To Pullayup and Back

I just got back from my most exciting sewing trip ever. My sewing bud, Jessica, and I went north to the 2015 Sewing and Stitchery Expo in Pullayup, Washington.

And we went by train.

Amtrak train 1131 pulling into the station

We had a romette with two beds and our very own bathroom.

It's about a 22 hour trip from San Jose, CA to Tacoma, WA and we enjoyed every minute. Besides the gorgeous scenery passing by out our window, we got in some quality knitting time.

The Steel Bridge in Portland. I love Portland. We had time on the way up to walk about a bit and grab a coffee.

 I went a little crazy with the seminars. I think I signed up for 15. Some were better than others, but I learned something from every one.

Most creative vest

Here we are in the thick of it!

There were a bunch of fun booths in the marketplace. We did some cruising every day, in between our classes.

As a Stashbusting Sewalong participant, I tried to keep my credit card in my wallet. But I failed.

Stretch elastics for lingerie making

Marking tools, new shears, a measuring tape and a nice jacket pattern

These are the fabrics I don't feel too guilty about, because I don't have an assortment in stash. The two khaki pieces are stretch twills: one will be the Jalie jeans pattern I've been itching to try and the other will be another pair of BurdaStyle 10-2013-127. The berry piece is rainwear - I want to make a Minoru for wet days. That's if we ever have another wet day here on the Central Coast. Our drought is becoming the new normal.

The two pieces on the right are slated for shirts: the dotted green is a cotton gauze and the black is polyester with a nice, heavy drape. Maybe an Archer?

The roll up top is a light weight wool. I think I have enough for the McCall's 6709 pictured up above.

Here's the group I should feel guilty about. Knits. I have a whole shelf of knits in the fabric closet. But this is a bundle of coordinating fabrics from Marcy Tilton's booth. I've been wanting to try some pattern/print mixing, and using a pre-picked palette will be a good entree for a nervous Nellie.

One of the good things about the train is you can bring a honking big suitcase!