Can't Go Alone

I had to go to JoAnn Fabrics in early October for some craft thing. I don't remember why I had them on my errand list. It's dangerous for me to walk in there. It ranks with bookstores as places I shouldn't go unaccompanied because the allure of things other than what I came for is so strong.

Of course I came out with more than I went in.

It was Halloween and so much was on sale. I bought the superhero pattern because I have this great idea, assuming I have the time to pull it off. At least I have the pattern. As I walked through the store, the cat print caught my eye. I had to have it. Yes, yes, I know. I have 6 boxes in the office closet which contain fabric. Couldn't I use those if I wanted to sew? But...but...black cats!

It took awhile to find just the right pattern to utilize the fabric. I've settled on a kimono-style jacket. It will be trimmed with black satin. It should go together fairly quickly.

Step one was to clear off the kitchen table and get the cutting board out of the closet. When I pulled out the board, which is little more than heavy cardboard, I noticed a stinkbug. It was a nice day, so I took the board outside to flick the bug into the yard. I opened up the board and, oh lordy.

There are 6 bugs plus a spider egg nest. Ultimately, I flicked a dozen bugs into the back yard. Since fixing the humidifier and fan on the furnace, I've had stink bugs all over the living room. I've sort of come to accept they are in the walls and crevices of the house. I'm always going to find them. The best I can do is flush 'em when I see them. The cats play with them on occasion, but they have learned, very quickly, these things are not for snacks.

I haven't sewn much around these cats, but I remember the previous ones.

Tissue paper patterns were "the cat's meow". You could almost see them salivating about jumping onto the pattern and playing. These kids aren't that interested in the pattern paper. I'm very okay with that.

Usually, I wash a fabric hunk before cutting, to remove any sizing and make the fabric shrink, if it's going to. But I wanted to cut this out right away so I skipped that step. This is so awesome. I just love the pattern of the cats.

I opened the back door to let in the sunshine and the warm October breeze and started cutting. I've said before, if I could get someone to do this step; pin and cut out; I'd probably go through all my fabric in those boxes. It would all be used. I really dislike this stage.

And this is as far as I've gotten. October got really busy and I wound up tabling this project. It sits on top of the sewing box on the kitchen table. It's been surrounded by boxes for recycling and mailing. I'm working on my current cross-stitch project, which I need to post here so you can see that progress. This is typical Sagittarius. Our lives are filled with started projects. When we actually get something done, we are as amazed as our friends and family are. Must clean off kitchen table.

Beverage:  Water

Deb

Got Me

I'm working on a long-term project. I won't start in earnest until the after-Christmas sales, but we'll say it involves a Halloween costume pattern and fabric. As Halloween patterns are on sale right now PLUS I had coupons, I entered JoAnn Fabrics last Sunday with the blinders on to get one pattern and one pattern only.

Yeah, that didn't go so well.

The cat print was on the end of a row of splashy Halloween fabric. The way this particular store is laid out, you're going to see brightly colored, distinctive fabrics when you walk in. In the store where I take my stuff to be framed, I would not have seen this, but I wasn't going all the way up there for a pattern, when I knew my local JoAnn's would have it.

I resisted for about 10 minutes. I actually had to pull up the costume pattern and look at it, to make sure it will do what I need to have done. And then I started paging through the Simplicity book, looking at shirts. I have an ancient camp shirt pattern which I've used for a wide variety of shirts, but I had no idea how much material it took and there was nothing like it in any of the books. There was one shirt I liked mainly because of the location of the pockets. But the variation I really wanted, long torso and elbow-length sleeves, did not have a fabric amount on the back. I'm no good at estimating the amount of fabric needed. Here was this kimono-themed jacket. It's not lined and it's reasonably simple to assemble. There was a variation for contrasting trim. I liked the look of the pattern.

Now, Pam was not around to talk me out of this purchase. I was running errands on this date; groceries, Target, JoAnn, cat food. Probably, both the pattern and the fabric will be around at the end of December, but I could make this and have it for my trip to Virginia at the end of November. I'm going to do the contrasting trim in black satin. I almost bought blanket edging, instead of the satin, but I wasn't sure how it would work around the neck. The pattern piece is curved to accommodate the neck line. Blanket satin is not.

