Finally back and with some yardage to show...

I am Lucia. I am a fabricholic. I buy and I buy and I never make anything. Here is to changing that.

Oh, dear! It's been 2.5 months since I last posted... We went on holiday and I got out of the habit of reading blogs which somehow translated also into not writing... Funny how in some things I am such a creature of habit. Last week it finally bubbled to the top, the realization that I hadn't seen in a while what people were making. I took a peek at my Google Reader and it nearly crashed! 2000+ unread posts it said, yikes! You are an active bunch! It obviously took several days for me to go through all the posts and I saw lots of great things you've all made. Wow, no wonder I was missing it: the inspiration, the motivation, the activity. 

Now luckily, even though I wasn't posting, I was still sewing. And quite a bit by my standards... you see, I've been trying to push myself to reach the one-garment-per-week standard that seems to come naturally to so many of you. I'm definitely not there yet, but I am getting faster and, more importantly to me, I'm also getting better. My seams match better, my topstitching looks prettier, my knits aren't wavy, woohoo! So I have lots to show you, but I haven't yet made photographs... The weather report says we might get some sunny spells today, so I'll try to take advantage for some photos. Until then and to get back into the swing of posting, here is an easy post:

Fabric acquisitions this summer!
My sister was in Paris for a workshop, and I took the train down to meet with her for the weekend. We obviously had to stop by the "fabric district" at the foot of Montmartre and I came back with these beauties:

Mustard wool twill, polka dot silk georgette, B&W cotton voile and Macintosh-style printed silk.

 The mustard wool twill is enough for a jacket and skirt, with a blouse of the polka dot georgette. The geometric print cotton voile was a remnant I couldn't pass up since I recently discovered how wonderful cotton voile is. The barely visible silk has a wonderful print with abstract flowers in the style of Charles Rennie Macintosh, plus I loved the color combo: grey-brown-navy.

But the real score were these three:

White cotton+silk damask, purple wool+cashmere cloque and red+purple silk+wool brocade

I have a weakness for surface texture and once I laid my eye on them I could not let go of any of these three. The white and purple are purported to be remnants from YSL. Their fabulous quality makes it credible, but I have yet to do a web search to see what Mr. Pilati may have made with them. I got three meters of each, enough for a tailored white dress and a fluid purple coat (or just to wrap myself in in front of the mirror and caress for hours while daydreaming of a wardrobe beyond my skills... ahem!) The red brocade was quite expensive for my taste, so I only got one skirt length (~80cm for me). I have a purple silk charmeuse that would make a perfect blouse to go with it, if I ever dare to sew the slippery beast...

 On that same trip my sister gave me a few fabrics she had so thoughtfully bought for me on her trips. Mil gracias mani!!

Thai silks actually from Thailand!

I got some beautiful Thai silks directly from Thailand. Enough for dresses with a full skirt, a la Michelle Obama, which I love because they suit my pear shape so well.

And from another trip, to the super-exotic location of New Caledonia (look it up, it does exist, off the coast of Australia near Vanuatu!) she brought me a tablecloth, but the print is so nice and distinctive that I might turn it into a summer top instead... (yes, because I don't have enough fabrics already!)

 

Finally (oh dear God she goes on?!?), from our summer holiday location in Stockholm I brought these beauties:

A printed linen from Svenkst Tenn, a Missoni-like knit in very un-Missoni colors, a printed knit and an Italian wool blend with mini-print.

Fabrics from Stockholm!

Uff, I've bent your ear long enough... next time some fabric actually sewn into garments :-)