Maybe Don't Shop Under the Influence ...

... of insomnia. As I did back on June 3rd. 

So I received the cutwork fabric.

It's not white as I expected, and I think white is really important. Because it's actually natural color and something about that color makes the cutwork feel sloppy messy, instead of a formerly crisp white that's now slightly messed up. Plus, I washed and dried it. The little cutwork threads are no longer straight and orderly. They're crimped and curly and going all over the place and now this fabric reads like a FUR!

The fabric is kind of like Kristen Stewart's Elie Saab dress for the Twilight premiere. Wearing this fabric would make me look like a poodle.

So I don't know what to do with it now. Maybe it's destined for home dec purpose. I have a room where this could add another texture layer as a throw that lays around doing nothing but adding another layer of texture. That makes me feel bad for this fabric. It was supposed to do more than lay around.

The emboidery on the Tessuti fabric is nice but the actual real-life blue color reminds me of scrubs:

If this became a dress, there's a danger of the top looking like scrubs morphed onto an embroidered skirt. That's not creative, it's weird. How to deal with this? Make the dress bodice a corset style? With seams and boning? Then belted with light supple brown leather, and below that, the embroidery leading down to the border? Need a solution that adds shaping and moves away from loose hanging folds of woven blue fabric.

Some examples of corset bodices on dresses:

J Crew

Rebecca Taylor dress on Shopbop

The hardware from MacCulloch & Wallis is substantial and impressive. The pieces are big, thick, heavy!! It was difficult to narrow my choices -- the shopping basket was too full and expensive at first. But now seeing the quality, I'm tempted to return for more. I also got copper rivets and jeans buttons, to attempt the Jalie jeans. Much of the hardware is Prym, so I'm now wondering, when I'm lusting after Prym fasteners and hardware in Burda that I've never been able to find, would this store be able to get them? I will need to do a real fastidious and patient job on anything I make for this hardware, so I do justice to the quality of the hardware. Big standard to live up to.

Shopping the World. In One Insomnia-Fueled Night.

My credit card may very well be shut down for suspected fraud, as tonight's journeys have taken me to Germany, Australia and the UK. A last hurrah before there's no more fabric shopping for me for awhile. A few unique things I've had my eye on for months:

This cutwork cotton from Germany (Anita Pavani):

It will surely become a summer tunic, as previously featured in a Stylin' Series post.

This cotton from Australia (Tessuti):

Destined to be a shift dress or shirtdress. Previously featured in a Stylin' Series post.

Finally, I've salivated over so much at MacCulloch & Wallis (UK store) for so long. So many unique bag fasteners, rivets, buckles, cord locks, many styles of leather buttons (even hook & eye wrapped in leather!) and so much more.  My shopping basket always got more full than I can explain to the DH. So I never completed a purchase. I like to stash these sorts of supplies in case they're needed in the future, because they're not easy to find. Instead, today I chose a few pieces I will use for current projects, thus, careful choices. I got these bag fasteners:

Silver handbag chain:

Some coat chains for jackets (OK, I lie, this is for the stash "in case ever needed"):

And I love love love this fastener:

Also got jeans buttons and rivets. Due to the success others have had with the Jalie jeans, I will attempt them too with some stashed denim. I got copper-color rivets and buttons.

They have yummy fabrics too. Including a black linen jersey I'd love to do into a summer sweater for the city...

AN IDEA ...

If you like the cool fasteners like those shown above, but don't want to tackle a handbag, use fasteners on a belt, like this MICHAEL Michael Kors belt at Zappos:

Obsessed About India, the Richest Visual Inspiration

My husband is in India right now. How I wish I could be there too. I'm missing 2 weddings and 3 cities: Chennai, Bangalore and Delhi. But a few weeks of vacation per year must be parceled out, and this late-breaking trip didn't fit. I've been to India 4 times now, and someday hope I can say there were 40 trips. 400 trips may be wishing too much, but it's not too much for me.

Some inspiration here. Some is Indian and some is more appropriately "Indian fusion" with other influences. Like the Indian-Chinese fusion restaurant we like to visit. Bring the best of both with fantastic result.

From My Measuring Tape blog:

Images from Ritu Kumar, Indian fashion designer:

How about a corset with sari trim.

