Time to Clean Up

Last year was a year of change, transitioning from India to the United States. This is going to be my year of cleaning and purging while we stay put in one house for a while. I got a good start during the packing and unpacking last summer and fall but now that the holidays are over it's time to get back on that project.

I went through my stash fabrics and I used this tutorial for a tree skirt for the Christmas tree, this one for a scrap skirt for Muffin (photo to come once I've completed the whole outfit), and this one for a Lego bag. I have a couple winter clothes projects planned, for which I had to buy some new fabric, but once they're done it's back to the stash for spring and summer sewing.

I've put a number of books up on PaperBackSwap.com and have resisted the urge to use all my new credits to receive a bunch of replacement books.

I've been cleaning out my closet. On Friday I put a ton of clothes up on Freecycle.com and by the end of the day half of it had been picked up. Anything that's not picked up by the time Muffin goes back to school on Tuesday will go into one of the many donation bins that we pass on the drive between home and school.

I gave a little TLC to the vacuum cleaner that was put into storage in 2008 and not used since then. The filters are supposed to be washable, but they weren't washed before going into storage (whoops!) and they are beyond washing now. Black and Decker no longer makes them but still has some for sale on their site so in lieu of buying a new vacuum I bought new filters so I can delay a vacuum impulse purchase and research a good one.

I realized that now that I'm driving around in winter with a kid in the car, I really should get things checked out in a timely manner because I really, really don't want to break down in bad weather with my little companion. On that note the car is going into the mechanic shop again today.

I joined a gang... of other moms who are training for the same half marathon that I am in March. Once the kiddos are all back in school we hope to start running together again. I need that. My lungs are all dusty from the cleaning. I need fresh air on a regular basis but without motivation I won't go outside when it's cold.

Right now it feels like my full-time job is to get ready for the next move and whether I'm cleaning out my closet or getting the car fixed, everything contributes to that goal. We don't even know when the move will be or where it will be to but it is always looming. I'm still unpacking boxes from the last move. I'm making trips to the dumpster every day. I'm spending time in various stores trying to decipher the best storage solutions for things like all my stash fabrics and sewing supplies so it's more organized for the next move. I'm reducing clothing and toys and books. We put every single DVD and CD into sleeves in binders and threw out all the plastic cases, reducing our next move by several boxes and pounds.

It's going to be a long, cold winter and I resolve to put my indoor time to good use. 

I'm Losing the Battle Against Long Pants

Muffin and I are in a battle of who could care less (to quote Ben Folds).

 Her school has a dress code policy of girls wearing leggings or shorts under dresses and skirts. I’m fine with this; Muffin spends a lot of time in the sandbox and leggings provide extra protection from sand getting into places it shouldn’t. With the Hyderabadi style of khurtas worn over pants or leggings, Muffin has embraced the the local fashion and wears dresses with leggings and sometimes even wears jeans under her dresses. I’m okay with all that. I want her to have confidence in choosing her clothes and expressing herself.

Here’s my problem. Summer is upon us. It’s near 90 degrees (32 C) when I drop her off at school in the mornings and pushing 95 degrees (35 C) by the time I pick her up. Each day seems warmer than the previous day. Muffin is insisting on wearing ankle-length leggings or pants every day and she is a little sweatball by the time school is over. She won’t wear shorts. She won’t even consider knee-length or calf-length capri pants. Long pants, Mommy, long pants.

Last week I told her that it was the last week for wearing long pants. Starting on Monday, she would need to wear short pants to school. I have lost that battle every single morning this week. On Monday, once she was at school, I reduced her collection of leggings from about ten pairs to three. I showed her! Then I felt a bad about feeling vengeful toward a preschooler, so I took out a bunch of fabric and patterns to plan a new summer wardrobe for her; this week I've cut out a few items for her already. At Mike’s suggestion, I’m also going to trim several inches off the leggings and sneak them back onto her shelves to see if she notices they are shorter.

She’s rotated through those three pairs of leggings every day this week and today I’d had it again. We hadn’t even left the house yet and we were sweating already. I told her if she wanted to wear long pants she had to put them on herself. If she wanted my help, I was going to put shorts on her. And what do you know? She battled with a pair of leggings for a few minutes, threw them aside, picked up a pair of jeans, and put them on. I lost again. (And damn, is she smart!)

