Ahhh, the Fabrics! and Life!

 

Isn't this fabric a lovely breath of fresh air? I think I've gotten to the point of wanting to work with just spring fabrics. You see, my husband and I have just returned from the land of Covid, not our first visit but definitely our worst. We are both fine now but this one was a doozy, phantom smells continue, loss of taste for a while, EXTREME exhaustion, sleeping around the clock for days, We made it through. I didn't do much but I did manage to sew thru despite my covid fog brain. I did it in bits and pieces and had to walk away from my velvet bomber jacket for fear of messing it up. I stuck to mending, upscycling and reorganizing my goodies, then back to bed. Oh, I did shop!!! And I am excited and will share those plans with you. 

I have enough fabrics now to keep me  busy way into summer and it's just a matter of picking what will be next. That changes daily. Above is a large tablecloth, 2 yards, that I stumbled upon as I looked at the new Spring home goods out in the market place. I couldn't pass it up. It may become a top or it may remain a tablecloth. I like the texture and drape of the fabric, a poly cotton blend. That is on the bottom of the list for now but it does scream SPRING! 

This marvelous textile is one I purchased at Canterbury Shaker Village up here in New Hampshire. It actually was a sunprint that made up a tote bag. I thought surely it was destined for a use more refined. The bag was supermarket grade. The picture was closely woven and the subject divine. It is 24 inches wide, all cotton and removed from it's bag and the lovely Shaker girls smile at me while I work in my sewing digs. I haven't come up with a final idea for this but it makes me happy. 

I will be all over the place with this post so be prepared. 

I made undies while sick, not much brain power required there. I made pink ones. 

I made red ones. 

I made blue ones. 

I made over a dozen pair, bit by bit, You can see my methods.  I actually prefer my leg and waistbands out of more fabric. I had the laces and stretch picot already cut  so went with it. My favorite are the pinks, so so comfortable, like clouds. I also sew on my trims, turn to the inside and then topstitch with a triple zigzag as you can see in the pics. The red and the blue are ITY, nice undies but so very slippery to sew. The pinks are poly knit. All have 100% cotton crotches and I find them all comfortable.  I picked at these as I had energy to do so while sick. 

Guess what else happened while sick? I fell in love! It was with a beautiful British woman named Lady McElroy.  And,,,,,she designs fabrics! I was totally smitten. I was watching lots of tv/youtube during this time and saw two different tubers show the above fabric. I was like an addict searching for my fix once I saw this. The faces were large and just so intriguing with their glasses and lack of expression. I had to have this fabric. The colors were fabulous. I didn't know who made it or what it was called. I managed to find it  with an image search and it was called Spectacle. I proceeded.  

I found my spectled ladies from an Etsy seller in Canada and quickly placed my order. Did I say I bought from a thumbnail? Issues ensued, which she handled wonderfully as there was fault on both sides but all was OK, sort of, in the end. You see, This fabric has "Spectacle " in it's name but there is "Mini" spectacle and there  is "Epic" spectacle. I wanted "Epic" (didn't know that) and had ordered the "mini". BUT, for whatever reason, she shipped me two pieces of Mini Spectacle, the other being the darker rendition, all mine to keep. 

I kept my "Mini Spectacles" , thanked her for the freebie and kept up my search for the "Epic" version. I found it at Stone Mountain and Daughter! Yay! I immediately bought my yardage. They double checked that I was getting the larger, Epic faces and confirmed it in writing. They were wonderful to deal with and I made my shirt. More to come on that! All I can say is there are lots of ladies with glasses staring at me right now while I sew!

Another fabulous Lady McElroy piece I bought is this one above. I call  it my "Fashionista" fabric. If you look closely, click to enlarge, these women have all the latest and greatest fashions and I love their hair and faces. They have joggers, Marlo sweaters, white sneakers everywhere and more. Have fun picking out the trends! I think I will make a Melody Dolman out of this one. We shall see. 

More Lady McElroy fabrics:  Another fabulous viscose and a luxurious 100% cotton wide wale corduroy

So add this to what is already in the resource center and I am ready to Spring into sewing now! My bomber jacket just needs the hem sewn up into the lining. All of the rest is complete. It was quite a project, mostly due to bulk. I can't wait to show. I think it will give me years of wear.  Happy Sewing. Be healthy all!..........Bunny

Velvet sleeves, HEAVY duty rib knit cuffs and Kasha lining, ready for stitching.