OSB: Obsessive Sewing Behavior

I finally bought the Ikea shelving I've been saving up for to help organize my fabric stash.  I like having all that fabric out and visible - all that beauty is inspiring to me and I've found fabric to be a great sales tool with clients.  And, since I'm now a bit embarrassed by the sheer amount of fabric I have, I think having it out will stop me ordering any new fabric anytime soon.



Home Dec & Quilting Cottons

Apparel Fabric - wovens on left, knit/jersey on right

Getting the shelves sparked a sewing room reorganization, specifically all my fabric scraps and bags of to-be-refashioned clothing.  Organizing my scraps seemed perfectly practical to me, but my husband thought I'd gone down a rabbit hole of OCD behavior.  It took about four episodes of Damages (crime shows are my trash TV of choice), but I managed to divide the scraps into five categories: jersey/woven scraps for scarves (which includes t-shirts that aren't good enough to be refashioned for wear), jersey scraps for flowers, woven scraps for facings, woven scraps for flowers and zippered pouches, and good-for-nothing scraps that needed to be thrown away.  And here's what I ended up with:

Jersey Scraps

Woven scraps

Everything all tucked away (don't ask about those other tubs)

Good-for-nothing scraps

I use the scraps in my own projects and also in camps/classes, so this all seemed perfectly normal to me.  But earlier in the week I got a call from my friend Nancy who had several large bags of cut out patterns that she needed to give away.  And not just the patterns, but fabric cut to go with the patterns.  Nancy had already pulled the ones that she wanted and there were still three large bags/boxes for me to go through.  Nancy's first job as a costume designer was with a one-woman shop in a small town in Illinois.  Nancy recently heard from the woman she worked for there, because she was clearing out her sewing room.  The woman is sick and doesn't want her husband to have to go through her sewing room after she's gone.

Nancy and I just didn't know what to make of the cut fabric/patterns.  Just to give you a sense of scale, here's what I brought home:

 

Oh yes, I also got some serger thread and a bag of odds n' ends.

That's 11 patterns with fabric already cut out all tucked into baggies (and some baggies had multiple sets of fabric in them).  And there were at least two large bags of these baggies left at Nancy's. 

Cutting out fabric is my least favorite part of the process, so I will sometimes spend a day cutting out a bunch of stuff so that I don't have to do it again for a while.  But the amount of work that went into cutting about all of these patterns just boggles my mind.  Nancy and I couldn't fathom why she did all of this work - there was at least a year's worth of sewing in the bags that Nancy brought home.  One of Nancy's friends suggested that maybe she wasn't well enough to do the actual sewing, but cutting out the fabric was comforting in some way.  Maybe.

So I have this new treasure, thanks to another woman's illness and obsessive cutting.  And I now feel responsible for finishing what she started.  It will make for some poignant sewing.

Pattern Pyramid Giveaway!

Back in February, Debbie at Sew I Think I Can Sew ran a Pattern Pyramid Giveaway and I was the lucky winner!  So the pattern pyramid exchange started by Karen at Did You Make That? made it's way back to the States from Canada and into my hands.  I now get to run my own giveaway and I'm excited to keep this going!

Here's what arrived from Debbie:

A lovely package of patterns all wrapped up in some crepe-y aubergine fabric, topped with a fancy closure, just for lovely me.  And here are the patterns:

I think I'm going to keep the Style Sew Simple 2373, mainly because I like the collars.  I'm adding these items to the parcel before sending it on:

The pattern is one that I picked up in a thrift store a while back but I've since decided I have other patterns like it closer to my actual size.  I picked up the fabric in a different resale shope, and it's about 2.5 yards of vintage cotton (44" wide).  I already washed it but it's not really me so it deserves a new home.  I hope it will make someone a lovely summer dress or top!

Here are the rules for entry in the giveaway:

You must have an active blog.
You must leave a comment and include your email.
I will randomly select the lucky winner.
I will then post off the patterns and fabric.
The winner gets the fabric and can also pick one pattern to keep for themselves, then host their own giveaway. They will randomly select a winner, post the remaining patterns to that Person, and the fun continues!

