Scottish Fabulosity

This makes me want to climb a big rock with a dog at my side. In the rain.

Harris Tweed - From Shearing To Stamping from HTA on Vimeo.

Pendleton Factory Inspiration

Watching videos of cloth being spun and woven never gets old, eh?

PENDLETON FACTORY RHYTHMS from Jay Carroll on Vimeo.

Take THAT, huge retailers bent on taking over the World!

Step One:

Notice that you seem to be experiencing a pillowcase deficit in your home.

Step Two:

Stop in at a Big Box Store (a.k.a.: Ugh) the next time you are in town to see what they are offering.

Step Three:

Walk over to the linen department, find what you are looking for and hunt down the price tag.

Step Four:

Pick your jaw up off the floor.

(SERIOUSLY?  $40 for two pillowcases?  COTTON pillowcases? SINCE WHEN???)

Step Five:

Turn around and storm out of the store, muttering "No, no, no, no, no, no.  NO.  Just no." under your breath.

Step Six:

Drive home, thanking Heaven the entire way that your mother/grandmother/aunt/the internet taught you how to sew, and find some old flat sheets in the linen closet that you are currently not using - preferably the ones you bought at that garage sale for $1 each.

Step Seven:

Iron them.

Step Eight:

Using an older pillowcase as a template, cut out 8 rectangular pillow-sized pieces, match them into pairs (with right sides facing), sew three sides of each pair together, hem the openings and pop them right-side-out.

Step Nine:

Do a little victory shimmy, à la football touchdown booty shake, and sing "Oh no, you are NOT gettin' my money, SUCKAS!"

Step Ten:

Take a photo and blog about it, just because.

Eye Candy

I've always tried really hard to come up with "meaty" posts here because I figure if you're going to spend your precious time coming to read what I have to say, I may as well put some effort into it.

The only problem with that is that it's really time-consuming and after an excruciatingly long week at work, my brain (and body) shuts down.  So I'm going to start publishing things here that I've simply found online during the week; things that have inspired me or made me sit up and take notice.

I hope you enjoy these little "micro-posts" and if you have any ideas or items you want to share that fit the theme, please leave a link in the comments.

Here's the first one:



BE LINEN MOVIE IN ENGLISH from Linen and hemp community on Vimeo.

On the off-chance you thought it was all-knitting-all-the-time around here

I have proof that I have been doing Things Other Than Knitting:

It's a new bathmat, made from old t-shirts we've been collecting for a few years.  We seem to developing a habit of making stuff out of my husband's old clothes...

Spring Wardrobe

It looks as though mother nature may have finally gotten the memo that it's spring (allegedly).

No, those temperatures are not fantastic, but you may have noticed the big yellow spiky circly thing in the middle of those icons, yes?  We haven't seen that sparkly doodad in quite a while.  I'll take the 10C as a trade for some vitamin D.

As a result of this monumental turn of events, my mind started turning to spring wardrobes and oh-crap-what-am-I-going-to-wear-this-summer?  I lost a fair bit of weight last summer/fall (15 lbs, actually) and then gained a bit of it back (that's ok, I knew that would happen when I started to recover from my malady).  The result of this seesawing is that I have no idea what fits and what doesn't.  Plus, I am due for some new clothes.  Some of my summer wardrobe is over 7 years old.  Don't get me wrong - I take really good care of my clothing, so it sure doesn't look that old.  But, I'm getting tired of it, you know?

So.  I went fabric shopping.  I spent an OBSCENE amount of money.  Money we don't really have.  Money that I'm trying REALLY HARD to feel guilty about spending, but to no avail.

 Some beautiful poplin in several (this was not all of it) colours, for pants and capris:

Some really gorgeous rayon/cotton knit in a shimmery taupe colour:

I have plans for this knit (the black one on the right):

Image courtesy of Burda

I also got completely blindsided by this fabric:

I know, right?  I just about fell to my knees before it in the store.  They had to pry the bolt out of my hands to cut the length I needed.  It's a beautiful crisp (almost crinkly) batiste and the background colour is the softest lilacy rose colour.  You almost can't tell.  Gah, I'm so in love.

{Don't worry, I bought lots of discount cotton fabric to make a muslin of this dress before I cut into the batiste.  I've learned that lesson well over the years.}

The gorgeous stuff is going to become this (if I have anything to say about it, anyway):

Both images courtesy of Burda

There is just something about the long version, isn't there?  I don't have enough fabric for that one, but mine will definitely be longer than the first version.  I don't do "above the knee".  No way, Jose.  No can do.  Me and my "athletic" legs are staying firmly under wraps.

Other than that, I bought some very serviceable cotton for the hubbie (shorts) and some new needles and thread (boring but necessary).  Plus, I renewed my membership to the special club (woot, an automatic 20% off every fabric purchase, yeeeeehaw).  If you're getting into sewing your own clothing and your local store has a rewards program, I strongly recommend that you look into it.  It has been very beneficial for me.

I'll touch base again when I've got some of it finished - show and tell time!

Have a great holiday weekend, if you're in Canada!