First Things First - The Dream Achieved

Note: These home posts are a year late, but better later than never, right?

What was the first thing I did after I signed the papers and got my keys to my new home?

I went to the West Elm website and ordered my dream green velvet sofa; the Harris sofa in Tarragon Astor Velvet.

Harris sofa

Once I realized I could afford a home I knew I should finally purchase a "real" sofa. The last few decades I had first lived with a basic futon loveseat and then spent far too long on a two-seater sofa handed down from a friend who bought it from Goodwill. Who knows how old that thing truly was? Despite how it looked upholstery-wise it was in good shape and the coils were in shape. For many years I had a dream to reupholster it, but that never happened. Overall, it was hard to feel like an adult with those things. 

I deserved to get what I wanted and could finally afford to buy new. Now, of course, I'm still frugal but I wanted to up my game quite a bit. The companies I researched were Pottery Barn, Crate and Barrel, CB2, RH (fka Restoration Hardware), West Elm, and Target. 

The most important factor was who had the right style in the right shade of green? Many had similar styles, but the green velvet factor was key. I chose national brands with nearby storefronts because I needed to see and feel the product via a visit or fabric swatches in the mail. A purely online purchase wouldn't work, there is too much margin for error.

I also needed a fabric that was hard wearing. That is this velvet which is also luminous and wonderfully light reflecting. I'm still in love with it as much as I was when it arrived almost a year ago.

My inspiration was the 1930s style of a classic Jean-Michel Frank's club sofa. I believe I achieved that in an incredibly luscious green velvet that appears to change color during the day and throughout the seasons.

Here it is early in my home owner journey.

More updates to come...

Change is a New Bed

I'm long overdue to feel like an adult and buying my home finally did it. The realization that I got my finances to the point of making this possible is huge.

No more third-party sofas and no more decades-old mattresses.

The movers could either leave the decade-old mattress, box frame, and metal frame or fill the truck with more heavy stuff I couldn't lift myself. I chose to leave the bed behind because, duh. Also, I was planning on getting an uncomplicated platform bed after I moved and this helped me see that moving all of that and then needing to bring it all back down two flights was impractical. That was an excellent opportunity to order it since I could still sleep at the old house before delivery.

My research was checking all the "best (insert desired item) of 2024" articles and comparing the ones that won the "affordable" categories. The hands-down winner overall was always the $$ wooden Bed by Thuma and the more affordable lookalike Alexis from Zinus. The financial difference between the brands is around $500 for a queen-size bed and the Zinus bed was even cheaper when I purchased it through Amazon. 

Detailed instructions

Fully stocked and organized supplies

The lovely carved leg

Great protective packaging

My search for a mattress was similarly easy. I wanted an innerspring mattress similar to a ComfortCoil innerspring futon mattress by Gold Bond I owned years ago. Using my tried-and-true review search method (see above) I was led to the Allswell Luxe Hybrid sold by Walmart. A hybrid between spring coil and memory foam, I can confirm it's affordable, high quality, and comfortable. I have no complaints and a bonus is how fun it is to set it up! It is vacuum-packed and encased in multiple layers of plastic wrap. From the first cut of the packaging, the mattress starts to fight its captivity, audibly and physically expanding as you hurriedly try to cut through the packaging in time. It reached finished measurements quickly and over the next few achieved its final level of firmness.

The inflated mattress and my pale green walls

 

What excited me the most about my purchases is that unlike all the house rehab work at the old house and the setup at the new one I didn't have to schedule or wait around for delivery. Both frame and mattress come to your door, don't weigh that much, and can be assembled easily. As a bonus, Amazon gave me timed delivery alerts. Since I live close to work I could drive over, push the package over the threshold, and return to work. No stress! 

I highly recommend both companies for convenience and quality.

How I Bought My Home

In my May 6 post, I showed you my inspirational photos. Well, below are the influences I read and viewed that motivated me and made it all possible.

The last few years have been stressful. It started with the pandemic, working from home, caring for my father and his diminishing health, his sudden cardiac episode that lead to a pacemaker, his recovery, and then his sudden death. I don't know what a stress-free life is. 

A year later in 2023, my sisters and I decided to sell the family home, where I had lived the last ten years. Theoretically, that was great, I could finally own a place where I could do what I wanted. But truthfully, that loaded on more stress because I would need to do both things around the same time. Luckily, I did not have to wait to sell before I could buy.

