Happy Mail!

Our weather has turned chilly and autumnal. And though I know we still have some nice days ahead of us, change is definitely coming. Our cranes are still with us daily but I imagine it will only be another week or two and they'll be heading south.

On a gray day, there's nothing like a nice squishy package in the mail. Last week I signed on to the mini fabric giveaway over at A Bird in the Hand. And today my package arrived. Just as I anticipated, there were fabrics that are totally new to me. I especially love the mid-century and the Japanese prints. It will be fun to see where they lead me.

And don't I know that it's ME who ought to be doing the de-stashing. My hat is off to these organized folk who can edit their stash and bear to part with anything.

Today was the Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival down in Elkhorn, WI, and although I would like to have gone, I never quite made it there. Will was picking up his new car (!) today and I thought I might be needed to provide some transportation for him. But by the time I found out my services weren’t needed, it was just a bit too late to head out for Elkhorn. Once again I say, “next year”.

Instead, I’ve been sewing all day. I started working in earnest on the Cowboy Jacket. I decided to do the black satin lining as an underlining, e.g. sewn in one piece with the outer fabric. So it took a bit to serge the lining pieces to the cowboy fabric, all around the edges, but I think it’ll work out well. I don’t use the serger very often but these garment projects are when the serger really proves its worth. In the end I had just enough fabric to cut pockets—with a print this splashy, I like to match the pocket to the fabric it will sit on.

This was a weird print. There are several different cowboy images and—it took some arm-twisting with the fabric to get those pockets cut from the right images.

And finally the piping. I haven’t quite figured how I’m going to manage the beginning and ending of the piping. Going to sleep on that one.

Oh man, I hope this doesn't end up looking like I'm wearing the drapes, a la Scarlett O'Hara...

My favorite sewing accompaniment—a nice classic B&W movie. Tonight’s was Brief Encounter, with Trevor Howard courting Celia Johnson amid the train whistles and the teacups and that gorgeous Rachmaninoff Second Concerto. Sigh.

Tomorrow is the Starving Artists’ Show at Mount Mary College. Rose and Emily are coming up for lunch and the show.