So much to sew!

I heart Simplicity. They gave me Built by Wendy patterns and now Project Runway! As I have mastered sleeves (ie completed one or two sleeves with mild success) and have more confidence with every project I complete I am sewing more and more. This week I wore an outfit I made myself three out of five days! If only I could get my hands on better fabrics than the somewhat sad pickings available at JoAnn Fabrics. Anyone in the Seattle area who knows of a fabulous, unpicked, affordable, amazing place to buy fabrics please let me in on the secret. In the meantime I will indulge in a trip to the Fabric Depot in Portland this weekend, a fabric store of epic proportions that guarantees I will spend too much time (more than I spend at Powells!) and way too much money. That should tide me over through the next month or so. Then I will be recruiting comrades for trips to NYC & LA where we can buy jersey prints that aren't floral and wools that aren't black or gray and cottons that aren't made for quilting.

An American in the Paris of my heart

It is LOVE. An all consuming crush of epic proportions. I blush at the sight of so so many heart shaped notions. Who knew a pearly button could make me so giddy? If you have not gone to Target and tried on everything by Erin Fetherston I advise you to do so now before it is too late and I have bought everything. I managed to restrain myself today and already I regret it. I picked up the red corduroy jumper & the white gauze button up (with pearl heart buttons). I then immediately came home and ordered the black long sleeve top with the off white bow as they were out of my size at the store. My next paycheck will be spent on the wool coat with velvet hearts and the heather grey heart scarf & & & & & ..... Ms Fetherston will be my holiday gift to myself. We will hold hands and admire our reflection in storefront windows as we do our holiday shopping in the hustle & bustle downtown. The best crushes are the ones that leave you smiling for hours after your last encounter. Is it silly that my crush comes on a hanger?

Projects, notes & mountains.

The other night after about oh so many vodka drinks I decided exactly what I want to do with my life. Unfortunately the vodka didn't take notes and I'm not sure how to put my brilliant plan into action. I know it involved things like "apparel design classes" and "graphic design school" and an end all goal of being a textile designer who sets her own hours and manages to both design, sew and wear her own creations. In my perfect world I could do these things and not fuss about things like future mortgage payments, insurance, "work" ect ect. Those sticky little things that look like big big (big!) unclimbable mountains when you start sussing out the details. I've decided that the best way to not lose hope completely is to keep busy with projects. I figure the more projects I manage to complete the smaller those big big unclimbable mountains will look. And maybe one of those projects will help me see exactly what it is that I am meant to do.

Current projects:

Holiday cards. I found baby blue die cut birds that will be the first part of the card. I've printed a pattern on one side in chocolate brown and a holiday greeting on the other. I have set an eyelet in the top and will be adding a ribbon so the card can be hung on Christmas trees like an ornament. The second part of the card is a rounded edge silver note card that will have a little note from Erik & I stamped on one side and a bird on the front. I know its not even Thanksgiving yet but I just can't help myself!



Decorations. I reused the fall leaves that I made for Jenny & Robin's wedding and hung them around the living room & dining room in preparation for Thanksgiving. I'm going to leave the string up for Christmas and replace the leaves with silver, gold & green stars. We're hosting Erik's family at our house this year and I am going to go all out!

For a rainy day....

After so many days of soaked toes, wet socks and muddy shoes I began a search for the perfect rainboots. Nothing clunky and ugly, nothing that requires two pairs of socks to wear comfortably, nothing that you would be embarrassed by if you couldn't change out of them right away.

I think I've found them. Now all I've got to do is count my pennies and my dollar bills. Perfection unfortunately does not come cheap.

Things I find myself doing in the afternoon.....

Erik & I desperately long for a brokendown house full of things for us to change, rearrange, paint, destroy and make new again. One afternoon this week we finished the last project we could at our current house. When its not yours it makes it hard to justify the time & money you spend on improvements, but as we are hosting Erik's family at our house this Christmas we felt like we could take the time. We discovered that we kindof love demolition whilst breaking stone & grout with hammers. We discovered that one should always expect to find ugly things when revealing previously hidden places. We discovered that you should always spend the time sanding if you want your wood stain to actually stain your wood. We'll chalk it up to experience, and when we move into our very own little mess we'll know these things. We also discovered that though we are desperate for someplace new, our little someplace old carries so many memories that it will be harder to say goodbye than we thought. We've lived here, we've had holidays here, we've had parties here big & small, we've said things we regret here and things we will never forget, we've made friends here and lost a few, we're known for our little corner of the universe here. Walking through the house today is a completely different experience than it was four (five? six?) years ago when I first came in through the backdoor and peeked upstairs at a party. But even though the paint is different (my greens vs. Grace's browns) and the couch is newer and the rooms are repurposed (bedrooms turned to sewing rooms, bar rooms turned into shop rooms) the memory of every party (bachelorette, panty, birthday, karaoke, holiday) still sits just behind the newest coats of paint and around every corner. We will have to have a big big party when we say goodbye.