MeMoiJa …

Something really stranged happened when I turned 25. Time began to flow faster. No really, it did. Weeks became days, months turned to weeks and years shrank to months. Before that, life seemed to have dragged on interminably. Then, all of a sudden - bam! New Year’s again, or birthday, or whatever time marker one wishes to use. When did the Great Time Continuum Fast Forward happen to you?

It’s spring again and it occured to me, that just about a year ago, I impulse-bought this lovely fabric.

You can tell it is an impulse-buy, as it is yellow. I don’t really like yellow, but this was so adorable and cheerful, I had to have it. It was calling out to me and it said: “I’ll be your perfect cheery spring skirt! Get me! Sew me up!”. Can you guess what happened next? That’s right. Nothing. It’s no-where nearer being a skirt than it was the day I took it home a year ago. I don’t know where the time went, and particularly the time allotment that was supposed to turn it into a skirt.

A few years before this (I believe it was 2002, but am not sure, who can keep track), the hubster came home with a number of fabric swatch books that the local home decor fabric stores had thrown out. I was very excited and promptly spent an evening releasing the swatches from the staples and glue that bound them in the books. The following weekend, I went to work and started sewing up mini quilts, or throw pillows. I was having a blast. The fabric pieces have paper glued on the back, which gives the name and composition, etc. of the fabric itself- it’s all high end decorator fabric. I wasn’t able to get rid of the paper and had to sew through it. This doesn’t really matter from an aesthetic point of view, but the whole fabric is stiff, which again doesn’t really matter if I don’t try to make something drapey. Pillows seemed perfect. The top and the middle of these pillow cover fronts were made from the swatches (I still have boxes full to use). The one on the bottom, uses fabric I had, on which I applique-d the prints of a skirt I wasn’t wearing any more. I really like how it all urned out, but I never finished any of this. I need to make backs and I need to put in zippers.

Two weeks ago, I went to the City Quilter. I nearly cried. The fabrics are gorgeous and I did my best not to add to my (fabric) stash. I did find the perfect fabric for this dress, but they were out of it and I only got a fat quarter to remind me to call in a week or two, to see if they had got more. Isn’t it lovely? It’s cotton lame. Who knew there was such a thing?

If they don’t get it in soon, I’ll have to pick a different colour, as I really don’t want this project to end up like this little beauty I picked up on eBay … last year.

Somebody bought this in the early sixties, intending to knit a ravishing little top. Then time ran away from them. All kinds of things have happened while this unopend kit sat in somebody’s closet. The language, even, has changed. I used to wonder how people ended up with, say, half their medicine cabinet’s content being well, well past it’s shelf life. I think I’m getting it. To stick to the medicine cabinet example, I have some eau the toilette I bought in 1992. In 1992, I didn’t even live in this country! I imported my junk from Europe. Pretty amazing, huh?

I also bought a yard each of these two fabrics. The circle fabric is delicious beyond words. The toile is just plain pretty. I didn’t get enough of either to make a garment, as I was afraid that I would never actually start, let alone finish a new project. (No, you may not wonder why I bought any length of it at all, thankyouverymuch.)

I really do want to make that dress and I do want to finish the pillows. I’m hoping listing it all here (oh, more to come), will give me the incentive to finally tackle them one by one and then proudly list them again, as finished objects.

But I do have some progress to report - I’ve been knitting! That’s mainly due to the fact that knitting is portable, and I have a lengthy commute. I need to find my Sockapalooza sock pictures and post them, and I have one sleeve done of this .

And while I’m posting pictures of fabrics, these are my souvenirs from California.

The most unlikely of the lot is the red sweater on the left. I found it in a thrift store in San Jose: it’s 100% cashmere. I never thought I’d get this lucky. The best part is that it fits me perfectly. I was beside myself. In San Francisco we found a thrift store that priced it’s wares by the pound. I purchased the “peasant” blouse (I know, how cliche, but oh so fabulous), the lime scarf/curtain/table runner thingy (hey, it’s lime green, I don’t care what it is, I’ll use it as a wrap) and that fabulous metalic dress. Trouble is, the dress doesn’t fit, and I’m thinking of altering it to something that will - yup, another project. No, really, I do need one more.

*Das war doch das Titellied fuer eine Zeichentrick Serie ueber Geschichte in den 80ern? Erinnert sich wer daran?

This entry was posted on Monday, April 4th, 2005 at 12:02 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.