I love the shape of the corset.

Could wear it with a full gauzy layered skirt.

Here I like the undergarment with the square shapes.
I imagine it as a long summer skirt with T, belt and sandals.

This could be an evening gown at a dressy event, anywhere.

Here I like the subtle pattern and colors.
I'd like a summer sweater in these patterns and colors.
Or silk tunic over flowy beige pants.

I just love the whole of this. Proportions, everything.
It would be way overwhelming on my 5' frame though.
But it gives me an idea.
I love the swish of long silk skirts. Could belt them with scarf.

Another long over long but slimmer.
Love the color combo.

Salmon, lavender and beige.
Never would have thought of it.

I like the flared tunic over leggings.

Would never wear it myself but OK to see on others.

I am a sucker for paisley. Simple as that. Beautiful paisley.

Lest the above is too much of India, here is more Ritu Kumar on the runway shown at ritukumar.com, very different style. Easily, details here could be incorporated into things we sew. Mix of fabrics, embroidery and zari, a hemline, layers:

I had the occasion once in Chennai to score a Ritu Kumar piece. But I did not bite. Next time, next time. After taking so liberally from this designer's site for our viewing pleasure, I should inform you, you can buy online. For example, the silk dress below is US$114. Oh, love ...

Check out the matching belt:

I love the mix of blue and browns. This could absolutely be worn anywhere in the U.S. without feeling a conspicuous out-of-place influence. Even to work, under a jacket or belted cardigan.

On trip #5, sometime not too far away, I will be a fierce huntress in India. Hunting for fabric. And I am hungry. Very very hungry. To find fabrics with the more subdued colors in the Ritu Kumar runway above, better for my very fair skin.

So I can create, and sew, with inspiration from India ...

Would You Use Liberty of London for Bias Trim?

I bought some green quilted fabric for a vest or jacket, and it frays very readily. The seams will need a hong kong finish. A classic Liberty of London fabric -- Strawberry Thief in a colorway matching the quilted fabric -- was nearby in the fabric store.

The two fabrics were meant to be together. Forever. Into eternity. Bound together with silken threads. The Liberty lawn would bring printed charm to the hong kong finish, making it more interesting than hong kong seams usually are. And the cotton lawn is so lightweight, it's ideal for bias trim and hong kong finishes.

But here's 3 reasons why I left it behind.

• It's expensive.
• It's expensive.
• It's expensive.

It is crazy to use a $40/yard fabric that will never be seen, YES?! It would really make the inside of the vest come alive. But c'mon, it's the inside!

I thought I was the only person on the planet who may have contemplated using Liberty for bias trim.

But no. During blog travel journeys, I find six and a half stitches used Liberty bias trim on a beautiful knit child's cardigan:

Although it is visible bias trim. Mine would be hidden. But this is a child's garment. Mine is for an adult who could wear it longer. So I call the justification even-steven.

If you Google "Liberty bias binding," you find others have tread here already. How cute is this Liberty bias binding on wooden spools, from UK-based clothkits:

Colette Patterns' tutorial on making bias tape features Liberty:

You can get ready-made Liberty lawn bias tape like this from etsy seller PollyDangerNotions:

So ... maybe  it's not so crazy an idea ...

When Does Fabric Acquisition Become Outta Control?

I've been thinking a lot about the good and bad of stashing over the past week.
-- When do you cross the line?
-- Do you  recognize when you've crossed the line?
-- Is it when you must start making jokes about your stash to deal with it?
-- Defend your stash against comments from other people?
-- Don't even want other people to see it?
I don't know the answers, other than causing financial hardship is clearly indication of a problem. No fabric is important enough to sacrifice financial health. Maybe we need a diagnosis quiz.

My fabric stash as of summer '08 fit in 24 bankers boxes. Here you see some of the boxes above a layout of coordinating fabrics. The boxes are all lined up on shelves and colors are identified with scrapbook papers. It makes a nice neat appearance. You can see in upper left corner that I started spray-painting the boxes beige for uniform look. But it's a pain in the butt so I gave up. Since this photo was taken, all scrapbook papers have been cut to fit the boxes and taped down properly.

