Bluebird of Happiness - Coat - Part VI

Found It!

I was finally able to get to Martin's last night to do a little shopping for the fabric for the coat lining and main part of the dress. I was already traveling down to Massachuesetts to do a trunk show and lecture at the Tewksbury Piecemakers guild meeting, so it was a good time to stop.

Let me give you a quick word about that adventure. I had a great time - the guild ladies are really nice, the president and other boardmembers that I met were very gracious and helpful and made me feel comfortable in their meeting. I also got to see their show and tell which was really fun. Some of the quilts shown were prizes winners from their recent guild show, and the ladies who made them did a tremendous job! I got some positive feedback from the guild members who enjoyed my presentation and that fact that it was different from some of the special speakers they had heard in the past. Different is always good! I'm so glad I got the projector, too, it worked like a charm. I also made a contact with another guild, so I might be doing another lecture in the future. Suits me, I have the equipment and like to talk to large groups!

Anyway, I had to do a bit of searching through all the fabric- they are consolidating two floors of inventory (three if you count what is in the basement!) on to one floor, so right now there is still some organizing and moving of merchandise around. I found several fabrics I thought would work, some with better qualities than others. I wanted a brocade/jacquard/woven pattern of some sort and some metallic gold, but I didn't want the pattern or color to overpower the blue silk and fancy borders. In the end bought this silk:


It is a dupionni, but also has the jacquard like patten woven throughout. It is interesting, yet not overpowering and I think it will work nicely for what I'm planning for the coat lining and the dress. Photographing it was not easy - there is no color contrast so the camera did not want to focus. I had to put the lens cap in the picture to get the camera to focus. I bought eight yards, with the original price being $30USD per yard. Thankfully, I did not pay that price, the fabric was 60% off. When the salesperson presented me with the total she said, "You saved $140!".

The more I think about this fabric, the happier I am with it. I really think this is going to be just right for everything I'm envisioning for the ensemble. Now, if I could just figure out what to do about the coat collar, I'd be set! More on that in another post.

Parting Shot: Flannel. I bought some flannel yesterday for the children's Christmas gifts. My daughter wanted to make something for her brother, and when I saw the pirate flannel on clearance I knew it would be perfect for an easy pair of pajamas for her to make for her brother. The pink kitties are for her, along with some pink flannel back satin and the matching kitty print fleece for a robe, I'll have all the fabrics I need for her pajamas and robe.