B-O-O-K-S

I wonder if it's a coincidence that the two spookier books were my favorites this month?



Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger- This is the new book from the author of The Time Traveler's Wife. I have to admit, I liked this better. It's spooky and strange, but not nearly as complicated as TTW. I thought it was very atmospheric.






Where You Once Belonged and The Tie that Binds by Kent Haruf- Haruf's books Plainsong and Eventide are two of my favorites, so it was high time I read some of his other work. Of the two, I preferred the latter, but both were good. Simple and quiet, but strong books.

Confessions of a Master Baker by Gesine Bullock-Prado- Nothing new, really. This is Sandra Bullock's sister, she opened a bakery, etc.

Sleeping Naked is Green: How an Eco-Cynic Unplugged her Fridge, Sold her Car, and Found Love in 366 Days by Vanessa Farquharson- It's gimmicky, yes. She decides to make one change per day towards a more eco-friendly lifestyle. I'd skip the book and read the blog.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie- (young adult) A friend at work raved about this book (and heck it won a National Book Award) so I gave it a try. It's good. I still prefer John Green for YA novels. I should probably ask my friend what she liked so much about it. Taryn?


The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry- Also recommended by a work friend. Loved this one! Perfect read leading up to Halloween, too, as it's set in Salem.








The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown- Yep, I read it. And guess what...I actually enjoyed it. I wonder, though, if that's because I so rarely read stuff like this.

101 Things to Do Before You Diet: Because Looking Great Isn't Just About Losing Weight by Mimi Spencer- I love the concept--dressing to flatter, having confidence, etc. I was dismayed, however, to find that there was also quite a bit about, you guessed it, losing weight.

The Carousel by Belva Plain- Yeah it's melodramatic and dated and trashy, but it's still fun to read! This is one of those books you're a little embarrassed by, but we all need to read one of them once in a while!

Boo!

A few thrift shop finds. I was suddenly drawn to all the Fall and Halloween stuff I'd ignored for weeks.

Why? 75% off will do that to a girl.

The wondrous specimen of flocked goodness set me back 31 cents.

















And this rakish pumpkin head...






















...thirteen cents.

No Thanks, I'm Stuffed

I made a little progress on my calico cat today. Her little head with one ear had been smiling at me from my sewing table for three weeks! Listened to some Lyle Lovett while stitching on that second ear and constructing the body, then switched to who else but Elvis Costello?

The result was lots of little threads and bits on my carpet. You can keep your Dysons. I prefer this snazzy little number. Quiet, efficient, and ecologically sound!

Crochet = Torture

Once upon a time, I opened a box at work to find this book. Previous attempts to learn how to crochet ended badly, but...











...this book has MICE to teach you! They make it look so easy.












I promised myself I would work my way through the book until I learned enough to make this...um...creature?









And so I began. I learned to do a basic, single crochet! Once I got rolling, I thought I'd practice by making a scarf. Fourteen inches later, I felt like I was being tortured, and that was the end of crocheting for me.



Not wanting to waste all that work, I schemed to turn my scarf into a toy.












What else but a cat?













You did know it was a cat, right?













Cartoon cats only have three toes on each foot.

Pinch Me

Last week, I was on the phone with my mom, and she casually mentioned a postcard she'd received from Fabric Mart in Sinking Spring, PA. She didn't have the card in front of her, so I got a few disjointed phrases:

Swedish fabric distributor. Cottons. $3.99. Amy Butler.

You know how your cat gets when you open a can of tuna? I hopped online and found fabricmartfabrics.com. No mention of this at all. "Mom! Please go get that card and read it to me. I'll wait." She comes back with the card and reads it to me. Yep, it's true. Fabric Mart bought a bunch of quilting cottons, they're selling them for $3.99/yard, and it includes names like Amy Butler, Joel Dewberry, Moda, and Kaffe Fassett.

It gets better. I had the next day off.

As we're driving down to the shop, I start getting nervous. "What if there's so much I'm overwhelmed?" I ask Gerry. "What if there's nothing I want?" "What if there are tons of quilters there and they all run me over and buy all the good stuff?" Yeah, I worry a lot.

