Fun stuff in the mail!

Hello! It's been a few weeks since I've posted because we've all been sick. First my boys were ill for 4-5 days, then they passed it to my husband, then I got sick for another 4-5 days, and then poor baby Rachel got sick despite my best efforts to keep the germs away from her. This is the first week in nearly a month that nobody has fever/chills/pukes etc. Whew! To celebrate our wellness and also because the weather was just beautiful, we took the day off from school and went to the zoo.

On the sewing front, after I finally started feeling better, I managed to create two wadders in a row. Well, really just one and a half because I was able to salvage the second one into something other then my original vision for the fabric. I'll have that to show you in a few days if DH happens to get home from work at a decent time. The sun hasn't been setting until 6:15 around here lately.

I usually make at least one online purchase a month from my various fabric haunts but don't always get around to posting them. However, I always like to see what other people have gotten, so thought you might be interested in what the mailman has delivered in the past few days. This first picture is a recent haul from Gorgeous Fabrics during a 20% off sale:

From left to right there's a poly panel print, a cotton stretch sateen with yellows/reds/greens, a fun madras-type fabric with more yellow (my favorite color, btw), an interesting jersey animal print atop ruffles, and (my fav) a gorgeous purple tie-dyed poly that has thin bias strips sewn on in flower designs.

But wait, these next two items are the most exciting! Last year Fabricmartfabrics.com had a 50% off sale on their animal skins, and while I was thinking about how cool it would be to sew something with leather, most of it sold out! When they got a new shipment last fall I put a few colors in my wish list and waited for the sale. It was a week ago and today the mailman delivered my order:

This first one is a beautiful lipstick red lambskin that is incredibly soft. They were advertised as being 5-6.5 sqft each so I bought 3. I am planning to make a pencil skirt of some kind. This will be my very first project out of leather and I'll definitely be making a muslin first and doing some research.

I also got two skins of black lambskin. These were 9-11 sqft and I thought I might have enough for some pants if they were on the 11 sqft end. But they are both right around 9 and I doubt there's enough for pants. So possibly these will become another skirt or I might use some for trims here and there.

Please, no hateful comments about my purchasing leather. I wear leather shoes/belts/purses. I eat meat. I married into a cattle ranching family. I am not at all opposed to sewing with leather. If you are, please keep it to yourself. Thanks!