So, I am testament to the power of putting eye-catching items on the end of a row. The gal helping me liked this material as much as I did. I could see this as a vest with a quilted lining, since you can buy quilted fabric now. Add a gold shirt and a bow tie, topping the look off with a top hat and a cane, and you have a Halloween costume. I'd probably wear the vest year-round.

I need to make room on the table in the living room to cut this out and get it made. We won't talk about the boxes of fabric in the closet.

Beverage:  Water

Deb

Last Shirt

I cut out and started stitching the last of the three shirts for BlizzCon.

It's hard to believe that it's T-23 days and counting. I'm starting to think of the clothes I want to bring along and are they clean, particularly the shirts. As I don't do wash but once a week now, I have to actually plan for things instead of just what happens to be next in the closet.

I had purchased all the fabric on the bolt, when I was at JoAnn's. This was to give me a cushion, in case I screwed something up. As it turns out, I needed the cushion just to cut the pattern. Not exactly sure how I miscalculated, but I wound up needing all of the length. I do have a chunk near the end which wasn't big enough for anything. I just set it aside in the scrap box. Some day...

It was intriguing to see how the cardboard bolts are fashioned now.

After determining that I'd take the whole thing, the gal at JoAnn's simply rolled the fabric back on the bolt and gave me the whole thing. I unrolled the rest of the fabric and discovered the bolt is just folded cardboard. I remember when this was a fairly sturdy rectangle. Maybe that's still true for some fabrics, but, for this one, it wasn't. This is, actually, easier to add to the recycling bin.

Now that I'm on the third shirt, it's going together rather quickly. The hard part is the collar and front facing. Once that is done, it's a piece of cake to finish. BlizzCon, here we come.

Beverage:  English Breakfast Tea

Deb

New Sewing Project

It's taken me some time to push myself toward my next sewing project. I'm going to try to use up the fabric I have in the boxes in the closet. There's such a low motivation to sew, though. It's this danged being tired all the time business. But, I broke down cleaning off the living room table into small steps and, every day, did one thing. I also told myself that dealing with the stuff I had piled on the table did not mean just moving it from point "A" to point "B".  I had to actually deal with the stuff. By Tuesday, I had cleared off the table and pulled out the new project.

My goal is to use up my Iowa Hawkeye fabric. Initially, I pulled this hunk out.

It's fleece. I have several pieces of Hawkeye fleece I've picked up over the past few years. This would be the first one I'd sew with. I'm going to use this vest pattern.

It's extremely simple; a front, a back and a pocket piece. It shouldn't take me very long to whip out 5 vests for the great nieces and nephews, all from Hawkeye fabric. While the child on the front of the pattern is female, I think the pattern could be considered unisex. The front is held together with a button put through a self-fabric loop. Instead of the loop, I'm going to attach elastic to the front. I think that will be easier for the kids to dress themselves then; much more give to the loop than fabric, even fleece. Plus, the idea of turning fleece was not appealing. When you've sewn as long as I have, you recognize what things are liable to give you more headaches than they are worth. Making a 3 inch long loop is one of those things.

So, I pull out the pieces for the vest. I'm not going to line them with a different color fabric. I'm gong to use the same fabric. All the pieces are 60 inches wide so there should be ample material to cut double of what I need, except for this first vest. This one has to be the biggest. After that, I'll come back to the pattern and make the next sizes down. I remember, when multi-size patterns were introduced, cutting the a middle size and then having to get another pattern to cut the larger size. You can always cut things off, but you can't attach them back on.

It turns out the gray fabric doesn't have enough to cut double the largest size vest from. I would have had to do some seriously measuring and replacement, things I don't want to do because I don't really need to do. Just change the fabric. I pulled this hunk out of the bag.

There's more than enough of this to make the first vest AND to have some left over. My goal is to not have any left over because I know how hard it is for me to toss material which may have some potential use down the line. The gray fabric will meet that criteria for a smaller size vest, but the yellow yielded a strip which has potential for something else. I trimmed off the excess and added the strip to the project box.

