New Fabric and Upcoming Projects

While I was on vacation in New York, I got lots of fabric for upcoming projects. Because GARMENT DISTRICT. 

I made a big list of patterns and their fabric and notion requirements and hit the stores!

I got some lovely dark grey non-stretch cotton twill for a Minoru jacket for fall, along with some bright blue synthetic lining fabric.

This light blue chambray is from Mood and was just too soft to pass up. I bought three yards and am hoping to squeeze a dress from a vintage pattern Greg got me, McCall's 5238. I loved this dress on Mad Men and shamelessly bought the pattern after someone on Lucky Lucille suggested the pattern for her Mad Men Challenge dress.

Source

I'm currently working on a muslin, but it's my first vintage pattern, so I'm trying to be extra careful! If I have enough of the chambray fabric, which is 100 percent cotton, then I'll join By Gum, By Golly and Lucky Lucille's Fall for Cotton Sewalong. :)

Got some bright pink knit for a Renfrew shirt. (I asked the crowd if it was too pink for a t-shirt, and they assured me it was not!)

I have a yard and a half of this lovely fabric, from the remnant bin at AK Fabrics. Skirt maybe? I don't have a definite plan for this one, I just liked it a lot.

Greg found this lurking in the back of the pile at Chic Fabrics ("Oooh, coral flowers! You love coral!" -- I love this man.) I've never used a border print before, so no idea what I'll make with it. Probably a dress or skirt.

Polka dots! My one true love. I'll make a blouse from this. Probably New Look 6808 again.

Black slightly stretchy twill for a Kelly skirt, with attendant buttons from Mood.

Plain cotton knits in black and white for tank tops.

Super soft velvety brushed cotton in a lovely navy color. Skirt!

Dark wash denim for a Hollyburn skirt. And buttons to go with it:

I also got some grey cotton canvas to make into shorts (or another skirt) and some black knit yoga pants-esque fabric to make some Tofino pants.

So lots of skirts in my future -- but if we want to get real here, that's pretty much all I wear -- and I like to sew what I like to wear!

What's your next project?

Male Pattern Boldness Day + New York Vacation

Greg, Lyra and I just spent a lovely week in New York. Our first day concentrated on Male Pattern Boldness Day, which was absolutely wonderful.

Pic stolen from Peter of MPB

There was a huge group of people that met up at FIT for a free exhibit. (I'm in the back of that photo, just to the right of Peter's head.) We also had lunch at Panera and shopped until we dropped.

It was so fun to meet so many sewists -- it's really neat to finally meet folks whose blogs you love (and get introductions to new sewing blogs!) And it's also really funny the pattern/sewing recognition that happens. It's not "I like your dress!" it's "Is that a Cambie?" and "Oh, nice Hazel!" Love that!

While I was hanging out with the MPB Day crowd, Greg and Lyra were wandering around NYC. Seriously, Greg is the most patient person ever. He sat in Bryant Park all day with the dog, watching bocce ball and playing DS. Luckily, the weather was gorgeous and they had a nice time in the park.

At the end of the day, we headed out to spend a few days with Greg's aunts on Long Island. The weather was kind of meh, but we got one good beach day and spent time swimming in the backyard with the dog -- apparently Lyra likes water!

She was so worried we were going to leave her behind when we went stand-up paddling (we rented boards) that she swam out to us and jumped on Greg's board! Guess that answers the question of whether she can swim.

After a few days relaxing with the aunts, we headed back to NYC, where Lyra became hotel dog extraordinaire, I stocked up on fabric, thread and notions and we all took epic walks and ate lovely food. It was absolutely dreamy.

Not a great picture, but we went out to Eataly and ate on the roof one night and I wore a skirt made from a bedsheet.

It was altogether a lovely vacation! Here's a preview of the fabric I brought home:

I'll do a separate post tomorrow on upcoming projects and new fabric. There's no place like New York for sewing inspiration!

Fabrics From Seattle

Finally, the post you've been waiting for -- pictures of the fabrics and patterns I bought in Seattle. I didn't buy a ton of stuff or anything... mostly some novelty prints and a few indie patterns.

I got two Colette patterns, Jasmine and Crepe, as well as the Made by Rae Washi dress and the Green Bee Scoop Tote.

The Made by Rae and Green Bee patterns were impulse purchases -- they had the tote made up in the store and I thought it was really cute. And the saleslady recommended the Washi Dress -- one of the recommended fabrics for which is, get this, quilting cotton. I have never seen that recommended before and I've frequently seen people deride those who sew clothes with quilting cotton. So you can color me intrigued. If I ever start feeling less sick, I'll probably make that up next with the grey-and-white pitcher pattern shown in the bottom center of that picture.

