The Importance of Having a Plan "B"

 

Friends, if I've learned anything in my half-century of life, it's that it's good to have a backup plan.  Things don't always happen the way you expect, and if you've "put all your eggs in one basket" as they say, then what are you going to do?

That's why today I purchased some other fabric I could use for this month's Mood Sewing Network post, just in case I don't finish my gray suit on time.  I'm still planning on making it, and I expect to get started soon, but if there's anything I hate it's feeling rushed.  Having just made my sheet suit -- which was originally intended to be a muslin but I got carried away -- I don't feel like immediately starting another suit.  It may take a few days -- or longer.

So here's what I purchased.  These may seem like more conservative choices than what you're used to, but I can't always wear flower prints.  I'm trying to choose colors that will coordinate well with my taffeta jacket and shorts ensemble, and not introduce too many new colors and patterns.



The white fabric is a beautiful, medium-weight linen I'm going to use to make pants.  You wouldn't think white linen pants would be very practical in New York City, but I've had a pair from H&M for nearly six years and only now are they beginning to feel worn out -- primarily due to repeated dryings that have caused them to shrink.  Or maybe I'm widening.



Here are the pants in a pic from 2010.  (OK, I have widened...and grayed.)



I also purchased this silky cotton shirting in a rich-looking butter -- actually margarine.



I love these two fabrics.  They're not show stoppers, but an endless stream of the sewing equivalent of power ballads gets tiring after a while, don't you think?

I also purchased rayon Bemberg lining for my suit.  Way nicer than that gray poly I used in my sheet suit.  The color is navy, though it's hard to tell here.  I forgot if I should wash this before sewing with it.  Anybody know?



In other news, an orchid I salvaged from the trash last year has bloomed!



This last weekend I had the pleasure of visiting my friend Rosie: I helped fix her Singer 201 (the bobbin case was in the wrong position) and she fixed me the most amazing Jamaican food I've ever eaten in my life!  She also gave me some fabulous sharper-than-sharp Japanese pins and hand-sewing needles and let me try out her Baby Lock Ellisimo Gold sewing machine -- OMG.





Friends, that's it,  In closing -- a few questions:

1) Do you generally have a Plan B when you're sewing on a deadline, or does the pressure of a time limit help make Plan A happen when it otherwise might not, so you don't need a Plan B?

2) Are a margarine shirt and linen pants boring? 

Have a great day, everybody!

Bonus question: Whatever happened to this kind of charm? (see video)