Two days of fabric drudgery

Reminded by Tamara’s request for more posts, I’m writing here tonight even though I feel there’s little to report.

I spent a shocking majority of yesterday cataloguing my fabrics, as part of the massive craft-supply reorganization I’d hoped to have completed at the beginning of this year. ;b Before the overhaul, all my fabrics were stashed willy-nilly in the guest room dresser and closet, prompting chaos every time I had to search for anything (and no doubt, inconveniencing our houseguests). The plan now is to keep all the fabrics in clear plastic storage bins in the basement, with swatches stored in my workroom for easy inspiration. In order for the swatches to be any use to me, they need to include certain information about each fabric (e.g., how much of it I have) — so I don’t have to riffle through the bins to know what I have. In order for them to function in my organization system, they need to be easily handled and easily reorganized. So I’ve stapled each swatch to a little piece of card, written the relevant details on the card, hole-punched it, and sorted the cards onto big binder rings which I’ve now hung on my wall above the sewing station.

As I say, doing all this has taken a scandalously long time. Yesterday I spent hours making these little cards, yet I only got through one box, and there are three more to go. It’s expected that that one would have taken the longest, since it contains the smallest pieces of fabric (and therefore I had to make lots of swatches); I hope to make it through the remaining boxes in a shorter time. All this cataloguing is very timely, as tomorrow I will go to my first FabMo distribution in months! Thinking about all those hours and hours making those little swatches will, I’m sure, curb my tendency to take whatever catches my eye!

Today I spent the afternoon altering a vintage dress I bought at Empire a couple of weeks ago. It’s such a fabulous dress, so fresh and green and with the swishiest petticoat! But it was too big for my bust (something that almost never happens), so I tried my hand at taking it in.

You can’t see the back, where most of the alterations are, and I suspect it doesn’t look that nice. It’s not a good alteration job, which isn’t surprising given it’s the first time I’ve ever touched needle to a dress! But it’ll do for my cousin’s wedding tomorrow, and for once all my accessories coordinate with it. I’ll post better pics after the wedding, if I get any.

And now, Erik has made his famous pesto for dinner! Huzzah!!!!