Record Turnaround?

I'm a stasher. I admit it. I like it. I have no plans to change. And it only occasionally bothers me to have stuff I'm not using. I love deciding that I want to sew, and after rummaging around a bit I can do it. And I tend to need let my fabric age a bit before I use. Usually. But I just couldn't wait to use one of the fabrics I bought last weekend. The border print on the end + 2 hours became this I used a bit of Steam a Seam on the hem to hold it while I hemmed it using a double needle. Then I double needled the elastic in the waist, folded it over and doubled needled it again. It was quick and easy and I have a new skirt for Monday. It's a very stretchy knit - quite a bit of Lycra in it. Some of the center dots are yellow. Now, for the rest of the fabric. What do you think? Yes or no? I can't decide if I like it or its just weird? What do you think? The pattern is a Jalie tee shirt, short sleeved.
And I finally finished the simple, grey wool skirt I started about 6 weeks (or so?) ago. I got a bit stalled out for no reason. It's all done and could be worn on Monday, ok Tuesday. But it's too small. I tried it on before adding the waist band and it was huge. I took it in some -obviously too much. I still forced myself to finish, I was only lacking the hem. I will be thin again. As God as my witness, I will wear this skirt. And others. Not part of the pattern, I lined the front over skirt - so it wouldn't stick to the skirt. Lining was from JoAnn's a couple of years ago.
So that's a wrap from a dreary, damp and chilly Maryland.

We shopped. And shopped.

Kristine and I went fabric shopping today. A lot. First we headed down to Haberman's where I did, indeed buy fabric. Kind of a lot of fabric. As you can see by Kristine standing next to her pile of fabric, we put a new spin on the term "fabric by the yard". I think she purchased about a yard. Um, stacked. I think the smile was before she heard the total due. (if you can't see the sign on the wall just above the red fabric, it reads "Your husband called, he said to buy anything you wanted").

If you haven't heard of or been to Haberman's, it calls itself "Michigan's finest fabric store" and it may well be. While there are bargains to be had, they also carry some very high end fabrics. Here's one we DIDN'T buy: But we both left with giant bags and smiles. We're both wearing dresses we made. I loved her black and white and the lightweight came in handy at Fabric Warehouse where it really is a warehouse And, no, that isn't our cart behind Kristine Our cart is in the very front lower right of the photo.

In between the two extremes of fabric shopping we had a nice lunch on an outdoor patio where the waiter even noticed how nice we looked in summer dresses.

And now a peek at the haul.

First, the items on the left are from Fabric Warehouse, including the trims. I especially like the black and white checked trim on the left of the spool. I may like the back better than the front. From the leopard flannel (yeah, winter pj's) right and down is the Haberman's selections. My favorites from this lot are the floral brown and green that is silk jersey and the grey/black/white floral. Kristine also bought some of that. In fact we shared a number of choices including the striped shirting, navy floral and a grey suiting. Next time I need a Haberman fix without the drive I can just send her down there to pick me up something she likes - I'm bound to love it, too.

I think my stash is feeling much better now. At least larger.

AND, AND, and, she told me how to fix the reverse on my sewing machine. The button depressed, but it didn't change the direction. She suggested I take off the bottom and oil the spring. Low and behold, it worked. That was, indeed, the problem. A little WD40 - which I don't normally use on my machines - a little time and it started to move a little. I just kept tweaking after that and now she sews forward and backward. Yippee! And THANKS! Kristine, NOW I can make buttonholes. And my white shirt. And.....

Still stashing

Since my sewing ability is currently hampered by time, space and a machine that won't sew in reverse I've had to scratch my itch my shopping. For fabric. At Joann's. But, you know, I've found some things I really like. I'm not a huge fabric snob - though I do love me a run through Michaels . But you can't have missed my affinity for the THE WALL at G Street. So when JoAnn's put some of their nicer, um adult-nonfleece-nonpromrelated-nonseasonallythemeprintedcotton, fabrics on sale I jumped. Maybe even actually a little bit in the store for glee. I showed you my first haul, but I went back and found one more piece. Not quite the deals I saw before, but 90% off is hard to come by. My plan for this (yes, dearies, there IS A PLAN) is the same S&S dress but maybe the V-neck version. Likely won't line this one at all. This is a 100% rayon at $6/yard. Funny how suddenly $6 seems like a lot after $0.99. Shame how a great deal can distort your vision. But it was a good breach into today. I'm playing a little hooky and going fabric shopping and lunching with a sewing friend. We're planning on hitting both ends of the spectrum - a high end retailer and a discount wholesaler. With a break for nourishment in between. We're both wearing our latest creations which I, for one, am excited about as I don't have much call to dress up right now. And I'll come back later for the juicy details. Remind me to take my camera, ok?

