The Excitement of Preparation

I love starting out on a new project. Some of my most productive thinking is done while ironing freshly washed fabric for the next project. It's the first real "test" of the fabric. Sure, I may have fondled it at the store or when I first took out of the package upon delivery. But prepping it takes it one step further.

Today, I washed and ironed my sari silk for the PR One Fabric Silk contest. (BTW, I'm not competitive. I join these contests for the camaraderie, learning and motivation.) The care instructions said hand wash, so I put it in the "silk hand wash" setting of my front loader, then ironed with a cool iron.

This is a good opportunity to look closely for any flaws or marks which will be taken into account during layout and cutting. It came out perfectly; this is truly scrummy fabric.

I also pulled out the instructions and pattern pieces from the envelope. This pattern was still in it's factory folds. I get mixed feelings about a vintage pattern in this almost-like-new condition. Initially, I'm in awe of it and elated at the acquisition of such a gem. But when the time comes to pulling the tissue from those perfect and tight, never-to-be-duplicated-again folds, I somehow feel like I'm desecrating something pure.

This feeling usually passes once the pattern is laid out and cutting begins. It is replaced by the excitement of speculating what the lady who originally bought this pattern had in mind for it. What fabric would she have used? I'm guessing it wasn't sari silk. Will my creation be worthy ?

Since I can't begin cutting until tomorrow when the contest begins, I think I shall let the pattern remain factory folded for one more day.

In the meantime, I returned from the new house yesterday evening. We are all so excited! My husband will be staying there during the week and will begin painting during the evenings. The carpeting has been shampooed and is ready for our things.

As much as I was sorry to leave the new house, I was keen to return to my projects. I wrote up the review for the Catwoman costume, which can be viewed on PR http://sewing.patternreview.com/cgi-bin/readreview.pl?reviewnum=27324 . I didn't take pictures of me modeling the costume; I don't want to scare my readers away just yet! The project didn't quite work for me, but that's ok.

The excitement of a new vintage pattern project always comes to my rescue.