Today I’m going to hold off work on her Easter dress in order to chop and hem all of her pants into shorter lengths. It’s not as if they’re going to fit her next winter and we’re moving from Hyderabad summer to U.S. summer so other than a couple pairs of jeans and sweatpants (for chilly beach evenings in Rhode Island), she doesn’t need anything but summer clothes.

Should I be more flexible and just let her wear the damn leggings and be sweaty? Is she wearing them because she knows it annoys me so much?

The Smallest One Was Madeline

I started thinking about Halloween costumes months ago. You need to start planning early so you can figure out what you can buy locally and what needs to be ordered from the United States. I can buy a lot of fabrics here but not a lot of other craft supplies. Some ideas were heavy on things that needed to be ordered or purchased whole rather than made. After a while I gave up the idea of a family costume and decided just to concentrate on Muffin, because my October activities calendar was filling up. Eventually I decided I could easily make one really great dress, so I gave Muffin the choice of Olivia or Madeline, two of her favorite characters.

She chose Madeline. I turned to the books for inspiration. I decided on a yellow hat and cape with a blue dress and found a vintage pattern -- 1970's Simplicity 7410 from Lanetz Living -- that was perfect for the cape and dress. I opted for the sleeveless dress because it's 80 degrees outside and it would make my life easier.

I got a little stuck on the hat. I couldn't find a suitable hat locally and I was afraid ordering one would result in a crushed hat. None of the patterns I had in my stash seemed appropriate. I turned to the internet to find hat tutorials. I couldn't find a good hat tutorial, but I did see a lot of Madeline costumes -- all of which looked like the modern cartoon rather than the classic book, which made me a little worried about my cape and my color choices. (And I'm sorry, but grown women wearing Madeline costumes rather than Madeline-inspired outfits is a little sad looking.)

Still full of indecision about the hat and having a little bit of self-doubt about the costume in general, I went fabric shopping for my blue and yellow fabrics. I knew exactly which store I wanted to go to, but my driver suggested an expo instead. Against my gut instinct I agreed to stop in at the expo. And after fifteen minutes I'd assessed the whole place as having many lovely fabrics but nothing that was anywhere near what I was looking for. It felt kind of good to continue on to the shop I'd originally asked my driver to take me to, walk in, and find the exact fabrics I wanted right away. I bought cheap "matching fabric," the material used to make the blouses worn under saris. It comes in all shades of solid colors and it was at least a cotton/poly blend if not 100% cotton (I could live with a  blend for this project.). I brought it home, washed it, realized it was a little too see-through and decided to line the dress, and gave my driver a swatch to take back to the store to buy another meters' worth for the lining. With my blue and yellow fabric and some black ribbon from the grocery store I was ready to sew a Madeline costume.

I made the cape first. Muffin was thrilled with it. As I started working on the dress she became anxious about my progress and started "working" in the sewing room with me so she could monitor how things were going. She has a Madeline doll and I keep some craft supplies especially for keeping Muffin entertained in the sewing room. While I worked on her Madeline dress she worked on clothes for her Madeline doll. It was kind of sweet and it was the first time she did independent projects while allowing me to sew, so it was a nice milestone for us.

With a Halloween party bearing down on us I still had to figure out a hat. I went back to my patterns and decided to use the sunhat from Butterick 3846 with the brim turned up. I made the brim slightly wider to give me a little more to play with. I was prepared to "starch the hell out of it," as I'd read in one of the many hat-making tutorials I'd poured over in the last few weeks, but it actually worked out quite nicely with just some interfacing. The hat and cape were so cute together that I didn't care anymore that it didn't look exactly like the book or exactly like the cartoon. Muffin looked like a little French boarding school girl and the vintage pattern added a bit of style.

Her new black Mary Janes arrived in the mail just in time to finish off the look.

Motivation Monday: Awesome Edition

Image from Pinterest.

"Is this... is this a weekday?" says The Dude in The Big Lebowski. Between the family illnesses of the last couple weeks, last week's strikes, holidays, and car troubles, and today's holiday, I have absolutely no feeling for what day it is. But Muffin went to school today so it must be a weekday.

I have to run again. I have to finish up my homework this month before I begin two months of school vacation (while Muffin stays in school!). I have to make Muffin's Halloween costume. I have several baking commitments for charity bake sales and seasonal parties. I must be awesome right now. But I must also delegate tasks where I can and not spread myself too thin.

