Sewing the Stash

I needed a quick project yesterday. Sometimes I just want to sew the fabric in my stash. The store has begun carrying the Fableism woven fabrics and could use a store sample. The owners have been so good about ordering and carrying apparel fabrics. I want to support them so they continue to do so. I’d like to think that the store is slowly building up a reputation as a place to buy all kinds of fabrics, not just quilting cottons.

After I located the chunk of Fableism I bought at Pacific Fabrics last fall, I got out Butterick 6736:

I bought this because I really liked View B, on the left, but I didn’t want a project with that much fussiness yesterday so I opted to make View A.

The pattern is ridiculously simple and took about three hours to make. Four side seams, some gathering, and a folded-down waistband and I had a skirt:

It has some definite Little House on the Prairie overtones, but it will give people an idea of what that fabric looks like when it is sewn up.

I had a Zoom meeting on Tuesday with the class coordinator for Sew Expo. She asked me how many classes I wanted to teach next year—basically, I can teach as much as I want. I said six 2-1/2 hour classes over three days was a goodly number. We may add an intensive four-hour class on either Wednesday or Sunday but that is yet to be determined. I really like that the organizers select the classes, first, and then ask the teachers to submit detailed proposals. Having to come up with detailed proposals for classes that aren’t chosen is not a good use of my time.

I will be teaching the serger cording foot class again, the interfacing class, the thread class, a “what’s wrong with my knitting?” class, a new class on decorative coverstitching, and a new class on serging with sweater knits. Serging classes seem to be in demand. We shortened the interfacing class to 90 minutes and expanded the cording foot class to 2-1/2 hours. I will be in the Bernina classrooms again.

I am very happy about this. I need to go through my stash of leftover fabrics and pull all the sweater knits so I can use those in making up kits. I hate to get rid of anything for precisely this reason—I often use leftovers from my projects in my classes—but storage space is becoming an issue.

The Sew Expo organizers are also going to start selling tickets much earlier, probably right after Thanksgiving. That will help with planning, as I’ll know earlier if a class sells out and we need to add a second session. Attendance was up this year, which was great to hear.

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The kids set a date for their wedding of August 28, 2027. That seems like it’s so far away but a lot of planning has to happen between now and then. Dates for the venue were already filling up. I may have to rethink my dress plans a bit in case it’s 90 degrees that weekend.

SIL’s parents are going to come out to visit us, probably in the fall. The kids will come over that weekend, too. I’ve spent some time with DSIL’s mom and like her very much.