I Did a Bad, Bad Thing...

I'm not a bad person, I just did a bad thing.  Can you tell Netflix's, "Bloodline" has been my recent binge watching sewing show?

Anyway, here's my confession:

I bought some fabric!

Ignore the wrinkles.  I put them through the washer and dryer so they'll all prepped and ready to go!  I promise you'll see wrinkle-free finished garments soon.

Why is this bad?  Because like many other sewing chicas, I'm supposed to be on a fabric diet.  Consuming the fabric in my personal larder (what some may call my own fabric store) is permitted - anything else, with the exception of a graduation dress I have to sew for one of my nieces, is prohibido!  My stash consists of 4 giant stuffed-to-the-brim-so-that-the-lids-won't-stay-on, plastic storage tubs stacked two and two.  On top of each of these are two extra large vacuum storage bags so full of fabric that they can't be vacuumed closed.  Under the bed there are two more storage bins.  One contains my UFO's, and the other contains interfacing and muslin.  I sort of think the last one doesn't count as excessive stored stash (say that 5 times fast) since it's good to have interfacing and muslin on hand.  But all the rest, for a 1 bedroom NYC apartment, is a bit excessive.

In my defense, most of the fabric in my stash came with me from San Francisco where it never really gets warmer than 75 degrees F.  June can be one of the coolest months, and you almost always need to wear a jacket.  The fabrics in my stash reflect this, my former environment.  They're lovely wools, tweeds, thick stretch wovens and some great heavy cotton knits.  Back in San Francisco, I never had much cause to sew light cotton anything.  Now that I'm here in NYC, clothing from light fabrics is a necessity during the late spring and summer months.

When I saw these I grew excited by their colors and textures.  Don't they scream light summer tunics, floaty dresses, cute little short skirt outfits, etc.?

Here's the back story:  I was on a business trip last week, when off to the side of the road, I saw a giant Joann's sign.  Since I needed some thread, I thought I'd just pull over, pick up the thread; and be done with it.  Thread in hand, I wouldn't have to make a special trip to the garment district when I got back to NYC, thus enabling me to start my next project without pause.

Once in the store, I remembered I needed a zipper for the second project in my queue, so I grabbed that.  I then headed to the cash registers, but at the last minute decided to take a quick "peak" at the fabrics.  What harm could there be in just "seeing" what stock they had?   Well, I'm never one to resist fabric on sale, and they had it - lots of it.

Again, sorry for the wrinkles!

The rose print in this bundle is one of the new Gertie fabrics, and I'm thinking of pulling a 50's style shirtwaist out of it (creative, I know).  The woman at Joann's who cut my fabric was amazed that the Gertie fabric is a Dotted Swiss.  I was amazed that she even knew what Dotted Swiss is.  A lot of folks who work in fabric stores these days don't know very much about fabric.

Now that I've confessed my bad, here's my good.  I signed up for Me Made May '15!  I have pledged to wear at least 3 MMM items per week for the month of May.  This could be a bit of a test for someone like me who mainly works from home.  Maybe I need to sew some more PJs:)  But, here's my day one of Me Made May '15:

Sorry for the grainy photo!

This is Business Chica, Tracy Reese Vogue 1092, and I wore it to a work function today.  Several ladies complemented me on my suit, and when I said those 3 little words, "I made this," they oohed and awed.  I just love it when that happens.  Well, Me Made May '15 is off to a good start!

Hasta pronto!