suit

fabric & finds

I worked from home today, and while cleaning up my desk area, noticed a card for the weekly fabric sale at Erica Tanov, which is just down the street. I’d been wanting to go for months and months but am never on home on Thursday. So today at lunch, I ran over!

fabric2Eeeek! This is was SO WORTH IT. Fabric was so reasonable, and there’s bolts and bolts of silks, gorgeous cottons, & stunning jersey. I restrained myself and did not buy a teeny anchor print cotton, a black and white seersucker, and a baby baby pink sheer jersey knit. Sigh. I DID buy a pale pink silk that might work for Dori’s wedding dress, a dusty rose shimmering cotton twill, and I freaked the heck out over a caramel silk with gold medicine wheel print they called “Deco Silk.” So tempted to make my wedding dress out of this. & gold sequin trim! & cream silk ruffles, and 2 sacks of scraps.

fabricThey also have a free box for scraps, and a random box of inspirational vintage finds – I found a green silk and lace Victorian ribbon (in the 1st photo,) and a photograph album of a girls school in New Hampshire Smith?, with some really amazing photos! I’m not usually one to want a photo album that isn’t of my family, but this one was too cute and too cheap to pass up.

photographspicnicGrumpiest picnickers ever. Click for more detail!

greenhouseThe school apparently had an impressive greenhouse.

four2fourI love this sassy crowd.

leavesThis striped sweater and tie look is also doing it for me.

dressesfurfursWhy do I get the feeling she was queen bee?

spear“Spear” is rocking the long skirt/sweater/belt trend apparently de rigueur among the ladies of the school.

sweatersweater2See?

suitI’m pretty sure these are both girls.

14 Comments

  1. I just found my way to your site this morning and have been looking around… it’s so charming. I’ll definitely be coming round again.

    And the expressions on the girls in the photo album you found are too good!

  2. Ooh are you going to have a gold wedding dress? I have been thinking maybe when I get married I will go for a dusty seafoam. SO HARD to find things in that color though (and I can’t sew!)

  3. fun finds! i love the grumpy picnic :)

    the one where they are standing in front of water looks a lot like paradise pond at smith college! what school was this? the architecture looks similar to smith’s as well, i bet they were from the same era.

  4. Yes! The caramel medicine wheels – perfect, you must! White weddings = meh!
    That color suits you so well also. Let’s talk more dresses in a bit. I might take a bath, but I’m sickypants and hme all say. I want to go to that fabric sale! I need fancy printed jersey! Those photos are really special, and I think it’s important that you found them. Those girls are messengers from a special space of supreme confidence, and sassiness in lumpen sweaters! I love them, and I think you should make a little place for them in your elf cottage. Fashion icons and spirit sisters!

  5. Erica Tanov uses the best fabrics. Love that store although everything tends to run super tiny and super expensive. I was so proud of myself recently because I thrifted an alpaca Erica Tanov skirt and it was a Large with an elastic waist so it actually *fit me*..but then I realized alpaca fibers+ass proximity=itchy and cranky all day long. Also, I am drawn to the fabric with the square sequins.

  6. uuuugh. the caramel medicine wheel fabric is such pretty pretty perfectness, i can’t bare it. i can absolutely see you in that on your wedding day.

    i can also totally see those girls sneaking out for black arts in the greenhouse after lights out. !!

  7. amazing! amazing! amazing!
    that silk and those sequins are making me droooool! everything is coming together!
    don’t freak out. everything will work itself out.

  8. Yes, those pics look a lot like Smith…the greenhouse, the pond, the brick buildings and porchy buildings…plus the sweaterbelt gaybotlets! Yay!

  9. Wowowowow ! These finds !!!
    Those fabrics are gorgeous …
    And this photo album : I am not one to buy random people’s photographs but these are such a delight …
    The grumpy pic-nickers are a favourite ! And the “suit” couple !!! Ah well … I love all these pics !

    x x x
    ___mathyld___

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