Because why wouldn’t I spend a ton of time and money on a Halloween costume that only one trick-or-treater would see?
Spring Fabric Swap and a Sunny Yellow Table
This weekend I had seven ladies over to go through each other’s unwanted fabric. It was a fun take on spring cleaning. We chatted, had gallons of coffee and snacks, and pawed through a ton (literally? figuratively? who can say?) of fabric that was just taking up room in one person’s closet or attic but could be used by someone else. Now, granted, some of it will just be spending more time in a Rubbermaid bin, just in a different house. But ideally we will use some of the new stuff we’ve taken home.
I scored a few apparel fabrics (including a radical vintage 1980s splashed paint-looking knit that will become PJs for my son), far too much quilting cotton, and and a really striking Amish (or Amish style — I’m not entirely sure of the origin) quilt top in a lap quilt or wall hanging size. I’ll post about some specific pieces and projects in the future.
Of course, not all of the fabric was claimed. Luckily a woman I work with has told me she will take everything that is left. (Yes, everything.) I wonder if she knows what she’s gotten herself into.
Also of course, I forgot to take pictures. I did take a picture of my table once I put it back together and dressed it for spring. Oh, to have fresh flowers in the house and not worry about where to put them out of reach of a cat. It’s been a long time.
To Sew or Not to Sew?
I’m debating this year whether I should make a new dress for Easter. I have this great border fabric I bought probably two or maybe even three years ago with a gift certificate from a friend that would be perfect, but I keep holding off because I don’t want to make the wrong pattern choice and then regret cutting it up.
I’m also not wild about my current shape, another reason to hold off (though, that reason can last for years when you don’t do anything about it). I don’t know. I’m ambivalent at the moment. One thing I am sure of is that at the end of the month I’m hosting a fabric swap at my house for a bunch of ladies who sew. Hoping to get rid of stuff that’s been hanging around with no purpose and maybe get a few new pieces with possibilities.
Partly in anticipation of the fabric swap and partly due to a sudden inability to take the mess anymore, I’ve been cleaning up my sewing area. I was shamed into mending half a dozen pairs of pants my husband had asked me to fix over the course of the past, oh, let’s say five years. It took all of half an hour. After that I realized that there wasn’t too much more to put away. So I did.
As I was searching for extra buttons to fix Zach’s pants, I realized my button organization (or lack thereof) was untenable. So I found some jars and organized them by color. I put up an extra thread rack that had been lying around for months (I don’t even remember where it came from) and organized all my thread by color.
It feels good to be so orderly, to look at colors other than white and gray. And now that I can see what I have, I realize I have a few big projects — recovering a chair, recovering an old comforter, recovering a cushion — to attend to. Perhaps I’ll find that they, like the pants needing mending, will be fairly simple and painless.
My Easter Dress (Plus Two Dapper Dudes)
Here’s what I was sporting this Easter in the SEVENTY-TWO DEGREE weather! It’s Butterick 6582, a vintage reproduction pattern. The linen-look fabric was snapped up at Jo-Ann’s with a Christmas gift card back in January (many thanks to Zachary’s grandmother for that). The sash was just something I threw together in lieu of a self-fabric belt.
It was a beautiful day in all ways: weather, music, message, baptisms, and friends old and new joining the church.
My photographers didn’t get the bottom to show the length, but pretty close. This is my handsome husband/pastor.
The boy looked especially handsome, I think. As we were walking out the door in the morning, he announced to us that “We’re an Easter egg family.”
You didn’t know I sew? Don’t feel bad. I just remembered myself.
Ten days and no posts? Unheard of. So you know I’m busy. I’m busy with work, spring break, editing, writing. And I’m busy making a new dress for Easter. It’s going to be big.
Big skirt. Big flowers. Big color.
And it’s kind of a big deal to me since it’s been two years since I made a new Easter dress (last year I wore one I’d made previously for no particular occasion).
And it’s been simply too long in general since I sewed anything. I think I needed a bit of a break after I sewed all of this in 2012:
But break’s over. Time to get busy.
Erin Bartels 
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