And now, for something completely different

I got home yesterday and tried, again, to finish the waistband on the Burda skirt. I'm still not there, and I may have messed with until it's now FUBAR. It gets one more try before it hits the trash chute. I've learned my lesson about keeping unfinishables.

So, I decided something else was in order. And the camo-green corduroy skirt just isn't calling my name. And yes, I know I said - just a little while ago, in fact that I wasn't interested in quilting. Period. Well, I think I may have lied. Just a little bit. 'Cause this is what I started yesterday evening. And finished this evening. I was so surprised how fast it went together, and how unhard it was. Yes, I am aware that I chose the easiest pattern, short of a square, ever to grace a quilt. And I know it's only 16 blocks. BUT, it was also the first time EVER to do any type of piecing or quilting. And I think it turned out quite well. It's supposed to be "Houndstooth" and it is, but I also think it looks a little swastika-ky - and I'm not thrilled with that. Not perfect, but IT WAS MY FIRST TIME. If you're a follower, you'll recognize the two fabrics as a summer skirt (that I love) and top (that I didn't - and remade into this) and the JCC top - just the leftover, that shirt is still a shirt. I bought the binding, batting, and backing at Hancock's today for 1.95/yard. Used thread from stash. Now, the $64 question: what good is it? If I had a girl, she'd love it for her doll. Maybe I'll send it my niece, she's 2 and will like the crazy colors and has a lot of doll time ahead of her. It was all done my Singer 201, as the Pfaff is still in the hospital and I don't think it would have done half as nice a job. Really. At one point I thought the Singer couldn't do it. My first line of quilting was nasty. Loops on top and bottom, no tension. I was afraid it was too much. I am, once again, amazed at the old Singer company, though. I re-threaded the bobbin and tried again. Perfect. And it stitches so straight! Tra-la-la! Now I'm sure I did all kind of wrong things according my MIL - I pieced and quilted by machine. And I used a purple thread to quilt. But this is a far, far cry from heirloom work, so I just made it fun. And it was. Thinking about doing a livingroom throw next. Something real.

Oh, and my FabricMart order arrived yesterday. That was really speedy, I just ordered on Monday afternoon. I really like the paisley, it is destined to be a dress. It's a little micro-suede-ish, with a tad of stretch.It's darker than I thought, so it will age until fall. Really it's more of a burgundy than purple, quite fallish. The other 3 are bor-ing for pants.

So, what do you think? Seriously. I would like some hints on how to improve my accuracy. When it was all done, my blocks didn't line up well, I think my cutting was off and I'm pretty sure I shaved pieces off my template as I went.

More on my stash

Or more stash. Really. All this talk of downsizing the stash didn't phase me one little whit. If anything, it encouraged me. I made a run (or a slow crawl through traffic, actually) to the Fall's Church G Street yesterday afternoon. My main goal was the January BWOF and some lace hem tape for a skirt. But, of course, THE WALL called to me. It wasn't the best haul I've ever made, but I did find:

The top right is a cotton, likely to become a summer dress, the bottom right is a narrow wale cord (repeat after me, "BURDA-PANTS, BURDA-PANTS") , bottom left is a knit for a tee, and top left is destined to be a blouse. I have 2.5 yards of the dark floral, so it should make a dress with some to spare for a change. And I did remember my hem tape - I didn't photograph it, I hope you aren't too disappointed. And they still had a couple copies of the January BWOF, so my Burda-envy is over. There are a number items I want out of that one:

And a couple of skirts I couldn't fine the drawings for. If I get around to the vest, it will be my first venture into "tailoring". I recognize this will barely be getting my big toe wet in the pool of tailoring, but ya gotta start somewhere.

