Monday, August 5, 2013

Aww Shucks, It's August Already

Stashbusters, my abject apologies for dropping the ball on the July Dress Challenge! I took an unintended blog vacation, only this time, I didn't get to sew up a storm and produce a fabulous pirate coat. I've been busy spending time with family (after five years in SoCal, my parents are excited that we're back for good, and Mr. Cation's family is also visiting from the East Coast), trying to get Walnut reintroduced to Fenxi and Gummy, and bringing my faithful Brother (machine, not actual relative) into the shop for a tune-up.

Look, Walnut, it's your uncle Gummy!
Walnut's stranger danger alarm goes off, while Gummy wonders what's wrong with his nephew. 

Oh, and all this while trying to get my classroom prepped for a new school year! It's been a bit of a headache since I'm moving into a new lab space, which means cleaning out the old chemical storage room and sorting through boxes and boxes of lab supplies. I've been on my feet for eight hours a day, washing glassware and toting books to my new office, which means that I'm too tired to sew after the hour-long commute back into the city. I can't wait until we actually move to our new apartment and I can save over an hour a day for sewing...much better use of time than sitting in traffic, don't you think?

This was how the previous chem teacher labeled everything from sodium hydroxide to talc.  Not the abbreviation I would've chosen, but pretty amusing nonetheless. 


In between the busyness of a new school year and a new home, I did have time to briefly check out Stone Mountain and Daughter...while it's no replacement for the LA Fabric District, I have to say, it's pretty dang awesome. In the hour I spent poking around, I already imagined oh, thirty new projects. Good thing I've got my stashbusting pledge to hold me back. I'm also looking forward to checking out Lacis and possibly taking some lace-making classes. I do love the Bay Area for its many artisan craft-learning opportunities!

Anyway, enough with my excuses -- it's time for you to show off the dresses you've made with stash fabric! I can't wait to see what kinds of fabulousness you've been up to!




As for August stashbusting, if you haven't seen EmSewCrazy's blog post about the UFO/refashioning theme, go check it out now. And as always, if you don't have anything in the stash that fits, go ahead and sew something else from your stash; the goal is to use stash fabric in any way possible! For myself, I've got a half-started blazer made from stash fabric that's been stalled since before we went to Italy, so I should probably get on that...

28 comments:

  1. Welcome to Bayeria! Stonemountain and Daughter is pretty great. I also like A Verb for Keeping Warm in Oakland. They have a much smaller fabric selection, but there's some really unique stuff, which is usually very carefully sourced and selected. They also have a bunch of great indie patterns and lovely sewn up samples in the store. Also yarn. And classes. (I took an indigo dyeing class there yesterday and am all excited about it now.)

    Sadly, I have no completed stashbusting dress to show off (just pirate-themed baby clothes). That intended project has been lingering as a UFO since something like February. Maybe I can finish it for August?

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    1. I've never heard of A Verb for Keeping Warm, so thanks for letting me know! I am always curious to see what indie patterns look like when sewn up, and in person is even better than on someone's blog!

      We actually have a indigo-dyeing lab kit for chemistry, but I haven't looked at since before I sewed, so I might need to revisit that!

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  2. Welcome back, maybe I'll run into you sometime at the *best* Bay Area thrift store, which I know you've mentioned before (SL's Thrift Town). I only recently heard about the Lace Museum when I was looking at activities to do with my son and have added it to my list of places to visit. It joins the Quilt Museum in San Jose and, unrelated to sewing and crafting but related to geeking, I still haven't been to the Tech Museum either.

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    1. I am totally up for thrifting with you if you want to! I haven't been to the Tech Museum since I was a kid, but I remember absolutely loving it.

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  3. Walnut looks like he's going to kill his uncle. Hope they get to be friends soon.

    Good luck on another year of teaching!

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    1. Sigh, I don't think Walnut will ever be happy not being an only cat...good thing we're moving to our own place soon!

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  4. Enjoyed your S.H-T photo. I've been doing chemical inventory of my whole floor of a chem research building (lab manager) and it has been a pretty S.H-T 2 weeks, also too tired to sew!

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    1. Yikes, chem inventory for a whole building doesn't sound fun! I need to do inventory here too, but it's just the one room, thank goodness!

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  5. Love Walnut. A stranger danger alarm is an important thing to have. I make lace. I took classes 2 years ago and I love it. I just got some new books on using yarn stash to create lace scarves or purses. I'm also working on some lace braid edging for a Chanel jacket. Lace has a lot of possibilities I didn't know were out there. I give it a big thumbs up.

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    1. I've got a yarn stash and I don't even knit, so I'd like to to be able to make lace out of it!

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  6. I wish I could take my brother - relative - to get a tune up.

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    1. HAHAHAHA. I bet Walnut wishes the same thing about Gummy.

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  7. Walnut seems as cranky around other cats as my Snowball! I could spend hours in Lacks and Stone Mountain and Daughter. I also like to go down the street to the flea market if it's going on and then over to Discount Fabrics.

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    1. I have yet to check out Discount Fabrics, but it's definitely on my list!

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  8. Welcome back to the Bay Area!! There are so many neat things to do around here, and lace-making sounds amazing! I've made some knitted/crocheted lace, but what I really want to learn is bobbin lace. Good luck getting everything finished for the start of the year!

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    1. Bobbin lace is what I'd ideally like to learn, as it seems so gorgeous for trimming historical clothing. Thanks for the welcome!

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  9. Good luck with the move. It's no fun being too tired to sew.

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    1. You're telling me! I feel so weird, not having touched my machine in weeks!

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  10. I know what you mean. This August is passing by among family holidays. I hope to be back to normal life this Saturday and continue with my sewing!

    I hope everything goes fine with the moving. Be patient.

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    1. Thanks, I'll need it as we get things finalized and settled!

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  11. I love the expressions on Walnut's face. And I feel for you having to get your lab ready. Hope you feel up to sewing soon.

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    1. Walnut has a pretty expressive face for a cat...it's one of the things I love about him!

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  12. Before reading the caption for the Chem Lab picture, I was a tad thrown off {the handwriting is decently similar to yours, so I wasn't sure if you'd written that label on purpose or by accident}. I must say, I'm really glad I have the apartment to myself right now, 'cause I definitely laughed for a good minute and a half over that picture.

    How did the previous Chem teacher not see that?

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    1. Also, how has no one commented on that amazing crab sweater? It's so awesome, I almost want one...

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  13. Aww, poor Walnut! I hope they're getting along better now!

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  14. Gah! So exciting yet scary getting new school spaces sorted. Here's to getting into your new apartment soon and getting that horrid commute time back!

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  15. LOL thanks for the giggles - I love the pic of Walnut's "stranger danger" kicking in, and his uncle wondering what's wrong with him - great capture!! :) Also, the chem lab abbreviation - too funny ^__^

    Very happy for you that you'll be cutting down your commute - I can say from experience, that little extra time will be worth more than all the gold in the world :)

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  16. Ooooohhhhh, Walnut does not seem to be digging on his uncle. He's got his angry/ugly face going there. And, that cupboard label, lol, made me laugh!!! I'm on the fence as to whether the teacher did that with intent or whether it was an accident. :)

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