Accomplishing all that stuff means I should probably either be doing homework right now or going to bed early instead of messing around online. I have a plan though. Rest up tonight. Do homework while Muffin is at school tomorrow morning and continue with that every weekday. Go fabric shopping for her costume while she naps tomorrow afternoon with the baby-sitter and do my sewing during subsequent afternoon naps. Start hoarding ingredients for holiday baking whenever I see them in the grocery stores. Stick to my Saturday long runs even if I don't do any other running during the week.

It's not impossible. Just wake up and be awesome. And really, really go running to combat the effects of all the baked good test batches.

Super Mommy

I'm pretty proud of myself this week. I prioritized my time, I delegated tasks, and I made this:

and I finished making this:

all for Muffin's birthday party on Saturday afternoon.

How to Make a Very Hungry Caterpillar Party in India
I have to thank Pinterest for the cake idea. I pinned it months ago and kept the idea tucked away in my head, thinking about how to make this in India.

First, when the Consulate placed an order with the commissary in Delhi, I ordered "one" food coloring box. Due to the confusing nature of the order form, I ended up with "one case" of food coloring boxes. I also bought one case of real vanilla extract (intentionally -- I use it a lot for baking) because you can't buy real vanilla in Hyderabad and the fake stuff sold here tastes awful.

Next, when we where on vacation in the United States in May, I tried the King Arthur flour gluten-free cake mix and I liked it a lot better than the Betty Crocker gluten-free cake mixes I'd been using. I bought several boxes of chocolate and yellow -- which actually comes out more like angel food cake -- and did a couple test batches once we were back in Hyderabad to see how the cupcakes would work in my oven. I also tested frosting recipes. I'd been using the Pamela's frosting mixes, and while I love the chocolate, the vanilla always tasted funny to me. I ended up using a butter frosting recipe from a Better Homes and Gardens cookbook.

I used Heritage unsalted cooking butter for the cake and the frostings. I've found it in HyperCity and at the Heritage markets. It freezes well, so I buy several boxes whenever I see it.

I did a little bit of work each day. On Tuesday I made a batch of green frosting. On Wednesday I made a batch of red and kept both in the freezer. On Thursday I took a break. On Friday, with our housekeeper helping to keep Muffin entertained, I made one box of chocolate cupcakes (one box yields 24 cupcakes), one box of yellow cupcakes, and another box of chocolate into 12 cupcakes and one nine-inch round cake. I also made another batch of frosting, dividing it into half blue and half yellow. I moved all the frostings into the refrigerator to defrost for Saturday morning. I sealed up all the cupcakes into Tupperware, blasted the air conditioner and kept my fingers crossed for the electricity, and left them on the kitchen counter overnight because there wasn't enough room in the refrigerator for them.

On Saturday morning, while Mike kept Muffin busy, I started frosting everything. I locked up the cat. I kept air conditioners blasting in the kitchen and the dining room. I ate a good breakfast and a good lunch and didn't drink too much coffee so I wouldn't have shaky hands and drop anything. I cut out little feet and antenna from black felt. I placed the cupcakes on a piece of white fabric (an old tablecloth that had a couple stains in it so can't be used for fancy dining anymore, but works well as a cupcake canvas) and the felt stuck to the fabric nicely. I kept the caterpillar's head in the refrigerator until the very last minute to keep his face from melting.

Several weeks ago I'd ordered official Hungry Caterpillar party supplies from the Eric Carle museum and some cheaper plain green supplies from Oriental Trading. I also found some party stuff at HyperCity and the party store next to Qmart.

Mike and I spent Friday night sealing up the goodie bags and I also finished Muffin's dress that night. Each day for the last two weeks I'd been working on the dress in about five-minute increments whenever I could. It's the Oliver + S Seashore Sundress in Michael Miller Lolli Dot from Fabric.com and red "matching fabric" from a sari shop.

All the work culminated in two hours of insanity. Nineteen kids and sixty cupcakes. We bought samosas from a kiosk around the corner for a savory snack and we had plenty of juice, water, soda, and beer for guests of all ages. We just let the kids go crazy with Muffin's toys until cupcake time, then they went crazy with cupcakes. Everyone seemed to have a good time. Muffin was a little subdued but she loved her birthday cake and she didn't cry when everyone sang "Happy Birthday." That's about all you can ask from a two-year-old.

