The Best Laid Plans Of… uh…. Me.

Last week I splurged and bout five pieces of fabric from Chez Ami.  I'm making TLo's summer wardrobe (in theory) and the first pair of capri leggings I made from some Chez Ami ribbing were so nice and sewed up so well that I just had to fill in her wardrobe gaps with some more.  But despite having a "normal" income again now that the Husband has you know, a job, I still couldn't really rationalize buying more than five pieces to complete the gaps.  So I had to really agonize over what I chose.

Here's what I got:

turquoise ribbing

hot pink ribbing

stripey knit

floral poplin

brown interlock

 

All well and good.

 

Here's what was on the top of the pile of knits when I went to put the new fabric away:

brown interlock, again

 

I hate everything.

Mail Call!

So look what I got in the mail a few days ago:

It’s an assortment of off-cuts from Japan, courtesy of Big In Japan.  Some are rayon, some are cotton, some are silk.  There are dragons and mums and cranes and just all sorts of traditional motifs.  The Evil Monkeys and I are going to plan a wall hanging using most of these, some small purses (or similar) using the others and then the Evil Monkeys can have the remaining bits to make something else of their choosing in the future.  Whew!  That’s alotta projects.  Aren’t we lucky?!

And in the mail I also received a lovely gift from G.Marie, in the form of two issues of BurdaStyle that I did not own.  Yay!  I wasn’t even sure where to start with that one, so I picked this duster:

I’ve been wanting a drapey duster pattern forever.  Despite having five or six on hand, not one was exactly what I wanted.  This one is!  Awesome.  I’m working it up now in a reeeeeally cheap heather-grey pucker-knit that I must have bought on sale at Hancock’s… there’s no other explanation for having five yards of it.  Which is fortunate, because this pattern calls for three!  Yikes, that’s alotta fabric, right?  Even I don’t have very many lengths of fabric that would cover that.  If it comes out well, I’m going to buy something prettier and make it up again.

In the meantime, I have multiple projects in the planning stages (as usual) and not a lot in the almost-finished stages (as usual).  I have to make TLo a spring dress and also of course some western shirts.  I have a ridiculous collection of gingham I could use (that’s ten different ginghams!):

but I’ve decided to start with these fabrics from the stash for the western shirts (I already used the bottom fabric to make this skirt):

and this fabric for the spring dress, also from the stash (no pattern chosen as of yet, but something basic to show off the gynormous print – note the seam gauge at the left side of the image):

My mom bought the Evil Monkeys each one of this sweater:

which hopefully will match both their dresses.  We’ll see.  (And no, we don’t normally dress them alike, but both Monkeys insisted they wanted the turquoise… we explained to The Big One that, because she gets hand-me-ups and TLo’s is three sizes bigger than hers, she would probably be wearing this sweater for the next four years.  She didn’t care.  We’ll see how that goes four years from now when she’s still wearing it to school.  I guess you can’t say we don’t get our money’s worth out of a $50 kids’ sweater.)

 

And thus concludes this episode of “What I’m Pretending To Have Accomplished When In Fact I have Accomplished Very Little… Now With Added Gifts!”  Maybe next time I’ll have a wall hanging or a duster or a western shirt or a spring dress to show you.  We can dream.

Junk.

 

Do you 12-Step?  I don't.  It goes against several fundamental aspects of my nature.  Still, it seems like not 12-Stepping can make turning over a new leaf more difficult.  I mean, it’s hard to form a Help Group for the Fundamentally Anti-social and Smugly Superior.   Sort of, y’know, oxymoronic.

Mrs. Little Hunting Creek recently wrote a stirring testimonial about her addiction.  This made me laugh (because I always laugh at addicts-- I'm cruel that way).  Just the day before, I'd been in the midst of sorting and refolding my fabric, towards the goal of rearranging the studio (see Resolution #2, 2011).  I was quite proud of myself for having divested several yards of (perfectly good) fabric and making quite a bit of space in the storage cubes.  I said as much to the Husband. 

Then I informed him that very afternoon my mother had told me a good friend of hers was cleaning out stash and wanted to know if I would be interested in her "vintage fabric".  The Husband was visibly derisive and snorted, "Pssht. Yeah. Ask the addict if they want more heroin." 

Sadly, I came to the conclusion that there was little I could say in response.  Except, "Uh. Yeah."

More heroin, please.