Two weeks before the pandemic, my part-time job became full-time, then our offices were closed, and the employees started working from home. I lived rent-free and my gas and meal costs were cut by more than half. I didn't change my way of life so that extra money was never touched. When I finally checked my account, my balance was over $20,000! I transferred that and regularly moved the extra money to my savings account. By the time we decided to sell the house I had received my portion of our inheritance and now had enough for a 20% down payment. That relieved some of the stress and gave me much-needed control over my future.

I started looking into "buying a first home" resources. The first two below were essential and truly helped me make solid decisions. You need to think about the home-buying process in practical terms. Observing my co-workers, I knew how quickly rents could rise and how I might find a great rental and in a few years be forced to move. So renting while waiting for the "perfect" place was not how I wanted to go. Even if I had to stretch to buy a place, I could have a set monthly mortgage and possibly refinance in the future and pay a smaller amount.

The purchase amount lenders qualify you for probably should not be your goal because their numbers reflect ideal situations. I was lucky to get something $20,000 below my qualification, resulting in a sustainable monthly payment because you never know what the future holds...knock on wood. 

Now, I didn't buy a lessor home, it has the style and uniqueness I wanted. I have friends and family nearby, my mechanic is around the corner as well as a grocery store, drugstore, and gas station within two blocks and work ten minutes away. What the place lacked for that money was any updated finishes, which luckily by buying a less expensive property I have the means to change. Not anything huge, but I can add new doorknobs, painted cabinets, rugs, new blinds/curtains, and maybe new ceiling fans and custom shelving down the line.

Resources:

Ric Edelman: His book, Truth About Money, is a good all-around guide to personal finances and uses plain language so it's highly understandable. As part of the author's company, Edelman Wealth Management Group, there is this valuable tool, a How Much Home Can I Afford? calculator that helped me calculate how much I wanted to pay.

New York Times: Is It Better To Rent or Buy? calculator. So detailed and the accompanying information is so good.

New York Times: The Hunt home-buying columns. The budgets were much higher than I was playing with, but these stories were still motivational. I applaud them for opening up the stories to non-New York locations.

Nolo's Essential Guide to Buying Your First Home by Ann O’Connell and Ilona Bray. This one backs up its advice with legal know-how.

Alexandra Gater: Her series of videos on YouTube got me through the buying process and showed what I could do in a new place. Her makeovers focus on Toronto rental apartments but reminded me I didn't have to start with permanent changes. I'd been waiting decades to get my place so I could take some time and try out a few things first; like removable wallpaper (her go-to) and faux backsplash tiles.

Caroline Winkler: This Washington, DC interior designer I'm following on YouTube is a great contrast to Alexandra. Her mood is more my vibe, not so sunny and less gimmicky (no memes!). Her gateway videos are $0 makeovers where she uses what currently existed in the space. Definitely check out her Interior Design for Indecisive People video.

Emily Henderson: You may have already heard of her, she's a big deal. However, my interest was in the lower-scale makeovers that her staff undertook on their personal spaces. I saw concepts in those that I could see applying to a space of mine. I especially liked the colorful spaces of Jess, Caitlin, and especially Julie's bedroom.

Mortgage or Marriage*: This Netflix series first entertained me and then just annoyed me! Couples with a set budget (enough to cover a house down payment in Nashville, TN) are given the option of a dream wedding or house. The two hosts then compete to find a home or a wedding package that fits the couple's specifications. These plans include vendor discounts, freebies, or added home amenities to sway their decision. What annoyed me is that so many couples with concrete reasons why a house should be their priority, chose to spend the whole amount on a one-day event. Even after walking through an available property and declaring it perfect. As if accumulating another $20-$30,000 will be easy after they wed. I cheered every time someone chose a mortgage and hoped they were inspired by those $$ wedding ideas and scale them down to something they could afford.

Pinterest: What can I say, my entire design plan was created using this app. Among my boards, I have everything corralled; Possible Purchases, Home Projects, Painted Doors and Trim, Kitchen Cabinet Makeovers, and Paint Effects, all devoted to improving my home.

*So, why is this one of my influences? Like most "reality" TV it showed me the grass is NOT always greener, especially knowing this was all in 2019. They should have taken the house...

Sewing Machine Update

Late last year, I finally bought myself a new sewing machine, a Singer Quantum Stylist 9960. It arrived a few days after I wrote this post detailing how I chose that particular machine. 