(All line drawing complements of BWOF http://www.burdafashion.com/en/Magazines/Burda_World_of_Fashion/Trend/1270777-1000019-1679401-1679404.html

And finally, the moment you've all been waiting for. A peek at the PJ's. When I was shopping with my son (21 years old) for Christmas I saw some really cute PJ bottoms at either A&F or American Eagle. I think AE, but just not sure. All those stores blend together into a cheap cologne haze of dim lights and loud music. (dang, I'm old!). They were cute, but for $30, I figured I could knock them off and have some cash to spare. So I quick trip to Hancock's (um technically to purchase 1 spool of black thread) netted some super duper cute flannel for 1/2 off, so about $3/yard. If you look closely, you'll see the penguins are drinking martini's. I get a kick out of that every time I look at them. The green fabric was also from Hancock's - same trip. It's a silky polyestery blend of something that frays into strands of pale green angel hair. Quite annoying. But they turned out well, I think. I didn't take a picture of the inside waistband, but it is also the green. And the cuffs are lined to just below the knee and turned up. If you click and enlarge, you'll still see the pin for hemming. I didn't take time to try them on and hem them yet. These took longer than I thought, due to the need to finish every seam - not only to prevent the proliferance of green angel hair, but also lumps of dark blue fuzz, and I did a few things out of order. I had no directions for the cuffs or waistband, I was just winging it. And the green stuff is horribly off grain, so it was, overall, not a delight to work with. But I still luv my penguins. My button holes for the draw string turn out awesome. The best buttonholes my Pfaff's ever made. I have the top cut out of a dark blue knit (likely from THE WALL at G Street - is was in my stash) from the December issue. Without the belt. It's the same as the nightgown top with long sleeves and, duh, shorter. I was thinking of binding the neck with the green, but I'm not sure the fabric's up to it. We'll have to see. I'll work on it this week as time allows.

We'll be sticking close to home for a few days and let the H00-HA of the inauguration calm down. We live and work very close to DC and on a major route into the district. On Tuesday, well from late Monday night, there is no access via MV from Northern Virginia to D.C., the only way around is the outer beltway. We work in N. VA, so it may be really easy for us to get to work, as all the thru to DC traffic won't be there. OR they could be stopping so many morons that can't read the huge in LIGHTS signs that traffic will be a snarl. Our office, in their benevolent wisdom, chose NOT to close on Tuesday (and Monday isn't a holiday for us). Wish me luck!

I hate being left out.

Sewing blog-land has moved from "how we starting sewing", and I did post my fascinating adventure, to "let's discuss our stash. And, like my title says, I have to be part of the crowd, here's my $0.02.

To start, since I've really only been sewing for a year, my stash is pretty small. I don't have it folded in closets, in boxes under the bed, in the attic or **gasp** in the barn. It fits tidily on my Ikea shelf, pretty much folded and even grouped together in some type of BeeBee-Random- self-imposed order that actually works for me most of the time. I did have a wake-up call just a couple of weeks ago, when I found some fabric I honestly didn't know I had or where I got it (I can guess and will probably be right, but that's not the point). And I found my long-lost waist band stabilizer at the same time (yea!) . But I was surprised to find the fabric and a little concerned that I no longer know what's crammed in those shelves (and yes, I am aware that just a few lines up this was folded tidily - times change, let it go). It did start me thinking about my fabric collection and buying habits. Then, this topic came around in such a timely manner.

Of course, a year ago (December, actually) I owned no stash. Nothing, not even a remnent of an old Halloween print. Well, that's not quite true, but I was in Washington, D.C. and the black-cat fabric was in Detroit. I bought my new machine in mid-December in Woodbridge, VA and there was (**sniff** past tense, WAS) a G Street in the same area. So that I would have something to start with on my new machine and because I hadn't sewn a stitch in about 10 years (a little bad home-dec aside) and because I'd heard the G Street was good and because I wanted to check out Bernina's before making a final purchasing decision, I wandered in. And much to my amazement, surprise, extreme delight and downfall, I discover it: the $2.97/yard wall of glory. Just right up my alley. Variety and price. I bought 2 patterns from the Kwik-sew rack (I was out of practice enough to be intimidated by the books, how bad it that!) and about 10 yards of various fabrics from THE WALL. Including my very first ever knit in an awful plum heather (oddly, I loved the shirt I made from that stuff, though). And thus began, THE STASH.

Next stop was Hancock's, only about a mile from our Townhouse and and easy run to grab thread, needles, sewing basket, pins, pin catcher, pressing ham..... AND a clearance table. Ta-da! And even closer way to find cheap fabric to use. And THE STASH grew. And grew.

