Like I needed more fabric in my stash....

 

I stopped at Marden's  on my way home from church yesterday afternoon. 

It is a chain of stores here in Maine, which stocks surplus and salvage goods:  clothing, some furniture, dry (boxed, bottled and canned) foods, home décor, small appliances, you name it, you never know what will be in stock this week.  And the prices are deeply discounted. It's kind of like a treasure hunt, and you can spend more time than you intend to...  I went in to rummage through discontinued yarn.  They always have a lot of yarn, but I tend to forget to check there.  Yesterday, it occurred that since I am lamenting that Bernat is no longer offering their light-fingering-weight baby yarn, that maybe Marden's would have some.  Nope.  They had less yarn than I have seen there before, and can you believe it?  I didn't buy a single skein of what they did have.  Nothing appealed to me.  There were lots of novelty yarns, the type whose mere existence irritates me.  I don't believe it deserves to be offered up as "yarn".  It should be called "wacky craft goods" or something.  How many uses can you dream up for something with dyed rabbit fur puff-balls worked in at periodic intervals?  Unless you have the "fashion" inclinations of say, Lady Gaga or Helena Bonham-Carter.  I hope I'm not offending you, but I think you've probably surmised that my fashion sense is solidly conservative and old-fashioned.  Avant-garde for me is to wear something that is both boldly-patterned and brightly-colored.  Wearing white slacks or shoes before Memorial Day and after Labor Day makes me feel devil-may-care. 

I consoled myself in the fabric department.  They were selling remnants @ 50% off.  Most were in the 1-2 yard range.  Hmmm....just right for making baby clothes.  I am also quite conservative when it comes to baby clothes.  I agree with Michie' (see her gorgeous blog), who opined in one of her posts that she didn't like the clothing to overwhelm the baby.  I don't care for prints to be loud or large or busy.  I love color, but I like it to be soft, and often, pastel.

 I like the trend of using more "muddy" or muted colors.  (Have you seen how Alicia dresses Mimi?  Brava!)  I love simplicity of form, but with judicious touches of detail, like embroidery, tiny bits of piping, and definitely tucks and smocking.  Oh, and fabric-covered buttons on a simple sweater, yummmmm....
For the special-occasion, heirloom type things, you can't beat Michie' or Jeannie Baumeister.

You can see that I found some fabrics I can embrace...they are mostly plain-weave cottons, like for quilting, but I was pretty picky to stick with things that were smooth and soft.  The peachy-pink solid is a fine-wale corduroy.  The one to its right is the palest gingham I've ever seen, you almost can't tell it's gingham---it seems to be like...ramie (remember that stuff?)  and it's very sheer, so will likely do best with a batiste lining (as it isn't as silky as you'd like next to a little'un's skin).    Some of them feel a little like lawn (the posy pinky one on the left above), and one (blue flowers on white in the first picture) has a twill weave and is brushed like flannel.  The little packages of buttons were 2 for a dollar.
Now I need some patterns!

Odds 'n Ends

I recently had a new little garment to wash out and block, and while I was at it, I blocked the scarf below, which I knitted months ago, and tucked away, without weaving in the ends or adding the buttons.

 I still need to weave in the ends and add buttons.
In that same post, I talked about trying to learn to knit in the Continental style, although I have always knit in the English style.  In my recent projects for Marie Rose, I knit up a swatch to check my gauge, English style, and then for comparison, Continental style.  After blocking:

 This is the English style.

 And here's the Continental.  You can see that it is definitely looser, and a whole lot less regular.  I concluded that I'll stick with English style and only carry yarn in my left hand to make Fair Isle knitting easier.

 Here they are together.  Same number of stitches and rows.  Vastly different results.  I used sz 2US ndls, and the yarn, as far as I can tell is no longer available.  It is Bernat Baby, which is a fingering weight.  A few years ago, I bought this yarn in white, ivory, pink, blue, yellow, lavender and green.  I have 1-2 skeins of each, and I don't think I'll be able to get more.  Bernat has many baby yarns, but not fingering weight.  I like the fingering weight, because it gives me such fine, delicate results.  The recommended needle on the label is a sz 3, but I like a little tighter fabric,  think it gives firmer, finer feel to garments.

Here is a swatch of Caron Simply Soft.  I love the color and took this picture as I think it would make a darling little girl's cardigan sweater to go with dresses made from the above two fabrics, n'est-ce pas?

