 There's other things I can think of, like working on my fitting and pattern alteration skills. But these are things that I can and should incorporate into nearly every project anyway, right? What goals or plans do you have in mind for the upcoming year?

Stash confessional: Cyber Monday edition

Actually, I think I showed very good restraint! I'm trying to be sensible as I'm considering purchases for next year's projects (since there's absolutely no way I'll get to any of these things this year!), and do a little wardrobe planning. I've been eyeing a few things on Fabric.com in particular, and have been checking quite often over this past weekend in hopes that some of these things would go on sale. I didn't have any luck on Black Friday, but I did have a couple things on my list go on sale for today. For the others, I'm still in the waiting game of holding out for sales vs. jumping on it when quantities get dangerously low.

So here's the latest acquisitions:

Black organic cotton knit. I bought 2 yards to make the long, non-pieced version of McCall's 6559. I'd figured a black maxi-dress would be a good basic for my wardrobe, since I can even wear that for summer performances. And I'm also planning ahead for a travel wardrobe for a trip that my husband and I are hoping to take next year, and this would also fit nicely into that! (I know it looks a lot like the Mission Maxi, and I'm usually quite happy to support the independent designers, but this pattern was on sale for something like $.70 when Joann's was celebrating it's 70th anniversary.)



2 yards of black Bemberg lining. Because when Bemberg is on sale, you jump on it. I strongly debated between 2 and 3 yards, but since I don't have a specific plan for this yet, I decided to be conservative.








1 1/2 yards of this cute floral cotton print. It was on clearance, and I bought this to make bias tape for the Sewaholic Robson coat. My lightweight long denim jacket is starting to look quite battered, which is no surprise since I think it predates this blog. So this one is definitely on the radar for next year's sewing. I have my main fabric picked out, but that one wasn't on sale, so I'll say more about that in a minute.





My splurge item was this stretch teal denim, which I'm planning on making into jeans. I know I've said before that I thought I preferred non-stretch denim for making jeans, since it will hold its shape better. But I think I'd like to try a pair of two in stretch denim for ease of wearing, now that I have my pattern more or less figured out. I haven't done colored jeans since I was in high school and the dress code said that any color but regular blue denim was ok. But teal is a color I wear a lot. And Heather totally enabled me to go for it on Twitter, so that makes it ok, right? I got 2 1/2 yards, and it's wide enough that I think it will be plenty.



Still on my watch list:

More black jersey! This one is a rayon/spandex blend, and I'm eyeing it for two of the more recent Cake patterns. Specifically half of a Red Velvet (to pair with something already in my stash), and the Espresso leggings, assuming I can get that pattern to work for me. (I do have a stash fabric to test it with, but black is always useful. Also, the black leggings I desperately bought at Kohl's to wear under my work jeans when I was on outside register don't like to stay over some of my curvier bits. Ahem.)




The aforementioned main fabric for that Robson coat. This one is a non-stretch cotton twill. Have I mentioned my love for teal lately? Plus this one also fits into my potential travel wardrobe quite nicely.







This is the one I'm most looking for a price drop on, because it's coat fabric that has absolutely no wool in it! It's listed as a "very heavyweight" 100% polyester. I'll still need to underline it with something for warmth, I think, but I like the look of it. Especially since it's plaid-like, but not so much that I have to go through all the hassle of actually matching things. It's also nearly $17 a yard, which puts it right up there with the most expensive of my wedding dress fabrics! I only need 3 yards, since I'm just going to use the same peacoat pattern that I used for my current winter coat, but I still wouldn't mind a lower price, since I'm still going to have to buy underlining and lining. (I'm looking at Thinsulate, and that seems to average about $7/yard.)

Annoyingly, I could get that fabric on sale now, if I wanted royal blue or red. But I'd prefer to stick with the black, since that will go with all of my scarves already! After all, I'm even slower at knitting than I am at sewing!

Speaking of lining, I'm tentatively eyeing this. But I'm not 100% sold on it. I just want some color inside. But if it doesn't go on sale, I can always get some poly charmeuse with a coupon at Joann's or something.

Look at me, being all coordinated! You'd think I'd been reading Gillian's blog or something.

A Stash Confessional, part 2

Or, in which I try to figure out some options for some of the more difficult fabrics that I've had laying around for awhile! And update on another.

