I still can hardly believe my good fortune! Last night while perusing the clearance pile at the Hobby Lobby, I spotted a Simplicity catalog for sale. I am fairly certain you can not buy these as they are clearly marked NOT FOR RESALE on the backside. The bright orange clearance sticker jumped right out. Four dollars? Are-you-kidding-me…? “YES! You are mine!” I thought to myself as I lovingly scooped it into my arms and gave it a little hug.
The rest of my shop was a blur as fond images of my childhood carried me back to a big chair near the fire place where I liked to sit and sift through the towering stack of catalogs my grandmother kept on a table in the living room. Thousands of products described in detail at my fingertips (kinda sounds like Amazon) and oh so satisfying! I was undoubtedly then manifesting my future as a retailer and online entrepreneur.
Now if you share my love for the catalog and sewing you know how many hours of sheer joy this lovely collection of sewing patterns is going to bring me. There are 776 full color pages of bliss for me to drool over and gleen inspiration from.
The cataloging system is age old perfection at its finest.
- A beautiful and durable cover, to draw you in, time after time.
- Color coded sequential fixed tabs along the interior of the cover provide an overview of the goodness that awaits and delineate vintage, dresses, tops & jackets, skirts & pants, sportswear, men, miss & family, children, home decor, accessories, crafts and costumes.
- Coordinating colored tabs along the short and long sides for quick reference.
- Thick wonderfully glossy paper that adds substantial weight to the book, slides across the finger pads and creates a well known yet indescribable sound as you fold back the cover and quickly fan the pages.
- An invaluable reference section which includes measuring methods and guides, conversion chart and one page numerical index make the book worth its weight in gold.
As you can imagine the rest of my evening was filled with oohs and ahhs as I consumed the colors, lines and decades of trends. Every few pages, I would call out—ohhhh!—you have to see this and make whomever was nearby come and look at what I had found.
Some of you know I have always had a desire to sew my own clothes. Every now and then I do try. The tunic series last year is one example. The thing about it is I am not very good at it. I do realize it takes practice and I suspect some studying too. The methods used in garment construction are more intricate and precision is not optional as no one appreciates a wardrobe malfunction. What I may be lacking is patience and that is also a learned skill.
I suspect, given the means in which this book was acquired, it is going to play a major role in my life. I am excited to continue my sewing education, put forth additional effort and nurture this desire I have held for so long.
My sincere gratitude to whoever put that $4 sticker on this book and positioned it exactly where I could find it. And, my thanks to you for reading along with me each week.
Until we meet again—the creative genius in me will be celebrating the creative genius in you!
Endless love and respect,
Andrea