Gray and Bright

I got a lot of fabrics, the last time I went to the craft thrift store, that unexpectedly coordinated really well (plus a lot of fabrics I knew coordinated when I chose them), so, of course, my first inclination was to use them in the same project.  Maybe another layer cake dress?  I started pulling other fabrics from my stash that coordinated, and eventually decided to try making a dress or two from a mix of the new (to me) fabric mixed with stuff I've had for a while.  It seemed more...fair?...to mix new with old, instead of using up all the new in its own projects, while letting fabrics I already had continue to go unused.

I also wanted to make a nice, simple pullover dress--no patchwork this time!  ...well...relatively simple, because I did want to mix the fabrics with nods to the Gunne Sax pattern I have, mainly via visible facings, bias binding the neckline, and ruffles and more ruffles.  But.  No patchwork.  So.  It still seemed to go together very very fast.

 

Olive & Aubergine Patchwork

Once again, I opened a fabric storage drawer and said to myself, "This is very crowded, maybe I should use up all of a certain kind of fabric here in a patchwork project."

This time, it was bits of rayon, especially after I noticed they all circled around the same greens and purples...plus one black and white print.  At first, I wasn't going to include the B&W, but I thought it made a nice, unexpected contrast, so I went with it, which helped when it came to finding additional fabrics to mix in.

In addition to the rayons (most of which are challis, but one is faille), there's a vintage linen???, smooth plain weave cottons, homespuns, a flannelette, and a slubby silk cotton blend.

Make-over

 Made a coat dress at the beginning of January.  Didn't like it...like...intensely.  Even if I did address the fit issues, the big problem, for me, was that I did not like how the collar was constructed--unless it's a motorcycle jacket, I like my collar and lapels to be more connected than that.

I do have plans for a patchwork project that uses scraps of the fabric, but I didn't want to turn the whole thing into scraps, because I do like the fabric!  And I bought the buttons just for that project, which is something I almost never do (my stash is expansive, except, apparently, for ¾" black buttons.)  I let the coat dress hang on the closet door in here while I made the patchwork cat jacket, and considered my options.  "Skirt" was quickly considered and abandoned, because I realized I could make it into a jumper!

I'm not sure if I have properly conveyed just how much I like jumpers, because I know I haven't made very many of them over the years, but I do really like them, and have since the 1990s.  In fact, I had a copy of the pattern I used for this project--McCall's 7812--in the late '90s, and used it a few times.  I remembered it so fondly that I decided to re-acquire a copy a few years ago.

I finally cut the tissue for view A and here we are

It has a lot of issues, but, y'know what?  I'm wearing it right now, so it's definitely better than the coat dress incarnation.

Patchwork Cat Jacket

About eight years ago, I made a patchwork blanket based on a quilt block idea I had about ten years ago.  I based the block on 4½" fabric squares.  Early last month, I wondered if I could figure out a version of the block based on the square die sizes I have for my die cutter.

I did a little sketching and math and arrived at cutting the squares at 35mm, the squares that would be cut into half square triangles at 40mm, and the squares that would be cut into quarter square triangles at 45mm.  Because I am not 100% committed to Perfect, I cut those squares into halves and quarters with scissors, so things were...variable...but workable.

The day I posted the previous project (still not happy with that), I cut enough squares and triangles to do a test, and made this 

Success!

Then the tedium started, eventually getting to this

 

 Eventually.

The Ice Storm and Power Outages Have Made Surprisingly Little Impact

I am working on a sewing project, and I started it the day I published the previous post.  It's a little......detailed...

First Time Making a Pattern I've Had Since 1999

 ...or possibly early 2000.  It's Style 2494, and it has a 1994 copyright, but I'm pretty sure I got it when I worked at Joann from mid-1999 to early 2000

 

 Having finally made it, with enough time to develop my sewing skills so much more than what they were back then...  Well.  If I had made it immediately, I probably would have thought the problems were with my skills, and not with the pattern itself.

 

 Now, though, I know enough to be unhappy with the pattern itself.

Again to the Craft Thrift Store

On December 24, I checked the craft thrift store's Instagram, and saw that they had their e-gift cards on sale for half off.  I was recently reminded that I had some forgotten money in my PayPal, so I argued with myself for an hour or so before spending $50 to buy a $100 gift card for myself.

I trekked there the next Sunday, going by myself for the first time ever, so I could spend as long as I wanted, poking into every nook and cranny, and, most importantly, allowing myself the time to talk myself out of things, without feeling guilty about making anyone else have to wait for me.

The employees kept apologizing to shoppers, who were looking for specific things, about the store being a bit sparse, because they had recently had an "Everything $1" sale.  I was there for a "clearance items all $1 each" sale once, and I vowed never to go during one of their big sales again (too many people--it's not a large store.)

Me, though...I'm  happiest when I'm poking through the stuff other people didn't want, whether it's clearance stuff or donated stuff.  So!  Donated stuff left over after a clearance?  Fun!