Fabric and Books

There hasn't been too much sewing going on since my kids went back to school this week. I do have two backpacks to show, but I don't have photos yet. Now that the school year has started, I'm looking forward to having lots of sewing, knitting, and crochet projects to blog about!! First, let me show you some stuff I got.

Back in March, I won a contest for free fabric from Clothworks Textiles and yesterday I received it.
It's very pretty, isn't it? It's even better in person! I have a quilt in mind for this.

Then, I saw this fabric (below) at Joann's and immediately loved it. It will be a jacket soon.

It's been ten years since I've sewn a jacket, so I'm still trying to decide which pattern I want to use. I don't want the jacket to be real fitted, but I don't want it boxy, either. I plan to wear it casually with jeans.

Then I got some books on crochet. One is a cute book with patterns for amigurumi dolls. I have so much left over yarn and amigurumi is great for using up left overs! The other book is one about improving your crochet technique...

But, the book I'm really excited about is this one:

With my kids in school, I finally have time to really study patternmaking. My boss is completing her Ph.D in apparel and textiles and used to teach at a university, so I'm incredibly lucky to work for her. She's going to take my measurements for me and help me navigate my way through this book. I'm really psyched!

So, that's all that is going on here this week. Next week the kids will be settled into the new routine and hopefully we can all have a great school year! It's funny how I now live by school years. ;)