In Praise of Pockets — and Generous Friends

I guess whining at great length about how you have no money for fabric is a good way to inspire a little charity in your virtual friends. Or maybe they just want to shut me up for a while? Either way, I scored this week!

Thanks Yvonne (aka NurseBennett)!! 

Don't think for a second though that I am just take, take, taking here: Yvonne told me she was drowning in fabric. So really, I saved a life. No need to alert the authorities in rural Alabama (but if we ever don't hear from her in a while, I will tell them to look in her sewing room — under the big pile of printed jerseys, if her selection for me is any indication).

My four-year-old has already claimed a number of the bright prints, and a big length of yellow jersey — her favorite color since she could speak. I'll be thinking long and hard about how to use the two pieces of black leather she included...Yvonne suggested another bag (like the Mommy Poppins bag I recently made). I'm thinking leather accents on a pair of pants...but that's a little wintry and may have to wait.

As for my work-in-progress no-pussy-bow Pussy Bow Blouse, I think the Singer Featherweight I've been sewing on has cut down my stitching time by half. Why? Because it's so steady I can topstitch like a boss — no need to unpick and redo like I had to repeatedly with my anemic, plastic contemporary Singer. Witness the sleeve placket on my taupe (?) chambray blouse I have been sewing this week: 

And the collar — probably my best ever:

I used a pocket pattern I drafted long ago to make pockets on the front:

I originally drafted the pocket for this shirt I made, which was a project for my patternmaking class. 

Say....that was a good pattern. Perhaps I should have used it instead of the Pussy Bow Blouse pattern? Only time (and a few buttonholes) will tell. And now I'm off to watch Project Runway, my friends!