Even though I had several days off over the holidays, I only tried the machine on the last day before returning to work. Why, you ask? Well, I didn't feel like it, which was weird. I mean, it was a new purchase that I had been looking forward to, and I had a skirt I wanted to finish before the end of the year. Was it a sign? 

So, that day, I used the bobbin winder and the automatic needle threader according to the instruction video developed by Singer. I started sewing, and the upper thread tension was horrible! Also, the built-in thread cutter only cut 1 of the 2 threads. 

Thinking it was my fault, I started over again and threaded everything from scratch, and it still did not improve. This machine advertises self-adjusting tension, so I was stuck without the option to  adjust it manually. 

Frustrated, I put the machine aside and pulled out my trusty thirty-year-old Baby Lock BL2100. After threading it, the problems I had before (skipping stitches) were all gone. I also noticed how different this machine felt; solid and sturdy. Many plastic parts on the Singer seemed fragile like they could easily snap off, such as the bobbin case cover release button.

Baby Lock Jubilant

I will give the new Singer another try this weekend, but if there is no improvement, it is going back. I now know buying a machine without trying it is not right for me. I returned another machine thirty years ago before buying my BL2100. So, I plan to take a Baby Lock Jubilant for a test drive at my local Baby Lock dealer. Wish me luck!

P.S.

The Baby Lock website allows you to download their user manuals. It's a great sign that the manual is well done, with excellent illustrations and an intuitive content layout. It turns out that Singer needs those instructive videos because their manual is a mess.

Stepping up my Sewing Machine Game

I decided to value my sewing and myself by buying a new sewing machine this year. My first and only machine is a Baby Lock BL2100 that I purchased in 1993, and it has been a workhorse for thirty years. It was a basic Baby Lock beginner machine. It did have a drop-down bobbin and a one-step buttonhole, but no other bells and whistles.

It served me extremely well, but in the last few years frustrated with some things and then not eager to get back to sewing because I had to fix something. So, I've been sewing for over 30 years with the same machine I bought when I was 19. I deserve a treat, but how much of a treat? I sew quite a bit of my wardrobe. How much of a machine do I need, the decorative stitches on my machine are fine, but I never use them. Gaining more than 100 stitches, can I justify that? Should I have to justify that?

I started looking at machines under $300, and the closer I got to $150, I felt better and less anxious. You see, at the same time, I was looking at getting a laptop. I'd been without one since 2019. I use a MacBook Pro at work (and all through 2020 during work from home) and was tempted to get one for personal use. Therefore, I was looking at $1,000 for a MacBook Air computer. However, I rarely blog now, don't edit photos or videos, and don't game. Why spend the expense for all that power I won't really use while limiting the cost of my sewing machine (which I use for my favorite hobby) to a quarter of that price? 

Baby Lock Jubilant

So, I did not get the computer and instead bought a more affordable tablet. Then I took some of the difference from the money I was going to spend and added it to my sewing machine budget, which could now increase to $600. That increase meant I could look at Baby Lock, bernette, Brother, Janome, or PFAFF. My first concern was if something went wrong, did I have a dealer nearby? That eliminated Janome and PFAFF. That still left Brother and Baby Lock. I have been impressed with how durable, and long-lasting my Baby Lock machine has been, so perhaps the quality is the same, and I should get another? Unfortunately, while offering me more stitches and buttonholes, their $600 machine, the Baby Lock Jubilant, would not provide me all the auto features I could get with cheaper machines. Though it came with eight one-step buttonholes, an automatic needle threader, and a speed of 850 stitches per minute, it only had 80 stitches!

Bernette 37

Regarding the stylish and cool-looking bernette 37, their under $500 machine offered less than other lower-costing brands. In addition, the cost of buying additional sewing feet ($$) and any future repairs would be more expensive than I want to spend. Their next model increased the b37's 50 stitches to 394(!) but also jumped in price to $700!!! Why is there no middle ground, bernette?

My internet research led me to sewing machine comparisons and trying to find out what machines other bloggers owned. On Instagram, many people were going for the Singer Heavy Duty machines. Although I may make a pair of jeans one day, I doubt there would be many other heavy duty projects so I was not interested. 

I started a spreadsheet (of course, I did!) where I could keep track of the attributes of each machine, including their weight, the number of stitches, the number of buttonholes, etc. Those reviews and comparisons kept bringing me back to Singer. Over the years, I have disregarded Singer, maybe because I always see it in Jo-Ann's and thought of it as nothing special. However, the Singer Stylist 7258 and Singer Quantum Stylist 9960 were getting great reviews. Once I saw the Singer Owner YouTube video series for each machine, I was excited. There will be a learning curve with so many buttons and instructions, but with the videos, I can handle it. 

