Distractible

I often have a problem finishing a sewing project in a "reasonable" amount of time. If I don't finish a project within a week of having started it, I will often get busy with work, or gain more interest in another project, and will abandon the half-finished one. The thing is, I never abandon it completely. I usually just end up bagging the pieces up, sticking them in a plastic container somewhere, and forgetting about them. Until one glorious day, 6 months later, a year later, 3 years later, when I stumble across it again and think "Gee, I am so close to finishing this, and it is such a cool project." Out comes the bag and the half-sewn fabric, and we are back in business!

Such is the story of this floral skirt that I have been working on lately. I bought this skirt super cheep somewhere between 6 and 8 years ago. I really liked the fabric, but was bored with the style. I thought that adding some ruffles would solve that problem and make it totally worth buying. I had in my head circular ruffles, to give it a cuban/salsa feel to match the floral. The only problem was that at the time, I had no idea what circular ruffles were or how to make them. I only knew that there was a way to make ruffles that didn't involve lots of gathering at the seam, and that was what I wanted. About 6 months later I finally managed to acquire some fabric that I liked for said ruffles (the black and red-violet cottons, which were purchased at Fabric Depot purely for their color and weight). At which point, the skirt and fabric sat in my UFO (UnFinished Object) drawer for years. Every once in a while I would take it out, but I would always put it back as the idea of doing the math to figure out the necessary size of the circles was too much for my poor word-addled brain.

Until 2 weeks ago, when I bought a book at the used book store that inspired me: Singer 101 Sewing Secrets. On pages 84-87 there is a whole spread on how to make circular ruffles (which, as the name implies, are ruffles made out of sewing basically doughnuts of fabric with one vertical cut in them together). This type of ruffle gives a soft, even wave and doesn't add any bulk at the seamline (think Spanish ladies/Flamenco dancers). So I got to work calculating circle circumferences and cutting and sewing fabric. I am so very close to being done with the skirt: all I have left is to attach the completed ruffles to the skirt, and to replace the invisible zipper that broke. But I must confess, my interest is waning rapidly. Yesterday when I went to work on the skirt, I ended up sewing this instead:

Stash Part 1: Green

Every time I start a new colorway series for my purses, I get the immense pleasure of hunting through my stash for a few dozen minutes to compile fabric that goes well together and compliments each other. Usually a stop when I have about a grocery bag full, as I can usually get 6-10 purses out of that much fabric.

This time, however, I believe I ended up with 3 very full grocery bags worth. I just couldn't resist all the beautiful different shades of green. I used the different frog fabrics in the last picture as my inspiration for what fabrics to pull. The first two pictures show all of the fabrics piled high on my drafting table in my workspace. Most of the fabrics are scraps that range between 2x2 inches to an uncut half yard. However, there are a couple of larger pieces in there as well.

Shopping Ladies

First things first: I don't want to forget to mention that Bolt is having a big sale this weekend, so if you live in the Portland area and haven't had a chance to check it out yet, this would be a great time to do so. There aren't many smaller fabric stores that can sustain themselves in the midst of Joann's myriad coupons and Big Names like Fabric Depot, but Bolt has some really fun prints that you don't find at either of those places, so I like to support them when I can. Prices aren't amazing, but they aren't outrageous either. I am going to try to go there first thing tomorrow morning, as most of the rest of my weekend is booked solid.

Speaking of Bolt, the last time that I went there I purchased two yards of the fabric at the left. I think it was the color combinations that attracted me to it at first. The yellow and teal/blue are really very bold against the brown-maroon background. The background color is just great in itself, as it is a nice neutral color that isn't used all that often. the scale of the women makes this fabric prefect for me to base some purse series around. I bought this fabric specifically with purses in mind. It's especially great since so many of the women are carrying purses in the print. I also love the great variety of dresses/outfits when you look closely at the fabric, and the fact that there is some skin tone diversity! I could see this as a cute simple skirt as well, just a plain A-line. Erin would probably make a dress out of it, but then again, that's what she does best!

Anyways, I don't know where my receipt is that would show me how much I paid for this per yard, but i'm sure it was about $7 or $8. I believe it is a 100% cotton, 45in wide heavy quilting cotton.