Lego Dress Showdown: Which Block-Inspired Dress to Make for My Daughter's 4th Birthday Party?

Help me out, sewing friends—if you had a daughter, and that daughter was obsessed with LEGOs, and you wanted to make her an amazing birthday dress for her LEGO-themed birthday party that was inspired by LEGOs but not LITERALLY a LEGO dress (i.e. not "licensed product" looking) and that she could still wear later... which would you make?

I am still undecided, but I have two favorites. I'm hoping to create the Legodots with fabric paint and a hand-carved stamp to make them look more organic. The girls or block cityscapes would be appliqué and embroidery. I considered making fabric on Spoonflower but wanted to do something more handmade here.

The patterns shown are:

• The Oliver + S Ice Cream Dress: made and blogged and still worn constantly... but I'd have to grade up because she is outgrowing the largest size in the envelope I have.
• The free Oliver + S Popover Sundress sewing pattern.

I already picked up the yellow and blue fabric—if I went with a four-color option I'd have to purchase red and green. I'm thinking those four-color options are a little garish anyway? I generally avoid combining primary colors, but I felt like it wasn't going to evoke Legos without that bright blue and bright yellow.

Here were my original hand sketches with crappy highlighters when I first came up with the idea:

I'm thinking a matching block-themed headband and/or hair barrettes are also in order.

Which one would you make?

P.S. Part of me is very tempted to make myself a Lego-evoking dress as well using the Tilly and the Buttons Coco pattern as my blank canvas... but obviously the girl's dress is higher priority. I may just end up wearing some me-made Lego-esque jewelry or whatnot (like felt rectangles with six circles embroidered on them on a necklace).

Done: Purple Stripes Overload Cardigan (Delancey Cardigan by Alexis Winslow)

You could NOT buy a cardigan like this in the store. Not with these stripes in JUST my favorite colors and with just the right amount of negative ease (5 inches! More on that below)...

Or the pop of color hidden under the garter stitch shawl collar...

Plus the chevroned back:

And these purple flower buttons of awesomeness:

Because when you make something for yourself, it doesn't have to be strive to be "as good as" ready-to-wear... it can be BETTER than that. Because it is your size, your colors and YOUR hands that made it.

A sweater (or any project, really) that takes this long (almost a year! but that includes a six-month knitting break) is like a slice of an ancient tree—like the rings in a tree, each row is from a certain moment in time.

Like the moment in time I accidentally left one skein of discontinued bright purple yarn I was using for the third stripe on a plane... and had to change my stripe repeat from a "bright purple/light purple/gray" pattern to a "gray/light purple/gray pattern:"

What mass-produced fast-fashion garment has a "flaw" or a story like that?

The details

• The pattern: Delancey cardigan by Alexis Winslow of Knit Darling (available in regular and plus size). I think it is fair to say Alexis Winslow is my most favorite knit designer ever stripes ever polka dot ever. I loved making the Delancey as much as I loved making Georgina, and I'm pretty equally pleased with the results and sure I will wear her as much as possible (weather permitting—this wool Delancey is HOT). The construction was unusual and varied enough to be interesting, but still easy to memorize and knit while riding a subway, chatting with friends or giving my kid a bath.
• The yarn: Knit Picks Merino Style — a discontinued but very soft and lovely to work with merino DK weight yarn that had been languishing in my stash for YEARS.
• Sizing notes: I knit the 33-inch bust size—which SOUNDS like a bad idea since I have a 38.5" bust—but wasn't at all. Remember the power of negative ease and the tendencies of many yarns to grow when blocked! I had actually emailed Alexis for her advice and she told me the bias handknit fabric was EXTREMELY stretchy. And because of the chevron design, this is a straight up and down piece—there's no way to create waist shaping or definition except by making it snug. When I was knitting I kept second-guessing this decision, but now that she's blocked the fit is PERFECT and not at all tight or uncomfortable.
• Notions: Purple floral buttons from Pacific Trimming.
• Mods and construction notes: I knit the shorter version as instructed here. As per Alexis' email advice I tacked down the shawl collar back to keep it from rolling up. And I used the Back Join to change colors while striping.
• Raveled with more info here.

