This 'n' That

First of all I'll get this nasty business out of the way. The spambots have found me. Well... it's only been about one a day and I haven't had one for several days but this common problem angers me way more than it should. To me it feels exactly like someone came to my actual, physical house and put a giant poster on my front porch advertising a used car dealer or something else especially sleazy. Spam in the comments feels the same - exactly! It angers and offends me. I could do things like use a CAPTCHA and ban anonymous comments but I get so few comments I hate to discourage commenters in any way so as long as it doesn't get any worse I won't do that but I really really really really hate spambots to the point that I fantasize about committing acts of physical violence against the their human owners.

And now to the sewing...

I bought some 60 inch wide cotton fabric for Vogue 9106 and I was so excited about trying it out for the first time but then I discovered that I do not have a zipper the right color and they are sold out everywhere! I put my email in at one online store to be notified when they are in stock again but who knows how long that will be. Now that I've seen the actual pieces of this pattern I kind of think I could make it out of 44 inch wide fabric. I just need to figure out how much I would need. A lot.

So I'm in between projects and I don't know what I want to make next. I like Tasha's tradition of birthday dresses and mine is just a little over a week away but I don't know. I think the smart thing to do would be to continue making stuff for the granddaughter and to "fix" some of the things I've been putting off fixing because making new things is more fun. My closet is full. I mean FULL! Overstuffed! I really don't think I could stuff a single thing more in it. Time to make a few more sacrifices I suppose but it's so hard when you honestly love everything. The old "if you haven't worn it in a year" rule doesn't work for me. What an evil, mean-spirited rule!

I still don't have any takers on my swap offer. I'm not sure what I'm going to do about those. I have never sold anything on eBay before and I'm hugely cowardly about it. I don't know. Maybe I'll just keep it all, make a dress for myself (V9106 maybe?) and use the rest to make gifts. (tote bags? throw pillows?) That's IF I don't get any swap offers. That's still open for now.

For a Small Person and What's Next

UPDATED

For the past two weeks I have been sewing for my granddaughter. Pictures of clothes laid out on the floor are not the best so you'll have to use a little imagination but my model is an hour away and I wanted to show that I have been sewing. These are both McCall's 9227.

I have also been using up small pieces of leftover fabric to make shorts and these capri pants.

I'm probably going to take these to her later today.

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Now I'm really wanting to sew something for myself but I really don't need any more clothes and I'm getting to the point where I can't stuff one more thing into my tiny, overstuffed closet. But, on the other hand, I have all this fabric. I do have three more pieces for the granddaughter and lots more leftovers that might also be enough to make little clothes so maybe I should keep working on that.

I "decided" that I would spend some time altering and fixing some things that I love but that are not quite right one way or another and I actually did one of those. I'm pretty sure something new is coming soon though because the urge is irresistible. I have two new Vintage Vogue patterns that I am excited about: 9106 and 2960. I'm excited about these but also anxious because I'm pretty sure I'm going to have some fitting issues with both. And 9106 is crazy. Those skirt pieces are huge and it requires 60 inch wide fabric. There is not a lot of 60 inch cotton available but I do have some on order. It's a solid color! Can you believe it?

UPDATE: I just got done cutting out the pattern pieces of Vogue 9106 and I have figured out two things. 1. I think the designer might have been high. 2. Although the pattern only gives yardage and cutting layouts for 60 inch wide fabric I'm pretty sure I can make it out of 44 inch fabric. I just need to figure out how much I will need. Probably a lot.

A Perfect Storm of Poor Decisions

UPDATE: THIS OFFER IS CLOSED. I didn't get any takers, which doesn't surprise me since I think only two or three people ever read this blog but that's okay. I have thought about it and I will use some of it to make gifts, possibly mother/daughter dresses for my daughter-in-law and granddaughter.

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This might be long but stay with me. I have something to trade but I'm going to tell you my story first.

My first poor decision was to try to recreate a look instead of moving on to something new. I love my kitchen curtains - yellow with a blue paisley-ish floral - but they're too short (and too few) for the windows in the new house so for months I've been searching in vain for a similar fabric.

My second poor decision was to make a desperation purchase. I found a Dutch wax print on Etsy that is actually not at all similar to what I was looking for but it has a yellow background and blue leaves and flowers. The yellow was too bold and the blue too dark but I was desperate and tired of searching and was sure I was never going to find what I really wanted. Well, it turned out that it's not yellow and blue; it's orange and black with just a little bit of blue. Now I know the colors you see on your monitor are not always accurate but the description on Etsy said the background was yellow so I trusted that but it is as orange as orange can be.

My third poor decision was actually not so much a poor decision as a plain old mistake. The windows are not quite as big as I thought they were so I ordered too much fabric. I bought three - yes, THREE - whole six yard pieces of Dutch wax print fabric and I really only needed two.

At first I thought I would just live with my mistake and make curtains but they are so the wrong color and I really want something more serene. I have found another, totally different, fabric that I'm going to use for the curtains. So what am I going to do with three whole pieces of Dutch wax fabric? Hopefully, I'm going to trade two of them to two of you lovely sewing people.

Here's the fabric:

If you are interested and have something you would like to trade either comment with a description and a link to your picture or send me an email to strngwoodlndcreature@gmail.com - It doesn't necessarily have to be six yards or a Dutch wax print. If I can make a dress with it - 3 1/2 to 4 yards - I will be satisfied. I prefer 100% cotton but I have pretty broad tastes as far as color and print. You can look at some of my past blog posts to get an idea of what I like.

Just to be clear, this is NOT first come, first served. It's show me what you've got and I'll decide. I will wait at least a month before deciding, possibly longer. I'm not a very popular blogger so I don't expect to get many offers but I'm hoping I'm wrong. Anyway, once we agree to a trade we can work out the details and exchange snail mail addresses via email and I will ship as soon as I have your address.