Tonight, I'm pulling out the sewing machine and getting that set up. The vests don't need interfacing so it will be about sewing the pieces together, turning them and doing some hand stitching. Maybe I can get one done and the next one cut out this weekend.

I think these will be fun for the kids. At the very least, the adults should appreciate them.

And, by popular request, here is the pattern I used to make Larry's shirt.

I like the style. I have some material which would lend itself to this pattern.

Beverage:  Hot Cider

Deb

Maybe It Will Be Done

One of the casualties of this lack of energy has been my crafting. I had all these plans, back in September, upon finishing the curtains for Carole and Larry's house. I bought bits and bobs and finishing items. I was going to sew. And then the fatigue set in.

All my ideas are in bags in the office. Last night, however, I sat down with a hunk of fabric.

Darth Vader and crossed light sabers. I've had this fabric for some time. I can't really divulge what the project is, just yet. In my mind's eye, when I bought this, it was to have been finished by October. Well, that didn't happen. I took the fabric out of the bag and draped it over the recliners, to taunt me, of course. That didn't work either because here it is, December 11th, and last night I just cut this out. Pinning and cutting is my absolute most hated job when making anything. Oh lord. If I could hire someone to do that chore, I would. I couldn't find my cardboard cutting board either. Although the table works fine because it's big, it has slats and that can make for difficulties in cutting when the scissors go into the slats.

But, this project is cut out.

When I bought the fabric, I didn't have the pattern with me so I estimated, or "guess-timated". Of course, I wind up with about 18 inches more than I needed but that's to be preferred. Now that it's cut out, I will find it much easier to finish. There are more projects upcoming, easy projects that I can get done before Christmas, if I just have the energy to finish them.

Another side effect of this is searching out Camelot Fabrics, the maker of this. Oh my. I'm going to have to bookmark this site.They have a sewing blog where I can dream about having all this time to sew. I found a link to order the fabric I bought for Carole and Larry's kitchen curtains. If I ever get around to finishing the quilt I have, I should probably start here for complimentary fabrics.

So, I'm full of plans. Will the energy hold?

Beverage:  English Breakfast tea

Deb

Next Projects

The curtains are finished, folded and in the box with a few other things to be taken to Virginia. I'm feeling crafty again. I'm sure it's because it's fall and I just love these days. There's also the knowlege that there are less than 100 days to Christmas and I have all these gift ideas.

I finished a project I can't reveal, at the present time. That set me on a course for the next project. It involves a black pumpkin.

I got mine at JoAnn Fabrics. They are kind of expensive, I think, if you buy them at regular price. But when they are 60% off AND you have a coupon, they are a very good value. What this becomes will be the subject of a post over the weekend, assuming I'm not worn out from being in the city Wednesday through Friday. It's a multi-step process anyway. Got to let the glue dry, you know.

I will be sewing for Christmas. I'm a sucker for Iowa Hawkeyes fleece. There was this grand idea that I would make myself a fleece patched lap blanket out of all the pieces I had accumulated.

Yeah...not gonna happen. Even though I have large enough hunks that I could do that, I would look at the fabric and think, "What was I thinking?" But then it hit me. I have grand nieces and nephews. I should make them something Iowa Hawkeye.

See how much of this I have? I have 5 kids under the age of 8, who could get something out of these 3 pieces of fabric. In the same trip where I bought the pumpkin, I bought patterns and buttons. Everything else I had.

The cat material above is going to become a tote bag with copious amounts of pockets. I'm tired of not being able to find exactly what I want in a bag. So, I'm going to make what I want. I will need to buy interfacing for that because I don't have enough of the very stiff kind, but that's low on the priority list right now. The floral to the left is something Carole picked out years ago. It's finally going to be turned into its intended purpose.

Last year was the year of crocheting. This year is the year of sewing. It can take me a bit to get started but once I do, the momentum of completion fuels the next project.

Beverage:  Scottish Breakfast tea

Deb

Crafting in September-Project Curtains Done

I finished the last set of curtains last night. Side door done.

