Cloth

Much like every other person who sews, I have loads of cloth. But I also have a special stash that I have saved since I was a little girl. Most of it the pieces are too small to make anything with, but I hang on to it just the same. Above is a sampling.

Top left: a sleeve pattern piece that my mother cut out in order to make a smock top for herself, but never actually made. I loved this fabric when I was little and it's one of the first pieces of fabric I ever coveted. When I inherited my mother's notion and sewing tools I took these few scraps too. Turns out she started to sew the top, but the bobbin thread kept snarling and so she put it away, I assume to sort out later. I took out the big snarly threads myself many years later.

Top right: a piece of my parents old comforter. I had the comforter myself for many years after my parents divorced, but eventually it was worn out. So I took off the top piece you see here and kept it to make something out of. I made a sweet unstructured jacket during my MA when I was thinking about our emotional attachments to clothes. I'll try to post a picture of the jacket itself one of these days.

Bottom left: the first fabric I ever made. I found a random haiku generator online, ran some of my journal entries through it, loved the haikus so I laid them out in a great font called Cholla and printed them onto heat transfer paper to put on this crappy beige broadcloth. I made quite a few early fabrics this way and I have several scraps from my favorites (one I made a great book cover out of!).

Bottom right: an old sheet from the house I grew up in. I recently took this home from my dad because all of the rest of the set finally disappeared. I made a one piece sort of poncho dress out of it. I guess I should put up a pic of that one too.