Self-indulgent bragging ahead!

I'm sorting my stash. Thanks to some recent purchases, I had trembling stacks of folded fabric threatening to topple off the chests of drawers I try to keep all my supplies in. I'll show you the whole set-up when it's presentable, but for now I'll post a brag pic of my closet full of wool.

The true colors are a bit off -- those teal blues are actually green.
That nice bright red, though? That's gonna be a dress for me someday, and so is that gorgeous caramel brown.  There's  some fine white linen on the far left that is going to be a new smock. I have many happy, busy sewing days ahead of me!

Amazingly, this isn't all of it: I also have a drawer of smaller bits and scraps and another drawer with  two or three really big cuts that are too heavy for hanging. All of it bought from thrift shops and garage sales, and not one piece cost more than $10.

Closet hanging is a really great way for me to keep track of what I have on hand. It's all right there on display. Where's that bit of fine green stuff I had? Oh! There it is. 

If I were really feeling organized, I'd measure each bit and label it so I could tell at a glance if I had enough for a particular project. No time for that now. I just want to make a tidy-up so that I have fewer distractions as I start the fall sewing season and my Big Project. Also, Dave keeps looking at my sewing area and sighing...

The Big One..!

I think I am ready to start on a sewing project that's been brewing in my brain for just over a year. 
I have most of the materials, I have learned and practiced the techniques, and I don't have any other open projects that need finishing. 
This is a big one, folks, and it's going to be magnificent. All I ask is your continued encouragement. 

Here are some of the materials. Excited? I am!

The work on this won't be intense. I will be taking breaks and doing other projects here and there. I'm hoping to have it finished by this time next year. Let's see how that works out, shall we? 

Progress Report

Work continues on Dave's bag. The embroidery is done, I stitched in the lining, and the sides have been closed with a blanket stitch, same as I used on my other bag. Left to do are some tassels for the bottom corners and the leather channel at the top for the drawstring. Stay tuned!

Oh, and "divitae"? It's Latin for "cash", and is similar enough to Dave's name that I consider it a play on words. It amuses me, anyway, and that's all the reason I need to do anything -- right?

Appleton Bros & Wm Morris

So I did a little more research into Appleton Bros, and aren't they just fascinating!  One of my fellow bloggers sent for their shade cards; here's a look at what she got in return. It's like a time capsule, with the old-school typewritten card and whatnot. Appleton Bros: doing it up right for over 150 years.

I think my favorite piece of trivia is that they were used by the designer William Morris. You don't find guys like him much anymore. He did textiles, mosaic tiles, all sorts of stuff like that, and was a huge influence in the design world in the early 20th century, but he was also a writer and publisher. His Kelmscott Press made books of artistic beauty, bringing back the medieval illuminated style. I have a Dover edition of his book The Wood Beyond the World and it's great fun to read. He also did a truly regrettable translation of the Aeneid in couplet form that reads like a Hallmark Card. And yes, I own that too. It's Virgil, and the story is so marvelous that you can't go far wrong with it even in a bad translation, but I can't forgive Mr Morris for that couplet form. And I know I'm starting to sound a bit book-snooty here, so I'll rein that back.

*ahem*

I took a picture of one of the skeins of wool with a nickel so you can really see how fine this stuff is. I'm going to use it for my Magnum Opus -- my "greatest work", a project I've only hinted at so far but I've been  planning with an artist friend for about a year -- and that puts me one step closer to having all the supplies I need to get started. And a little thrill just sizzled up my spine at that notion, if you'll pardon the pun.

(Also, I'm really enjoying links these days. I hope you like them, too. So much nicer than footnotes!)

Patio Sale Treasures

Today's haul:
A very lightweight linen tablecloth, 66"x100", with slight staining but otherwise perfect ($5)
Two yards of forest green wool ($4)
An approximately 4'x4' piece of deep green medium weight leather, kinda scruffy but will give that already-broken-in look to whatever I make with it ($1)
Four yards of heavyweight dark brown linen ($3)
A bag of assorted small balls of natural-colored wool (25 cents)

A bag of approximately a dozen skeins of fine Appleton Bros embroidery wool from England, so lovely I could barely speak when I saw them, and couldn't believe no one had snapped them up before me; each strand is thin as a pencil line ($4)

Seventeen dollars and one quarter, folks. There are bargains everywhere if you keep your eyes open.

Con-gryphon-lations!

Last night Dave and The Boy went to see the new Batman movie, and I stayed home to watch a few episodes of Kingdom, which is wonderful in an updated-James-Herriot-y way, but with lawyers instead of veterinarians. Stephen Fry is such a delight.

Of course, I can't just sit and watch tv; I must be working on something as well. So I did the couching work on the gryphon. Finally it was so late and my eyes were so tired that I had to force myself to stop, even though I only had a little bit left -- one hind leg. Here's a pic.

Good heavens, I just realized that perilous placement of that needle. Poor gryphon! Now that it's getting down the last stitches on this bit, I realize I haven't much of a plan in my head for the rest of the design. I'd better put my mind to that today.

Today is also the day of the Panorama Patio Sale, which marks the day that I got Imogene, my dressmakers dummy, for only three dollars. It also is the event that last year inspired me to start this blog and share all my little bits and bobs with you all. It's been a wonderful year, and I thank you all for joining me on my creative path.

Now, let's do it again, shall we? Onward!

Gryphon-y goodness.

I know you've all been waiting very patiently for me to post a bit of my work instead of snaps of my horse or links to other people's endeavors, so here you go: the embroidery on Dave's bag. 

There's some dark brown that will fill in the body, and then I'll work in the horizontal stitching and do the outlines and details. I really like the way this is looking. Originally I was going to stitch the body in a light blue, thinking it would looks more "heraldic", but as it gets closer, I think it will just look cartoon-y and weird. Dark brown it is.

I plan on lining the bag with a gold linen, and using some soft leather to make the channel for the drawstring. I think a motto is a must to frame the gryphon, so I'm playing with words and phrases to come up with something good and manly. Dave is gonna have one spectacular bag when I'm done.