That Oonaballoona is One Bad Influence!!

So there I was in LA, sitting on top of my suitcase, trying to jam one last piece of fabric into it and thinking two things:

First: there are definitely moments when having a curvy bottom to help close a suitcase is a very good thing.

Second and more important: I must warn you all that Oonaballoona is a fabric enabler, temptress and bad influence of the first order! Not only will she take advantage of your personal fabric buying weakness, preying on my your love of orange, but she also has a talent for zoning in on the best deals in the store, making it impossible for you to say no.

While in town, I unwittingly agreed to meet up to peruse the LA branch of Mood. Perhaps I should have been suspicious when she suggested we meet for a sweet to fortify us for the shopping, but I'm a trusting person by nature and thought I would just browse a bit. However, Oona had other plans. Shortly after picking out the most gorgeous fabric in all of Mood (seriously, check out the Anna Sui panel she scored), she suggested - all big eyes and innocence - that we check out the remnant bins. It was downhill from there.

Four coordinated pieces of blue and green home dec fabric and a fabulous green and purple wool remnant

And if that wasn't enough, she offered to share - share! - two pieces of fabric she picked out with me! And somehow I found myself agreeing that it would be incredibly fun to both make something from our halves of this stripped orange knit and blog about it (stay tuned). Can you imagine?

My half of the shared fabric

Now, you'd think I would have learned my lesson, but at the end of our shopping at Mood, I somehow  found myself agreeing to meet up again to hit some other places the next day. I summoned all my will power and reminded myself of the limitations of my suitcase, but I truly underestimated that crafty and devious Oona. This time she brought backup!

Me, Oona and local sewista, Leah

Local sewista, Leah, took us to Michael Levine and pointed us to the discount loft, where they sell remnants for $2.50 per pound. Yes, you read that correctly $2.50 = 1 lb of fabric.

Between all the pawing over fabric and conversation about sewing, they managed to weaken my will power and I scored was pressured into buying these sweet pieces:

Black burnout jersey and orangey striped chiffon!

What could I do, I was outnumbered?  But I distracted Oona with a beautiful piece of organza and made a break for it, making some excuse about being on a business trip and having somewhere to be, blah, blah, blah. And with that, I left Oona and Leah before I got roped into any more fabric adventures.

So, consider yourself warned. Do not fabric shop with that fabulous and Oon-tastic woman from Kalkatroona unless you have an empty suitcase to hold all your gorgeous finds! I, for one, will definitely not be letting her know that I might end up back in LA for another business trip this May.

Oh, one last thing: It's come to my attention that there is a rumor that I'm the one who enabled Oona's spectacular haul, particularly the Anna Sui piece. In my defense, the poor gal left her stash in NY but has a poolside sewing patio, a featherweight and a sweet Ruggy, who seems to have been cut from a similar cloth as my Phin and brings her drinks while she sews. So, my so-called "enabling" was really just an act of compassion toward a fellow sewista far from home without her stash. That is my story and I'm sticking to it!

Happy Friday Everyone!