I was now looking at computerized machines, something the younger snobbier me said I never wanted. I liked being contrary in my youth. Also, I deserve this and the proof that this was the right choice? When I placed my order on the Singer site, I received a 15% discount I didn't even know was being offered! So the machine I thought I was buying for $449 came in before tax as $382.49! Happy holidays to me!

Singer Quantum Stylist

I am now the proud owner of a Singer Quantum Stylist 9960 with a detachable quilting table, 600(!) stitches (including multiple stretch stitches,) 13 one-step buttonholes, 13 sewing feet, auto needle threader, auto thread trimmer, stop/start and up/down buttons, LED task light, LCD screen, and a speed of 850.

Singer 7258 Stylist

Brother CS7000x

For your information, the closest contenders were the Singer 7258 Stylist, mentioned above, and the Brother CS7000x. The Brother has a detachable quilting table, and it was $220 for 70 stitches, 7 one-step buttonholes, and 10 sewing feet. Still, it did not have an auto thread trimmer and had a slower speed of 750. It would have worked perfectly fine, but why not go for better than that? I may still feel guilty about the money, but I'm a person who will always feel guilty about spending money. 

It all comes down to this: thirty years with a no-frills sewing machine that helped me create 70% of my wardrobe, from wool coats to silk dresses to stuffed animals to pillows and slipcovers. It is about time. 

*The Quantum Stylist 9960 also comes with a detachable quilting table. I've only made one quilt (which I love), but that table also means easier handling of big and bulky projects.

The Power of Hope and Delusion - My Pattern Stash

Despite a belief that I've been good pattern-wise for the last few years (After the 100+ pattern purge of 2019*), I looked around and found I had accumulated a lot more than I thought.

Here's a tally of patterns I bought in the last six months at the same time that I had little to no motivation to finish my existing projects:

Vogue 1663 by Kathryn Brenne - This pattern is for the hopefully perfect knit bootcut pant. I've been wearing two pairs of Ponte pants I bought from NY & Co that match the pattern illustration. I originally thought I would frankenpattern this myself, but who was I kidding? The cut pieces are currently sitting on my ironing board waiting their turn.

Butterick 6858 - I bought this on sale (of course!) under the delusion that the pockets in the skirt and pants were functional. They are not. I should have taken the pattern back but I got lazy. Again, I thought I would draft the pocket pieces I  needed but I'm not that excited to make my own walking/workout pants. Now I have this pattern, does anybody want it?

, 

Vogue 9361 - This pattern will hopefully fill my non-elastic waistband wide-leg pant needs and become a favorite.

Simplicity 9471 - A cute jeans-styled pant with great topstitching potential.

Butterick 6249 -  This is a great possibility for swishy mid-length skirts w/o an elastic waistband, my go-to lately. This has been on my wish list for years but a $1.99 sale caught me at the right moment.

Simplicity 8747 - This is a vintage skirt shape I've wanted for years. I finally bought it with a certain Halloween costume (and stashed fabric) in mind.

Seamwork Clarke Top - I've always wanted the True Bias Ogden Cami, I loved the flowing shape and the slightly curved v-neck but knew the narrow straps were not-bra-friendly. The Clarke has a similar vibe but corrects that issue.

Vogue 9299 - This pattern is one I kept talking myself out of buying (to recreate View B) until that same Halloween costume idea required a blouse just like View C.

True Bias Salida Skirt - This is another potential mid-length skirt for more structured wovens and with more jeans details. I already have stashed fabric ready for View A, the shorter slim skirt.

Simplicity 2406 (OOP) by Cynthia Rowley - My goal is to recreate this favorite dress (View C) that lives now as a top because the hips only fit me for a short time. I tracked down the pattern in a larger size and Joanns still sells the same fabric eleven years later!

Cashmerette Concord T-Shirt - I'm so excited about this pattern! After years of altering every t-shirt pattern to fit my new-to-me larger cup sizes, I decided to get some help from a professional. I can't wait to try this out! It is next in my queue. My dream is to have a wardrobe of sleek long-sleeved tops to coordinate with the bootcut pants from Vogue 1633 and trousers from Vogue 9361.

Cashmerette Rivermont Dress and Top - Yes, I bought even more professional help! My hope is this can become a knit sloper I can adapt to different styles. I have a Big 4 straight-sized sloper pattern (McCall's 7279) for wovens but this could simplify the process, boobs-wise. I will start with making a top from stash fabric as my muslin.

