croque-choux

Vintage stash treasures

Vintage lace from my stash. Still has the original ticket on it, but how I wish someone had written in the date! I "inherited" this awhile back when my husband's grandmother Fabienne passed away. She lived to be 102 and a half, and kept lots of things like this. Nobody but me was interested in this sort of stuff- what a treasure for a someone like me who studied fashion and has been sewing all her life! I've got the button boxes too. The smaller strip of lace is from someone else, and is more recent. The geometric designs woven into it make me think Art Deco.

Another frivolous eBay purchase

"Hey honey, your sumo wrestler fabric came in the mail..."
I am too worn out right now to post anything other than my latest eBay purchase. I hope it will bring a smile to someone's face somewhere :o)

Feeding the stash

It's been awhile since I've bought any fabric... I promised myself I would only look at the kimono fabric for sale on eBay, until I found a deal I couldn't pass up that is. They're just small scraps, but pretty and cheerful. Something to brighten up my stash. Luckily, the one on the left turned out to be chirimen silk.

Feeding the stash

Yay! I got a package from Japan yesterday! My eBay stuff came. Last time I surfed over to eBay I swore I was only going to LOOK, but then one thing led to another... In French they have a similar expression "de fil en aiguille" which translates to "from thread to needle", which is very appropriate in my case. Anyway, one thing led to another, and I fell in love with this bright and unusual wool ikat fabric. I also snatched up this little book on cute little objects and purses to make from chirimen kimono silk (another weakness of mine). If it's coming all the way from Japan, might as well buy something else and combine shipping I always say! The instructions in Japanese are not as explicit and understandable as in other Japanese craft books, but I should be able to figure things out as I make them. I had no idea what I was going to use the ikat fabric for, but now that it's here I think I may just use it like a stole or a big scarf as the print is large and too pretty to cut up into patchwork. This fabric is not printed by the way! Ikat is made by dyeing the threads first and then weaving them, which has always intrigued me. The eBay seller was so nice that she even tucked a little surprise into my package: this cute little shibori coin purse! I love it! Just when I was whining about how much I loved Japanese indigo and how expensive it was in France (my previous post), and then this nice little surprise shows up on my doorstep. I guess it pays to whine sometimes :o) Now if I could only figure out what to do with my last eBay purchase... In a previous binge, I bought this piece of obi fabric from another seller who described it as BLUE obi fabric and I took the bait. Actually it's more like the color of the sky right now, that is to say a warm steel grey, but that's okay. Also it's only about 16 x 13 inches big. But I needed it for my stash, you see. I'm sure I'll think of something make out of this...

Fabric stash revelation

This morning while I was choosing fabrics for a birthday postcard, I had a revelation. I guess my mind wanders a lot when I sew, but that's okay as long as it comes back. Anyway, after sewing 6 different fabrics onto this little 4 x 6 inch card, I thought about something the lady at the post office said. She asked me this a few times actually: "Where ever do you get all your fabrics from? Such variety..." And this morning it hit me- People do NOT normally have this much fabric at home. Normal people don't anyway, nor do they squirrel fabric away in boxes under the bed, in closets, and in the garage, etc. Anybody who quilts or sews can relate to this I'm sure. All those stories you hear about crazed quilters hiding fabric in the trunk of their cars so their husbands won't find out they've just been on another fabric binge? True.