Of course now it is over 80 degrees F here in New York... so I'm hoping for a few more brisk days to enjoy my cardigan joy before summer really comes rolling in. Where's a chilly rainy day when you need it?

How do you remove barriers to sewing? + Me Made May Week 2

I'm no longer going to blame my daughter's night owl tendencies for keeping me from sewing

Sometimes barriers to sewing are real—and sometimes, they are just mental blocks and lack of inspiration. I actually recovered from carpal tunnel more than three months ago—yet I didn't start sewing again til my recent vacation in Texas when Susan pretty much ordered me to do so.

When I got back to New York and opened up my sewing table, the mojo was back and all my barriers to sewing suddenly seemed flimsy and easy to demolish:

1. BARRIER:"My daughter stays up talking to herself and her dolls til midnight almost every night—and I can't disturb her with the sound of the sewing machine in our small apartment." FIX: Move the sewing machine into my bedroom where she can't hear it.
2. BARRIER: "I don't get to spend enough time with my husband in the evenings, and he likes to watch shows together sometimes." FIX: Pay vague attention to shows while sewing in bedroom, and stop worrying if I've lost track of characters, plots, or anything else.
3. BARRIER: "I need to make elaborate allergy-free meals totally from scratch and stay up every evening making pickles or sourdough bread or homemade pasta." FIX: My husband likes to cook too. And we can eat more quick, simple (and still allergy-free meals) and cook more in batches.
4. BARRIER: "Oh UGH, the worst part of sewing is all that FITTING and MUSLINING and SEAM FINISHING and HEMMING and how the heck do I have TIME for all that when I just want to WEAR something AWESOME?" FIX: forget muslins or elaborate fitted woven garments for now and just make TNT patterns, knit pieces and easy-fit skirts.

So what are your barriers to sewing (or blogging) and how might YOU remove them?

Cation Designs recently posted that she decided to remove one of her barriers: feeling like she needed to do an elaborate fancy dress-up photo shoot before she could blog something she had made.

Mary at Young, Broke and Fabulous recently ran into a nasty money barrier when her sewing machine died—and she did a cool little fundraiser where she offered to sew items (from bags to dresses) for supporters in exchange for helping her raise the cash to buy a used floor model sewing machine.

Susan at Moon Thirty has resolved to make her Me Made May a "Me Making May" where she sews something for her everyday wardrobe for at least 5 minutes a day, and she's already got a beautiful (and not-yet-hemmed-or-blogged Colette Moneta knit dress to show for it.

If you don't want to sew and have other things going on—that's cool. But if you really LOVE to sew and WANT to sew but have some arbitrary rules in your head that you can't sew unless your house is spotless (#sewdontclean, people) or until you buy that new pattern or fabric you can't afford right now (time for a stash dive!), or until you have some certain notion or supply or type of interfacing, or until you have a full day set aside, or until your toddler deigns to take a nap she probably won't EVER actually take, or until you have better lighting for your blog photos... maybe it's time to start taking it easier on yourself and just sew up a three-seam knit skirt, snap a cellphone selfie in your bathroom mirror and let all that mental baggage go.

And with that—on to Me Made May!

Before I start with May 4, I realize I forgot to show what I actually wore outside on May 3. I realized that I was wearing an orange zip-up sweater and an orange purse... with orange top-stitching on my shoes to boot. Orange is my happy color. (Yes, that's my daughter's hand at right).

OK then:

Me Made May 4: Off to Sewing Club!

Skirt: Tilly and the Buttons Miette wrap skirt, me-made - blogged here
Necklace: Turquoise paper bead necklace made by my amazing mother-in-law Gail
Shoes: Ahnu Karma flats (that won my comfy flat shoe showdown last year and are the BEST and comfiest shoes EVER... I just bought a second pair in green.)