Anyone, anywhere can enter the giveaway by posting a comment below by midnight Central Standard Time on Wednesday, March 13, 2013.

Let the good times keep rolling!

Birthday Present, Part 2: I'm so Lucky, oh so Lucky!

What does every sewist want for her birthday?  Sewing stuff!  And, oh boy, I got lucky.

Look at this haul, courtesy of my wonderful MIL!  She got me a gift certificate to GorgeousFabrics.com, and that plus a timely sale led to a a huge box of midweight jersey, ponte knit, and doubleknit fabrics arriving at my house today!!

But that's not all, oh no, that's not all.

My super sweet husband gave me four yards of this beautiful wool basketweave so that I can make myself a new winter coat for next winter.  I think I'll be using this pattern, as I like the rounded collar, the slim fit, and the band about the waist.  I want to put some trim on it.  I'm thinking dark brown leather binding or piping.  What do you think??

And look! 
I can hop up and down on the ball!
But that is not all!
Oh, no.
That is not all . . .

My lovely in-laws didn't stop with fabric, they also gave me this book, off my wish list:

I felt so "ah, shucks" receiving these gifts from family - they really recognize how important sewing is to me.  Do you all get giddy when a box of fabric or patterns arrive?  Why is it?  For me, I think it's the anticipation of creating, and all those lovely hours of scheming about what I'll create.

I've got one more sewing gift to reveal from my birthday, and it's a biggie, but you'll have to wait until next week.  In the meantime, I've got some actual sewn garments to write about before then.  Stand by!

Paisley-ish Matellasé Stretch - Bittersweet Chocolate

First, the name Ann bestowed on this fabric is just fantastic.  I could drink this name, and not just because the word chocolate is in there.  Matellasé makes me think of something whipped and creamy - add that to chocolate and I'm sure you have a dangerous cocktail or a yummy coffee drink.

I spied this fabric in early fall and immediately pinned it.  And just as I suspected, it attracted my clients attention - like bees to matellasé, as it were (sorry, couldn't help it!).

So far I have made three skirts for clients out of this fabric.  Two Gertie pencil skirts, one with boning and one without, and a simple A-line skirt with a corduroy hem band.

Gertie skirt for Diane

Gertie skirt for Melissa

A-line for Jennifer

Corduroy hem band - bought this from an Etsy de-stasher

The fabric absolutely lives up to it's scrumptious name.  It is slightly spongey with a good amount of stretch.  There's a slight sheen to the paisley thread design.  It's warm.  It's soft.  And there's still some left.  Unless I decide to order it all up!  And I might just wear it around myself like a toga, I love it that much.

What's That? Drool? Oops, Sorry!

Yep, I've been ogling fabric and patterns again.  I have not one but TWO PoldaPop parties next weekend so I've had a good excuse to do some online window shopping (got to be ready with suggestions, you know).  And there are lovely fabrics out there to drool over (and yes, I did once almost drool while gaping at fabric online.  There.  I admitted it.).

Fabric I'm drooling over . . .

As I discussed early, the color magenta has been calling to me since the end of summer.  And I can't get this fabric out of my head, even with the steeper-than-average price tag:

Midweight Designer Magenta Geometric Silk Twill Fabric fron Britex Fabric

I'd love to make a blouse or dress with this.  The description on the website suggests using it as a lining.  Are you kidding???  First, I can't imagine paying $31/yard for a lining and second, I can't imagine keeping this to myself in the lining of a garment. 

And then there's this brocade from Mood:

Fuschia Stripes Wavy Brocade from Mood Fabrics

Like the first fabric, at $40/yard this is also out of my usual price range, but oh, it would look fantastic as a pencil skirt or funky fitted top. 

