Thanks for all of the comments on my stash organization question! I have LOVED reading through everyone's systems (or lack thereof!). If you haven't added your voice to the conversation, please do. You have until Friday afternoon to be added to the pot for the giveaway. As of right now, the chances are 1 in 155. Not bad!

In the evenings, I have been slowly stitching away at my needlepoint. I started this April, but it sat for a good six months (summer/fall) without being touched. It got a lot of love during the Olympics and I am also enjoying working on it a bit here and there, in various waiting rooms, on the go, etc. The road trip case makes it super easy for me to tote it around - it really is grab and go. And while this is definitely a slow craft, all those little stitches add up! I can't tell you how exciting it was to move on to another section, complete with wool in five new colors. It's the little things, you know?

On Saturday, the girls and I took a road trip all in the name of buying fabric. Little did I know that I would be walking into a sale! I did a little damage...

The stash expansion led to a reorganization of sorts. I sat on the floor of the studio and loosely reorganized everything.

Before the weekend, most of my fabric was organized by fabric line, but I found that I was forgetting what I had or that I was unable to locate certain prints. I pulled everything off of the shelf and went through it all. I divided it by colors and then reorganized it further. I kept some fabric lines together, mixed some others together and discovered some interesting fabric pairings as I reorganized. I also walked away with a much better idea of what I have (a lot of fabric!) and where some missing and forgotten pieces are.

I don't know if this system will work for me in the long term or not. But I am curious about how others organize their fabric. Do you do it by color? By Designer? By yardage? Not at all? Please tell me how you do it. And, as an incentive to get you talking, on Friday afternoon I will pick one commenter on this post to receive a custom fabric bundle from my stash to yours. The winner and I will discuss what they might want and almost everything is on the table. It could include vintage feedsack squares, out of print Heather Ross, some original Flea Market Fancy, out of print Lizzy House or something else entirely. Sound good? Yes? Ok - spill it.

Ok. Here we go. This is not where I thought I would start, but it is in the 50's here today (!!!) and I'm wearing this shirt to celebrate my break up with winter. I totally expect to take winter back for a little bit of time at the very least, but hey, let's enjoy the spring temps while we can. Right?

I sewed this shirt up in the fall. The pattern is the fabulous Scout Woven Tee by Grainline Studio. It is available as a PDF download and is a very straightforward sew - a back, a front, a sleeve and a bias strip for the neckline. I'd say it's good for a beginner who is willing to have a little challenge. An advanced beginnner could make this without too much trouble at all.

It takes just under 2 yards of fabric, which, for me, is often what I buy when I am thinking about making a shirt. This fabric is a Nani Iro fabric that I bought from Purl Soho after I made the sleeveless Tova no-go. I was hoping to selvedge some of that shirt, combine it with my new yardage and make it again. You guessed it. That never happened. And I am so glad!

I love this shirt. The sizing is great - it is available in sizes 0 to 18. The numbered sizing versus xs-m-l-xl-xxl sizing allows you to get a better fit, in my opinion. The pattern is nested so if you needed to grade to different sizes, it would be easy to do. I made a size 12 (often the size I buy off the rack, for what it's worth) and the only change I made was to add some length (1") to the torso. The pattern has a lengthen/shorten line in the torso so it fits much better for my long body than if I had just added length at the bottom. I love, love, love this feature and I really wish that more designers would take a little extra time and add that to their patterns. Anyhow, I also did not have to do a full bust adjustment (C/D cup here) which is a double win!

(Bad hair day = chopped off head!)

I will make this again. And then probably again. In fact, I have one cut out of some leftover chambray just waiting for me to sew it up. And some black eyelet that would be a super cute summer top. Also, Jane and Kate might get a few for their closets, whether I sew them or they do. Having tween/teens in the house who wear adult sized clothes makes buying basic patterns even more economical.

That's it. One down, a bunch to go!

There has been a lot of sewing happening around here. Two dresses (!!!) in a week kind of sewing. Throw in a pieced quilt back which was then basted to a top that I contributed to, but didn't assemble. And now, the quilting of that project. It feels good to be productive and especially in the studio, which by nature of its location on the 3rd floor, is much, much warmer than the rest of the house. I think I could stay up there indefinitely. Winter, I want to break up with you.