Me Made May 5: Red and White Polka Dots

Three me-mades today in one outfit:
Sweater: Georgina cardigan (blogged here)
Top: Jalie scarf-collar knit top (blogged here)
Socks: Monkey socks (Raveled here).
Plus... Jeans: NYDJ straight legs (bought at 6pm.com for less than 50% retail)
Shoes: Tsubo Aftenia fashion sneakers (ignore the bad reviews, they are AWESOME)

Me Made May 6: A New Knit Dress from a 1970s Vintage Pattern

Dress: Simplicity 7575 from 1976, me-made (blogged here)
Shoes: Miz Mooz Avery (similar vibe)
Necklace: Gift from sister-in-law quite a few years ago

Me Made May 7: Polka Dot Work Casual

Skirt: Self-drafted no-elastic knit half circle skirt (I made a little tutorial here—it's super simple!
Top: thrifted
Bag: vintage
Shoes: Ahnu Karma flats again.

Me Made May 8: Delancey Cardigan Joy

Sweater: Delancey Cardigan by Alexis Winslow, me-made (pattern is here and my Ravelry page with prettier photo shoot is here... blog post coming soon). My second unfinished object completed for Me-Made May!
Socks: Waving Lace ombre socks, me-made and me-hand-dyed (blogged here)
Top: old RTW back when I still bought fast fashion
Necklace: borrowed permanently from my mom
Jeans: NYDJ straight legs (bought at 6pm.com for less than 50% retail)
Shoes: Ahnu Karma flats again.

Me Made May 9: Two Blue Refashions for Theme Friday

Sweater: Me-Made Blue Flutter Sleeve cardigan (originally blogged here and more recently refashioned here)
Socks: Me-made bright blue TARDIS socks (they are REALLY bright blue and I added elastic thread to keep them up).
I barely wear this sweater because the sleeves look kinda weird even after the refashion. Hence the belt! I'm kind of tempted just to give it away so I can't feel bad about it anymore.
You've already seen the shoes and necklace.
Tights: Spanx reversible black/brown tights... still going strong after four years without a single run!

Me Made May 10: Hummingbird weekend wear

Top: Cake Patterns Hummingbird peplum knit top (blogged here)
Skirt: Hummingbird straight skirt (blogged here).
(With my polka dot loving daughter in a hand-me-down dress).

So tell me—what are your sewing/blogging barriers and how do you knock them down?

*Disclosure: Actions you take from the hyperlinks on this site may yield commissions for polkadotoverload.com (quite likely to be spent on yarn or fabric).

Finished: 1970s impulse sewing knit dress (Simplicity 7575)

So a few nights ago I was on Instagram scrolling through Me-Made-May pix and I saw that really awesome feather-print 70s vintage dress by Cation Designs and then she was saying that Tanit-Isis got her hooked on 1970s dresses and then I was thinking "hey, I have a kinda similar 1970s vintage dress pattern in my stash" and so then I found it and I grabbed some stash fabric and I cut it and I made it and... here it is.

AND it fits! So score. VINTAGE IMPULSE SEWING WIN.

The basics

Pattern: Vintage Simplicity 7575, from 1976, a topstitched raglan-sleeved V-neck knit dress with slightly gathered skirt and attached belt to create underbust shaping. I got my copy from We Sew Retro, but looks like you can still find it on eBay or Etsy pretty easily.

Fabric: Two yards of a wonderful soft medium-weight purple rayon or cotton spandex blend knit with amazing stretch, drape and recovery (and maybe a BIT too much cling). It's been in my stash since before 2010 and my notes say I bought it at "NY Fabrics" but I can't remember where or what that store is in the Garment District.

Notions: Just thread and some fusible webbing tape for taming the belt and facings.

