Errant behaviour

Damian and Lula are away visiting relatives  so only 36 hours after they have left I am practically feral, having to remind myself to eat at regular intervals, returning to the house because I  am wearing odd flip flops- definitely not a matching pair.  My hands can't take the strain if I sew non stop- which is what I really want to so- so I have to break it up with dog walks, phone calls, paperwork, faffing around, but I have made good progress on my Portfolio Dress.

The main fabric is from some curtains I found at the car boot sale a few months back.  They are cotton with cotton lining so I cut the fabric as if it was two layers to make a lined dress the easy way!

The contrast fabric is Sweetwater Sunkissed- nice to have a bit of text fabric in clothing.  I have completed one arm- the left in this picture but I am going to make the sleeve detail the Sweetwater print too- it doesn't quite balance without the contrast.  It is a well behaved pattern with interesting construction, especially the front pockets.  It did come up quite large and I have taken the sides in.  I also put tucks rather than gathers down the front, I find it a more flattering effect!

I have recently had some great deliveries.  This was a large parcel from the states of a few Etsy vintage lots.

This was not an easy venture.  The seller hadn't sold overseas before, I gave her links to USPS website and the fixed price mailing system, she then agreed to sell and a few days later cancelled the purchase.  In the end I had to use my friend Kathy's mother's USA address and then have it mailed from there to UK, so I have Kathy to thank for its arrival.  It was worth it, there is fabric treasure within!  The fabric had come from an estate sale and had belonged to an elderly and life long quilter looking at the age of some of the pieces.  The sorting and washing of these has taken ages.  There is a large pile of scraps and also some bigger bits- mainly in red.   The print on the bottom is especially good- large sketchy grey apples and little red apples dotted on top.

These are solo scraps, bits that are just too precious to discard despite their marks and stains- I have soaked them so they are clean.  The designs are so reminiscent of different eras, I can't tell you how much I love them.

These are some of my favourite florals from the scraps- again these are mainly solo bits but I do have some multiples here.  

I have already started using them in my Pay it forward pincushions for Rachael, Suzanne and Leila

And these pretty Aurifil threads arrived today plus some testers for me.  I have already started my stringent testing procedure- lets just say these threads do not disappoint.  I'll add more details soon and I'll be giving these packs away so you can try them too.  Now the bath is probably overflowing as I am doing my usual trick of trying to push as much into the time as possible and over running.

Back soon x