On the other side of the price range is this fantastic stretch corduroy called Chicago Streaks from Vogue Fabrics:

It's so hard to find corduroy for grown-ups, espcially stretch corduroy.  And it's only $6.99/yard.  I don't know how I've managed to keep my money in my bank account so long on this one.

I don't know how I feel about chartreuse next to my face, but there's someone out there who would look gorgeous in a top made out of this jersey fabric:


I'll probably stick to purple for myself:




One of my clients ordered a dress from this fabric:

Green and Cocoa Abstracted Floral Print Stretch Cotton Sateen Fabric from Etsy shop FabricsAndTrimmings

When it arrived I spent a good 10 minutes petting the fabric, exclaiming to Belly and Mooper, "This fabric is gorgeous, isn't it??"  There's still three yards left in the store if you're interested (heh heh, just try to stay away!). 

I made myself a new denim pencil skirt this fall and I've had a three clients order denim pencil skirts as well.  I love the denim at Mood Fabrics and I hope someone orders a skirt from this metallic denim because I'd love to work with it!

And this last one is lovely in it's simplicity:



Japanese Novelty Dot Jacquard Suiting - Black from Gorgeous Fabrics

It's got a bit of stretch in it and it would look fantastic as a pencil skirt or fitted dress.

If you want to check out all of the fabric I've been ogling, please visit my Pinterest boards.  Ogling fabric online is certainly one of my vices.  If I start on it before I go to bed, I'm up for at least another hour hopping from site to site.  And then I can't fall asleep afterwards because I'm too energized from all that beauty! 

I'll post a bit later this week with some of the patterns I've been drooling over lately - Style Arc!  Sewaholic!  Cake!  Oh, my! - I love some of the patterns I've been seeing in independent pattern makers' collections.  And then I'll be ready for Friday!

Found Treasure - The Exquisite Revisit Resale Shop

A few weeks ago I discovered a new resale shop.  I'm embarrassed to say that it's walking distance from my house AND has been there for a few years now, but I only just found out about it.  So it's only "new" to me.  I now have one more reason to be grateful for our Berwyn Facebook page since that's how I discovered this wonderful shop.

Exquisite Revisit is one of those dear places that is just full to the roof beams with various treasures.  You can find rocking horses and feather boas and salt & pepper shakers and hats and old games.  I found some vintage fabric:

Each piece is 3-4 yards long and 36" wide.  The fabric is a lovely apparel cotton - soft with nice weight and some drape.  I paid $15 for all three.  I particularly love the colors in the last one, and I think it might work with the pencil skirt I finished this past weekend (no pictures yet - I want to wait until I finish the top that goes with it). 

I'm thinking of using one or two of these pieces to make a peplum blouse.  I found this pattern in my mother-in-law's basement, and if I imagine the top without those horrendous sleeves and a different neckline, I think it would work:

I guess the sleeves aren't that bad, but they are all wrong for my body.  I'd look like a linebacker if I wore something that emphasized my shoulders in that way!  And there's something about the drawings that just looks so harsh.  I keep thinking that if the blonde turns her head, she'll chill me with a look of icy disdain ("So you think my sleeves are horrendous?  It's your shoulders that are the problem, missy"). I'll just have to turn the pattern envelope over when I'm working on the blouse.

I also found drawer after drawer of buttons in the shop.  How I love unearthing buttons!

I'll have more treasure to show next week because I'm planning a trip to my favorite thrift store (The Economy Shop in Oak Park) on Thursday.  They only open for sales 3-4 times a month and I haven't been since June.  I've found all sorts of beautiful things there in the past, from fabric to buttons to fur collars and even a chair cover that I made into a wallet.  

In other news, I finished two skirts for clients and my class at The Little Bits Workshop is now underway.  And I just found out that one of my handbag designs is going to be published in Stitch magazine, so I'm having one of those weeks where I actually feel like I know what I'm doing!  I've got a sewing project on the table this week that is likely to knock that straight out of me.  I hope to give you an update on that one a little later this week.  Keep some fingers crossed for me!