Size: 12 (it's a one-size pattern). The body measurements for this size were about 3-4 inches smaller than mine, but I trusted the power of spandex and negative ease, and made no adjustments except a 1" FBA. The dress actually has quite a bit of ease, as it's the belt that gives it a fitted look.

Inspiration: This dress totally makes me think of my amazing mom Beryl, who was a total 70s girl and loves to sew knit dresses. Here she is with my dad and her parents (both in ensembles sewn by my grandmother) at her wedding in 1973:

It also reminded me of the last vintage 1970s pattern I sewed back when I was super pregnant, which also had a similar attached belt thing going on:

Here's the full envelope art—there are also a tunic and pants pattern included:

Instructions: The instructions were easy to follow, but I have mixed feelings about some of the techniques and construction. I'm not sure a neckline facing is really the best thing for this V-neck—a binding might give a softer effect. And the belt is a SINGLE layer of jersey—which makes it easy to tie, but it's rather flimsy and floppy and there are raw edges visible:

Alterations: Just a 1" FBA, as I thought 5" of negative ease across the bust might be a bit much. Because I hadn't done any raglan FBAs before, I pulled out my copy of Fit For Real People for a little refresher (what would I do without that book?!):

I decided to gather the excess fabric into the side seam instead of creating a dart, and it's a bit bunchy but I'm cool with it:

Construction notes: When my mom was sewing in the 1970s, she didn't have a serger or use a twin needle—it was zig-zag all the way. And in that spirit, I used a narrow zig-zag for all the seams with no seam finishing:

I did most of the top-stitching on the more stable areas with a long straight stitch, but I used a zig-zag again in the stretchier places to prevent seam popping:

And I haven't hemmed it yet. I'm going to let her hang out for a while before I decide if I want to bother.

Yes, I know that's not very modern or ready-to-wear looking... but honestly, I hardly aspire for my garments to have any resemblance to mass-produced fast fashion, and if the zigzag or raw hem is a giveaway that I made it myself—that's just fine with me.

I'm also trying to remove all the barriers—big and little, mental and physical—that have held back my sewing mojo... and proper seam finishes and having to dig out the serger and set it up and thread it are more trouble than they are worth to me at this moment.

Successes: The entire project took just three nights, including the cutting and tracing and altering. And I got lots of compliments at work (especially from sewing and knitting friends). I just LOVE this color and this fabric and the dress is comfy as a nightgown.

Will I make it again? Oh goodness yes, though next time I think I'll make it in a print, like a 70s-style ITY jersey. I love this bright solid but I already have a greasy eczema lotion handprint on the dress bodice from my little girl that I am trying to remove before it sets in. SIGH.

Here's a shot showing how unfitted/bunchy the back is, but that's what makes it comfy:

Wear to: Work or a date with the husband. This fabric is just a little too nice to risk further damage at the playground.

Oh, and the slingback pumps are the Miz Mooz Avery—they were the most 70s-looking closed-toed shoes I could find in my closet (no longer available, but these slingbacks have a similar vibe).

*Disclosure: Actions you take from the hyperlinks on this site may yield commissions for polkadotoverload.com (quite likely to be spent on yarn or fabric).

Why are we supposed to hate our bellies? + Me Made May Week 1 roundup

Not pulling a shirt down to hide my belly for Me-Made May!

About six months after I had my daughter in 2010, I was shopping with a friend for some new clothes to fit my post-baby shape. I was feeling pretty awesome about having my waist back and rocking some more hourglass-style looks... until a salesman congratulated me on my pregnancy.

"I'm not pregnant," I told him. "I had my baby six months ago!" I was hurt and offended and he was apologetic—but why? Why was having a belly instantly lovely and wonderful the second I was publicly, officially, happily pregnant... but totally unacceptable the second I was not? (Also why do "old weird secrets for a flat belly trick" ads chase us around the internet?)

One of the reasons I love Me Made May is that it's an excuse to feel fancy and to think a little more about what I put on. And to dress every day the way I WISHED I actually dressed every day of the year. And to practice a little self-appreciation and feel good about my style and my body.