This is the best I could do at getting a shot of the full store. Look at all that beautiful fabric!

The entire center floor of the shop is filled with cottons. The shelves on the wall hold the fashion fabrics they typically sell. (Beautiful stuff from Vera Wang, Marc Jacobs, Anna Sui, etc. Check out the website!)

I immediately started building a pile, which I showed you earlier today. You all know by now that I am a MISER when it comes to buying fabric, but this was such a good price for these fabrics, I just piled on whatever I wanted.

The other customers were doing the same. These are OOP (Other People's Piles).

I didn't need to worry about anyone being mean. The other customers were friendly, and we shared some of the bolts back and forth. The woman doing the cutting was also very nice, and we enjoyed some fabric talk about how sometimes you just have to have a piece of fabric, even if you don't ever intend to use it.

This is why Gerry comes with me. He handles the cutting table while I roam, looking for more.

I also got to roam about the place, into the back rooms to see the mail-order operation and even into the basement to see some of the back stock. (Not everyone is so lucky, but I sort of had a press pass, dontchaknow?)

I told this woman she didn't have to be in the picture. She didn't scream and run away, so I assume she was okay with it!

A beautiful wool and cashmere throw. I really loved this, but I couldn't imagine where I'd go with an orange throw.

This is some of their storage space. It's so neat! I've been in some other back rooms, and this is not normal!

They also had lots of Moda jelly rolls and layer cakes for $15 each. I am kicking myself that I didn't grab one. I could have had some fun with all those little bits!

So what did I get? Well, you saw the pile, but I'll be sure to elaborate on that in the coming days. I had every piece of fabric out of the bag on the ride home!

Teaser

Uh oh. I went fabric shopping again. No time for a full explanation right now, but I'll be back later with the details.

Recognize any of those prints?

My Puffball

The Loot

As promised, I am back today with a full accounting of what I bought at Jomar! (And I mean, FULL. I was only going to show you the fabric, but I'm going to show you everything.)

I went with wintry fabrics in mind. I tend to have a lot of fun, colorful prints on hand for summery sewing, but not so much to choose from when the weather turns cold. With that in mind...


The striped knit on top was two dollars a yard. I am a hesitant sewer of knits, so that's a perfect price point for me. Originally I had the Built By Wendy knit top in mind and thought I might play with the direction of the stripes a bit, but now I'm not so sure. Maybe just a basic, boatneck top.

The middle piece was three whole dollars a yard, but, luckily I only needed a yard. It's very light and fleecy and I thought it would be perfect for this little shrug idea I saw in Threads magazine. I've done a practice run of this project, and it was a flop, but I'm hoping I can make it work with different fabric and a few tweaks.

Finally, the corduroy on the bottom was one dollar a yard. I'd like to use it to make a skirt with some sort of big pockets. I may just make a plain skirt and add the pockets from Burda 8216. I'd like something sort of cargo-ish, but not overly so.

Gerry was also along for the trip, so I can't leave him out! Jomar sells Paul Frederick dress shirts for $7.99 vs. the online price of $39.50 (plus shipping!).

The catch is they are returns which have been monogrammed. The loophole is they're often monogrammed in white on the cuff.

As if anyone will ever notice that they aren't Gerry's initials. Pfft. Gerry can also get away with an incorrect monogram on the pocket, because his nametag covers it up. Score!

We also bought a boatload of this stuff for 39 cents/yard. It might become customized straps for our Guitar Hero guitars...or I might use it to trim a tote bag. We just thought it was neat.

White I was sitting around on the bathroom floor taking these pictures, Isabella came in to investigate, and I took a bunch of pretty kitty pics. But this post is long enough. I'll be back with them soon!

All Aboard! Field Trip!

Last weekend, my mom asked if I was interested in a trip to Jomar. As if I'm going to pass up a store with a slogan like that! Jomar is one of the best places to go in the Philadelphia area for discount fabrics. Truly, madly, deeply discounted fabrics.

As in one and two dollar fabrics. Piles of them.

Aisles of them.

Who wouldn't want to get their hands on that? Sure, some of it is horrid, but that's part of the fun--mom at one end, me at the other, stopping ever so often to say, "Eww, what IS this?" and then the triumphant cry, "Ooh, I'm getting this!"

