Everybody do a happy dance!

The fabric for the raincoat I plan to sew for myself over the next couple of weeks has arrived today.

We’re finally seeing some winter weather and the roads are slick and sloppy here but happily, the mail was delivered regardless and with it three yards of Michael Miller laminated fabric. Dandy Damask to be exact.

I’m very pleased with the fabric. It’s slicker than I expected. The plastic coating has an unexpectedly soft feeling. It’s also thinner, too, which is suprising given that it’s a coated quilting cotton. Quilting fabrics often have a fair amount of body; this fabric isn’t diaphanous by any means but it isn’t bulky, either. I don’t expect it to be a problem though. Between the coat lining and the removeable quilting lining, this coat will have plenty of structure, believe you me.

And while the hand is different (not bad, just different), the colour and the scale are just what I was hoping. It’s tricky buying fabric online. It’s not just that, between the monitor and lighting and the camera, colours can be truly wonky.

Sewing is such a hands on kind of thing. I need to touch my fabric, weigh its hand, its transparency, its feel, before I sew with it. That’s why I typically shop in person in our local textile district, because I can feel the fabric before I purchase it.

I bought the fabric from Fabrics on Mill Street, a quilting shop in California. I’m very pleased with the service and from the site, it looks like they’ve got some interesting and atypical fabrics. Not only did they answer all my questions before hand, their shipping and handling charges to Canada were very reasonable. And prompt.

Now, all I want to do tonight is start project-ting. Or planning my trip first thing to Ottawa Street, to buy all the notions and thread that I’ll need.

But I won’t.

No, sirree, bob. Because before I do the fun stuff, I’ve got my pants projects to finish, tests to mark, laundry to fold and dinner to make. But boy, do I want to!

But just like the postal service, neither rain nor sleet nor dark of night can slow the appointed rounds of a working mom. My raincoat will just have to wait.