The stiff seersucker fabric makes the curtains hang very nice and straight. As I was sewing the hem, I had a momentary panic that I'd forgotten which way the fabric was to go and the stripes wouldn't be the same. Once I hung them from my rod, that panic disappeared. I did have to cut a foot off the panels for the hem. My inability to do math properly strikes again. Oh well. Carole says she loves them. I can't wait to see them hanging on her side door.

So, what's next? Well, while roaming the JoAnn Fabrics in search of items for another craft project, which I can't really show until after the gift is given, I stumbled upon a Star Wars fabric they didn't have at the JoAnn closest to me.

Is this not awesome!? I have to finish the above named project and then I can work with this. Oh do I have plans for something. Stay tuned.

Beverage:  Water

Deb

Colors of Sunshine

So I'm sitting at the table having my Cheerios (see post below) and totally enjoying the sunshine of the first day of fall. It splashes over the table and everything on it. I have to take a bunch of pills every morning. Most of them are vitamins, but it's still a lot. I have the sewing machine set up to finish the curtains and to progress to Christmas presents. I'm already thinking that far ahead. I have all this fabric. Oh! I know what I can make. Inspiration comes from everywhere.

I put my pills on the sewing machine and the sunshine caught them.

The various colors of cream and white are quite interesting to me. There's the cream-clear gel of the vitamin D in the back and the cream of the round folic acid in the front. And the white of the diuretic and the zinc and magnesium. Contrast that with the stark white of the sewing machine and the lightly gold tinged sunlight. There's beauty in everything if you just look. You could say it makes taking all of these an exercise in art consumption.

The sunlight also illuminated the curtains on the table.

Look at how the fabric glows. This is exactly what, in my mind's eye, I wanted for Carole's side door. I wanted sunshine and happiness and color. The side seams are stitched and tonight I will pin and sew the top for the rods. The fabric is quite stiff and will hang beautifully. Now I'm thinking I should make curtains for my house. I have rooms that would benefit from a sprucing up of new curtains.

Beverage:  Scottish Breakfast tea

Deb

Crafting in September-Finished Kitchen Curtains

Curtains for Carole's kitchen are done.

That window is short. I still bought six inches too much but it didn't feel really wasteful in the pocketbook to lop off six inch strips. I dropped those pieces into the quilt scraps box.

I started the last pair, a set for the side door.

Instead of a Star Wars or Star Trek print, I opted for something brighter. Ninety-five percent of the people who come to the house come in through the side door. Carole's favorite color is yellow. I wanted those curtains to be bright and cheerful and to radiate sunshine and happiness. Plus, the only other themed fabric was dark and this window faces south. It's going to fade over time. I think there is nothing worse than faded dark fabric. If they are in the house long enough to cause this to fade, it won't look bad.

The problem is that the door window is only 22 inches wide. The fabric is 44 inches wide. Ah! Just cut it in half. Um...no, that won't work.

See, I have to hem the sides and once I put that in, the fabric width shrinks to about 20 inches which is not wide enough for the door. Plus, she has two small rods on the door, each about 14 inches in width. So I was going to need to lop off some of the width of the fabric. (See how happy a design this is? Yes, it's seersucker. I've always liked that kind of fabric.)

I started measuring and realized that seersucker, with its gathers, has a line I can follow without pinning. Very carefully, going slow, I followed the line outside the pins and cut off a portion of the width. The window is just as long as the kitchen window so I anticipate having to lop a bit off the bottom. The excess is in the quilt box. Some day...

Because I'm working with two rods, I have to then cut the remaining chunk in half.

The nice thing about the weight of seersucker, when I folded it in half, made sure that the edges matched, and ran my hand along the fold, it stayed folded. It did not move as I slowly cut the piece in half. Here's the result.

One piece has the printed edge, which tells of the fabric's maker and has the dye numbers on it. That seam, which is usually one half inch wide, gets folded over and stitched. The actual cut edges I have to turn twice to prevent unraveling. That's why I had to cut more than just severing the fabric in half. There needs to be enough, when completed, to cover the width of the window.

One piece was pinned for the start of the side seams before I went to bed. I have to change the color of thread in the machine now. I'm thinking black is not a good match.

Beverage:  Water

Deb

Crafting in September-New Curtains

I started the new curtains last night.

