Thursday, March 2, 2017

The Precious

I read recently, either on Instagram or Facebook, that some Patternreview members were going to do their best in 2017 to sew up "the Precious."

For those who don't sew, or (somehow) don't stash, the Precious is the fabric that is so breathtaking, so perfect, so . . . unusable that we buy it, we pet it frequently, and we never cut into it because no project that we can think of is ever good enough for the Precious.

Yeah, I have a lot of Precious left.

But not as much as I did.

I bought this candy pink embroidered velvet at PR Weekend in 2007, at Metro Textiles.  I bought it, gods forgive me, to make jeans for myself.

Pink. Embroidered. Velvet. Jeans.

Even 10 years ago, I didn't have the ass for pink embroidered velvet jeans.  This is not being down on my body, just realistic.  (And even if I did have the correct ass for said jeans, in the intervening decade, my desire to make them or wear them has gone down exponentially).

So I turned the velvet into 4 toddler dresses to list in my Etsy shop for Easter.  They don't have a lot of embellishment because this fabric doesn't actually need anything more done to it.

And that's 2.5 yards of Precious gone.  I feel lighter.

Almost like I could fit into those jeans.  Almost.

6 comments:

Journeyin' Lady... said...

I've never heard the Precious Fabric term but love it. I've been a full time RVer for 22 years but before that my sewing room had lots of Precious fabrics! Umm, I may still have a couple pieces stashed away. Love your use of the "jeans" fabric!

SewRuthie said...

Lovely. I have some expensive German boiled wool from a PR Europe trip! Ditto!!

Vicki said...

Lucky young ladies who will get those dresses. Well done on getting it our of the stash.

luckylibbet said...

I gave away some "precious" fabric - yardage from my aunt, mostly. Gorgeous wool! But I would never wear it, and others in my sewing group would.
Gorgeous dresses! Makes me wish I had grands... not yet, the wedding is in May.
- Heather

Cindy said...

Oh my gosh, I remember that fabric. How weird is that? LOL What an adorable use for it!

patsijean said...

I fully understand how Precious this velvet is. It is gorgeous and I doubt that I would cut into it. I have a special bin of Precious fabric, and I too used that term. One piece is 9 yards of an absolutely beautiful flying cranes print I purchased 15 years ago from eQuilter but never cut into. Another is 6 yards of a Beatles Sea of Holes print, now about 10 years old. I cut a 12" square from that to make a glasses case for my husband.

I love your use of 2.5 yards. These little dresses are adorable and beautiful, destined to be heirloom hand-me-downs.