Amy Butler Love:I Love It!

I really am "sewcrazy." (Blog title, duh) And if you read yesterday's vent you'll know that I've been thinking a lot about how I spend my time. I love crafts of any and every variety. Especially sewing and fabric. I've set it aside for the past couple of years as I finished graduate school and tried to take care of some things at home though. I had to leave my beloved sewing machine & tools in Indiana, which I'll be getting out of storage as soon as I possibly can. Believe me, once that happens I'll be sewing up a storm again!

In school, I was lucky to have two friends that were as obsessed with fabric as I was (xoxoxo Jenny & Rachel). We even had a blog! We'd spend the hours of constitutional law IMing each other links to various fabric sites. And I didn't really understand why law school required students to have laptops until then, it's really the only way to overcome the sheer mind-numbing boredom of the commerce clause without shooting myself in the foot.

So I was super excited today to come across the newest fabrics from Amy Butler. It's to-die-for gorgeous. Not only are her fabrics incredible, the patterns are great as well. Click here and here and here to see some older projects I made using Amy Butler.

And speaking of fabric love, check out the great Halloween projects (sewing & papercrafts!) from Heather Bailey and other bloggers this week.

I hope you're week is going well, and that you are inspired to revisit the activities you are passionate about as well!

Use What You Have Month

I'm officially joining Rhembein and others in "Use What You Have Month." I've complained about this before, as I have a problem with my sewing output not matching my fabric input. I know lots of people like having a big stash. I don't. To me, it's a little wasteful to have so much fabric that goes unused. Maybe it's because of my limited budget or my limited space, but I like to buy only what I need. I recently gave away a huge amount of fabric that was going unused. I donated it to Lizzy's high school sewing class, at least I feel like I was contributing to a good cause.

Not that stashes are all bad, it is nice to be able to select a pattern and then go shopping from the "stash" without having to hit the local fabric mart. And perhaps in the long run it will be more cost-effective. I am finding that co-ops are a great way to build a stash fast, although I usually end up with lots of fabric. But it is a good savings, as long as I use it. Between the coops, 40% coupons and sales I might just be able to keep my overall costs down.

All that being said, I'm happy to be a part of Use What You Have Month. Although I really wish it was in May and not April. I won't be able to do as much as I want because of exams. But I suppose there is no reason I can't keep going after April is over.