Carole said Star Trek was suitable, too. These will be made exactly like the blue Star Wars ones just finished. The texture of this fabric is more supple. Plus, the way the design is printed, I don't have to match sides as I did with the blue print. Still, I'll pin everything the same way. I should have another set to show you by week's end.

Beverage:  Water

Deb

Crafting in September, part 1

Back in July, all full of excitement and energy, I purchased a bunch of cloth which is destined to be curtains for various windows in Carole's house.

Minus the Hawkeye fabric, there are four hunks here waiting to be turned into curtains. It was going to be a fun and easy project to do. One set one day and move on to the next one. Then August arrived and my energy left.

The past weekend was perfect. The highs were in the mid 70's with clear blue skies. After sitting on the deck for a half hour, I felt more energy than I've felt in at least 6 weeks and I grabbed the top fabric off the pile. I had, over Labor Day weekend, moved the pile from the office to the living room table. That was a major step towards getting these done. The "out of sight, out of mind" idea is very much a part of my life here. If I hadn't moved them, it would be October 20th with my leaving 3 days away and I'd not have them even started.

So, I grabbed the top fabric, the one with the Death Star on it. I unfolded it across the table.

You know, that would make a great tablecloth. Years and years ago, I remember a tutorial on turning a piece of plain cotton into a water resistant table cloth for picnics. It wouldn't be water proof, just stain resistant of the temporarily wipe off junior's mashed bananas-type of fabric. But these are going to be curtains. 

The windows are of sufficient width that a piece 44 inches wide can be cut in half and I'll have plenty of overlap to cover the window. 

So, I cut it in half.

Step 2 is to negotiate which section of fabric I can have and which section Mija can lie on.

When that was done, I started measuring for the side seams.

I measured a half inch and pinned. Then, I folded over again for a half inch, total seam.

On the other side, I just folded in the selvage edge and pinned. Since it's a finished edge I don't need to fold it twice to keep it from unraveling.

That's as far as I got yesterday. I moved the sewing machine from the office to the living room. It's just a matter of stitching the seams and the sides are done. Then I can move on to pinning the top for the casing and hemming the bottom. It may seem like not much but this fatigue can best me even when I think I feel great. Once I get one done, I know I'll feel energized to do more, maybe make a couple in one day.

While I was pinning, I heard a noise behind me. I got up to refresh the hot water in my mug and someone was on the top of the cat tree.

This is a first. She's never gotten up there on her own. They both just wanted to be near me.

Beverage:  Dr Pepper

Deb

The Next Crafting Project

I went to  JoAnn Fabrics last week to get an item to finish this wedding present. While I was there, I noticed bolts of cloth sitting on a rolling cart.

Oh my. Carole's boyfriend, Larry, is a huge Star Wars fan. He also doesn't have a Hawaiian-style shirt made by me, in a loud fabric. I could certainly use one of these prints to make a shirt. This one was particularly attractive to loudness.

So I asked Carole which print would be the most attractive. I have no illusions about whether the shirt would be worn. It was more the idea of him having a shirt this "loud" in a print he would like. It's the proverbial Christmas gag gift.

Carole's response?  "Um...how about curtains, mom?"

Now, I haven't made curtains in years, decades even, but rod pocket curtains are very easy to make. The problem, for me, is doing the math to figure out how much fabric I need. But, heck, I can do this. It will be fun. Normally, I would wash the fabric to get the sizing out of it, but, for curtains, I don't have to. My friend, Pam, and I sat in JoAnn Fabrics surrounded by all the bolts of Star Wars AND a bolt of Star Trek fabric because Carole said that would be cool, and did math. In the end, I didn't need that much fabric to cover 4 windows.

Here's what I purchased.

I have curtain material for the side door, above the kitchen sink, the dining room and the home office. Now, about that chunk of Hawkeye fabric on the end there. It was off to the side. Someone had taken the rest of that bolt and this was to be added to the remnant pile. It's about a yard in length and is 60 inches wide so there is a lot of fabric. It's soft. It's a very soft flannel.

