Cheaper than a ticket to NZ

Thank you for your terrific suggestions about pulling out of the January Blahs. While the trip to the New Zealand beaches for a real visit with my blogfriends Miss Smith and Mary Nanna sounded really fabulous, the airfare is a bit out of my price range at the moment.

Dear Anonymous seems to know me so well... I have my guesses about who she is. I have taken bits of her advice: particularly, spending time with other people's children, like these sweet feet.

And an impromptu lunch date with four year-old, RaRa. And some knitting with lady friends. And remembering to take my Vitamin D.

So in lieu of a trip to New Zealand or even to a big city, and considerably cheaper, I had a therapeutic shopping excursion to Alewives Fabrics this week. I went knowing that I wanted to make myself pajama pants in flannel. And that maybe I might like to begin a quilt for my boy who will turn 13 this year (December, so plenty of time), in colors of orange and blues. You will recall that his room is orange.

Imagine my thrill when I discovered a precut pack of twenty fat quarters in just the colors I had envisioned, for a Turning Twenty Quilt. That's an amazing retail experience, even more than the usual to be had at Alewives. So, I splurged for it and the border, backing, and binding fabrics and will begin working on it this winter, when I need the color therapy too.

I also discovered a bag I had to make, the Winslow Market Tote (free pattern here). And if you're wondering, the answer to the question "Do you really need another bag?" is *always* Y.E.S. It's lined with linen and is a nice hefty size for all of the stuff that usually travels with me.

And now it is really snowing like crazy outside and I have been home all day sewing intermittently with breaks for shoveling. Perfect.

Here's what I can tell you about Pajamas for Everyone in Heather Ross's Weekend Sewing. For size medium adult, you need more fabric than she says, and don't even try to use a fabric that has a directional print. This called for 2 yards and there was just no way to make that work with the direction she wanted you to lay your fabric down in. So I turned and folded my fabric another way and it worked.

pajamas for everyone with small bums

One more thing to know, and this may be TMI blogfriends, is that I do not have a very large bottom. I would call it medium flattish. But the way the PJs fit me is just a bit more snug around that area than I would like. I'll definitely still wear them, but next time I will also adjust the pattern. Maybe I just like a loose PJ. Anyway. Aren't these the happiest looking pants you've ever seen?

I don't think I ever showed you this bit of sweetness that I purchased at our school craft fair at the Mosey Handmade table. It is the perfect size to protect the little bits of technology items that we carry around these days.