The next step involved my BFF. She came up in February and discovered a new concept in fabric purchasing and a whole new world of fabric. Oh my oh my. This was going to be good. And dangerous and more than just a tad scary. We hit G Street and while we did spend some time at THE WALL, my BFF has a much better eye for "the good stuff" and we spend some time combing through the tweeds, linens and wools. Yes, they let you touch that stuff! She spent some dough there, but I still mostly drug off the THE WALL. Next day we went to A Fabric Place (http://www.michaelsfabrics.com/ this is the on line store link) and it was like walking into a different world. One I didn't know was out there. Having spent my childhood at The Piece-Goods store and Grant's, I didn't know you could buy Valentino fabric. Period. I was way to intimidated to buy much (I do have a very nice Zegna wool that I'm eying for a pair of slacks) , my skills just didn't rate this kind of purchase (BFF had no qualms, however and is now on a first-name basis with Sherri) . But now I knew it was out there.

And the last piece was a trip to NYC last summer. HOLY WOVEN COW! Not only was this stuff great, there was a ton (or 20) of it, and it was cheap. MECCA! I broke out of my "I'm afraid to buy" mode and did. It was fun and I got some nice stuff and I've really enjoyed sewing and wearing it. We (me and BFF, again) hit around 10 stores, plus some trim/notions places and a bookstore or two. Woo-hoo! I have enough clear elastic to last a lifetime (if I can find the stuff).
And that's how I got THE STASH.

And now, how do I organize it? Like I said in a kind of randomness that sort of works. Starting with putting all the "WTF?" stuff in a banker box. This includes some on-line purchases (did I mention I discovered Internet fabric shopping??? No??? I left part out??? hmmmm), some free-bees (mostly FabricMart http://fabricmartfabrics.com/controller/index.php ) that is just odd, and some junk from Hancock's and G Street that I just don't know what I was thinking. Plus some cheap stuff that is SOOO cheap that it falls into the WTF pile. Mostly purchased early on and sometimes used for trials, though is sometimes too bad even for that. Then I have my "winter fabric" and my "summer fabric" and the "stuff I bought at G Street last week fabric" and the "NYC purchases fabric" and the "where should I put this fabric" and maybe I'm beginning to see how I loose things.... I should work on this.

And finally, how do I feel about THE STASH and stashing in general. Well, I'm starting to like THE STASH more and more. I'm refining and curbing my buying habits so that I am buying better fabric and fabric I am more likely to use. Acknowledging that some of my favorites will likely never get sewn, but I still like them and take them out from time-to-time and pet them and look at them. Maybe I should make them into a blanket and carry around like a little kid? It's a thought.

And I see the absolute need for a stash. I love Love LOVE spending time in my sewing room pulling the stuff out and matching up with patterns (um, a discussion for another day, I think). Sometimes it happens and sometimes it all gets put back. Not the point. I rarely pick out a pattern and then purchase the fabric/notions for it, though that is how we did it at my house as a kid. I pull out a pattern and see what I have that will work. Or pull out a fabric and see what pattern I can use. So you can see that buying what I use is important. Both color and makeup-wise. When I shop, now, I keep this in mind and do fairly well. The downside is that it is boring. In the sewing, shopping and wearing worlds. I'm not sure how to remedy this without buying a bunch of bizarre (to me) stuff that I will either never use or never wear. But maybe it's just the winter talking? Spring will be here and I can sew color again, right?

As for using it up? Maybe because I don't have SABLE (stash beyond life expectancy), I don't see the point in "using it up". Making something just to "get it off the shelf" or from under the bed or out of the barn (still, **gasp!**). Or changing pattern views because view B uses 4 yards and view C only uses 3. Or making dog beds out of wool or whatever. Now making for charity is completely different. That's a valid use to both the fabric and the time spent. But shelter dogs can sleep on old bathroom rugs and I don't need (any more - see below, yikes) skirts that take 5 yards for the circle. I have some fabric (remember the WTF box) that I would like to be rid of, but I'm sure as heck not going to spend my precious sewing time on it. I'm thinking local drama group or something. Collecting and hanging on to stuff I don't want just isn't in my nature - my MIL's nature, yes - mine, no. If I'm not going to use, not matter how much I paid for it, I don't want it anymore. Flip side? Can't throw it away. Maybe my dog would like a nice Anna Sui bed?

Now I did panic for a while last summer when I had no summer fabric. Fortunately, the Internet was still there. Unfortunately, I ran out of time to sew it. Fortunately, summer will come again.