Thanks to Janie's Sewing Corner...

I finished the first project I've made for myself in over a decade.  And I have Janie's Sewing Corner to thank for that.  Visit her website at www.janie'ssewingcorner.com.  Janie's is this wonderful independent fabric store in Cleveland.  She has some of the most beautiful fashion fabrics you could possibly want -- wools, silks, and satins.  Beautiful, rich fabrics the likes of which you will not find at Joann's.  (Not that there's anything wrong with Joann's.  All fabric stores are good!)  Janie has one room devoted to fabrics and notions and another room for lessons, seminars, speakers.  She has hosted Peggy Sagers of Silhouette Patterns, Kenneth King, Jan Bones, and Lois Cutting, to name a few.  She gives lessons and takes the time to talk and help.  If you are within the sound of an irate Indians' fan who does not understand what happened to the team over the last month or a fearful football fanatic who fears the new Browns owner will move the team to another city, then you should check out Janie's.  I doubt you will be disappointed.

I went to Janie's to buy some interfacing.  The vest I was going to make required the front two panels be interfaced.  I always had trouble buying interfacing.  My garments seemed to be able to stand on their own, literally.  I knew I was not marrying the fabric and interfacing properly.  I had been watching Peggy Sagers' webcasts and wanted to try something different in interfacing as she had discussed interfacings in one of her webcasts and I new Janie would have it.  Of course, even though my goal is to eliminate the fabrics in my stash, I had to look at what she had to offer.  I mean, come on, it's a fabric store, right?

I had been struggling with finding just the right fabric to use to make the vest.  Nothing was popping for me.  I was afraid I was going to settle on something from the stash just to get this first project out of the way.  Until ... TA DA...  there it was.  A beautiful teal, tone-on-tone glen plaid.  Holy cow, it was beautiful.  And immediately I thought of the fabric I had in my stash for the lining.  Suddenly it all came together.  Do I dare buy more fabric?  I needed a sign that I was supposed to get this fabric. Come on, Lord.  Just a little hint.  

Janie to Rita:  "You know, fabric is 40% off."

Do I hear angels singing?

Rita to Janie:  "I don't know how much I need.  I'll take 3 yards."

I was excited driving home.  It had been so long since I made something for myself.  I had a floral polyester which I had bought from Vogue Fabrics many, many years ago when they were in Cleveland at a sewing expo.  It will be perfect for the lining.  The pattern is a Butterick from about ten years ago.

The finished product.  (Sun from behind streaming through the window makes for a lousy picture. Colors appear washed out.)  My friend at work loved it.  She told me I should consider wearing it inside out because the lining was so beautiful.  I like it just the way it is.

I love wearing this best with a white shirt and black pants.  I'm thinking a white turtle neck for the winter will be great, also.  Next project is also an old Butterick pattern.  I like the tucks in this top.  I have a white and blue pinstripe in mind.  Hey, two fabrics from the stash gone.  And Sew the Fabric Goes.

Another picture which better reflects the vest's true colors.  

       Thank you for reading.  I appreciate it.

Rita

Taking that first step

So, I have been enjoying all the wonderfully entertaining sewing blogs that I have been reading for the last eight months and decided to jump into the fray and to blog about my sewing life.  I love to sew and shop for fabric, thread, and notions.  I love sewing machines, the way they look, the way they sound, just everything about them.  As a young wife and mother about 100 years ago, I sewed everything -- clothes, curtains, costumes, gifts.  The thought of buying something when you could make it was foreign to me.  Then I got this crazy idea of going to law school.  Sewing became just a fond memory as I made my way through torts, contracts, legal writing, and then pursuing a career.  However, I continued to buy patterns and fabric and stored my stash away for "some day".

With the arrival of grandchildren, my interest in sewing peeked again.  After all I finally had a little girl in my life for whom I could sew all sorts of beautiful dresses.  Work kept getting in the way but that didn't stop me.  I continued to buy because, no really, I was going to sew again.  One day, the patient husband said:  "I see a lot of stuff going up [to the sewing room] but I never see anything coming down."  The nerve of him.  What's he talking about?  Then I decided to take stock.  Yikes!!!  I was out of control.

Inspired by some of the fantastic sewing bloggers out there (Sew Ruth, Goodbye Valentino, Hello Needle and Thread; Coco's Loft to name just a few -- and I do mean just a few), I have decided to test my creative juices and get back into sewing on a regular basis.  A comment from Peggy Sagers of Silhouette Patterns struck me during one of her biweekly on-air tutorials.  She said that as teenagers we would buy a pattern and fabric and make up the outfit.  No stash, no waiting for some other time.  That got me thinking.  I've been buying patterns and fabric for the day when I have time to sew (really, that's like waiting for the right time to have a baby -- there is no right time, you just do it.)  I've been waiting to lose weight so that I look great in that blue glen plaid I bought.  Or I've been waiting to hone my skills before cutting into that gorgeous red wool; I'm just not skilled enough yet.  Well, keep waiting, Sister.  But you are not getting any younger, or any skinnier, or sharpening your skills by just reading blogs and waiting for some day.  So, make the garment, wear it, and love it.

So, I've sorting and organizing and can't believe what I discovered.  DECADES of home catalogs!  Anyone remember these?  I have them from the later 70's through today.  Just kept subscribing and buying and taking them upstairs.  

What about those heels on Jaclyn Smith?  That's from 1978.  I guess we women have always loved the stiletto heels.  So much easier to catch the crook in the stiletto heel, right, Charlie?  

Marlo Thomas with a line of sewing patterns?  In what world did Marlo Thomas sew?  I find it hard to believe she ever picked up a needle and thread and threw together an outfit while waiting for Phil to come home for dinner.  If I'm wrong, I'll apologize.  But there she is, nonetheless.  

Look at Marie Osmond.  What a cutie!  Of course, I had to buy her patterns back in the day.  I was in my 20's, they would work for me.  After all, if I bought the patterns, I would look just like Marie, yes?  

So, I'm having a hard time parting with these magazines.  I haven't as yet and will NOT get rid of the Threads Magazines or Vogue Pattern Magazines.  And of course, Butterick, McCall's, and Simplicity do not publish any more.  So, they'll just go back for now and I'll decide at a later date.  What do you think?  

As for fabric, I have it in drawers, in closets, in boxes, and I even bought 5' PCV pipe to roll my more expensive fabrics on only to learn later on that you should not stand them on end but roll them and then lay the rolls down.  

So, my blog will document my journey through the pattern and fabric stash.  After all, let's face it, if I die with this much in the stash, the kids will just put in the trash and I'll never rest in my grave if I thought that would be its fate.  So I have my first project, a Butterick pattern that is about 10 years old.  The floral fabric for the lining is from the stash but the fashion fabric, well, I had to buy that new.  ACK!  Will I never learn.  Finished product to be posted soon.