Do you ever feel that your stash of patterns and fabric grows because a part of your desire for a project is appeased or satisfied once you have them in your possession? Why else wouldn't we finish them all? 

Watch this space for actual sewn projects. I swear they're coming!

*Yes, they did leave my sewing room and my house but they are still in the trunk of my car! I want them to end up with interested sewists so I keep resisting dropping them off at Goodwill.

The Costly Christmas Coat Caper

It's true I don't buy many clothes. I really try to make what I need. However, some things aren't worth the trouble OR would take me forever to get organized and make them the way I want. So I should buy them, right? Save myself the trouble and stress?

The last time I bought myself a coat was November 2002 for a week-long trip to Ireland. I did my research and acquired an amazing 3-in -1 Weather System parka from L.L. Bean where the components (quilted Primaloft-filled jacket and a red zip-on rain slicker with a detachable hood) could both fit into their own tiny pouches which made great travel pillows. This coat has been an extremely hard worker (along with my two wool coats for more formal looks) over the years but I've outgrown it. This of course is not unusual since it is sixteen years old and I am no longer a size small!

So this year, I would be traveling for the holidays and I really didn't want to bring my raggedy, ill-fitting parka, especially as it can no longer be zipped all the way down. Thank goodness for two-way zippers which allowed me to bypass it having to fit around my hips.

Time for a replacement! I loved that jacket and everything about it, it was warm, convertible, packable, the hood was removable, and it not only had interior pockets but also an exterior sleeve pocket for easy-to-reach cash and IDs. I used those traits as my key search words. If you don't know me in real life, you have no idea how much research I must do before I part with my money. So, I first started  the home of the original:

L.L. Bean Weather Challenge 3-in -1
$179 (from $229) in Deep Port/Raspberry

This sounded most like my jacket and I was willing to pay more at L.L. Bean if I could find something comparable in quality to the original, but that was not the case. The zippers were flimsy and inferior, enough so, that I checked the reviews, and they were the #1 complaint. I also was not happy with the thinner, wax-paper feel and sound of the exterior fabric. You would be heard coming and going.

L.L. Bean Winter Warmer Jacket
$129 in Cayenne

I was much happier with this one. I really loved the color! However, was looking for a convertible coat, which this wasn't (no zip-in insulation layer) and I had no idea how warm it would be, because it was more of a fleece lined shell with poly insulation only in the sleeves. But, oh that rich color...

Columbia Ten Falls Interchange Jacket
$150 in Nori

Again, the exterior fabric killed this one's chances. I also had to order an XL to fit my hips but then it was too bulky on my smaller top half.  The jacket was shapeless on me and with those inferior zippers, just not worth it.

Columbia Snow Eclipse Mid-insulated Jacket
$119.99 in Nori and Rich Wine

This one didn't catch my eye on their website but it did when I saw it in Dick's Sporting Goods. The fit was good, so was the color, and the insulation was actually faux goose down. However, at the time I was not a fan of the faux fur trim. (Why is every woman's coat straight out of Dr. Zhivago this year?)

I discovered the label Free Country at J.C. Penny's because they were the the first 3-in -1/convertible coats I had seen in retail. The details were so well done; the zippers seemed stable and the zipper pulls of the zip-in jacket were covered by soft fabric triangle tabs that sheltered the pulls from view and contact with your inner garments. The gathered cuffs of the inner jacket kept heat from escaping and the exterior fabric seemed capable of repelling snow and rainwater. The only thing wrong...I didn't like the styles offered in the store. So off I went to their website for more choices.

Free Country Zephyr 3-in -1 Systems
$69.99 (from $180) in Black

Wasn't a fan of this on the website because of the color blocking and patterned fabric but tried it anyway. No go, not my style.

Free Country Trailblazing 3-in -1 Systems
$89.99 (from $180) in Garnet

I wanted red so I ordered this one but I still wasn't happy, so this one was also returned.

Free Country Nebula waterproof 3-in-1 System
$54.99 (from $180) in Royal Moth

This was the convertible/3-in-1system/interchange jacket I was looking for! I might have preferred it in red, purple, or green and a little bit longer but it was on sale for $55 and the inner jacket is a dark Mulberry color! It has the exterior sleeve zipper pocket, inner pockets, detachable hood, and the fabric of the quilted interior jacket feels like a cloud. Update: Just wore it for Christmas in New Jersey and it was warm enough for this mild winter.