The hairy-scary of stashing
Since summer '08, the stash has grown even more. Fabric has now overtaken the cutting table, the ironing board, a big recliner chair. I tried to keep the floor space clear but you know how stashes can grow:

So I now sew on an itsy-bitsy corner of the cutting table, and cut on the floor. I run up two flights of stairs to iron instead of using the ironing board conveniently located two steps from the sewing machine. Why? Because fabric is piled and balanced on the ironing board in Dr. Seuss-like towering stacks. If you touch them, they will fall over.

Image from Dr Seuss Art.

And no, I am not a hoarder, the rest of my house is not like this. Plus I have stopped at two cats despite a yearning for three, or three dozen if it means saving lives (I write donation checks to help with that). It's fabric that I love the most.

For the good of stashing
The stash saved me numerous times last week while sewing Christmas gifts:

1. I pulled nearly all fabrics for gifts from the stash. Each was chosen with the recipient specifically in mind, because the fabric just "looked" like them.
2. Including for one reversible vest gift, three perfectly coordinating fabrics! Bonanza!
3. Silk thread was on hand when Sandra Betzina's Fabric Savvy book recommended using it to avoid puckers in silk chiffon seams. This was appreciated, as there is no silk thread available within driving distance of my home.
4. Rattail was available to make skinny piping.
5. And so was a lightweight black lycra knit to make the piping.
6. Numerous choices of twin needles were available to make ribbing. That helped me avoid driving in a snowstorm and visiting stores among holiday crowds. Stashing habit MUCH appreciated.

Six "saves" in one week!! That's the value of a stash. But dangerously, these saves can perpetuate stashing by delivering convenient "see, I told you so's."

Nevertheless, I suspect I'm toeing "the line." The line is in different places for each of us, although there may be common criteria to help us figure when it's time to be more disciplined about purchases.

I admit I despise discipline
But I had to self-impose discipline this weekend. Every Christmas when I visit family in Detroit, my mom, sister and I go to Haberman's in Royal Oak and have great fun fondling fabric and imagining the possibilities. We always buy. Sometimes, lots. Well, at least I do.

This year, no. I have enough. I gave all credit and debit cards to my husband and left for Haberman's with $96 cash. Believe me, it was counted. Thrice. Oh, and a substantial number of quarters in my purse in case they were needed. They add up to dollars pretty fast, you know.

It hurt. HURT!!! Physically, ow, mild headache bothering me HURT. Oh the tension.

I have crossed the line.

Think purchases through
Due to the cash limit, I walked out of Haberman's with one careful fabic choice. Despite the enticing 20-40% sales on silk jerseys, wool doubleknits, camelhair and cashmere coatings. YES! OH YES!

But no. Instead I acquired 3 yards of a green fabric -- Pantone 5615 -- quilted in small 1/2" squares. This fabric acquisition was well thought-out before the purchase and chosen because:
-- It's lightweight and drapey, and would fashion well into an "indoor anorak." Like a jacket to wear at the office with anorak detailing like drawstring waist and snaps.
-- I have stashed antique gold drawstring stoppers that I'd be proud to see swinging visibly at the end of drawstrings.
-- I already have matching antique gold snaps.
-- Green is variety for my closet.
-- I'll build skill matching the squares at seams.
-- And build skill sewing the detail of an anorak jacket.

I also stash buttons. So I got a buttonhole cutter. Because my fifth grade teacher told me that I needed to be more careful when cutting, so that the cuts are nice and straight. That memory came back while cutting silk chiffon last week. Over 30 years later, I am still too impatient to cut perfectly. Not just silk chiffon, which you'd expect, but any fabric. Funny for a seamstress, huh? But when is preciseness in cutting needed more, than when cutting buttonholes? So this notion is useful, another well-considered purchase. Even my fifth grade teacher would approve. What other justification needed?

I will survive
So what do you think? When is it enough? When do you cross the line? When you think you have crossed it, how do you stop?

By the way, the tension headache at Haberman DID evaporate as we had fun there, and I WILL survive. No matter how much I still think about all the fabric passed over, I WILL survive, I WILL survive, I WILL survive ...

I leave you with this because I remember years ago hearing the LOL'ing cascading down the office hallway as female after female opened their email and saw this:

Gloria Gaynor's original I Will Survive.