And we had our housekeeper come in for the afternoon to help with cleaning up. That is a key element to throwing a party in India.

It was a pretty good party, but I'm glad birthdays are only once a year. I can't be Super Mommy every week.

That Room

I wouldn't sign us up for Hoarders, but we collect stuff. Mike has his cameras and his bike parts. I have fabrics and bits of paper. We both have CDs and DVDs that have been listened to or watched once. We both have old clothes. Occasionally we do go through our stuff and pare it down a bit but we still end up with that room. That room where boxes remain unpacked and stuff that we need to keep but don't use ends up. All the moving around that we do hasn't cured us of our habit of collecting things and holding on to them forever. We moved in together about eight years ago and I'm afraid we might still have boxes from that first apartment stashed away somewhere.

We've lived in our current house for almost a year. We moved in just before Christmas and the last delivery of our household effects was on New Year's Eve. So I decided that before the end of the year, I want that room cleaned up and organized. I've had a junk room rather than a sewing room and office. It was a room that Muffin had never even seen because the mess was piled so high. Even when the mold hit, I braved the room long enough to rescue some fabric but we never go to the rest of the room.

When Mike had last Friday off and we had a full staff of housekeepers and nannies to keep Muffin busy, Mike and I went in and tackled that room.

It's still not perfect but it came a long way that morning. I've sketched out a couple little work tables to be made and I've figured out my storage needs. I've found homes for two sewing machines, the printer, and the scanner. All the fabric is on shelves. Our housekeeper gladly took some of the craft supplies that I felt I no longer needed. Her daughter and young cousins keep scrapbooks and love getting my crafting hand-me-downs. Muffin sneaks in there now and marvels at the fabrics, anxious to touch them all, making little "oh, oooh," sounds.

I can't wait to start using my new sewing room office.

P.S. We've been doing some big cleanups around the house, and one morning we put out several garbage bags, including one from the catbox, because, well, we have a cat who uses the catbox so we have to throw it away. Within an hour, every garbage bag was gone from in front of our house except the one full of kitty litter. It took several days for that one to disappear. The ups and downs of having a "private" garbage man. He doesn't really have to take anything he doesn't feel isn't worth sorting through to see what can be resold. Eventually it all disappears though.

Welcome to Mold Haven

When we came home from our summer vacation after Labor Day weekend we were greeted by a house full of mold. We had no idea we should have left all our air conditioners running full blast for three weeks while we were out of the house. We left all the ceiling fans on and we left the air conditioner on in our bedroom just low enough to keep one room comfortable for the cat. We were saving electricity. In a house with faulty wiring and a generator that continuously goes on and off, we thought that was the right thing to do.

But the monsoon season won. Mold. Not so much in the walls and ceilings as far as we can tell, but individual objects in random places. My vegetable ivory jewelry that was stored in one place, but not the vegetable ivory that was stored in another. Mike's dress shoes but not mine. One coat out of a closet full of them. None of the clothing drawers, except for the one filled with my bras. One drawer in my bedside table but not the other drawer.

We've had some of the mold tested. It's toxic in large quantities. We don't think we have large enough quantities and we cleaned it up as soon as we started finding it. We think we're okay, but we're not experts.

Maintenance hasn't been too worried. First they tried to tell us it was dust from the construction going on next door. Then they said it was "Just fungus." I'm sorry, just fungus? They tried to tell us the air purifier was a dehumidifier before admitting they had no idea what a dehumidifier was.

That's when we had to start laughing. Dehumidifiers should be handed out upon arrival at the airport here, along with your entry stamp and a cup of chai. But the maintenance guys had no idea what we were talking about. We went to several appliance stores who gave us blank stares and Mike said to one sales guy "If you don't know what I'm asking for, then you probably don't have it." The guy laughed and agreed. A friend tipped us off to apparently the one store in town that carries them. They know they are the one store in town that carries them and can charge quite a bit, but we bought one. They were out of stock and we had to wait twenty-four hours for delivery. When it arrived, our housekeeper was amazed that such a machine even existed. She thinks India would be a better place if more people knew of this technology.

We have washed everything in white vinegar. Most of Sophie's stuffed animals were saved by a spin in a super-hot washing machine cycle followed by a thorough drying. What's odd is that the shelves I keep my fabrics on had mold, but only one of the fabrics actually did. I ran them all through the washer to freshen up, anyway. We removed the carpet from our bedroom; the mold was the worst in there. Luckily Sophie's room was one of the least affected areas of the house; I cleaned up all of her stuffed animals the day we arrived home, threw out some of the clothing that was beyond saving, and the mold has not returned to her room.

