Besides the burnin' desire to express myself creatively with needle and thread, my other motivation for The Great Sew-a-Thon is a serious lack of clothing, especially anything resembling appropriate summery attire for our upcoming trip to the Floribama coast to see Mr. Sweetheart's family. I'll be honest, I still have a long way to go with losing the baby weight, and breastfeeding has not done anything to lighten my load in the "stacked" department. I've put off buying much besides a pair of jeans and a few shirts, partly because of finances, but mostly as incentive to slim down to my pre Sugar Pea size. I am losing this weight very slowly, but come on, a girl's gotta have some pretty frocks, especially when her self esteem needs a boost. So, a few days ago Sugar Pea and I headed to Hancock Fabrics where we found some great sales, as usual. I just love that place. There's one near my house where I got to be pretty well known during my pregnant sewing frenzy, and I swear, every single time I go in there, half the stuff I came for is on sale. I was petrified when I heard this, but they say my location is here to stay.
Anyway, I found some pretty printed cottons for $1.95 a yard, and Simplicity patterns were on sale for $1.99. I know I'm a little behind the times on this one, but Simplicity has put out some of their classic patterns from the 1950s in a "retro" collection. I find vintage patterns all the time and have a small collection of them, trouble is, they're always so tiny. I know we're much larger than previous generations, and I know that women of times past would never have considered leaving the house without being stuffed and strapped into their "foundations", but really, didn't any of our grandmas tote around 44 Double Ds? It's good to see some copies of actual vintage styles in a size I can use, instead of always trying to find new patterns with a vintage look. Truth be told, despite sewing bags, purses, pillows, curtains, dust ruffles, stuffed animals and such, the box-pleated circle skirt from #3748 will be my first real garment, complete with the dreaded zipper. I've been so inspired by the girls of SewRetro, I'm making the leap! Who knows, if all goes well, I might get up the nerve to join their ranks. I know sewing in a zipper will turn out to be just like making button holes was-- scary until I just sat down and figured it out, then I wondered why I had gotten my panties in such a wad. Also on the drawing board are some pillow shams, a couple of aprons, and maybe even a dress or two.
In other sewing news, Mom and I went to a great garage sale last weekend where I got gobs of fabric for five bucks, but the real score was a trash bag full of sewing patterns I got for....nothing. Totally free. The lady of the house was a professional seamstress, so there were all sizes and all styles, some of them expensive designer patterns. I got several sacks of fabric which had already been cut for garments, but never sewn together, also for free. She seemed thrilled that someone who sewed would get some use out of them.
The icing on the cake came a little later when I told my Grandma about the pattern haul I'd made, and she presented me with two vintage cardboard pattern storage boxes.
After so many months of just dreaming about sewing, it feels so good to actually be doing. This dreary weather is a good excuse to stay in and stitch my little heart out. I'll be keeping you posted on my crafty endeavors. Wish me luck.
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