But as I go through and edit the photos I've snapped to find my favorites, I find myself wondering: why are women supposed to hate our bellies? Why do I find myself choosing what is "most flattering" by whether or not my belly might look as squishy as it actually is?

When I was pregnant, I remember feeling this huge sense of relief — a break from any body image anxieties that might have plagued me for the past 30 years. No sucking it in, no control garments under clingier dresses, no avoiding lots of front gathers or staying away from knit pencil skirts.

I've worked very hard to love my shape and not talk myself down (especially in front of my little girl—who is thankfully incredibly self-confident and pleased with her beautiful young self!) but why SHOULD that have to be such hard work? Why should I have to go look at photos of Christina Hendricks in her Joan outfits from Mad Men to calm down my nasty inner critic?

Your thoughts appreciated.

So my sub-resolution for Me-Made-May is to smile for my selfies, stop picking apart my appearance and stop taking SO many photos for each day, even if I don't LOVE how I look in each picture. And here we go:

Me Made May 1: Candy-Striped Tiramisu

Dress: Cake Patterns Tiramisu, me-made - blogged last summer
Necklace: red coral from a booth at Renegade Craft fair ages ago
Shoes: Tsubo Aftenia fashion sneakers (ignore the bad reviews, they are AWESOME)

Me Made May 2: The "Sewing Through the UFO Pile" Dress

Dress: Cake Patterns Red Velvet Knit Dress, me-made - blogged last summer
Necklace: 1928 Jewelry vintage inspired pen necklace
Bag: Vintage
Shoes: Camper Kim black Mary Janes (similar)

Me Made May 3: Stripes and Denim (with Photobomber)

Top: old ready-to-wear from fast fashion place I now avoid. Want to draft a copy though!
Skirt: Cake Patterns Hummingbird, me-made - blogged here
Necklace: made by a friend
Shoes (see top of blog post): Ahnu Karma flats (that won my comfy flat shoe showdown last year and are the BEST and comfiest shoes EVER)

Happy Me-Made May, everyone. LOVING looking through the Flickr group to see what you all are coming up with—so inspiring!

P.S. Edited later—I almost forgot to include this political cartoon I drew ages ago about this very topic when I read about plastic surgeons offering post-delivery "Mommy job" packages... "Your Yucky Body: Mommy Makeover Edition":

Finished: The Not-Red-or-Velvet Red Velvet Knit Dress, Joan-Style (Cake Patterns 0369)

This dress makes me feel fancy and relaxed at the same time—like I'm secretly wearing a nightgown at a cocktail party. (Except I'm just drinking apple juice because I took these photos at 8 in the morning, and I have the alcohol tolerance of a thimble).

There are so many things about it that make me happy. And now I will list them:

• It's a former UFO. I cut this dress out in September right before I got computer-induced carpal tunnel... and I actually finished it less than a year later. Go me!
• I got this awesome fabric for free from a fabric swap. I THINK it belonged to Clio or Nettie but I'm not 100% certain (ladies, who was it? I love you and THANKS).
• The fit is AMAZING and barely required any work on my part.
• These colors and print are out of control. Just big enough to be fun, just small and squiggly enough to hide any mistakes (not that there are any) and not require print matching.
• It goes perfectly with all those accessories I bought for the Joan Mad Men Challenge dress I never finished two years ago. (The fitting was just too much trouble, oh well).

The pattern: Cake Patterns Red Velvet Knit Dress 0369, with envelope/instructions illustration and graphic design by me and my husband.

My original plan was to go for a solid colorblocking thing in ponte/doubleknit, and I even went fabric-hunting at Mood:

But in the end I was worried the scissor pleat detail might be a bit bulky in the ponte, and this blue/purple/black splattery fabric was just calling my name.

Pattern Description: Knit dress with a faced circular neckline, optional petal collar and pleated underbust seam. I went for the scissor-pleated skirt, but there is also a flat boxy-pleat option. I left out the optional hidden zipper pocket because I was in a rush.