I know I keep mentioning this back log of Erin-sewn clothes that need blogging and still have yet to do anything about it. The sun is supposed to make an appearance tomorrow so I think I will just throw each one on the dress form and take some beauty shots. If I have a good hair day and feel up to it (under the weather here, with one kid sick, too), I might even set up the tripod with the remote and get some on-the-body shots. And then I will blog them, one by one as I feel like it. That seems like a plan. The point being, that I need a plan. The second point being that an onset of clothing posts is going to happen soon. You've been forewarned.

I hate it when it gets quiet in this space. I miss it. I miss you, the conversation, the community. For whatever reason, the longer I let it sit, the harder it is to get going again. Also, it's strange, but it seems like I have less time to blog than I used to. That can't really be the case so I am trying to look into my work patterns and see what else has changed. I'm not sure what is so different. But really, I just need to jump in so that is what I am doing. Again.

When I was making my Road Trip Case, Jane asked if I could make a pouch out of the clear vinyl. "Hmmm...let me think about that" was the response. And here we are, three days later, with another snow day in the books (that's 7 for the school year if you are counting) and I figured it out.

I used Anna's Open Wide Zippered Pouch as my starting point. I chose the medium sized pouch based on the 12" zipper I had on hand (bought from Zipit on Etsy). The floral is a Liberty Lifestyle print from a year or so ago and the gingham has been in my stash for years. Wrapping my brain around how I could get the inside bottom lined while leaving the vinyl alone on the top took some creative thinking. I thought it all through multiple different ways and finally just cut some fabric and started sewing. I had to mess with the construction some to get it to work with the vinyl (bought at JoAnn's), but I am pretty happy with how it came together. I do wish that I didn't have to turn things inside out so many times - the vinyl looks a little worse for the wear. That said, in making this pouch, I think I have figured out how I could do it better next time. Maybe if there is another snow day? Also, sewing vinyl? Still surprisingly satisfying.

Because Jane inspired it, this pouch now belongs to her. I have no doubt that she will fill it with all kinds of lip gloss or nail polish or other teenage things. Teenage. Still so hard to believe. We got her high school acceptance letter today. I may have gotten a little teary.

I've been slowly stitching on my needlepoint pillow in the evenings and on the go, while waiting for the girls to finish various activities. All of my supplies - yarn, scissors, tapestry needle - have been tossed in a ziploc bag that I stashed in another tote bag that held the canvas. And while this system worked ok, I was thinking of making a large zippered pouch to keep it all together. I just never got around to it. Then I saw Anna's Road Trip Case. This was the solution.

The pattern contains two versions. The one I made has smaller bottom pockets that are closed with velcro and flaps. The other version has two longer pockets that close with a button and elastic. They are perfectly sized to fit those rubberband looms that are all the rage. So, yes, I might be making some of those, too.

It was a fun sew, but not a fast one. There are many steps and Anna does a great job breaking them down in a clear, concise, easy-to-follow way. The pattern uses the majority of four fat quarters of fabric. Once I had chosen which prints to use (all Lizzy House, all from my stash), I cut everything out one evening. The sewing happened over a few days, squeezing it in when I could. My guess is that it took about 5 to 6 hours total. I think the next one will go faster. It's also a good candidate for assembly line sewing. The most fun part? Sewing that vinyl pocket! For some reason, that was super satisfying and not difficult at all (I used my walking foot!). I should also note that you can choose to machine or hand sew the binding onto the case to finish it and I went with hand sewing as I was pretty sure I would not be happy with how my machine binding would look on both sides. I made the right choice.

The pockets are great for holding my small skeins of wool and scissors. The canvas I'm currently working on is long, so I am leaving rolled up in the middle of the case. It works great. There are so many other ways you could use this case. It'd be great to hold knitting notions, hand sewing projects (especially English paper piecing), cross stitch or art supplies. I bet small toys and board books would fit well, too. A little kit like this would have been wonderful to keep in the car when my girls were little and needed something to occupy them in waiting rooms or restaurants. Just an idea.

Unrelated, it's our 6th snow day of this school year. And it's only the beginning of February. Spring can't come fast enough.