Readers, I haven’t seen a decluttering book specifically for sewers–yet–but when I came across the phrase “material convoy” to describe “the massive pile of stuff that you collect and carry along your winding journey” in Peter Walsh’s new book, Let It Go I ruefully nodded. In his latest title the organizing expert addresses the daunting […]
De-stash Follow-up
Readers, Last Saturday I joined fifteen other sewers in Sew to Speak’s first annual De-Stash on the Lawn yard sale of fabrics and notions. The weather was gorgeous, and the nearby bustling farmers’ market brought inquisitive browsers and buyers. As I suspected, my buttons attracted the most attention, and at 25 cents a bag they […]
Blinding Glimpses of the Obvious: De-stash Edition
Readers, This past weekend I started slimming down my bloated collections of sewing supplies, taking advantage of a “De-Stash on the Lawn” event at Sew to Speak, a local fabric store, this Saturday. Not only did I discover buttons I’d bought several presidential administrations ago– –I also had some “aha” moments–of such glaring brightness I […]
De-stashing on a Deadline
Readers, I got back from our New York trip to find an e-mail from my local little independent fabric store. Sew to Speak, in Worthington, Ohio, was announcing an event it was calling “De-stash on the Lawn”–a yard sale especially for sewers September 9. What a brilliant idea. For a small fee sewers could rent […]
Takeaways from New York
Readers, Jack and I returned last Thursday from our week in New York. It was an all-you-can-eat buffet of museum-visiting, Garment District-shopping, and long-distance walking. Here’s a day-by-day sampling of my souvenirs from my trip: Friday, August 11 I bought a lovely scarf at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden shop. Saturday, August 12 I was taken […]
Shopping New York’s Garment District: What Shall I Bring?
Readers, Thursday Jack and I are flying to New York for a week’s visit. I’m no stranger to the Garment District–over the years I’m sure I’ve visited it a dozen times, and easily spent five dozen hours petting woolens and sizing up shirtings in happy reveries. I’ve spent hours similarly occupied at Britex in San […]
Vogue Patterns 8772 Blouse: Short-sleeved Version
Readers, This has been my summer of blouse-sewing. I cranked out several sleeveless renditions of Vogue Patterns 8772 in June, which I’ve been wearing and enjoying a lot. Next, I tried a version with sleeves. I was wondering whether I’d need to add a little width to the back pattern piece to allow for a […]