Thrifting for Thrills!

I’ve been doing a lot of thrifting lately.  It’s hard not to, GW has opened an outlet next to the building where I work 5 days a week.  I’m not really good at identifying true vintage, so it’s a good thing that the prices are so very reasonable.  I am so easily influenced in what to collect.  I see a display on a blog that I like, and then I am spying similar treasures at the GW, and the next thing I know I am taking them home, and trying to re-create the vignettes I’ve seen on my favorite blogs. 

In an unabashed declaration of my admiration, I direct you to my latest blog infatuation:  Sweet Cottage Dreams.  She does some especially delectable Christmas decorating, and caused me to fall in love with chippy, vintage-looking Santas.  (Although I do think I had a tendency in that direction already!)  Check out these kitschy vintage Santa mugs on etsy.com   This Santa is actually a planter, with an opening in the sack over his shoulder.  I think it’ll be perfect to put candy canes in.  As I look at this picture, I realize that it is too cluttered to see all the great finds individually.

      So, here are a couple

 of views showing Santa’s cheery charms.

And check out this happy mug!  (Get it?  Mug?! Heh-heh!)

And another view of the Christmas-y things.  That box with the tree stand really has the tree stand in it – score!

The vase that looks like old mercury glass probably isn’t, but I wouldn’t know.

Do you love the doll-sized park bench?  It’s really painted cast iron and weathered wood.  I think somebody had a front porch display because there were a couple of pine needles still on it.  I’m considering ways to use it, including using it to display my treasured Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls.

The crescent bone dishes are green transferware, and bear the marking:  “Genoa J&C Meakin Hanley England”.

These don’t appear to be too terribly old, but I think the bright red cards with the charming illustration make a good accent piece in a vignette, and the Bingo cards will be terrif for various crafting projects (at least I know that I’ve seen others do clever things with them!).

Again, these items aren’t particularly old, but made it into my cart by virtue of their timeless charm.  The fabric is a curtain, rather small.  I will not use it for a curtain, it is quite loud when you stretch it all out.  It will be better suited incorporated in pillow tops, tote bags, that sort of thing.  The colors are so cheery, no?

That’s all for now!

Color Me Tickled Pink!

Do you know what this is? It is the exact shade of turquoise that the color experts declared as the color of the year 2010. (Who knew? No doubt more people than I count, it's just that I wasn't one of them. Well, thanks to Gertie, this year, I am in the know. No more color obscurity (colora obscura?) for me. Color me informed! This year's Pantone color is none other than the lovely honeysuckle. And if you relish poetic colorful word pictures, you should go to their website and read the press release, where the text gives real meaning to the choice of this color for 2011. (And if you find that this topic and fashion interests you, they also intorduce the Fall 2011 fashion palette!)
Here is the official swatch:

I also recently discovered that on http://www.gorgeousfabrics.com/, the fabric details include the closest Pantone shade. This is especially good if you don't trust your monitor, and therefore shy away from buying fabrics online. We have a Pantone catalog at work, and I might just have to borrow it to work out what shades of fabric I have in my inventory. It would sure make coordinating less of a hit-or-miss deal.

How many of you can remember when it was popular to: have your colors "done"? This was usually done by a consultant who helped you characterize your personal coloring, and learn what hues and shades were the most flattering colors to wear, both in your clothes and in your makeup. I never had it done, but I am very easily categorized: I am a "Summer", fair hair, fair skin, blue eyes, and so I look best in pastels , and in general, colors with a blue-ish hue. I admit I haven't studied the prescribed colors exhaustively. It's just that I've been on the planet long enough to have accidentally observed that certain colors are really more flattering than others on me. As it turns out, I really like the way coral colors look on me, and also almost any shade of green. Most blues are fine, but it's when they have a little green in them that they really pop. I think it's because my eyes are not a clear crystal blue, but have just a hint of amber, and with my skin's natural tendency to pink up, sometimes they look almost green. I think I may be the only woman in America who doesn't wear much black -- instead my go-to color is navy blue, but I recently determined that it should be a taupe or a medium charcoal gray.

