Labor Day Weekend is Here!

I'm enjoying an extra couple of days off along with the Labor Day holiday. Ahhhh...

Yesterday was fun. Lunch out (Pappadeaux, yum!) followed by a little retail therapy. All the stores are having summer clearance, and since it'll be warm for some time yet, I picked up some capris and linen/cotton trousers at J. Jill. I also online-shopped at SmartBargains.com for shoes (of course, I found some!) And I added to my HotPatterns collection. I'll report more on the shoes and the patterns when they arrive.

I'm so ready for fall but I need to be careful not to buy or make anything too heavy. Not if I expect to wear said items in the next 6 to 8 weeks. I may use a trick that I learned while living in Florida: go to fall/winter colors but keep the fabrics on the light side. No bulky knits yet but the blacks, browns, and grays can come out to play. And since the summer dress code at work is over as of Tuesday (although it'll be in the high 80's for awhile yet), the pumps and slingbacks will go back into active rotation.

Like many of you, I'm a Threads subscriber. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the newest issue, which arrived on Thursday. Excellent article by Georgene of her own blog and Sewing Divas. I also enjoyed the articles by Marcy Tilton and Linda Lee. Although, note to the editors: the styling on that Linda Lee article could have been better. Both pair of trousers were too short for heels, and what was the deal with the wrinkly crotch on the blue pair? Could you not have chosen better photos? Yes, I realize the garments were not made for the models, but we all know that they could have been tweaked to give the appearance of fit. It pains me because I've seen plenty of trunk shows of Sewing Workshop garments and they're beautifully made, gorgeous garments that deserve better treatment. Please? But back to the positive: I'm so going to make an Istanbul vest or two. I have some shawls that were given to me by a former customer that would get much more use if remade as vests.

Oh, and all of my vintage patterns are now scanned, placed in page protectors and placed in their own binder. I currently have the patterns stored inside the page protectors, but I can see that's not going to work very well. Although I used a 2" thick binder and don't have that many vintage patterns, the binder's already full as a result of all the extra bulk from the envelopes, tissues, and instructions. Plan B calls for all of them to be pulled out and stored separately. I think I need some Ziplock baggies for that because some of the original envelopes are pretty delicate, crumbling as they're handled. I don't want to keep storing pattern pieces, etc. in them because they're not going to hold up much longer if used that way.

Hopefully, I'll get some sewing activity done this weekend. It's been difficult to get any actual sewing done for several months, the result of a hectic work schedule, weight loss/exercise, and general "stuff." Sewing helps my mood so much that I really need to do it instead of putting it off for lack of "time." Even if it's just a little bit each session.