Pattern Sizing and Fit Adjustments: The pattern is sized for a 30-59 inch high bust, 25-55 inch waist and has bust proportion sizing A-D. Fit adjustments were easy, and minimal (unlike with my ill-fated Joan dress):

• I have a 34.5" high bust and 38.5" full bust, so I went with the 35C and did a simple 3-inch "Deep Bust Adjustment" as advised in the Red Velvet Sewalong to add needed length over the bust. I also shortened the pleats accordingly, to come to about 1.5" below the bust apex. (Please note that 35C is a special proportionate Cake bodice sizing and not a bra size — in bras I wear a 30F or 32E, depending on brand).
• For the skirt, I cut my actual waist size—29.5".

Fabric: As I said, I'm not sure who the original owner of this lovely, midweight ITY jersey bold print fabric was, but I thank her kindly for swapping her away to me. The only slight downside is that the pleats are a bit hard to see—can you spot the scissor shape here?

Notions: As advised in the instructions, I used stay tape in the shoulder seams. And I used fusible web tape to create quick, perfect and stable knit sleeve hems and stick down the neckline facing. LIFE-CHANGING, people. I used the 1/2" Steam a Seam 2 Lite, but it doesn't seem to be easy to find these days—Clover Fusible Web is another similar option.

Instructions: Once again, surreal following instructions that I helped draw myself. I mostly just stuck to the printed instructions, but did take a few peeks at the sew-along here and there.

Pattern alterations: I left off the optional collar and pockets. They are awesome but I am just trying to get back into the sewing game at all and finding any spare moments I can, and if that means leaving out the cool details, so be it. Otherwise unaltered.

Construction notes:

• I didn't bother finishing the seams (or hemming), since this fabric is so stable and not-at-all prone to unraveling.
• I used the sewing machine only, for speed, and just a simple narrow zig-zag stitch (the lightning bolt knit stitch on my particular machine does not a happy knit seam make).
• It all came together pretty quickly—I cut it out a year ago, but the actual sewing was just two evenings late at night—maybe 3 or 4 hours at most (and I am SLOW).

Wear for: Work or a date with the husband—or even to a wedding. Or a cocktail party, if my life were such that I actually went to such things.

I am SO making this dress again! For Me-Made-May, it's all about the UFO (and TNT) patterns over here.

P.S. This is obviously not an objective review, since I do artwork for Cake Patterns... but I don't get paid to sew Cake or blog about Cake. I just love me some Cake—which is why I draw for them!

P.P.S. Isn't that purple purse wonderful? She's real 1960s vintage, from Etsy, and was actually still in the ORIGINAL original box with her price tag on.

Austin fabric store reviews & sewing meetup awesomeness

Sewing meetup awesomeness at The Common Thread in Austin (with lots of love for stripes, clockwise from L): Me, Melissa of Melly Sews, Angela of So Made, Melizza of Pincushion Treats, Sara, Susan of Moon Thirty, and Susan of Miss Lulu Sews

So Austin turned out to be the perfect family vacation spot—and sewing mojo reboot inspiration. I somehow managed to attend four (!) sewing-related meetups in slightly over a week, sew a skirt, acquire an excessive amount of pretty new fabric, and even go to a crafty birthday party for Dixie (of Dixie DIY). (I must thank Susan for being the most amazing sewing hostess ever and for making all of this fun happen!)

Unrelated to sewing, I baked allergy-free bread, made homemade tamales on a hotplate, ate many tacos, met up with a cartoonist friend, swam in Barton Springs Pool and went on a movie date with my husband to the Alamo Drafthouse. It was a good time.

At The Common Thread a week earlier, with Dixie of Dixie DIY, Susan and Angela

My three-year-old daughter had some stitchy fun herself at the Thinkery children's museum:

And joined me for two of the sewing meetups. But I must say that one of the NON-highlights of the trip was her running around Stitched Fabric shop during a sewing club gathering, pins in hand, yelling "Poop soup!" and giggling maniacally, with me madly chasing behind. Sigh...