The dehumidifier is running day and night. When the power goes out and shuts it down, it only takes an hour or two for the mold smell to come back into our bedroom. Between air purifiers, air conditioners, and the dehumidifier, after several weeks it feels like we have finally gained on the mold. There doesn't appear to be new growth in any of the places we've cleaned up. We are anxiously awaiting an order of silica gel desiccants, those little white "Do Not Eat" packs, to keep in our drawers and suitcases.

Now that we know the mold is toxic, however, we are trying to see what this country can produce in the way of a qualified inspector. No luck so far. We are just trying to stay ahead of the mold until the dry season starts up in a few months.

Happy, Happy Hippo

If I had a kid, I’d decorate its room with this cheerful hippo motif. (Click the photo to see it larger.) For the time being, I don’t really need a quilt from Centre Artisanal de Musaga, but I want one. They hand paint and stamp fabrics with Burundian motifs and other African designs. They sew quilts, garments, and handbags. They sell lengths of painted fabrics. If they don’t have exactly what you want in stock, they’ll make it for you, from custom-painting the fabric to sewing the item. They are, essentially, awesome. If you like that sort of thing. I’m thinking of commissioning some fabric for curtains in my office. That way I can feed the fabric-shopping beast without adding to my overflowing stash at home while supporting and advertising a local business.

Spoonflower.com

My dream of Grendel-printed fabric may come true soon! All I need is some computer elves to help make my photos the correct dpi.

Spoonflower.com

Sewing down the stash

I've been in sort of a funk lately. Creatively, I've been cooking a lot. But cooking is not doing anything to help get the house cleaned up and organized. We have a big move looming over us, with the stress of still not knowing exactly where and when. I keep thinking that I have to take control over the things I can have control over, like the organizational state of the house. But I'm not actually doing anything about it. When I'm stressed out I tend to shut down for a few days at a time.

Stuff needs to be weeded through and sent to Goodwill. Books should be placed on bookshelves so they'll be easier to box up later. Cupboards need to be cleaned out of old food we will never eat. My giant wardrobe full of cloth has to be dealt with.

This weekend I've decided to deal with the cloth. Several months ago I bought this pattern with the idea that I can use lots of various-sized pieces from my stash. And last night I finally got around to cutting out pieces. These skirts are pretty quick to sew up, once you get the darts and zipper done. My hope is to get rid of some fabric and have some nice new summer clothes to pack into storage this winter, then be thrilled to unpack new clothes next summer. No matter where we end up, there will be summer weather at some point. (Minsk is no longer an option.) So I'm working on skirts right now.

Next weekend maybe I'll work on some real household stuff.

Piece #2 Done

Here is the black linen top. Simplicity 3887, View C. I know it's hard to see any detail in my poor photo. (Click on the garment photo to enlarge it.) I think the linen I used was not quite as soft and lightweight as is needed for this kind of top. But luckily, since it's black and puffy a lot of imperfections are disguised. When I make this up in the soft cotton eyelet, it should look like an entirely different shirt.

Yesterday when I finished this and put it on I didn't take any pictures because I was disappointed with how it looked. This morning I tried it on again and I loved it. I think the difference must have been the shorts I was wearing. Yesterday, Bermuda-length shorts made this top look sort of dowdy. This morning, short shorts made it look fabulous.

I love lists!

I wrote down my summer sewing plan this afternoon. I've gone stash diving, and I've also made some careful purchases. This is not a SWAP, since I won't wear every top with every bottom, but it's a good list of summer clothing that fills some classic, neutral needs in my wardrobe.

Tops.
McCall's 4922 in an embroidered cotton (right) that I bought from Textile Studios during their winter sale. I'm making a version with the longer shirttails and making it short-sleeved. It's almost done. Hemming and closures. Where I always lose momentum.

Simplicity 3887 (left). One in a black linen from my stash. One from an off-white cotton eyelet that I recently purchased.

Hot Patterns Floribunda cami in a white silk from my stash. Maybe also from a champagne silk in my stash. And maybe in black, if I get around to buying some black silk.

