Many years, decades even, of fabric buying, collecting and hoarding has taught me a thing or two.
It has taught me to take what you can when you can, for this opportunity may not come your way again. From original screen prints in limited runs to op shops finds and bequests from de-stashers - an offer of good fabric cannot, should not be refused.
I know there are some problems with this. Space for one. Organising systems and relocation problems. Choosing quantities is a total pain if you don't yet know what a piece of fabric will become (an evening purse? doll clothes? an overcoat?). Colourway choices can reduce me to a blithering idiot.
But what I know for sure is that if I set out to buy a particular kind of fabric for a particular purpose I am almost guaranteed to be unable to find it, and to waste a whole sewing day looking to boot. This is tantamount to inviting the sewing mozz to come stay. Frustration in extremis.
I just love that when the mood and opportunity come together I can make pretty much anything without needing to go shopping first. Like today. Two kid free hours and the centre piece of my birthday outfit was all but done. It features a selection of silk fabrics, one I inherited from D's grandmother that must be older than me, scraps from vintage kimonos, pieces of Thai silk I bought back from Chiang Mai and left over silk lining from two previous outfits.
Aside from being perpetually prepared for any sewing whim, my other great lesson has been to cut with abandon. I won't kid you that this one is always easy, but bitter experience has taught me that no piece of fabric is too special to be used. You need to strike when the iron is ready to burn.
How do I know this? Many a piece has been coveted by me only to end up being given away when I no longer care for it. There have been premeditated purchases I have lusted after and spent considerable dollars on. Fabric I loved so fiercely that I kept it for just the right project on a day when I was feeling supremely confident.
The Project That Never Came.
And then a few years later as I am digging for treasure I find it and somehow it just isn't special any more. Its moment has passed and I never got to enjoy the use of it. How wrong is that?
So the other piece of fabric I used today was the bundle of denim and stainless steel my
fashion icon (man, can she sew!) procured for me just a few weeks ago. I love this stuff so much I never even put it into the stash. It's been sitting on my desk screaming out to be used ever since I got it.
I was so scared I might let the moment slip with this fabric that I pushed away my initial plans for it because I knew I just wasn't going to have the time and space to get that project done. Instead I opted for an entirely achievable and no less pleasing project. In fact this garment makes excellent use of the fabric's drape and hold. I'm planning on wearing it for a very special occasion, but I know it will get plenty of use after that too.
Thank you so very much Kirsten! I love it!!
The basic structure of the skirt is from Ottobre magazine, though I altered it heavily and the embellishments are of my own devising (with advice and opinions from Amy and D). Some of my alterations were brought about by needing to make it smaller (such a lovely chore for me), but now that I know what size I am in their scheme* I won't be making that mistake again. I am sure I will be whipping up a few more of these now that I have the fittings down pat.
I am eyeing off some top patterns too for the luscious piece of merino tencel I bought (also hasn't made it as far as the stash), with perhaps a few embellishments from the knit stash box. I can't quite see how I'll fit that in between now and the party, but never say never.
*Does it happen to everyone else too that they take their measurements for a commercial pattern, find out they are a MUCH bigger size than they are in shop made clothes and then make the clothes only to find they are too big? I have been sewing for a long time and it drives me nuts the way I always get sucked into making this mistake.
More delightful Pippijoe fabric and stash lining and batting. Super quick and my own pattern.
a little bag to hold my sock knitting for the commute to work. 
Whew. Time for a rest now. Or perhaps a wee swatch knitting session...
I hate it how Ravelry tells you exactly how long. There's only the border edging to do and it is done. I can't wait to block it and throw it in the tumble dryer where apparently it will get softer and thicker (how could that be possible?!) and the natural undyed cotton colours will deepen. Despite being a little splitty I still totally love this yarn. Though after hearing that Malabrigio has a very similar organic cotton I may be tempted to stray...
This Pippijoe hemp has been burning a hole in my imagination so I just had to get it out there. 
Since I bought the wonderful Japanese handles nearly 2 years ago I figured it was about time I used them too. 
Inside there's a little frivolity with Trefle pigs and chickens and a stunning array of pockets and slots for all my bits and pieces. 
Including one edged in fold over elastic (great stuff you can get here) just big enough for business cards. 
We'll have to see how I go balancing it on my arm whilst knitting on the tram.
Really a bit more traumatic than a hat should be, but he was totally particular about what he wanted and I was busting to meet his expectations. I really like the finished fabric - still soft and with clear stitch definition, but the felting has given it lovely structure.
So I was thrilled to be asked to a function on the 89th floor of one Melbourne's newest sky scrapers. 
Just my luck that there was a cloud hovering...
Sometimes a little project works out so well I feel a real buzz of pride. It doesn't happen all that often, I can easily get caught up in the comparison game and find my work lacking when it stands next to what I had pictured in my mind or the outstanding work of others. But this week while making a real effort to churn through a few of the things on my to do list in preparation for a big upcoming milestone of mine (hello middle age!) I finally finished the baby blanket. 
A little bit about how it began. My friend the communist is about to become a parent. I have planned a number of baby projects for his about to be youngster but everything has gone wrong with them from materials supply to seasonal requirements to gender considerations. I was hitting dead ends and the clock was ticking on arrival time.
For ages I contemplated dying it. Then trying to alter it. Then at last I decided to frog it. I just couldn't go past the divine wool and what with my dying obsession, well, it was a marriage made in heaven. first I unpicked it all which was not an inconsiderable job. Next I started to unravel the sleeves which was a total bitch of a job. 
The wool is a bit fuzzy and slubby and caught ever 5 stitches and kept breaking. As I was pulling and swearing and untangling Amy (who was sitting beside me) complained of being cold and pulled the as yet not unravelled back over her knees. The moment she snuggled down it was all too obvious how I could make use of the beautiful work that had already been put into the jumper but give it my own spin too and make sure it would get the visibility and use the gorgeous fibre deserved. 
So I finished frogging the sleeves and skeined out the balls I'd made and Amy and I dyed it in stunning shades of red (as befits the son of a communist). Next I picked up all the stitches on three sides of the back, leaving the bottom rib band as the blanket's top edge, and knit a mitred gartered stitch border. Lastly I embroidered a little Ee on the bottom for the intended recipient and posted it off to a far away place where it is cold.
This project is, to my mind, darn near perfect and one of the very few I have had real trouble parting with. I have no need for a baby blanket, and if I did I would always pull out of the cupboard the snuggly alpaca cable my mum made for Wil. But nonetheless. I want to have it around to stroke and look at.