Here are 4 fabrics I recently purchased. The ribbed one on the left is a true taupe. The next one looks very much like it, and looked definitely brown-y taupe online, but was called gray! I find that in very bright sunlight, it looks gray, but in any lower light, it looks taupe, go figure. I adore the aqua print - it looks a little like a Japanese print, maybe it is? And I love turquoise with coral.That coral is a rayon knit with a "slub" texture.

I forgot about lime green! I really like lime green, which came as a surprise to me when I realized it. I think I had kind of ignored it since it was more yellow, but somehow it is still a flattering color for me. The fabrics below mainly showcase my affinity for sage green. But I really didn't get accurate colors -- it just looks so gray here. The print knit photo'd well, though. I will be cutting that out for another top like the one on the dressform the other day.The fabric on the left and on the lower right are good bottom weight fabrics , destined for skirts or slacks. The upper right one is a crinkle knit with eyelet embroidery, like broderie d'anglaise. Now, that one at bottom center is really deceiving. I really am going to try to get a better pic, real close up. It's really pretty. It looks like it is woven with yellow fibers in one direction, and green in the other. It is destined to be a pencil skirt.
The print below is a risk purchase gone wrong. This is one that doesn't look that great online, but you think that it must look better "in person". Alas, it does not. I haven't given up yet though, I will nurture it along. But I will definitely try it for a pattern that I really just need to try a "muslin" for, you know kind of like a blind date, no expectations, no emotional investment, and therefore no real disappointment if it doesn't really work out. (Who am I kidding....anyone?) The burgundy knit next to it was a failed attempt to find some plum fabric, in an effort to provide the prodigal print an environment in which she could shine. My point being that, in the event I make a garment from this print, and the pattern and the fabric are a success, then I will need to wear it with something, but I think it will be with something in sage in that event.

And I will close with the first picture of myself. As I have mentioned, I am a bit camera-shy, but this shot gives you some idea of the pale skin that I am trying not to overwhelm, and how nice coral can look alongside. This is a very fine-gauge cotton cardigan (3/4-sleeve) that I just picked up at the LLBean outlet store in Freeport. They were having a 30% off everything in the store sale, and I brought it home for $20! The scarf is a large square of silk hand-hemmed - a friend brought it back from a trip to India. At the time, I didn't wear any of the colors - she knew better than I did what I should be wearing!

Do you select your wardrobe pieces according to a color palette? Do most of the things in your closet go together, so you can mix and match new combinations at a moment's notice? I'm not fully there yet, but I do like to get a lot of mileage out of my separates.

Random Tuesday

Some of my favorite bloggers will sometimes post in random list format. I think I will try that...
1. I have loooots of new fabric.
2. I have taken pictures of some of it.
3. The pictures didn't come out as well as I had expected, after my little camera-use breakthrough. My exposure and resolution look better, but the colors just don't read the way they look in real life. I need more work on adjusting them in the editing phase. But then I wonder if my monitor is way off, or the camera reading the colors funny. I need to take my card and view my pics on somebody else's computer.....
4. I keep buying fabric.
5. I haven't cut out any more patterns.
6. I have plenty of patterns.
7. I still don't have a reliable dressform. I really do think I will ask Becky to help me make a duct tape dummy. When she gets back from Fla. Where it isn't snowing, as she has reminded me by postcard. (Here, it hasn't snowed since yesterday...)
8. My left hand hurts. I have had a swollen, sore and aching MCP joint of my 3rd digit since shortly after I started crocheting the darned filet edging. I was resisting concluding that it was the crocheting, but I can no longer live in denial. I am taking two Aleve 2x/day just to be minimally functional.
9. I can't knit either, see #8.
10. I was trying to knit up a swatch for a pattern from A Stitch in Time. I had to stop because of the pain in my left hand! And the numbness and tingling consistent with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Darn!
11. I think it'll be a while before I can knit or crochet.
12. In the meantime, I should post pictures of my off-color fabrics and my very-long-but-not-yet-long-enough filet edging.
13. I practically crash my laptop every time I try to upload photos.
14. Tonight, Sean has a Championship hockey game. At 8:20pm. On a school night. Hockey is so insane. It wasn't my idea, really.
15. So I won't be doing battle with my laptop tonight.
16. The sun is shining and melting snow today.

Beautiful Saturday!