Okay, so a couple not-so-neutral stash fabrics want to get sewn up into summer tops, too. Simplicity 4589 will be made at least twice: a black and mauve print and a black and light blue print, both rayons from the aforementioned Textile Studios winter sale.

Bottoms.
New Look 6565 (right) in a white on white print, recently ordered.

Hot Patterns Weekender Chino shorts in a beige twill, recently purchased. I finished the muslin on Friday, received the fabric on Saturday, and pre-washed it today. I had planned on working on the shorts right away, but I might work on some quicker and easier stuff first, like the Simplicity or Floribunda tops.

New Look 6160, shorts modified from the drawstring pants in a white and olive print crinkle cotton, recently purchased.

New Look 6177 (below), as many skirts as I can possibly piece together from my stash.

I wrote down my list in ink and pinned it to my bulletin board with some swatches. It has to all get sewn up now that it's written in ink, right?

White Elephant Finds part deux

I've been living with my new fabrics from the White Elephant Preview Sale for a while now and I realized I've forgotten to share them.

Left: A brocade mystery content. I suspect polyester because it seems like silk, cotton, wool, etc. were always labeled, but a lot of stuff was left unlabeled, and I didn't see anything labeled polyester. So, my powers of deduction... This is a large piece, about 3 yards, for $5. I'm thinking this would be nice as the short-sleeved version of the Textile Studios Mandarin Jacket.

Right: A salt-and-pepper wool. I'm hoping there's enough for a pencil skirt. If not... then I don't know yet. I'll think of something. I'd really like it to be a bottom, even if it's just my simple A-line skirt that I can make from one yard.



Left: A silk off-white brocade with teal flowers. This feel so soft and smooth. I have no idea what I'm going to do with it. I think it was my most expensive purchase of the day, at $10. I just had to treat myself to a nice piece of silk for no reason.


Right: Zebra print! It has a soft fuzziness to it, sort of like suede. Another unlabeled mystery content. This is a $2 remnant and there's just enough for a purse and a belt I think.

I tried to buy with my black-and-white wardrobe plan in mind...

White Elephant Finds part une

I've been dreaming about my purchases from the White Elephant Preview Sale on Sunday. Of the four kinds of buttons I bought, I decided which ones will go on my coat. The silver half-orbs will go on the pink side, and the brown ones (they have a bit of a braid pattern that's not really visible on the picture) will go on the boucle side. The second photo, of glass buttons and pink buttons, will be put away for something else. Actually, I have more of the silver and brown ones than I need, so some of those will also be put away for other uses. (I'm thinking lots of purses--see the fabric finds I'll post later).

This third picture is linen napkins. There are a total of 20. They are similar in their off-white-ish, "natural" color, but have different woven patterns (of the same color). There are 6 of one, 4 of another, there's even 1 orphan that doesn't match any of the others. I'm thinking that in a large party no one's going to notice each napkin isn't identical to its friends.

I need to think about my fabrics more before I can post about them. I've already taken their pictures and posted them to flickr.

The Final Countdown

Cue Europe. Or GOB.





I'm taking a break from the sewing machine. I did a lot of work on my coat today. It looks great. It reverses just the way it's supposed to. I need to hem the sleeves and buy buttons for it. Maybe I'll take some snapshots tomorrow. Right now I'm too tired.

P.S. Yesterday my fabrics from Textile Studio and ReproDepot.com arrived. Plus my patterns from Lanetz Living. Plus my swatches from Emma One Sock. It was a good mail day.

hermit

I've got all my supplies in place for hunkering down this weekend to sew my coat. I did a big grocery shopping so I have plenty of food. Netflix has informed me that The Devil Wears Prada and a disc of Six Feet Under episodes will be arriving in my mailbox today, so plenty of visual media. All the fabric and patterns I ordered during the Christmas breakdown should start landing on my doorstep today. (The sight of the new materials piling up motivates me to "Just keep sewing, just keep sewing. Just keep sewing, sewing, sewing.") Yesterday I cut out the second fabric and all the interfacing. And I fused all the interfacing to the fabric, so I really can start the actual sewing part of the sewing project.

If you don't hear from me in a few days don't bother sending a search party. I'll be quite content with death by tweed.

(Pic is yarn-died woven cotton that just arrived from ReproDepot.com.)

Musings: The Black & White Wardrobe

Featuring my new fabrics from Textile Studios. Their sale goes through January 2.





For 2007 I'd like to follow through with at least half of the sewing I plan.