Now I feel bad about using these words to complain about fabric buying. Geez. There are much bigger problems people face in the world, I do know. And I have faced much bigger problems in life previously. And surely will again. But in between the big problems, we must keep a sense of humor about the small stuff. Few things make me laugh like funny replays of songs. And, song lyrics gone wrong, hilariously wrong until you cry and your stomache hurts from laughing so hard ...

Super Sewing Stocking Stuffer

Best stocking stuffer idea ever:

From GwynHug.com.

You know how holiday shopping can go sometimes ... one for me ... one for somebody else ... one for me ... one for somebody else. That's what I'm gonna do with this.

Who Wants to Be WOMAN SHOPS GLOBE?

Me! Me! Me!

As a former step-grandma once asked, while riding an escalator in a huge shopping mall, "why do we have to want?"

I suppose it keeps us humans moving forward.

Right now I'm moving forward through my zip code's Comcast cable listings to find the Sundance Channel. I'm up to channel 500 and ain't found nuthin' yet! I want to watch MAN SHOPS GLOBE.

... here, it's channel 505. Which is easy to remember because one HBO channel here is 550. I miss having under 100 channels. Things were easier to find.

So back to Grandma Louise's question. Why would I want to be WOMAN SHOPS GLOBE? Isn't there enough available here? Actually right now I am tentatively planning a whirlwind 24-48 hour trip before December 31 to rack up miles to maintain elite flying status, and the trip would include some fabric shopping in a very grand bazaar. A place I've wanted to visit for so long.

Why do I have to want to go there?

While we're wanting, actually, we can overlook what we have. I have already been a WOMAN SHOPS GLOBE several times and am grateful for the amazing experiences that I never expected to have ... the aisles of the treasure-filled Chatuchak Market in Bangkok ... gorgeous vegetables, some I didn't recognize but sure tasted good, at the Saturday market in Greve-in-Chianti in Tuscany ... all the stimulating colors and fabric textures in Nalli sari shop in Chennai, India ...

Yeah, I am lucky and blessed and have lived a bit of being a woman shopping the globe. But still, I always want more. Always want more. It's not about the stuff. I actually don't buy much. It's about the sights, sounds, smells, walking in the midst of foreign languages, the challenge of figuring how to communicate and act where things are so different. I am more alive in these places.

When I buy, I buy to remember. I look about me now and see the fabrics that remind of these adventures ... the snippet of fabric covering a journal with writings about stories a driver in Cambodia told us about the Khmer Rouge, the silk throw from a nice shopkeeper in Kerala who discussed spices with us, the curtains made with fabric from ... um, actually, Arlington Heights, Illinois. But sometimes traveling 10 miles down a road around here is an adventure too!

It's important to open eyes to all adventures around us. And even if I never had the opportunity to get another stamp in my passport again, it's important to realize that sometimes, we really may have been that which we still seek.

Haberman Happiness, Naturally

Happiness lives here.

Especially if you are thrilled by a large quality selection of natural fabrics. I never fail to find substantial wool knits here. Where is here? Haberman Fabrics in Royal Oak, Michigan.

Each time I visit family in the Detroit suburbs, a Haberman visit is a must. You don't have to go to Detroit to indulge, though. A tiny selection of fabrics is on their website, and staff have told me that if you call or email with a good description of what you're looking for, they're happy to send swatches. With the Chicagoland traffic, it's probably faster for me to request swatches from Haberman than drive to and from any Vogue location!

Here are the stand-out things I always find at Haberman that just cannot be left behind ... cannot. I don't get that must have feeling at many other fabric stores.

-- Thick wool knits. With winter encroaching, it's time to sew up the substantial Haberman knit wools I've picked up over the years.

-- Down pillow forms -- an unbeatable selection of shapes and sizes. If you want triangle or cube shaped down pillow forms, in lots of sizes, visit their website. The pillow forms could be fun combined with the Marimekko fabrics on their site.

-- My sister has found fabulous faux furs at Haberman. On Thanksgiving, she showed me a black faux fur jacket she sewed with a Parisian theme lining, and she recently wore it to Paris! I will beg for photos to post here.

