SewExpo 2018

 This years SewExpo did not disappoint.

Focused on all things in the sewing world from fabric and patterns to knitting and yarn, to experts and the classes. Not to mention meeting other sewists. Who become friends instantly.

Fabulous inspiration.

The above photo is of a Pendleton vest I would love to make. I love the black and white wool and no sleeves means no itching and not so hot for Oregon's mild temps. I bought some of the wool jersey binding for that future moment when I have time. Just fabric panels cut and then bias jersey to wrap the raw edges. Very few seams.

 One of the vendors had this headgear in their space. Pretend you stuck some scissors through your head.

 I liked the business concept of this shop - already a month ago and their name is erased from my memory. Pre-cut coordinating fabrics along with your choice of a free pattern. The patterns themselves were interesting. And most of their coordinating seemed coordinated.

Customers decide on their colorway, pick their choice of pattern and run sew with it. Cool business plan.

 This was a fabric Pencil Girl picked out for me. Which I promptly bought, because she has awesome taste for me.

I've actually sewed up the pattern but have some proportional issues in a time-out for now. It's a little long on my body.  I have some ideas on how to fix it up but I'll need some uninterrupted time to make it work. And those photos are still on the Iphone, so I may show them later, if I have the gumption.

 My sleeves are the solid light aqua. The stripey aqua is the base and the mesh is detailed around the back neck area and may appear on the front as well when I do get back to this shirt.

 VacuumingTheLawn passed on these Mollie Makes magazine (from the UK). They come with a free stitching gift and she embroiders them all up. Kyle's mostly on IG nowadays but you can see some of her MollieMakes on her blog. which she has mostly abandoned.

 And then, because I was committed to my knit shirt, I bought some Kai scissors designed to cut knits. They have a micro serrated edge on one of the blades so they don't catch on the knit thread loops.

They worked quite well. I could cut with my rotary cutter but I don't have a great place to do that and lay out the knit so it doesn't slide all over.

 I also bought two Simplicity patterns to play with. This dress has great style lines.

 Some christmas presents for my friend in Japan. Three months late.

I was mostly finished putting the box together but felt it needed some extras, so I waited for SewExpo, which did not disappoint.

Some converse shoes in red and black - just because they were miniature and cutecutecute.
Sewing themed buttons for the same reason.
Not to mention the tiny scissors print.

The airplane fabric is all for me though.

 Simplicity put out these tea towels and tote bags printed with pattern reprints. She needed those too.

I bought one towel for me but it can't go up because hubby thinks you should wipe first and then wash. Ahem. Guys are so backwards.

 Pacific Fabris is putting out some Seattle themed fabric for the last couple of years so I had to buy this one yard piece.

 Kenmore Air flies those DeHavilland Beavers. Big round engine noise designed to haul lots of crap. I first flew in one over thirty years ago up in Alaska. And here it is on fabric in my favorite colors.

And I actually managed to get a good photo of those new Kai scissors with the serrated edge.

 More micro stripe knit in a nice color for a tshirt.

And the new Eloflex thread  which stretches slightly for stronger seams on your regular sewing  machine. It worked great too.

 And finally, some springy flowers. (behind in posting those too)

This guy kept me company while I pruned the raspberries back.

Super Quick Christmas Gifts

 I have a Christmas card and FQ exchange in one of my FB sewing groups. 
The name I was given was someone I hadn't "met" via FB (yet) and it was a little difficult to 'stalk' her.
She likes purple, crochet and she's a reverend. Not much to go by.

 Yesterday, at my mid-day work break, I went to my voodoo-hippie doc and got my christmas acupuncture and then zoomed over to Fabric Depot to take advantage of their 40% off fabric sale.

I found this vivid turquoise and purple "Tree Of Life" by Timeless Treasures for my swap partner and some purple grosgrain ribbon to trim it.

I fell in love with the scissor print and put this on the inside to easily see what's stored.

 Just love this combo and might make another this afternoon after I meet a friend for lunch and bazaar. Although, I have to sew up two pillowcases for my niece for her Christmas gift. I have a care package going out tomorrow and if I could throw those inside, it would be another item checked off my list.