Austin fabric shopping is very different from the NYC fabric shopping to which I am accustomed. In Manhattan, I can stroll a few blocks over to the Garment District on my lunch break, and find myself in very large (and sometimes dim, dusty and crowded) stores, easily overwhelmed and at a loss for what I actually want or need. The selection is huge, but sometimes maybe a bit TOO huge.

In Austin, I had to get in a car (oh, GRRR, how I hate driving!) to reach the little shops I visited, but they were calmer, better-lit, more well-curated and had a more personal touch and intimate customer service approach than, say, Mood (not that I don't love Mood! but you know what I mean). I came away with some truly special and high-quality pieces that I can't wait to stitch into, especially the knits.

The Common Thread

• Location: 701 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704
• Vibe: Relaxed, welcoming, elegant. A well curated selection of high-quality woven and knit fashion fabrics, including eco-friendly and organic fabrics in a range of fibers (even hemp and bamboo), and in styles from quirky and bold to elegant and refined. The fabric is beautifully displayed and there were lovely sample garments out for inspiration. Jeanie, the owner, was very welcoming, knew all the Austin sewists and seems to regularly host sewing meetups. Prices are fair, but this isn't a discount shop by any means (though there is a small sale/remnant rack in the back.)
• I couldn't resist: Riley Blake cotton/spandex gray and white polka dot knit and some lovely gray and white seersucker (the top top fabrics shown)...
  ...And this scant amount of Echino cotton/linen blend fabric. It was on sale, and there's barely enough for a straight skirt:
  

TexStyles Designer Fabric Showroom

Susan wishing she had a reasonable excuse to buy some $85/yard French silk charmeuse

• Location: 2605 Jones Rd Ste D Austin, TX 78745
• Vibe: One-of-a-kind designer fabric finds, from the over-the-top to the fancy, ranging from about $7/yard to much, much higher. Lots of great knits (including some fantastic sweater knits, which aren't easy to find), loud bold prints, bright colors and sequins. The fabric is packed in tightly on the racks and it's a small space, so a bit of hunting and digging is required to turn up gems.
• I couldn't resist: A yard of black and blue zig-zaggy knit print to make a fun tee.
  

  I also randomly got to meet Daniel Esquivel (of Project Runway fame) who was super friendly and showed us some fabric designs he was working on:

  

  On our second visit to the store, Little Z enjoyed grabbing the fabrics a little too much and I had to take her outside before she ruined anything:

  

Stitched Fabric (at the Austin Fabric Coop)

• Location: 6601 N Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78752
• Vibe: Knit paradise on earth. It is probably for the best that I don't live in Austin, as this place might be a problem for me. I have never before been in a shop where it was so painful to walk away without taking 90% of the store items home with me. There were knit stripes, and knit prints, and knit polka dots, all in good weights with excellent stretch and drape and recovery (something I struggle to find, even in New York). There were plenty of woven fabrics too, but I wasn't paying them much mind because the KNITS.
  

  AND there was a TARDIS door:

  AND I got to see some of the Cake Patterns envelopes I've illustrated at large in their natural sewing-shop habitat:

  

  The prices are fair (but not discount cheap) given the quality and there is a "free scraps" table with some surprisingly large scraps.

  
• I couldn't resist: Purple/gray/red thin-striped knit for a skirt (scroll up) and green and white polka dot knit (enough for a dress):
  

  Plus a good amount of wax print fabric from the free scraps table for a dress for the little girl.

We were so sad to leave Austin and all of our friends there (old and new), and I hope those of you attending Pattern Review weekend have a fantastic time!

P.S. Also while at the Thinkery, little Z and the husband and I had fun with a giant microscope to look at some different objects very closely including knit jersey fabric, corduroy fabric and my daughter's little plastic Princess Tiana doll: