Hi there!

This year, I set myself a goal of trying to read 52 books. This was partly to exercise self-discipline, partly to rebuild my attention span for non-digital things, and partly to breathe some life into a hobby that I’ve always loved and felt guilty for allowing to languish. It’s half-way through the year now (honestly, how did that happen?), so it’s a good time to share my experiences and learnings.

I’ve finished reading 23 books (full list below). That puts me at 3 books behind - I should be reading my 27th book now. But I don’t feel bad about this at all - on the contrary. When I set the goal, I half believed I’d give up in March. Getting this far and still being roughly on track is a massive, resounding success.

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My fashion-design oriented career break is officially over, as earlier this year I went back into the world of software consultancy. It’s been a huge lifestyle shift for me, but a very welcome one! I’ve missed being part of something bigger than myself, and it’s really nice to flex my technical brain muscles again.

I’ve still been making, just not sharing any of it on my site - or indeed, anywhere. In the interests of clearing away cobwebs, so here are some making-related things that have been occurring lately:

• I’ve knitted two jumpers this year, and nearly finished a third. And yet, I haven’t blocked those first two! With the warm weather we’ve been having, I’ve not really felt any urgency to push them over the final hurdle. But I am looking forward to having a nice little collection of new warm things when the cold comes back around.
• I’ve done a few more sewing pattern tests. I must get some nice photos and add them to my gallery!
• I finally finished sewing that pair of rose Thea trousers that I started last summer. There’s absolutely no reason that they took so long other than avoidance. They’re my third pair, so I know and love the pattern - I just somehow started seeing them as a chore because they’d sat there unmade for so long. But now they’re done, I’m utterly in love with them! And they’re the best pair of Theas I’ve made. I wear my other two pairs all the time, and I’m already fantasising about making another pair (and taking less time over it).
• I sewed 99% of a Kelly dress in a beautiful Liberty tana lawn and then I’ve just left it on my dress form for 5 months with only buttons to sew on. I feel like there’s a real theme of “unfinished business” starting to develop in this list here.
• I made a delightful pair of cargo shorts for my husband for his birthday. They came out so well, and he loves them. God, it’s so satisfying to make something nice. And I really, really like working with cotton twill.

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When we were in New York last month (amazing, by the way!), I visited the famous Mood Fabrics on West 37th St. It’s such a huge shop - I was so excited! I’d actually planned to spend some time wandering around the broader garment district - but I spent so long in Mood, I never went to any other fabric shops. So that’s another thing on the to-do list for a repeat trip to NYC!

Here are my tips on how to shop at Mood Fabrics, mashed together with a diary of my own experience.

Finding the store - it’s not at street level. I walked past the shop at first because I was looking for a window display. Turns out you have to go into an office-style foyer, and take the lift to the 3rd floor. You exit the lift directly into the shop.

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