As I was waiting to have my fabric cut, I could hear it whispering me. "Hi there. You're a Hawkeye fan. I know because you keep looking my direction. You've picked me up a couple of times, too, and noticed I have football and basketball emblems on me, as well as Herky and the tiger hawk. Buy me. I'll be greatly reduced in price because I'm a remnant and the only piece of this bolt left in the store. Buy me. You know you want to." I got the remnant for 75% off. Since this fabric wasn't on sale, that was a big reduction. The rest of the fabric was on sale for 30% off AND I had a coupon for an additional 15% off everything. Not bad for curtain material.

I did purchase material for the shirt. That will show up in another post. I have no idea what I will make with the Hawkeye material. I have two other chunks I need to do something with. Maybe I should consider that Hawkeye "patched-look" blanket I've been thinking about making.

I am on a deadline. I will be back in Virginia in October for a Highland games and I want to bring the curtains along at that time and hang them. The shirt can wait for December and Christmas. There is a book on the ottoman I should finish reading. I'm up to book number 8 and I don't want to abandon the drive to read 12 books this year. So many things to do.

But, this is my next project and I'm excited to get started just as soon as I clean off the table.

Beverage:  Huckleberry Tea

Deb

Pam's Voice

Having to walk into a fabric store or a craft store that sells fabric is an exercise in the utmost restraint. I usually fail the test. It was terribly hard on Sunday, too, to walk into JoAnn Fabrics to purchase the pieces to make spiders for the front. So...many...fabrics. So many things I could sew.

As if to taunt me, the printed fleece was on an end, right by where I would walk to get to the styrofoam balls. They had a huge selection of professional teams from baseball, football, basketball and hockey. There weren't a lot of college teams represented, but, oh dear, three bolts of Iowa Hawkeyes and each one is different. No. No. Must not be tempted. I'll just walk around the corner here and ...

crap. Will you look at that.

Last year, when I was going to make Carole and David camp shirts, I went to a very large JoAnn Fabrics for material. I knew I had seen Pittsburgh Steelers fabric and they are David's favorite pro team. I thought it would be a big hit to make him a camp shirt in Steelers fabric. The large JoAnn store, while having almost everything under the sun, did not have any fabric with the Steelers logo on it, nothing, zero, zip, zilch. I didn't come to this store, even though it's closer to me, mainly because the road to the shopping center where the store is located is under destruction and getting here is a headache and a half. I settled for the fire print, which turned out really cool. I should have come here. I'd have found exactly what I wanted.

There's an interesting connection between the Hawkeyes and the Steelers. This, from Wikipedia:

In 1979, Hayden Fry helped to create the Tiger hawk, the logo seen on Iowa's football helmets. Since both teams shared the colors of black and gold, Fry gained permission from the Pittsburgh Steelers, the dominant NFL program of the 1970s, to overhaul Iowa’s uniforms in the Steelers’ image. Fry's idea was that if the team were going to act like winners, they first needed to dress like winners. Fry had originally asked Steelers Defensive Tackle "Mean" Joe Greene for a replica helmet and home jersey; Greene was able to send Fry to one of the team owners, and three days later, the owners sent Fry reproduction copies of the home and away uniform of Steeler Quarterback Terry Bradshaw, making Iowa one of only a few schools to use the uniform scheme of an NFL team. Although the uniforms appear the same, there are subtle differences, mainly in the scheme of the white away jerseys, the Steeler jerseys have the players names in yellow, while the Hawkeyes use black.

So, here I stand in the aisle, taking a photo and thinking of getting enough material to make myself a shirt or, perhaps, actually making David the shirt I wanted to make last year. Then, out of the blue, comes a voice in my head. I know this voice. It's Pam. "No, you're here to get those things on your list to make spiders. You can't buy anything else. Besides, what's in that box in the closet?" Ah yes, the box in the closet.

I have two pieces of fleece that I haven't done anything with. Guess that settles that. Now where are the styrofoam balls?

Beverage:  Dr Pepper

Deb

Yesteryear

I've mentioned, in previous posts, how pieces for quilts were taken from clothing that has been worn out. When it ceased to be fixable, it went into the pile to be cut apart for quilting.

I'm going through the latest box of fabric and out comes this.