-- Silk, silk, silk ... so many silks.

-- Buttons & ribbons.

They have a great selection of home decor fabrics, although I'm over-saturated with those so tend to not buy. My sister once sewed a skirt out of two lightweight coordinated home dec fabrics from Haberman.

Big Bucks @ Britex

Woo hoooooo! Britex has moved from "Fabric Stores to Visit" links to "Fabric Stores Visited." I could have spent Big Bucks at Britex, but in some ways, this San Francisco trip was a Bust.

Here's why:

• I lost a London Fog coat, maybe on a SuperShuttle, but they didn't find it so who knows where it is.
• Worse, I lost a credit card.
• Someone stole our camera from our booth at the salesforce.com Dreamforce EXPO. Cameras are replaceable, photos are not. Sure would appreciate if they'd just anonymously mail the media card to us.

Thus:

• The walk from Moscone to Britex was a little chilly.
• I was spendthrift due to using a debit card instead of credit card.
• And waaaaaaaaah, no picture of fabulous fabrics now.

I did get a pic of the Britex building sign with my camera. I was so excited when I spotted the sign from down the sidewalk. Then I noticed a guy sitting in a van at the curb staring at me in his sideview mirror. What a creep, I thought. The next moment while taking a picture of the Britex building, I nearly backed up into a woman carrying an open coffee. OMG, so sorry!!! I hate when people do that to me. Now I'm one of those people. The guy in the van was watching for the whole catastrophe to happen, he said. What a creep.

At Britex, buying yards of fabric would have alerted my husband's Big Purchase Detector (I've already set off that alarm way too many times this year), so I focused on 3rd floor notions and 4th floor remnants. Let's just say, remnant prices at Britex are not like remnant prices at Vogue.

Shown above are some notions I got, not readily available in shops where I live:

• 20" Riri zippers in silver and bronze -- I cannot find these specific ones anywhere online easily; they have a fine thin dressy zipper pull instead of the round sportier pull
• really cool closures in antique bronze, silver and copper for handbags or innovative coat closures -- will bring a more expensive look to anything made with them
• Dill buttons with slots to use ribbon instead of thread -- yay!!! been on the hunt for these for long time
• LFNTextiles ribbon with vegetables for a fun apron, because we're vegetarian
• 20" flexible ruler
• Japanese silk buttonhole twist thread
• Chaco chalk pens & refills
• Iris super fine pins

Bought only two fabrics, both remnants:

Striped Burberry lining -- this will be a great lining with any ol' quality black or khaki jacket/coat fabric and make it look like Burberry, especially with the really cool closures from Britex.

A small piece of striped sage-gold-orange silk with embroidery accents in exact colors of our dining room rug. A 2010 planned project is to give the dining room a casual banquette feel with a wrap-around plush bench on two sides of the table, filled with pillows. What an excuse to sew, huh? This fabric is gloriously gorgeous, and should be at $89.99/yard! Needless to say, I got a small remnant. The pillow made from it will surely be in a corner where no one can drop blueberry waffles or tandoori tofu on it!

I had intended to today photograph & post pics of the Burda WOF copper jacket I made in October ... um, drat ... One of my pet peeves is losing things. I never lose things. I put much energy into making sure I never lose things. My husband loses things, so one of my jobs is to keep track of his stuff too. I am so bugged & bummed by losing the camera.

Sew Excited About Britex

Britex will soon be moved from "Fabric Stores to Visit" to "Fabric Stores I Visited." Cannot be more excited. Hubby goes to Moscone for a conference, I go to Britex!

Saving pennies. Literally. I'm converting the change jar to green stuff and that will be the limit. I've indulged so much in so many places over the past few years, and the stash keeps growing. I've posted ideas here, but they sure have a heckuva long incubation period. You see not many follow-up posts about projects done.

But that's not stopping me from stashing up a bit more at Britex in:
17 days
431 hours
25,915 minutes
1,554,901 seconds

EDITED to add:
"Off to Britex...with no fixed plan" discussion on PatternReview.com has advice for 1st timers. Satin Moon Fabrics nearby is another recommended stop. Fabrix for inexpensive fabrics. And, more tips for fabric shopping in San Francisco.