exotic and luxury fibers, and a little sewing too :)

i got another great package from Girl Meets Spindle a few weeks ago, as you can see below

{ i really do love the way she packages her fiber }

i've had my eye on some of the luxury and exotic fibers in Rachel's shop for quite some time now and so i decided to buy myself a little birthday treat in the form of 2 luxurious oz of 50/50 royal baby alpaca/cashmere, and also a few half ounce samples of Ramie and Banana fibers.

{ 1/2oz steel blue Banana fiber }

i really love the halo on this banana fiber, and it's much softer than i expected. i'm still not exactly sure which part of the banana plant this fiber comes from, but my friend Justin was over the day i got my package and he's now demanding a banana fiber beanie from me xD

{ 1/2oz Ramie fiber in "Winter Morn" }

now, i'm sure some of you are wondering "what the heck is 'Ramei' fiber?" well i honestly didn't even know exactly what it was when i bought it, so i just googled it right now and got this interesting little tid bit:

"Ramie, also known as “China Grass”, is a flowering plant native to eastern Asia. For centuries, ramie fiber has been used for making fabrics and clothing. In fact, ramie has been used for clothes since at least 5000 - 3000 BC in Egypt.

Ramie fibers are one of the strongest natural fibers. Ramie can be up to 8 times stronger than cotton, and is even stronger when wet."

this too is much softer fiber than i had anticipated, and has a similar whispy

halo to the banana fiber.

{ 2oz 50% Royal Baby Alpaca, 50% Cashmere in colorway "Molten Metals" }

but of course the crown jewel of my birthday fiber shmorgasborg is this sinfully luxurious alpaca/cashmere blend fiber. i haven't even had the heart to spin it yet i've just been taking it out to stare at it longingly and stroke it's unbelievable softness hehe

i'm not even sure of how i'm going to spin it yet or what i'm going to make with it, but i think for now i'll just keep it as a fibery pet ^-^

{ my very first hand sewn needle/notions organizer }

and last but not least i'm excited to report that i've actually been bitten by the sewing bug lately. to make a long story short i recently got into Steampunk fashion, which is basically like late 19th century late victorian kinda stuff. i really wanted to get a pair of bloomers, but i just wasn't willing to pay what people were asking on Etsy, not when i knew i could sew them myself with the help of my trusty sewing machine ^^

{ crochet hooks and stitch holders }

needless to say the pics you see in front of you are NOT bloomers xD

i had a bit of a fiasco with trying to get the correct measurements and my first bloomers attempt were far too small :( but i've since bought some new fabric and will be making another attempt soon. in the mean time though i sewed this awesome little needle/notions organizer from some scraps left over from one of my Underworld Swap projects.

{ DPNs }

i created my own pattern for this using my limited sewing knowledge and thought it came out great, although next time i think i'll use a thiner fabric, this stuff was almost felt like and it make doing some of the top stitching a bit tough. if there are any seamstresses out there who would like me to share the pattern with them i'd be more than happy to do so just leave me a comment here with your email and i'll get back to you :)

{ all tied up }

if all goes well this week i should have some pics of bloomers to share, as well as the usual spinning/knitting related goodness.

have a great weekend everyone ^^/

peace&love

~carla