 I was really bummed that no one had a Collete Ginger. The second store even had a Ginger made up from a recent class they had, but they were sold out. What a tease! I suppose I'll have to order it. I don't know why I haven't ordered it... oh well. I'll get around to it soon.

In addition to the patterns, I got some super super cute fabrics.

Um, hello, mice on bikes! Mice sitting on spools! I swoon. The second I saw this fabric I knew I had to have some. I bought a yard and I plan to make a cute little pillow or two.

Yes! Nancy Drew fabric! This is a small selection of the swatch pack I bought. Maybe a small throw blanket? I've got 42 4-inch squares. Isn't it precious? I love Nancy Drew when I was a kid (you could buy six Nancy Drew books for like $10 at Costco, so I had a million of them.)  I especially love the book spine pattern. Any ideas for what I could do with book spine quilting cotton? Something cute?

This is a canvas-y fabric and was in the remnant pile. I love coral, so I thought maybe I'd make the scoop tote with this on the outside? Yes/yes?

I also got a yard of grey with small white anchors, the aforementioned grey with white pitchers and a set of fat quarters with nautical-themed fabric (center right of the first picture).

Overall, the fact that I got to spend a day of my vacation shopping for fabric and indie patterns made the trip even sweeter. I had the best time that day and I love the souvenirs I came home with.

Skiing in Seattle

Greg and I just got back from an epic eight-day trip to Seattle.

I started the trip out right by staying up alllllll night the night before we left. We were set to leave the house at 5 a.m., and I was working until 1 a.m. Since I need about an hour to get myself together in the morning, I decided against sleeping for three hours. It turned out to be an awesome decision. I slept all the way to Seattle. Total win.

We decided to take a trip out there early in the year so that we could take advantage of good skiing weather and the opportunity to visit Greg's sister, who lives out there. We went Wednesday to Wednesday, and she was able to take off the second set of weekdays, so for the first few days we headed out to Crystal Mountain ski resort about two hours outside of Seattle.

Can I just say it was amazing? We stayed in the cutest little suite/condo with a dollhouse-sized kitchen (we did all of our own cooking for this portion of the trip), sitting room complete with wood stove and a hot tub and heated pool.

And the skiing was awesome the first day. Powdery and fun. Best of all, I hadn't forgotten how to ski. (I was a little worried -- I just learned how last year!) The second day was slightly less awesome -- I fell a lot and the slopes were more crowded because it was a Friday. And there was no new snow.  Ah well. Not every day can be a winner, right? That day we did get to take a nice detour to see Mount Rainier at the top of the gondola:

Friday night we hopped off to Seattle to meet up with Greg's sister and her boyfriend, who are just the nicest people with the cutest house and the silliest little Boston terrier. Greg's sister, happily, was able to act as our tour guide for the remainder of the trip, Tarzan (the Boston) in tow:

Over the weekend, we did all of our sight-seeing. I'd never been to Seattle before, so I was super excited to visit Pike's Place:

It reminded me of a giant version of Baltimore's Cross Street Market, which is a block away from the house I grew up in. Needless to say, I adored it.

We also visited the sculpture garden:

 I made that dress, by the way. More in another post since I made three of them. I don't remember what this sculpture was supposed to be, but it was shaped like a giant geometric donut -- with a bite out of it.

We also visited the locks. Oh. My. Goodness. I'd never seen a lock in action in person before. It's fascinating. I probably would have watched all day if I hadn't been with other, less interested, people. But I did get to watch twice! I took a long cell video of the process (I'll spare you my poor cellphone videography, no need to worry.) Also, that first boat was ADORABLE. All wood detailing... the lady aboard said it was a 1978. So pretty. Seattle is chock full of beautiful boats.

We rounded out the trip with wine-tasting, another day of skiing and visits to several local independent fabric shops (!!). I'll try to have a separate post with my haul from the fabric shops. Too good to be believed. And, of course, nothing like what we have here.

All in all, it was an amazing trip and incredible food, a sweet hostess, good skiing and a ton of fun. It was so sad it all had to end, though I confess that I do think one of the best things about going away is coming home. At least for me, returning home always increases my appreciation for little things: my bed, a glass of my favorite wine, non-travel bottles of toiletries (I hate them!), good milk and general familiarity. Home is, after all, where your sewing machines are. ;)