I don't 12-Step.  I can 2-Step... if held at gunpoint... and forced to drink a whole bunch of tequila.

I didn't say it was pretty.

Old Timey Goodness Or Progressive Modernity? Neither, I’m afraid.

Did I ever mention that I'm a genius?  I've mentioned that once or twice, right?  I'm sure I must have.  Well, just in case: I'm a genius.

Um.  Sort of.

We live in north Texas.  Which is basically to say, "We live in a high-plains, desert-like hell the likes of which could inspire Dante to further greatness."  Er.  Or something.  My point being, in summer it is hot.  Really really hot.  And windy.  Really really windy.  It's also, not coincidentally, sunny 342 days of the year (I made that up, but it's fairly accurate). This perpetual sunshine is, in fact, one of the reasons we have the only joint NATO air training base in the country.  Lots of flying days.  Which is great if you're a Turkish pilot.  Or my laundry.

See, when we moved here from New Zealand, I swore as God as my witness, I would never dry laundry outside again!  (You have to imagine, y’know, big sweeping music and me ripping laundry off the line like so many curtains from the decrepit home of Scarlett O'Hara.)  And of course in Texas, nobody expects you to hang your laundry outside so it was oh-so-easy to comply with this heart-rending goal.

Except, there's all that fabric.  Soooo much fabric.  And it's been sitting in yard bags while I get around to washing it all.  You remember the whole my-cat-has-fleas-from-our-neighbor-kid scenario, right?  Well, when I realized the cat was sleeping in my fabric closet, out it all came into yard bags.   And there it all sat until I could get around to washing it.

Because that's allotta fabric to dry, people.

Enter the Husband, a power drill and three retractable clothes lines.  Up go the yards of fabric as they come out of the washer.  And, people!  Do you know how fast laundry dries in hell??  Super fast!  Like, if it's sunny and breezy, in about 15 minutes (as opposed to, oh let's say, six days in NZ). 

Good grief!  Why didn't I ever think of this before?!   Of course, new fabric I still have to machine-dry, because there’s always the possibility that I’ll machine-dry a garment I make from it.  And we don’t wash in hot water.  Although, if we’re going to start hanging the laundry, I guess we could start washing in hot water… hmm… so many laundry conundrums…  hot or cold water?…  To bleach or not to bleach?… What about the liquid fabric softener?!  Oh, the pressure.

Anyway.  Hanging the laundry.  I like it.

And here's a bonus: It makes an awesome design board.  This is what I pulled out of the bag randomly and yet look how pretty all that looks together.

A total fluke that it all coordinates (that floral has orange and purple in it exactly the colors of the knit and denim hanging next to it).  You get such a better overall picture when the fabric's extended full-length, don't you?   Of course, if I had my way, the entire world would just be one backyard strung with clothes lines and hung with pretty fabric.

I should get my way more often.

I know, it's really dumb to be proud of thinking to hang up the laundry.  But honestly I don't know one person in this town who would even consider such a thing.  And in all fairness, hanging laundry here can pose some difficulties.  For one thing, all that sunshine and wind does produce a lot of dust and dirt blowing around.  So you wouldn't want to leave your clean clothes out for too long or they wouldn't be clean anymore.  But for 20 minutes?  Brilliant.

It also makes a great backdrop for backyard silliness.

“Contritionem praecedit superbia.”

If you're an avid blog reader like me (by which I mean you spend endless hours avoiding the cleaning of bathrooms and kitchens through the reading of blogs), then you'll probably remember this post by the Slapdash Sewist, in which she gushed (quite understandably) about her recent FabricMart purchases.

Ahhhh FabricMart. Your bounty knows no bounds.

After reading said gushy post by TSS, here is what I said:

And here is what I found ten minutes ago when I opened my long-awaited box from FabricMart, eagerly anticipating my Anna Sui Harses Harses Harses print:

  

Hubris, thy name is Beangirl.

 

(I did also get the Anna Sui print… and, uh, some other stuff.)

edit: To dash hopes (I’m mean-spirited like that) – No, it did not just appear magically.  Apparently after taking it out of my cart two times in as many weeks, I then put it back in again.  And promptly forgot that I did.  It wasn’t until I opened up the box that I realized I must have ordered it to make up the 10 yards needed for that category.  Doh!  I haven’t taken it out of the dryer yet, but it seems like it’s going to wash up nicely.  So, you know, just what I need.  Three more yards of lovely lawn.