The weather is gorgeous here and I might get a chance to do some yardwork. There are some overgrown shrubs in my yard that really need to be cut back before the snow flies. And a neglected rosebush, that has gotten punier and more pathetic every year. It's on a side of the house I rarely go to, and I have sort of given up on it. I guess I'll have to read up on what I can do for it. Probably just cut it way back, mulch it, cover it and see what I can do next spring...probably need to feed it something.....
I looooove roses, but don't have a particularly green thumb. What I really mean to say is that even though I think I love them, apparently I don't love them enough to learn what they want from me, and consistently nurture them along. A few years ago, I put about 5 of them in the ground one fall when they were on sale at the nursery, and it took me only 2 years to kill them with neglect. I never did figure out if it was the deer who were eating the blossoms just as they opened, or my dog, who seems to be obsessed with any flowers with a terrific scent. But I never actually caught her in the act of chewing on them, just suspected. Since we got the cocker spaniels and the yard has their...ummmm...scent, the deer seem to be leaving my hosta and yews alone. Our yard used to be right on a major path for them and there are lots of them around here. Now we're a little off the beaten path so to speak!

Have you noticed?

That I started by talking about roses, but my pictures (thanks to Google images) have been trending back to lavender? Not the color, the plant.

This summer, I planted 3 lavender plants around my granite lamp post. Then I almost killed them by not watering them. The Gaillardia that I planted with them didn't mind, and we for a while had regular enough rainfall that garden-neglecters like myself were able to get away with our woefully wayward ways. Then we had a dry spell, and the lavender began to look more and more pitiful, or so I would think in a passing way as I pulled out of the driveway in the morning. I have finally salvaged with aggressive sprinkling in the last couple of weeks and next year will be the test as to whether I have learned my lesson that the lavender doesn't like to go dry.

A few years ago, I developed an obsession with scent of lavender. It seemed so old-fashioned and I love all things old-fashioned... I have never been particularly drawn to the color purple (except in flowers: violets, lilacs, pansies), favoring blues and greens, particularly soft, muted pastel shades and blends. I am nauseated by the stereotypical purply-pink combos that dominate the toy market for little girls, but I do like pinks, especially if they trend toward coral and peachy tones.

I have a tiny little project I'm developing. And it involves lavender. When I first got the idea, I was a bit discouraged because I am trying to be mindful of working out of my stash, but in not being a purply person, I doubted that I had much suitable.

But apparently at some point I picked up a collection of fat quarters!

And a few other remnants suitable for my project!

I wasn't giving my stash enough credit!

*******************************

Oh, and BTW, did you see the lovely begonia in the pic with the lavender fragrance items? So lush and pretty and I haven't killed it yet.... I think you can keep those, right? I'll have to go google "Care of Begonias"..............

Come sit with me a minute, and we'll chat over a cup of tea......It occured to me that while I am striving to bring you lovely pictures that I have styled and taken myself, in the meantime, I could share with you some of the lovely images I have collected in my clip art file. Most are free samples I have downloaded from Dover...you can go there too and get on the e-mail list. They send links to free samples every Friday.

I am very partial to old-fashioned nostalgic images, the more sentimental, the better....

I also love to save images of lovely fabrics....

It costs less than buying the fabric, and takes up less room, but you can't fondle and let it inspire you to make something with it right away.

Today, we did more yardwork, raking leaves to be exact. The sky was crystal clear with only lilting breezes, which didn't interfere with the work at hand. It was about 60 degrees, just cool enough to be comfortable as we exerted ourselves.

I took pictures, but you've already seen some from last week, and none are as cute as this. Remember push mowers? Much quieter, but far more work.... I want a green dress like this one with tiny puffed sleeves and a little white Peter Pan collar. Of course, I'd have to bob my hair like that. It's actually close now but without the bangs. And it's blonde. I wouldn't complain about the red dress either.

Here is a picture I took today. Self-portrait in shadow. See all the leaves we never even got to. So many of our trees still look like the one below, still hanging on to all their leaves, taunting us, threatening to drop them only after we have snow on the ground!
Here is another fabric I love. The range of colors, so vibrant, the leaves, the flowers. Both swatches I've shown here were at the JoAnn's website at one time, among the quilting cottons. They are in the Stonehill Collection.

