Monday 10 February 2014

Pattern Hoarding and Hanging With My Stalker

 

Last Thursday I had the delightful experience of hanging out with my stalker for a morning. You'd think having a stalker would be a downside of using the internet, but not this stalker, she's just lovely.
 
She first contacted me in person when she was on holiday and was thinking about me. Weird you might think. but no, not really. She was in a shop that sold Japanese Pattern Books and spied one that she owned and that I'd left a comment on her blog saying how great the coat was that she made. So she bought me a book.
 
And then I forget what order the rest happened in... It went roughly like this: I sent some money for the book and some spare fabric, she sent some other fabric back in return, then she flew in from overseas to be with me (he he) and bought me a coffee and a chocolate croissant. We got along famously but not being the instagramm-ey types there are no photos. If you need a visual, try this one. (it's only wrong by one letter!)
 


Except for the fact that she doesn't care for bicycling and kept tossing her hair around and drawing far too much attention on the street it could have been a perfect match! Seriously though, it was a great blind date and we visited a few fabric and button shops and talked about sewing as well as world affairs. What a morning! Thanks J.

Putting the pattern book she bought me on the shelf I realised how many new, untouched patterns I have, so I took some pictures. I'd love to try ticking off a few of them this year.

pattern book from J-Wo on left
Still on the Japanese theme I bought another Cross Stitch magazine from my local Japanese Second Hand bookstore. As well as cross stitch designs (which I've never tried) there are some basic bag and top patterns in there and so many pretty pictures. My Secret Valentine gift which I'll share later this week was inspired by one of these magazines.


There's a decent pile of Oliver + S patterns which I'm yet to open or use in any way...


And some grown up size Lisette patterns which I might put to use for me....


And some patterns which, if I can make anything that's "any good", might be useful for Flipper. these are the newly released paper patterns versions of the PDF patterns from Thread Theory. They are beautifully presented and I'm looking forward to sewing with them. Just reading the instructions is a joy!


I couldn't help myself when The Fabric Stash had a sale recently and added a Figgy's pattern to my order (there's currently 20% off so go check it out - use coupon code fabric-stash 20). The awesome Janice from The Fabric Stash is our sponsor for the Little Things To Sew Cover to Cover Challenge and her shop is so well run. I'm always hesitant to fill a shopping cart with lovely stuff, go through pages of personal information then discover the shipping prices are astronomical. Not so with this site. The prices are great and the shipping calculation is done at the start. As a mail order shopper I LOVE that.


I finally managed to make a rafflecopter widget work for me (am I the only one who struggles with those not loading or losing my entry?) and I got lucky! I won the Clever Charlotte pattern through Frances Suzanne and their Flip this Pattern series.

Finally I armed myself with a new pack of paper and a glue stick and printed off my digital patterns:


There is no cost effective way of printing these things in this country (that I've found at least) so it was A4 paper and lots of trimming and glueing. The patterns all came together well, and if you're worried about how you'd amuse your kids while you do this. Here's the answer: let them join in using up the offcuts


it's the Emerald City in case you were wondering
Just make sure you have a spare glue stick otherwise you'll end up sticking that last PDF pattern together like this:


So, that lot should keep me busy. At least until the next distraction or coffee blogging date comes around! What are you working on?

17 comments:

  1. wow, that is so cool! i want a blog follower who send me Japanese sewing books! :)

    Looks like you have some awesome projects coming up this year. May I recommend the chambray women's dress (Lisette pattern - middle). I have one (store bought) and I wear it all the time.

    Happy sewing!

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    1. Pretty cool huh?
      Thanks for the Lisette recommendation. I need to find the right plain-ish fabric for that one.

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  2. Yeah, sorry about all that hair tossing and attention grabbing… although I think dressing little A in the cutest Oliver + S fairy dress was an obvious ploy to divert attention from me! I think it worked. Thanks for a fun morning!

    No "Little Things to Sew" on your list for this year?

    When you said that you couldn't stand joining the PDF patterns, I had no idea you spent hours glueing them! I'm a simple girl: rotary cutter, ruler and a big roll of fat sellotape works a treat for me. And it only takes a few minutes

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    1. he he. i'm just glad you gave the posse of backing dancers the morning off.
      honestly, A insisted on wearing that dress, she has a real sense of "occasion" dressing.
      I'll definitely finish of the Little Things book. That's in my opened but not completed pile of patterns!
      I need a new sticky tape dispenser. mine's rubbish and won't cut tape. Kiddy safe I guess!

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  3. First off, thanks for the shout out!

    Secondly, the only stalker I ever had was in college (pre-internet) who had red greasy hair and an acne scarred face. There were no Japanese pattern books involved. Ugh!

    I can't wait to see what you do with all these patterns - I'm now off to check out those delicious looking Thread Theory patterns....

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    1. You're welcome. It was a genuinely great shopping experience!
      I'm hoping the Thread Theory patterns work well. they are beautifully produced

      Delete
  4. I'm not stalking you. I just think you're awesome!

    Also, how sweet :)

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    1. Oh man, what a lovely thing to say. that made my day!

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  5. It's reassuring to see that other people have stacks of unused patterns, too! And I bet my daughter would love to create things with the pdf pattern scraps- gluesticks, tape, and scissors are some of her favorite things. Thanks for the idea!

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    1. I'm in real danger of buying new patterns that are almost replicas of those I own. It's so easy to get carried away by a pretty version spotted on the internet somewhere!
      Wouldn't it be fun to have a sewing day where we sit at the big table and throw scraps to the kids on the little table!

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  6. I'm really trying to work through my unsewn patterns this year too. I have some of the same ones your listed! Looking forward to seeing your projects, and how fun to meet up and find a fabric shopping buddy.

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    1. It was a really lovely morning. So great to meet someone who understands that when there's nice fabric and a new pattern to test.... Well, life just has to wait!

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  7. You have created quite a list for yourself there! You must make up those Finch Shorts soon, they are wonderful.

    My kiddies like playing with all my fabric scraps as I cut them off. Boo especially likes to wrap Barbie in all the bits and create clothes for her (just like mummy)!

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    1. My daughter is never happier than we she's allowed to chop a small piece of fabric into many, much smaller pieces! She is a scissor fiend!
      I'm looking forward to the Finch pattern.

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  8. Thanks to you, I now want some of those Thread Theory patterns, too. I really like the Newcastle but my husband wasn't totally convinced (maybe he thinks I can't sew it nicely, I dunno). I highly recommend the Lisette Traveler - I've made myself two and am planning a couple more. Very nice pattern.

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    1. I think the challenge with the Newcastle will be to not make it look too granddad-ish. Having said that I really want to make a grandpa version for my dad with contrasting shoulder patch trims,

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  9. Ditto on the Finch shorts, and I've found the Class Picnic top to be a core pattern for warm weather. Easy, breezy, fits approximately forever, especially if you add a little length.

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