Oh.  And the Latin was just to give you a chance to use your Google translator.  I’m helpful like that.  Always thinking of others.)

Harses, harses, harses…

Ooooo…

Lookie-look what was on sale at Fabric Mart for $2.50/yard!  After much musing and debating and waffling, I bought 3 yards.  Aren't you excited?  Of course you are!

Now I just have to mull over what I'm going to make with it.  As we all know, my secret fashion girlfriend made a strapless minidress.  But as we also all know, I'm not about to wear any such thing.  So I'll just wait until I have it in my grubby little paws before I decide.  Probably some sort of tunic.  I'm boring like that.

The weird thing is that I was looking for this green-and-blue colorway a few weeks ago and it was nowhere to be found on the website.  Then all of the sudden -poof!- they have it for $2.50/yard.  Clearly a sign.  Better not miss the opportunity, right?  Right. 

You’d better get some too, right?  Hurry, while supplies last!

 

(PS.  No, I am not losing my mind… or swearing at you in my post title.  It’s from Sleepless In Seattle “harses… harses… harses…”.  When Meg Ryan is singing to Jingle Bells in the car.  I get that stuck in my head a lot.

No that does not mean I am losing my mind.)

Enablement

So, in case you were wondering Chez Ami is having a big ol’ fabric sale this week.  Lots o’ knits on sale at good prices.  You know.  Just in case you were wondering.

You were wondering that, right?

Chez Ami Fabric Sale

Personally, I am Controlling Myself Admirably so no super-nice knits for me.  But feel free to buy some for yourself.  Go on.  Just a few.  What could it hurt?

What?

Yes, it’s true.  I also like to take giant chocolate cakes to Weight Watchers meetings (you know, “just in case”) and leave racing forms lying around the Gamblers Anonymous office (you know, “just to keep a hand in”).  I’m helpful like that.

My Girlfriend’s Back And You’re Gonna Be In Trouble

 

So you can buy this fabric at FabricMart for $13.00/yard.

If you are my secret fashion girlfriend, you can make this out of it.

 

If you are my secret fashion girlfriend you will also have provided the world with this perfect, wonderful fabric (as seen below).   Which can also now be purchased from the good ladies at Fabric Mart for about $25.00/yard.

 

I’m finding that my secret fashion girlfriend is causing me serious mental anguish and consternation over my finances. 

I think we might need to go to couple’s therapy.

A-shopping We Will Go.

So besides shampoo, Saturday we went to Golden D’Or.  Plus, someone else paid for my stuff so I don’t really see how a day could get any better.  (I did try to pay for my own stuff, but my mom wouldn’t let me.  Twist my arm!)

I was on a mission to find some knit prints in colors that weren’t intended for pasty-pale blond people (I will be so glad when the color trends swing away from the “spring” and “autumn” color groups… I. Am. A. Winter.)

I managed to find these pieces (I could probably have found more, but my mom wasn’t totally interested in spending multiple hours in the fabric store):

 

From top left: raspberry-red slinky (3 yards), GORGEOUS midnight blue slinky (4 yards), black/white polka dot poly blend (2 yards), black/white grid pattern poly blend (1.5 yards), multi-colored square poly blend (2 yards), pink/white/black (1.5 yards)

The color on the slinky just does not translate in photos, it is absolutely dense with color and totally beautiful, especially the blue.

In the bargain room I got:

Ultra-fine deep red lawn/batiste—so thin it’s practically gauze (4 yards for $10!) and  black sequined border lawn—the border is on both selvedges (3 yards).  Tunics ahoy!

We also got two things for the Evil Monkeys (even though they have tons of fabric already):

Black/white and orange/orange poly knit with velour circles.  Black for Goth Girl (that would be The Big One) and orange for red-headed TLo (despite her refusal to admit she is, in fact, an autumn). 

My mom suggested making leggings for winter.  I suggested a short jacket.  I think she ended up buying enough to do both.  It’s pretty cute.

And then we got this:

Poly/cotton scrub fabric with kittens.  Since the Husband refuses to let me make scrubs out of this for him, I guess we’ll go back to the original plan which was to make pillow cases for the Evil Monkeys.  They will love them.

 

So much fabric (and not so cheap, either) but now I wish I had MOREMOREMOREMORE.  Uh.  More. 

Don’t you?