Okay, so technically it’s in the wee small hours of Saturday morning, but as I’ve not been to bed, it’s still Friday ;o)

This week I’ve been really busy finishing my super secret project.  It’s now in the post winging its way to its new owner.  Once it’s been seen and approved, I’ll share piccies, but in the meantime I’ll share what else I’ve been up to.

On Monday my friend Jo and I hit up Mandors, our local fabric shop.  I would move into this place if I could, in fact I’m sure they even have beds on display in the furnishings area… hmmm.  Anyway, we’d got a fab deal through Itison a couple of weeks ago, £40 for £16 worth of fabric, notions and the haberdashery. Jo bought 1, I bought 3 – in my defence it was an experiment to get one free, which didn’t work, but hey, I still got a bargain!  Apparently there was one woman had bought 240 of the deals o.O  Poor girls in Mandors had to find everyone on a list to check them off, that one took a while, not to mention measuring and cutting all that material!

Anyway, here’s what I came away with:

Isn’t that pretty?  At the moment I’m seeing a layered skirt out of the top 2 Riley Blake designs(plus plenty leftover for other things), maybe a bag out of the next one down, from the It’s A Hoot line by Moda.  I’m hoping I can get shorts out of the next bit, some Irish linen that I got the last piece of.  For the 5th bit I’m aiming for another bag, but I’m struggling to find other pieces to match it.  It’s a needlecord, and although I’ve seen a few possibilities online, most are in the US.  I’ll need more research on that one.  The 6th piece is going to be a summery top and some short jammies I think, and finally the bottom piece, picked out by Jo (I gave her free reign of the shop to find something that would suit me for a dress), will be a summer dress of some sort.

I’ve signed up for a rainbow swap at Ellison Lane Quilts.  I should get back 56 charm squares (5″x5″ blocks), 2 of each pattern, with 4 patterns per colour of the rainbow.  I’m not going to take up making quilts (not that I have anything against quilts but I REALLY don’t have time for another hobby lol), but I’ve seen some fab patchwork bags and clothing, so I’m hoping I can create something wonderful out of what comes back :o)  This is what I’ve got for my red contribution.  It’s a UK manufacturer, and as it’s a worldwide swap (but mainly US) I thought this might be something different for people, lets hope they like it!

Now I know this next bit doesn’t look like much, but it’s my practice skirt for my very first Summer Of No Pants challenge.  I wanted to mock it up in sheeting first to check the size and length of it.  I could probably live with a size smaller, but the waist is gathered anyway (I didn’t put the tape in this practice one) so I’ll just make this size.  I didn’t like the length though.  In a Goldilocks sort of a way, the ‘A’ view of the pattern was too long, and the ‘B’ view (this one) was too short.  I thought about adding a little to the yoke and the layer, but then I was reading a book I picked up a couple of weeks ago, Get The Most From Your Sewing Machine, and got another idea to add a pleated ruffle layer at the bottom.  I was hoping to get the main bit sewn up tonight, but I ended up talking a friend through a bunch of photography stuff, so tomorrow morning it will be :o)

I also got some happy mail.  I won this bag in the Sew Mama Sew blog giveaway from the Green Bag Lady, plus the makings of a new bag.  She gave away 100 of these kits in her quest to rid the world of plastic bags, wasn’t that generous?  She has regular giveaways too, so check out her blog :o)  The funniest thing is that I had picked this fabric for the bag for me to make up as being my favourite in a selection on another blog during the giveaway!

This is the last of my happy mail, 2 more books – you can never have too many books, right?!  In this case I got Sew Serendipity: Fresh and Pretty Sewing Designs to Make and Wear by Kay Whitt, which I’d seen raved about on several blogs during the Sew Mama Sew blog giveaways, and Amy Butler’s Style Stitches: 12 Easy Ways to 26 Wonderful Bags which was also being raved about.

Also in the pile is bag grid bottom, Insul-Fleece, and a grid ruler.  I also ordered a handle for the ruler, but alas they’re out of stock till the end of the month.  Guess I’ll be getting claw hand again this week!

This week I’m hoping to get the first skirt done, and hopefully at least 1 dress from last Friday’s post, although I’ll need to do a muslin for the bodice of the 2 dresses that come out of the same pattern.