Some time ago, I posted a picture of this silky print that I've had for ages, in hopes that some other sewists could offer some good ideas for what to do with it. And I did get some great ideas--several people mentioned sheath or maxi dresses, one person mentioned a kimono wrap top, and someone else mentioned a flowing cardigan or vest. I personally love the maxi dress idea, but I don't think 2 yards of fabric is quite enough! And since I bought this ages ago, I obviously can't get more. Of course, one project got in the way of another and I never got to it, but the good thing is that letting it sit longer means that I actually now have two options of what to do with it! I'm thinking either McCall's 6510, since it wouldn't break up the print much at all, or using it as a jacket lining for one of the pieces in the last stash confessional post.
I'm looking at this blue-striped brown on the right, because the brown is darker than what this picture shows, and with the touch of blue, it might be a perfect match! Then it's just a case of deciding which jacket--one from a Burda magazine, maybe? Or perhaps I should be the last sewcialist to jump on the Victoria Blazer bandwagon? I mean, I'm so late that the train has probably left the station and is halfway to Dublin by now, but still. I'm usually not into the slouchy boxy jackets, but that looks like it could be a great casual layering piece for t-shirts. And I do love my geeky t-shirts.

Yeah, this might take a little more thought. Good thing I have such a long list of things to sew already, right?

Anyway, here's a few other things I've had hiding in the stash for awhile that haven't told me what they want to be yet. And I'm not mentally ready to just dump them on Freecycle, so I figure I'll give them a little more time in the stash. After all, several of the things I picked for FESA, and the brown fabric for my Thurlows, have been sitting around for awhile, too. I've learned that sometimes it just needs a little time (and sewalong inspiration!)

1. A crinkle poly paisley something or other, probably from late college. I bought it because I like paisley and swirly things, and I was thinking I should try to branch out from my usual tendency to wear all the blues and greens. Color-wise, this actually isn't too far out of the box for me after all, especially since this time of year I want to wear more browns and earthtones. (And yes, still green. Olive is totally a fall neutral.) So even though this was a potential swap-ee, I think I'd still wear this one. I'm thinking it might make a good Sewaholic Alma. Perhaps of the notched-neckline and definitely of the long-sleeved variety. (Yes, this is one of the pieces from the Swap My Stash earlier this year, but there weren't any takers. But I'm willing to keep it around a bit longer.)

2. A red organic cotton twill that I bought somewhere in the 2007-2008 vicinity, from Mood. For some reason, when I bought it, I was thinking I needed a red skirt in my life. I don't know why, because I hardly ever wear red, or even prints with red in it, despite the paisley I just posted. But I still had that idea in mind for some time. I even went ahead and bought a bunch of cute sparkly red buttons, thinking to make it into a Beignet. 


And then I found this red strapless dress at a thrift store, which makes a pretty decent skirt when worn as a layering piece (as seen from the last time I did Me-Made-May). And it also makes a pretty decent dress for knocking my husband's socks off--I brought it on the honeymoon, and he reeeeeeally liked it! So as long as this thing fits, I don't really need a red skirt in my life after all. But it's still a really nice quality fabric, and I'd hate to waste it. I've been toying with the idea of dyeing it and still making it into the Beignet, but I'm not sure what colors would work well when overdyeing red. Should I take it darker and see if I can get it to a navy/deep purple or black (as if I need another black skirt)? Can I nudge it more towards a coral or a rust, both of which I'd probably be more likely to wear? Would putting dye on this completely ruin it? Should I just make the Beignet in red anyway, since I already have the buttons? What to do?



And I think I'm going to stop there, since I still have a bunch more fabric on my list and this post would be huge! I think this will have to be an ongoing series.

As for actual sewing....it's getting there. I have basically the waistband, buttonholes, and hem to go, and then I will have my first completed Thurlows! But progress has been slow this week, since I've had very little sewing time. I'm sincerely hoping that I will have these pants done by the end of the weekend, but I guess only time will tell. So much sewing I want to do, so little free time...

A Stash Confessional, part 1

You know, all things considered, I think I've been doing a fairly decent job with the stashbusting this year. I mean, sure, I've only sewn about 7-8 things this entire year. And I did have to buy fabric for the recent wedding gifts. And that dress. But aside from those two things, pretty much everything I've sewed this year was from things that I'd already had in the stash for awhile. I even managed to basically use up some yarn.

Of course, this doesn't mean I haven't bought anything recently. But I am trying to be more mindful of my purchases, and really think about how things will fit into my wardrobe. Either that, or they're for specific non-clothes purposes. I do need to go through sometime and figure out what my more recent totals are, since I've used up parts of yardage and acquired more, and I'll probably do that before the end of the year. But in the meantime, here's the more recent additions to my stashes, mostly as told through Twitter posts.

Check out my beach booty...yarrrrrrrrrrrrrn! pic.twitter.com/KHFxKvjUbv
— Becky (@sew_and_so) August 12, 2013

I bought some yarn back in August. There's this cute little yarn store down at the beach, and I went there with my cousins again this year. The orange yarn was bought specifically to make a scarf for this Craftsy class that I'm verrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry slooooooooooooooooowly working my way through. (And turns out to be a different color of the same yarn that I bought last year and haven't knitted yet, so I hope I like it!) I have ideas for the other two, but no specific patterns yet--I'm thinking the green could make a nice little triangular wrap/scarf thingy, preferably with a leaf-like pattern. And the blue-purple one....I just thought it was cool and unique. Ideally, I'd like to make a cowl with some kind of drop-stitch pattern so I can play with the dual texture of it (it can be used as a bulky or a ruffle yarn), but I haven't had any luck yet with finding one on Ravelry. I'm a little afraid that I might have to try to come up with a pattern myself, which is more than a bit intimidating when I'm also taking a beginner knit Craftsy class to make sure I taught myself right!

oh, right, photo. pic.twitter.com/iwzw8FbZai
— Becky (@sew_and_so) July 31, 2013

I also got this over the summer--I'd gone to Joann's to acquire some supplies for my friend's bridal shower, and this came home with me. In my defense, it was a lovely-feeling cotton. And 70% off. And it was screaming at me that it wants to be a Pavlova skirt. Which will hopefully happen sometime before the end of next spring.

Need to tidy up the room so I have space to work. So here's my last piece of Doctor Who sewalong fabric. pic.twitter.com/gq18JFhpVD
— Becky (@sew_and_so) August 22, 2013

Also from Joann's, and surprisingly soft and snuggly. Hopefully it won't lose that too quickly in washing. And I'm not saying exactly what I bought this for yet, but if you know the show, you can probably guess.

Was just given free fabric! Debating whether one would be an even better 10th Doctor dress than my original plan. pic.twitter.com/WdXj3AuKgA
— Becky (@sew_and_so) September 17, 2013

That's right, 3 more pieces of pants-like fabric. When I stopped by my parents' to drop off my flute before the retail job--I'm kinder to my instrument than myself when it comes to dealing with the temperatures there at my outside register--my mom told me that one of her quilter friends that she'd seen yesterday wanted to pass those along to me. She'd bought them for pants that she apparently decided she'd never get to. So this means if I totally screw up my hopefully wearable muslin of the Thurlows, I have another opportunity to make brown pants. And then figure out what to do with the other two pieces.

Aside from those, I've bought several pieces of quilting cotton. Aside from the shower gift pieces, which I do have small yardages left of, I got some to make Christmas stockings for us and one gift. But I don't have any pictures of those, particularly since I only bought the gift ones today and they haven't come in the mail yet. (And I may have purchased a sweater knit, too. But I needed one more piece to get free shipping from Fabric.com. And it was on sale for less than $10 total,  and the truth is that I'd rather pay for fabric than shipping. Especially when it means I might be able to inject some much-needed color into my winter wardrobe!)

Stay tuned for part 2, in which I try to figure out various possibilities for things that have been sitting in my stash for awhile. Which will probably wait until after Pantsapalooza, but since I have nothing to show for that yet...note to self, next time you host a sew-along, you might want to pick a time when you don't have multiple weekends solidly booked in a row, k?

Sewing Surprise!

It's reveal day for the Sewing Surprises swap that Nova is hosting!

I received a package from the lovely Kerrilee, from Sew Exhausted. (The sewcialist that I sent to was actually her co-writer, Laurie!) My package got a bit lost in transit for awhile, but arrived just in time for reveal day, on Friday. Which was great, because the end of the week was pretty stressful and it was the perfect fun surprise to cheer me up! So here's what was inside:
The package came all tied up neatly with a pretty ribbon. It was much neater than this, but then I repackaged it when I realized that I needed to take pictures--I was too excited and had torn into it right away!






There was a card with the cutest little cat sticker to seal it up.













There were two packages of wedding-related scrapbook stickers. Which is perfect, because of course I'm already plotting to make a scrapbook so I can hoard all of the candids that my friends and family make, as well as professional shots that we can't necessarily fit into the album that comes with our package!




The latest addition to my stash of sewcialist-given chocolate. I'm still working on the first of the two bars I got from New Zealand for the stash swap (eating them verrrrry sloooooooowly so there won't be any last minute dress-fitting panic issues!), but sea salt and dark chocolate is completely yummy, so I'll be looking forward to this for sure.


And finally, there were two coordinating pieces of super-lightweight jersey, and a pattern to make them into! I'll have to see if I can squeeze this in before the wedding, because wouldn't this be great for a tropical getaway?

I had a lot of fun putting together my package for Laurie, and it was very exciting to see what I got in return! Thanks again, Kerrilee!

I've been a bad, bad girl

The latest additions to the stash.

The one on the left is my new plan for the Darling Ranges dress, in place of that more-muted-than-expected paisley. The one on the right is for the Reglisse dress--the stripes are small and a bit hand-drawn/crooked-looking, so I figure I can get all the visual fun of stripes without the hassle of trying to match things, because it will be impossible to do so.

Both are rayon challis (challises? Challi?) from Fabric.com. The already on sale price + 15% off total order made me do it. I'll probably need to line the white, at least, so I'll have to see if I have enough lining in stash.

No, I haven't forgotten that I'm stashbusting, but since the one was to finish my dare, and I literally had nothing in the stash that was a good yardage for the Reglisse, that's how I'm justifying it. So consider that altered pledge as starting now. And I think that I will be much happier with the result of the Darling Ranges with this painterly print--plus, think of the layering possibilities with all of those colors! I can wear cobalt! And plum! And--dare I try it--mustard? A mustard-colored cardi would go amazingly well with both dresses, but I'll have to consider that, since yellows have traditionally not been the kindest to my complexion.

As for the paisley, I'm strongly leaning towards an autumnal Cambie dress. Or maybe some kind of longer tunic that I can wear with my skinny jeans. But we shall see. First step is to actually find time to sew again, since I'm quite sadly having a repeat of last year's almost no-sew spring, it seems. But I am planning on working on the tie tonight, so that's something, at least.

So what's next?

Now that the One Dress To Rule Them All is finished (yay!) and awaiting the big reveal in June, and it turns out I do have a little bit of time left before the wedding, it's time to figure out what to do with whatever sewing time I have left between now and then! Well, I've been thinking about this quite a bit, especially recently as I've been back at my retail job and have had more mental time to kill. I'm trying not to be overly ambitious because, you know, 2 months to W-day and that might take up some time. But here's what I'm thinking...

• Doug's tie, of course. Which will be much easier and quicker to finish, because I can totally sew that while he's around.
• Honeymoon clothes! I've been plotting my wardrobe for that out in my head, and I'm sure that will get a post at some point. But I do have a few holes that need filling. Particularly, I'd like to make one or two pairs of shorts, and for the sake of time, I'm going to do a total cheater refashion and cut off/hem a couple of pairs of jeans. They're thrifted jeans that I've pretty much only been wearing to the garden shop--one is a little too short for my legs anyway, and the other was a victim of the dryer ink disaster last fall. The obvious damage looks like it's mostly lower down on the leg than I would need anyway. I do need to cut them long enough that I can also wear them to work in the summer, which means no shorter than mid-thigh, but I think I'd be more comfortable with that length anyway. And both of these pairs fit pretty decently at my waist, so it should do. I still totally want to test out my Thurlows on another pair of shorts, but that can wait until after the wedding.
• Also for the honeymoon, I'd love to do a trial run of the Tiramisu dress! I don't have too much in the stash that would have the necessary yardage, but I do have some plain navy blue jersey bedsheets that I inherited when my brother got married. They're too big for my bed, so I've been hoarding them for the last few years purely for muslin purposes, and navy blue should fit wonderfully into the color scheme that's shaping up in my head. I'd also like to knock out a quick tank top as a palate-cleanser, and I have a potential idea for a layering piece. Because you know I will be the one who will get cold on a tropical island!
• One little secret I've been keeping--I did buy three patterns off of Etsy around Christmas, for some lingerie. (Which is strange for me to type, knowing that my mom might be reading this...) But if I have time, I'd like to test out at least one of them. (My fiance would probably say that I should make this first priority, but I don't know how badly my friends will try to embarrass me what I'm getting for the bridal shower yet. I'll find out on Saturday.)

There, that doesn't seem terribly unreasonable, does it? I have a few things lined up in my head for after the wedding as well, including a whole lot of Thurlow work so I can try to have some actual pants that fit before the fall rolls around, and a couple of self-challenges that I'm setting for myself. One will be an ongoing project, one will have a deadline, but more on that later. The one thing I will reveal is that I'd asked Gillian for a sewing dare that actually involved, you know, sewing.   The dare she gave me:

@sew_and_so OK, #sewingdare: Treat yourself to a cute new pattern and lovely fabric to make it! You deserve a treat!
— Gillian(@GillianCrafts) March 26, 2013

I polled the quite biased sewcialists on Twitter, and the consensus was that rewarding oneself for accomplishing a huge and very time-consuming couture sewing project trumped stashbusting pledges. (But I promise that this will be my only cheat, since technically, the lime green silk was bought with the wedding in mind, and therefore falls under the parameters that I'd set!)

I'd considered buying something for the Pavlova, since I did already treat myself to this new pattern, I'm just not sure I have things in the stash to make both pieces.  I'd also thought that I could use it as part of the honeymoon wardrobe. But hours of scouring my favorite fabric websites turned up nothing that's jumping out at me for it at this point. And, as Gillian put it in a later tweet, "go big or go home. right?"

So, for my sewing dare, I treated myself to the Darling Ranges dress by Megan Nielsen, and some fabric from Gorgeous Fabrics. I haven't tried a Megan Nielsen pattern yet, but I've heard good things about them. It was a tough call between this one and the Reglisse dress from Deer & Doe, because that one is just too cute and it reminds me of something that Jane Bennet would have worn in the Lizzie Bennet Diaries. But in the end, the Darling Ranges won out, because...

1. I've been wanting a more autumn-friendly dress for awhile now--most of my dresses have no sleeves and are in summery colors.
2. I have two weddings to attend this fall, and will need something to wear. I'm a bridesmaid in one of them, so that's covered, but I still will probably need something cute to wear for rehearsal dinners and such, right?
3. Even though it's a longer-sleeved dress, it doesn't look frumpy. Those are hard to find. 
4. As it turns out, it's a good thing the Darling Ranges won out, because apparently I just won the Reglisse pattern from a giveaway at Paunnet! Thanks, Anna! 

But.... I'm sorry to say that I think I've failed this dare.  I bought this fabric for it:

I tried to be smart about the fabric choice, and choose a print that--guess what--already went with a bunch of things in my wardrobe! So I was thinking that I could layer this with my  brown jacket, or my brown hoodie cardigan sweater, or the thrifted tan jacket that I picked up recently,  or throw a coordinating knit top over it and wear it as a skirt, and so on. (My other choice was this adorable dragonfly print, but I realized that would require a lot more effort to work as a layering piece. I also managed to resist the temptation to further break the pledge and buy both pieces.) Also, as far as fabric choice goes, I do have a serious weakness for paisley!

But--and I am not blaming Gorgeous Fabrics for this, because I know the problem had to be my color perception--now that I'm seeing the fabric in person, I'm not so convinced that this is a good match for this pattern. The blue looked way more teal instead of this colonial blue, and the fabric looked brighter in general on my computer monitor. If I were to be perfectly honest, if I saw what I got in a brick-and-mortar store, I wouldn't have bought it. And my gut tells me that if I make this dress out of this fabric, I'm going to think it looks totally granny (and not in the chic way) and I'm going to hate it. So that leaves me with two questions--what can I do with 3 yards of dull-colored paisley fabric, and do I have anything in my stash that I can actually use to make this pattern? A serious question, given that most, if not all, of my fabrics are more separates-length yardages...

Maybe this would work better as the Reglisse. What do you think?

A few small things

• No finished project post yet. I still have been unable to take a picture, but I will as soon as I can.
• Do you ever have dreams about sewing? I do, sometimes. Last night's was that I made a Tiramisu dress. Except that for some reason, subconscious me decided to pair just the skirt from it (in a navy blue jersey) with a sheer, woven coral thrifted button-down with a peplum. Which a) I do not own such a garment, and b) dream-me had it as one giant v down to the waist. Which I would never, ever do in the real world. At least subconscious me did ok with the color pairing. (Incidentally, I do have a mental plan to make a test tiramisu in navy blue jersey, since I have some jersey bedsheets to play with.)
• Today is my birthday. I'm 32 now. That sounds so weird.
• The Swap Your Stash was fairly successful for me! I didn't get rid of everything, but I did have requests for about a third of what I'd posted. And most of those were things that I had either already made things out of and was therefore stuck, or things I couldn't use at all (like accidentally pink silk!) I've sent out 4 pieces to 3 people, am waiting on addresses for 2 more, and so far I've received one package, from Anne in the UK. I'm not sure how this will end up as far as yardage in vs. out goes, but I tried to be very thoughtful in the things I swapped for, so hopefully I will end up with things that are much more useful for me!
• My future sewing room is coming together very nicely. Doug and I spent last Friday night moving my sewing machine table to his place--I haven't been using it lately, because I get way too cold in the basement this time of year and have therefore been doing all of my sewing upstairs, like I tend to do every winter. We also did some organizing in there. Most of my scrapbook/jewelry related things are there now, as well as a little fabric and probably about half of my yarn. We've also been discussing fabric storage options, and stumbled across a good option on sale at Target. So we're probably going to spend this Friday evening moving the bulk of my remaining fabric stash and organizing that. Assuming I get done the dress in enough time to actually sew something else before the wedding, I figure I can just stop by his place and grab the fabric that I want.
• Speaking of the dress, I'm now working on the hemming stage! I also spent some time over the weekend cutting out lace appliques for the skirt. 

I think that's everything for now...back to work.

Stash confessions of a fabriholic

As you know, I've been taking part in the Swap Your Stash, hosted by Kat and Anne, this month. As of now, I have four pieces of my stash that will be making their way to their new homes, where hopefully they'll find some better use than sitting around in mine! They've also been doing a series of interviews to show our stashes, and with Kat's permission, I'm borrowing the questions to do a little reveal of my own. (Plus a very first sneak peek of my future sewing room! Which is absolutely nowhere close to set up.)

How long have you been sewing and stashing? How big is your stash?
I started learning to sew when I was about 7 years old. Thankfully, I have no stash that dates back to that time, but given that I'm in my early 30s now *cough*, I've been stashing for awhile. As for the size, it's still hovering somewhere at 200+ yards of fabric!

Where do you keep your stash? How do you store it?
My stash is so big that it's in two different towns, haha! Just kidding--the real story is that even though I'm not moving in with my fiance until after the wedding, I am in the process of moving what I can down to his place now. So getting my future sewing/craft room set up was a logical place to start, since I do have this somewhat all-consuming dress project going on right now. So I'm in the process of moving things from the wall of shame (which refuses to post vertically for some reason--I guess it's appropriate, since it's rather precarious of a setup to begin with), where they are folded into plastic bins, or unceremoniously stuffed in wherever they will fit....


....to the new space. I haven't gotten a lot of fabric moved down there yet, it's been more scrapbooking/jewelry stuff/yarn so far, but I did at least get this one bin down. The plan for the new space is to fold the pieces around these letter-paper-sized comic book boards, so they're all nice and neat like this, and put them on shelving, kind of like this. 




(Second shelf down.) Except not in the closet, because the mostly wire shelves that Doug so kindly put up for me wouldn't hold it all. I'm thinking of getting something more along the lines of an Ikea Expedit. 
 
What is the oldest piece in your stash? What was your original plan for this piece and why hasn’t it happened?
Chronologically, the oldest things I have are a brown twill-type fabric and a tan stretchy also possibly twill-type fabric. Both of these were given to me for free by my mother, who in turn was given these for free by someone connected to someone at my church who was destashing. (She randomly gets given fabric sometimes by people who don't understand that not all fabrics are good for quilts, and I often get to paw through those leftovers.) I have no idea how old they actually are, and I obviously had no original plan for them but I'm thinking they will get turned into wearable muslins for the Thurlow and Clover pants patterns, respectively.  Also, I didn't take pictures of them because they're just solid colors and therefore not very interesting to look at.

The oldest things I bought myself are these two printed polyesters, both of which date back to my college years. I honestly can't remember if I even had a plan for the floral, I think I just liked it. I was thinking more of a 60s-style tunic top for the paisley, but I didn't have a ton of time to sew when I was still in school, and somewhere along the line, I realized that boxy 60s tunic tops are really not flattering on me at all. So neither of them have gotten used yet. I did have a thought of making the floral into a Burda pattern, but I'm thinking now that I might be better off using this one for some kind of summer PJs, since this really doesn't go with anything else I own.   

What’s your favourite piece in your stash? Where did you get it, what do you love about it, what do you think you might do with it?
 I have this lightweight floral knit print that my mom gave me for Christmas a few years ago. I love the colors and the kind of old-world European look of it. And I keep going back and forth as to what to do with it--sometimes I think it wants to be a knit dress, sometimes I think I should make it into a top because I do wear separates more, but then I'll probably have a bunch left over, and therefore it hasn't gotten cut into yet.

Does the fabric you buy go straight into hiding or do you wash it first?

 I definitely wash it first. Ironing is another story.

How do you add to your stash? Do you buy with a purpose in mind, or is it fabric lust?
I've gotten better over the last several years about buying purposefully, and the majority of the fabric I've bought over the last year in particular were for specific projects that I had nothing on hand that would work otherwise--fabrics for curtains, waterproof fabric for a raincoat, and of course, the 20+ yards I had to buy for all the various layers of the wedding dress I'm currently sewing! Sometimes I'm given things, particularly by my mom, who likes to give me fabric for Christmas. (We have similar taste in prints, so this is not a problem.) Aside from that, it's generally fabric lust, because I am most definitely a printoholic, and have to force myself to buy solids that actually work with those fabrics.   
 
Do you have something in your stash that you cannot bear to cut into? Why?
 I have this suedecloth, which is from the same Christmas gift stash as the knit I mentioned earlier. I think this print is so fun, even though the colors are way more neutral than I usually go for--and I have absolutely no idea what it wants to be yet. So I don't want to waste it, you know?

Do you just stash fabric, or does the problem include patterns and notions?
I'm actually not much of a notions buyer--most of my excess buttons and such have come from intended planned projects that never happened for one reason or another, or were salvaged from old clothes that I was getting rid of. And I've seriously cut back on pattern buying. Most of the patterns I buy now are from independent designers, and those are way more expensive than the $.99 sales at Joanns, so that curbs my acquisition a lot!  (Plus I did a pretty major pattern clean-out a year or so ago.) What I do tend to also stash is non-sewing things, like yarn--it's hard for me to resist colorful yarns that are wool-free, since that's all I can use--or patterned scrapbook paper. Yes, I'm still a printoholic there too. 

I also have a large bin of clothes that need mending or refashioning, since I just haven't had time to get to it. I am guilty of thrifting clothes solely because I like the fabric and want to make something else with it, though I've managed to keep myself from doing that for the last several Goodwill runs. 

Have you decided to do a “stash-busting” resolution this year? If so, what have you decided to do?       
As regular readers of this blog know, I've been trying to do stash-busting resolutions for at least the last 3 years! I've even been tracking the yardage numbers, mostly--I do have a few pieces that I think I forgot to add. (I was doing pretty well with seeing the numbers go down, at least until I got engaged and decided to be insane and make my own wedding dress and a bunch of curtains!) As far as this year goes, I am taking part in the Stashbusting Challenge from Cation Designs, though I'm unable to be an active participant in the challenges right now. And I did already have to break my no-buying-fabric pledge, but those were extenuating circumstances.


So there's my stash! And a look in the new craft room closet, at least. Yes, the inside of the closet is painted--the room itself is turquoise. I hope you enjoyed taking a look--and I am definitely open to suggestions for how to use those fabrics that I showed!