I didn't get this. I should have. $4/yard.

How cute is that? I notice it says "Kidz ONLY" but my mom grabbed a couple of pieces from there. She's a brat.

See what I mean?

Another successful fabric shopping foray. I'll show you what I got tomorrow!

Intervention

As the weather gets cooler, I've been developing a craving for corduroy. I'm not quite ready to wear it, but it seems like a good time to hunt for it at the thrifts.

I have no idea why, but I'm fixated on finding a pair of black corduroy pants. On my first foray, I tried on some black and some brown, but none worked. I'm used to pants being too short, and many of these were. Then there were the ones that were just...I can't think of how to describe them...those low-rise pants that gape in the back and slide down your rear? Who do they fit? Whose body is shaped like that? Already I was discouraged.

At the second shop, I turned up a cute, black, corduroy skirt. (Of course I bought it.)

At the third shop, things were looking grim. To begin with, their pants are grouped by size: S, M, L, and XL. Why is that a problem? Because I can never figure out where MY size is supposed to be. It seems like it goes from size eights in the M section straight to size fourteens in the L section. Do I need a secret password to get into the room where the tens and twelves are kept?

And then, on my way to a dressing room, I saw a pair of green cords. Not exactly what I was looking for, but they looked long, so I grabbed them. I get to the dressing room, I'm trying things on, and I get to the green cords. Oh my goodness, I didn't notice, but they're low-rise.

Okay, I don't wear mom jeans, but I'm not a low-rise kinda gal either. Once they hit a certain point, I spend all day pulling them up, and that is not my idea of fun.

But, what the heck, I tried them on.

"Hmm," I thought, "These look good. But I know how it is with these pants--wait until I bend over and they slide down my bum." I bend over, and, are you ready? They don't gap. They don't slide. They stay put. They are contoured. They are engineered. These are some fancy pants from Christopher Blue (which I'd never heard of, but I'll be watching for now). You can't tell from this picture, but, incredibly, they are long enough too. ---cue the angel chorus--

So what's the point of this whole story? I couldn't decide whether or not to buy them.

I carried these pants around the store with me while I looked at everything else. I stopped in at two other dressing rooms and tried them on again and again while I agonized over whether to buy them.

Why? They were $7.99. I am such a cheapskate. Do I need an intervention?

Just a Subtle, Understated Wardrobe Basic

Surprise! This is what I did with the rest of the Ikea fabric! I know what you're all thinking: A skirt? Darling Petunia made a skirt? Can you believe it's been TWO MONTHS since I last made a skirt? Shocking.

The back view. For once in my life, I thought before cutting, and made sure I didn't end up with a pink circle on each of my butt cheeks. That's the kind of thing I usually do so well. I'm also pleased with how the hem came out. This is a rather stiff and heavy fabric, so instead of folding up a hem, I used thin bias tape. I think it's a nice finishing touch.

Here's an outtake from my camera-timer photo session. When Isabella needs her belly rubbed, she waits for no one! It's also an example of why I keep my head out of my pictures. Look at that rat's nest!

Happy Kitty

Just call me a procrastinator! Finally, after more than a year, I got to work on a needlework kit I bought last July. In my defense, I was intimidated by it. For one thing, I never have much luck making stuffed toys. I would love to be able to make all the amazing stuffies I see other bloggers come up with, but I lack patience or precision or the ability to think in the stuffed dimension or something. Plus I can't embroider to save my life, and I saw embroidery floss in this kit. -gulp-

But, I don't know. Maybe it was the "Life is Too Important" bag I posted yesterday. (From Emma Bridgewater, by the way.) So what if it didn't come out perfectly? Would it be the end of the world? Of course not.

But I'm taking it slowly. One step at a time. What you see above is the result of two hours of work. When it came time to do the face, the instructions told me to attach some things and applique others. That threw me for a loop. First off, believe it or not, I had no idea how to applique. And what is this attach business? How? Glue? Hey, in for a penny, in for a pound. I appliqued ALL of it!

I'm proud of me. I'll be back with an update once I complete another chunk.