I like to blog about seasonal things, holidays and changing weather, etc. One challenge about blogging in October is Halloween. I have a love/hate relationship with Halloween. On the one hand, I love candy and parties and the fantasy of costumery. On the other hand, I hate the original and ongoing fascination with evil and the underworld. I have zero tolerance for blood, gore, terror and torment. I feel a need to resist indulging natural human curiosity. I abhor legitimizing occult and paranormal phenomenon. Everyday life is exciting and uncertain enough for me. Now, having said all that, I have found some vintage ephemera clip art that is as cute as buttons! So, even though I didn't think I would be posting anything even remotely acknowledging Halloween, I think this image of a card makes great October eye candy!

She even looks like a little like I did when I was a chubby little cherubic child. Unruly blonde hair, chubby cheeks, and I even had a black cat named Imp.

Later, I had a black cat named Alley Oop.

And then I had a black cat named Andy. I lost Andy's litter mate Amos when he was only 1 year old to FIP. (Feline Infectious Peritonitis) Andy was with us for about 17 years, and we just buried him in June of 2005. It wasn't intentional to always have black cats. It just seemed that black cats were always available to us when we were ready.

Now we have dogs, and I loooove having dogs, but nothing cuddles like a kitty, relaxing you with its purr and kneading, rubbing against your legs when you are in the kitchen. I know some people have dogs and cats at the same time, but it would take some work and constant supervision to get our dogs used to a cat, where we could feel comfortable leaving them all at home alone while we were away for the day.

Well, I hope you've enjoyed our little cuppa and the chat..........

Now, I'm going to go up and change into a comfy nightie and curl up with......hmmmm............Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility before I turn out the lamp settle in for a snooze, resting up for another busy week. Come back again soon, I'll load up more eye candy!

Holy Week & Sewing, What's the Connection, You Ask?

Sew, a change from knitting and embroidery and home dec. Let's talk for a minute about sewing.....

I shopped today.............

And if you've been paying attention, I've said I wasn't going to do that............

But it all started when I read an awesome post on the Living Proof Ministries blog yesterday (see it here); and I couldn't help but post a comment. (Okay, I wasn't trying not to-as a matter of fact, I post comments a lot now, because I know what it's like to wonder if anyone is reading, whether anyone's lurking, whether anyone's connecting....) It was about Easter traditions and memories. And I realized I had done nothing to prepare for Easter. Although, I'd love to have a new Easter frock every year, I don't spend the money unless I have to. And by have to, I mean, have I outgrown everything pretty and decent I own? The answer is yes, not that I'm bigger than last year, but I can't even remember what I wore to make do last year....

So this is why I'm excusing myself from the stash moratorium. I went fabric shopping today. Just Walmart in Scarborough, and JoAnn's in Portland. And here is what I found...

The 4 fabrics above, and below are 2 chiffon-y prints and 2 solids. The lighter print is from Walmart, 58", and only $2.44/yd. I'll use it for the short-sleeved 2-piece dress on the pattern. The dark chocolate print is the Easter dress material; I'll make it into the long dress with the 3/4 flared sleeves. However, these fabrics are too sheer to wear unlined, but rather than an attached lining, I'll make a slip/underdress with the taupe and the pink. (See the long sleeveless version of the dress? It's pink on the pattern envelope) I'll make the pink right away for Easter. The beauty is both prints look lovely over both solids!

For fun, I'll show you the other fabrics I found. I wish these photos had come out better, still on the learning curve with DigCam. Both of these fabrics are lightweight sheer polyester georgette, like the prints above (I called them chiffon, but maybe I meant georgette). They could be used for dresses in a similar fashion, lined or with a separate underdress/slip.

Now, these are more home dec. The pale blue solid is more of a mint, and is a sheer, like for under a valance in the dining room. I have some already in the stash, not even sure if they match..... The red gingham was so cheap, and all that was left in red, so I had to get it (2.25 yds for <$4.00). I've been wanting to try my hand at smocking and ric-rac embellishment on retro-style aprons, and my kitchen is red (and begging for white trimming and accents, but that's another post). And finally that blue lattice/pink rose is so vintage-looking.....perfect for.well, I'm not sure, I think it needs to age further in my stash..........The best among these is on the bottom, kind of a homedec herringbone, in lovely soft turquoise and chocolate......not exactly sure what it's destined for....seat cushion covers (very small swatch, though). There's also a big hunk of yellow fleece, so sunshine-y, plain white flannel (I have a nightgown that needs modifying), and a white shiny polyester fabric shot through with a little glitter-y something or other. I have ideas for fabrics like that, but I'll go into that another time....