Free Country Virtue Down Parka
$89.99 (from $220) in Red

So far this year, this jacket hasn't had any use, with a 50°F Christmas but come late January and February, and it will come in handy. This one is durable canvas on the outside with a three-quarters-length storm placket inside. My favorite features are the array of exterior pockets; zippered side entry hip pockets are placed directly on top of buttoned top-entry pockets. Another pair of side seam pockets are several inches above them in perfect position for warming the ribs. The best thing of all? That fur trim is removable!

St John's Bay Heavyweight Puffer jacket
$90 (from $180) in Rich Teal

I was immediately drawn to the one because of it's slightly iridescent teal color. Yes, I know it has fur trim on the collar but for that color, I can live with that. It will just be my more dressy coat.  However, even though "heavyweight" is part of it's description, it is a lightweight coat in weight and heat retention so this coat was more of a delicious treat for myself. The very best thing about this coat is that the back waist section is shirred with elastic, adding some much needed shaping.

So, almost all of the coats above were ordered and then returned. The winners were the last three above. It's pretty obvious I will be going to Free Country first for my next coat purchase. Since it probably won't be until 2034, I hope they'll still be in business...

Curbing My Enthusiasm

I just wrote all about my sewing plans and trying not to buy more fabric and working solely from the stash, right? Then how come I keep taking pictures of fabrics at Jo-Ann?

You see, whenever I see a fabric I can imagine in a pattern I already own or a style I want, I take a pic of it and the label (because not all their fabrics are on their website) for reference. Lately, the hits kept coming...

.

I've already raved on Instagram about the texture of their refined ponte, and now it's available in my most coveted and near impossible to find colors; a rich green and a dark pumpkin-like orange. Both perfect to make any one of these ponte-perfect dresses: Butterick 6316, Butterick 5672, Vogue 8787, or New Look 6968.

Recently I became excited about making my first bathing suit (for 2018) based on this Talbots swim/athletic ensemble:

Talbots Sanibel Tankini

I have the means to create it with Simplicity 8424, the Simplicity 1163 skirt (view A), and my TNT underwear pattern (based on indigorchid's original but-no-longer-available design.) In the last two months, I've found not one but two great green nylon/spandex fabrics. One is specifically for swimsuits and the other is a Yaya Han costume fabric whose fabric content matches that of the Talbot fabric.

This fabric would be ideal for the Vogue 8925 "sweatshirt" which had already appeared in my sewing plan but at the time I couldn't find a suitable fabric. I no longer have ANY warm winter sweaters or tops so this may be a justifiable breach to my rule.

Also in the running for that Vogue 8925 sweatshirt are these new-to-me Luxe fleeces (yes, I'm actually thinking of buying fleece at Jo-Ann!) in rich jewel tones that would work for that pattern.

This fabric immediately made me think of my old dream to have a sequin t-shirt-style dress ideal for New Year's celebrations. I have not attended a NYE event appropriate for a sequin dress in years but maybe if you make it, it will come? The exact color of this fabric is not captured well in this above pic but it's a mauve-y, rose color that looks amazing with my skin.

This one, of all the fabrics in this post, has the least chance of being made since I just made a long brightly colored silk dress with its own limited wearing opportunities.

So, it comes down to this:

Jo-Ann has a great tendency to carry a fabric through several seasons so I will not allow myself to panic. I'm gonna trust them to continue to carry that ponte since it's a good investment. However, I probably will give in to the quilt-y gray goodness because it isn't on the website and my whole no cold weather wear problem. I will make myself finish three or four more items on the plan before I buy any more fabric though. I truly need to deplete my stash.

My temporary fix was to obtain swatches of these fabrics and maybe the fact of having them in hand will subconsciously satisfy my need. Hmmm...

DONE. 

Luckily, Jo-Ann cuts their swatches from selvage to selvage so I have 1" to 1-1/2" by 45" or 60" of each to play with. Cut sections of the fabrics (except for the metallic knit*) have been through a machine wash for testing. Maybe I cut them too small because I still can't find two of them! Those were the luxe fleece and the green swim nylon.

I am still holding out, at least until the next 60% off coupon but I can say with confidence that some of that quilted fleece will be bought!

*The metallic knit has been eliminated. In addition to shedding and needing to be hand-washed, once cut it rolled up into a tight tube which means it would also need to be lined/stabilized for the dress I want. Without having a real need in my wardrobe, that is too much work already.