I remember this. I remember wearing this. I believe I wore this in kindergarten as, at the time, girls were not allowed to wear pants to school except in the winter and then, we had to take them off when we got to school. Oh my. I remember. 

The skirt is not attached to the back bodice anymore. I think it can be repaired, however. A gentle hand washing and a check of the seams and I think it could be worn again. I didn't see anything else wrong with it. 

Another dress was in the box.

This is not something I wore. I have no idea who would have worn this. It's in much more serious condition with parts of the front missing. This is definitely a candidate for the quilt pieces bin.

But my dress? I don't have a granddaughter, yet. I may never have a granddaughter. I can't bear to put this in the quilt pile. I remember feeling wonderful when I wore this dress. I don't think anyone made it. I'm fairly certain it was purchased. I don't remember my sister wearing it, although hand-me-downs weren't uncommon in my family. I'm going to fix it, clean it and keep it. No, it really serves no purpose to keep it other than to hold onto a time when life was wide open and I wore pants to school under my dress.

Beverage: Dr Pepper

Deb

Extra Splash

The cat "Humbug" banner sits on the table, as unfinished as it was at the beginning of the month. Granted, I have not felt like myself and the thought of dragging out the sewing machine to finish the project didn't appeal. But I feel drawn to that red corduroy with the cats on it, the one I was going to turn into a jacket. While in the basement doing a load of wash, I looked through the drawer which contains my patterns. I don't see the pattern I used for the original red corduroy coat but I did find the pattern I was going to use for the cat corduroy. I was drawn to the pattern because it was shown in a cat print. It's nice...but...I...think I want to look at other patterns for something closer to the original red coat. That's my feeling, right now. Ask me again in a month if I feel the same way.

While looking for the original coat pattern, I found the pattern I used to make shirts for Carole and David for Christmas. They are referred to as "camp shirts", probably because the style is synonymous with summer camp personnel before knits were widespread. I realized, some time after Christmas, that I had never posted photos of the finished products. This is Carole's shirt.

This is David's.

They assemble easily and are easy to wear and care for. I made one many, many years ago for my ex. It's  a loud print of food and was made for a picnic. I think he wore it once or twice before I commandeered it and have worn it ever since.

I'm drawn to loud and bright. As I was working through the boxes of fabric, more hunks appeared for which I have no memory of why I bought them. I separated swatches into piles based on fabric type and it occurred to me that these would, perhaps, make good camp shirts.

I add to this the cats printed on the light weight cotton shown before and I'd have a whole week's worth of new shirts. It would just take the time, buttons and interfacing to make them. I would probably have to buy complimentary fabrics to make a shirt similar to Carole's if I use the "peacock" feather blue but there's more than enough of the flowers on black to make a shirt, even a long-sleeved version, although that might be a bit much. 

I've stood in my closet on some days wishing I had the funds to buy some different shirts, recycle what I have and add something new to my wardrobe. A couple friends have suggested Goodwill but there's not one around here and the ardor to shop will have passed by the time I get to the closest one. 

I learned to sew because it was required. I continued to sew because I felt creative and I had clothes no one else had. I remember, in high school, going to a vocal music contest wearing a dress I made. While passing through the halls on my way to rehearsal prior to our going into competition, I ran into a gal with the same pattern. We stopped, looked at each other and laughed. My dress was a light green and white plaid. Hers was a light slate blue with flowers. While it was the same pattern, it was a completely different dress. That's what makes sewing so great. It can be the same pattern, but it's uniquely yours. Try getting that from Target or Nordstrom's. 

I went to the mall to stop at the Hallmark store on my route yesterday. Macy's is showing men's shirts in vivid plum, dark teal, forest green, cream and brick red. I had to stop and look. Beautiful deep colors. Walk into the women's department and, for your wardrobe this fall we have navy blue, ivory, black and what I can only call dirty chartreuse. Men get bright. We get mush. It makes me even less inclined to consider using my hard earned dollars to augment or freshen my wardrobe. 

So, perhaps, once I get the "Humbug" cat banner done, it's time to scratch the sewing itch. 

Beverage:  Dr Pepper

Deb