Finding Inspiration

Inspiration has been lacking around here lately.  I have sewing block!  I find fabric I like but can't decide on a pattern.  Or, I find the pattern but no suitable fabric.  I am wrought with indecision.  I pour over pattern books, match fabrics up over and over but just can not put it all together to sit down and sew something.

It must be my fabrics fault.  It can't be mine...no not me at all.  After analyzing my fabric stash I have discovered that I tend to buy the same types of prints over and over.  Big colorful prints.  I buy linear stuff too...and patterns with strange repeats.  I am am a complete fabric purchasing failure. 

So, today armed with my new found knowledge I decided to change that.  I went to Joann's with the sole purpose of purchasing fabrics with small scale prints.  I did buy one stripe.  Its on the diagonal however, which is the complete opposite of the horizontal ones I typically buy. 

Cute crabs and diagonal stripe (are crabs ever cute?)

Darling Alexander Henry Farmdale

Denyse Schmidt Quilts

Good so far right?  Well it gets even better.  Fellow blogger and seamstress extraordinaire Heather from Featherty Sews brightened my day quite a bit yesterday when she sent me a package that would of had more than one of you squealing with delight and a tad green with envy.  chuckle chuckle.

A little Heather Ross anyone?  Heather sent my horse loving Soren (horse crazy really) this darling equipment print.  Soren matched up all by herself with a cute vintage print from my stash.  I think she did a pretty good job.

Heather also included this Heather Ross Tadpoles print.  I have a very cute pair of summer capri pants picked out from Ottobre that are a perfect match up for the tadpoles mixed with a little Amy Butler bias tape.

And yes there was one more.  This lovely Kokka print which is just perfect for my Ms. Ella.  Maybe I should just have Heather do my fabric shopping for me...?

One last little goody to help me find inspiration.  I have a real thing for trim.  Trim makes me very happy.  I just like looking at it.  At my local Pacific Fabrics store I found this button beauty in the colors of the sea.  Grey blues and turquoise.  Lovely and very clever I think with the mini rick rack strung through a button and then stitched to the crocheted lace. 

I would love to know how you overcome a creative block?  Where do you look for inspiration?

Cheers!
Sonja

Blog Inspiration Sunday

I have found so many wonderful sewing blogs as of late that it would be remise of me not to share.  For the next several Sundays I will feature a blog / blogger that is providing me with much needed sewing inspiration.  First Up:

Sinje Lübbke
Hamburg, Germany
blogging at HausMaus

One of the things I adore about Sinje's sewing and blogging is that she models what she sews and posts the pictures.  Not only does she model her sewing but she seems to really enjoy doing it.  Pumping life and vitality into her creations, giving a true sense of what the garment would look like in everyday activity.  I must admit that she is sewing on my dream machine (Bernina 75 Anniversary Edition) and there are pictures of this beauty mid stitch.  It's like porn for the seamstress!  What keeps me coming back for more is the variety of clothes and acessories that she is wipping up.  She also sews in knits frequently, and this is a fabric that I am trying to gain more confidence in working with.

Sinje writes on her blog in German however her flickr pool is labeled clearly in English.  She does a fantastic job of labeling her pictures with the pattern number and other important information.  I love it when sewers do this as I frequently look up the patterns for myself and take note of them for future projects.  As an added little something extra Sinje also contributes to the Bernina Corporate Blog. I think this is quite the accomplishment at the age of 28!

I hope you find inspiration in Sinje's sewing style...Enjoy~

Blog Find

My SMS giveaway lead me to several lovely new blogs to cyber stalk.  These were the blogs that on first viewing earned an instant spot on my reading list.  Here is my recap!

// Between The Lines //   Lovely pictures, clean aesthetic, simple crafty goodness from Paris no less. And best of all it's written in English!


Sew I Do  Novita living in Tokyo, a darling wallet tutorial, beautiful pictures of her sewing style. 

Stitch-Craft  Crafty Mama working for the Associated Press and writing about the things she makes.  So many wonderful projects to be found here!

Scrumdillydilly  The blog name is enough.  Think pink & aqua vintage recycled crafty lovelyness.

Sweet Sweet Life  Amy has a very sweet life indeed.  Her blog is wonderful eye candy and so is her
"evolving list of everyday inspiration" blog role.

I must have a real thing for blogs that start with the letter S. 

Good day!