This was a tiny gift for my friend who loves tiny flower vases like I do. I found these at an estate sale Friday! and knew they were perfect for her. Bonus - I was meeting up with her today. I think they call this Just In Time Inventory. lol

The pieces were made in England, marked DENMARK. There was an entire set that was very tempting, but we are both older and better able to resist tchotchkes.

She's a pocket tissue user so a little Tula Pink Rabbit made her a happy friend.

I've posted before about pocket tissue holders - they are less than five minutes to whip up - including the slow fabric selection. You can find tutorials all over.

Birthday Fabric

Can you ever have enough fabric?

'My ORE' -upper right. 'Seattle, WA' lower left.

Sewing themed embroidery transfer

These are from Boersma's in McMinnville.

I was recently asked to sew something involving solids. The gal at the fabric store says my version of solids is tone on tone. You can see that in the blue and gray yarn-dyed fabric above. Straight solids are so boring. These will look like solids from afar, but up close, they will have hidden depths.

Plus, I'm becoming a fan of Yoko Saito, designer of japanese taupe patchworks.
Third photo is of infamous hotels which happened to say 'ORE', SEATTLE, WA, & Japan twice - perfect for fussy cutting.
Half is going to japanese friend.

Last photo is of sewing embroidery theme transfers. On sale in the basement.

Pencil Girl and I started our day in the parking lot of Beavertown's Mill End Store.
I had purchased this pattern and fabric on a Craftsy sale two years ago (!) and still had not sewn it up. Pencil Girl offered to tissue fit for me.
In the parking lot.
Very helpful figuring out if I needed an FBA (full bust adj.) or darts or ???
Now I'm all set to cut out my fabric and sew.
{no bets; got 7 weeks of vacation coverage = 12-hr split work days + overtime ahead of me.}
Afterwards, we went inside to find a knit and stretch lace for her pattern review once a month sewing challenge.
She's making a t-shirt with lace over the shoulder part.
I seriously do not know how people shop for fabric online. We touched every piece in that store several times trying to find something that coordinated.

Selfie of us with our j. garden hats.

Is this the seed packet Janine told me to buy - which is all in Japanese?  leaves smell like cinnamon and lemon?

Mill End happens to be next door to Uwajimaya - japanese grocery.
A favorite of mine - there is a book store that sells gifts in the RH back corner.

Pencil Girl gave me this tea set. A coaster and a drawstring bag to hold tea bags. Cute, cute, cute.

We had lunch at Olive Garden, had a truffle at Moonstruck Chocolates and visited a luscious yarn store where we saw muskox yarn at $95/skein.

Teresa's sister brought back some yarn with possum from New Zealand.
I just wonder who gets to gather the hair!

All in all, a very nice birthday, anniversary, and mom's day weekend.

I found this little Moda birdie fabric for Janine at Mill End. Whenever I manage to send off her package.  . . . .

Tomorrow , I've got some baby back ribs planned with some yard work before it starts raining on monday.

Garage Sale Friday

It's been a while since Suzi, Marguerite and I got together to garage sale. 

I was tired from work and feeling menstural and I almost said, "No, thank you." I am so glad I went. Suzi helped by driving my car. My Dodge Caliber is new this summer and is a stick shift, so it is super fun to drive. So far, the Caliber has passed the 'garage sale test' three times!

I found this chair and ottoman for twenty bucks - which I had to borrow from the bank of Suzi as I did not have enough cash in my wallet.  Comfy, but dirty (the chair - not Suzi's wallet).

We moved a few things around in the car and it fit!
Amazing! Three people, one chair, one ottoman, and a huge box of fabric.
 

Here it is drying in the sun. Suzi has one of those Green Machines which I test drove on this chair. Definitely sun fading but most of the dirt came off. A great re-upholstery project.  The cushion is inside. I took the cushion cover off and washed it - it's still in the dryer.

Here's what else we found. A huge box of upholstery weight fabrics from Calico Corners, etc. in various florals, chinese theme, solids, etc.
The top one with the elephant is my favorite. There are a couple with monkeys.

Some of the pieces are more than half yards. Enough to make pillows and/or purses.
Price? It was marked 50 cents/piece. We made an offer for the entire box and it was ours for $5.00. Suzi & I split it between us.
Marguerite  was allowed only one piece - a gold voile to use for the Christmas Bazaar.