Where did the sewing time go?

stash dreams

Do you ever notice that there’s just not enough time to sew everything you want to sew?  All those wonderful ideas get sidelined by other wonderful ideas, season after season, until you end up with a stash of fabric and patterns that would furnish an eBay store.

This is my “I’m-going-to-sew-this-up-for-summer” pile.  The bottom blue jersey has been a wanna be Vogue 8379 for two years now.  It’s ridiculous!  The ivory broderie anglaise above it was supposed to be a jacket and sheath dress this year.  The nude chiffon was to be the underlining for the graphic chiffon to its left, which was supposed to be the top for a skirt in chocolate wool (sitting untitledunderneath it).  And the olive green silk charmeuse to the right of that nude chiffon was to be the interesting Donna Karan top from Vogue 1039 (see left).  Above that is some wool that I think will eventually become a Chanel-style jacket, although I don’t have a particular timeline set for that.

And then there’s all that dark brown stuff.  Some of it is stretch denim, some Italian linen, and a very interesting snakeskin print stretch denim from EOS.  EmmaOneSock is my nemesis.  The proprietor, Linda,  stocks the most interesting fabrics, and her international postage from NY to Canada is very reasonable.  I’m forever finding something on her website and lusting after it.  Do any of you have this problem, too?  Oh, and hiding in there somewhere on the left (you may have to click to enlarge the photo) is a very uniquely woven wool challis that I have 5 yards of (five yards?!), and no idea what to create with it.  It was just so interesting that I had to have it, and buying 5 yards seemed like a good idea at the moment.  Ha!

And sitting yet above that, at the very top, is rayon jersey, again from EOS, that I intended for I-can’t-remember-what now – some dress or other (there’s 3 yards there), striped linen for summer capris/trousers, and several yards of ivory linen for a variety of summer shirts.

And now it’s September, and the winter stuff is calling my name.  I need some jackets, I’d love to sew up a couple of the latest Vogue patterns from Donna Karan with yardage from my stash (in storage, mostly accrued from double-income-no-kids years), and I’ve been commissioned to sew up a Pippi Longstocking costume for a friend’s daughter for Hallowe’en.

Hey!  Maybe I should hire some fellow sewers to help me out here!  I’m just sayin’….

Surprises for me!

I love getting mail.  Especially sewing mail.

surpriseYesterday I had not one, but two notices in my mailbox that I’d missed a package delivery.  Yay!  Today I picked up my treasures.  The first is a set of clamp-on hooks and eyes from Sew True Supply.  I’m sure I could have hunted these things down in the fashion district, but I honestly couldn’t be bothered wandering from store to store downtown.  This city needs the perfect one-stop-notions-shopping superstore, because it’s tedious buying invisible zippers from one place only to have to walk down the street 6 blocks to get that perfect interfacing that can’t be found anywhere else at a decent price.

clamp hooks eyesI’m looking forward to using these little darlings on my skirts and pants.  I always like the look of the RTW hooks and eyes versus the hand-done sew-in ones.

And the other little treat?  My latest order from EmmaOneSock.com.

eos goodiesClockwise from the top left is a jersey feather print destined for a summer dress (or top); an espresso python print stretch denim destined for pants or jeans; a very noticeable copper stretch twill that I had originally intended for a skirt, but it’s a NOTICE ME type of fabric, so I might re-think this one; and last, a medallion print rayon jersey that will be a summer top.  I love the colours!

Now let’s pray that I can actually get these things sewn up.  I’m always adding projects to my list and never getting around to starting them.  Smile