Stashoholism Confessional: Knits Edition and The September Issue Movie Review

Knits are my downfall, man. There are a bunch of knit dress patterns I want to try (not least one from a Knip Mode I bought in the Netherlands and painfully translated the instructions for). Do I have knits in stash? Of course I do. And yet, I have fallen. Fabric.com sucked me in with its discounts and free shipping.

The green stalks and the brown and aqua chain fabric are Stretch Jersey ITY Knits. All the other ITYs I have seen, purchased, and used have had a micro-rib type texture, like very miniature slinky. These are slick and a little shiny with an even more micro-ribbed texture, so small that it hardly exists, which I find a little odd. I am not sure if I had not yet experienced the full range of ITY (which stands for "interlock twist yarn, as I understand it, implying some sort of texture) or if they are mislabeled. The hand is a bit like a nylon knit, but they are 92% poly, 8% lycra. I was impressed by the high lycra content on the website. It is actually not that stretchy, but has excellent recovery. I'm not sure I would recommend this due to the shininess, which I think looks a little cheap, and how thin it is (both items will need a slip), but I will be perfectly content sewing up the fabrics.

The chain link (impulse purchase in honor of Cidell, who loves this classic preppy stuff) will likely become another Butterick 5454 wrap dress, with a collar and cuffs to mimic the classic DVF style, although I am tempted to find an origami-type pattern that allows for play with directional "stripes." I guess I could cut the stripes diagonally for the bodice of the wrap dress, as the pattern is drafted. For the green stalks, I am not quite decided. Maybe the aforementioned Knip Mode.

The black and white is the Starlet Stretch Jersey. This I can unequivocally not recommend. Ugh. Very thin and sheer with an icky plasticky hand so reminiscent of the early polyesters that gave it a bad name. While I almost always avoid polyester wovens, I am all about poly knits in general (until my budget arrives at silk jersey for every project). It has good recovery and is colorfast, unlike the cottons (fade) and rayons (no recovery) I have experienced. It doesn't make me sweat more than other knits. Actually, I am somewhat cursed because the sweatiest fabric of all for me? Silk. Even in winter. Forget wearing it in summer.

I was really disappointed in this one because the point of the whole order was this print. I plan to make a purple skirt for my mom and wanted a black and white top to match. I'm just going to use it as a muslin to see if she likes the style I choose (not that I've chosen a style).

I took a chance on the Style Studio Stretch Rayon Jersey Knit. I have never found a rayon knit that wasn't poor quality. All the rayons I've tried have absolutely no recovery, crease permanently and become shiny along the creases, and pill instantly. I fell in love with this print and was excited to see that Fabric.com had made one of their videos of it. I hadn't looked at one before but assumed it would explore the qualities of the fabric. Well the video, which is no longer up, was totally useless! They just showed two lengths of folded fabric sitting on a table and talked about the prints. I was thinking they would hold up a single layer for the camera, give it a tug to show stretch and recovery, and give some idea of the thickness and the drape. I mean, the prints we can see in still shots!

Anyway, I made Burda 04-2009-110 recently in a lightweight rayon thinking it would be a good nightgown. But the rayon fabric just spread and spread and spread and at this point the neckline is down to my navel. I want to make the pattern as a real dress, and this print in all my favorite colors sucked me in. In person, the fabric is relatively beefy for a rayon knit and seems to have good recovery. It pre-washed well, without the shiny creasing. It's now $3.50/yd (bought too soon!). I can't guarantee how it will perform but I think it's worth a shot at that price.

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I finally signed up for Netflix (streaming only). Why yes, I do live in 2004, why do you ask? Would you like to see my cell phone? It's the new flip phone style! I am so cool! Smart phone? Well, I don't know. It remembers all the phone numbers I tell it to. That seems pretty smart.

I have a medium-sized DVD collection (maybe 30?) and haven't rented a movie since I moved to DC 9 years ago, so it had gotten to the point where I finally tired of all my movies and I caved. My first order of business was to watch The September Issue, a documentary about Anna Wintour and the creating of the massive September issue of Vogue. One of the movies in my collection is The Devil Wears Prada. Love it! (And it's one of those rare cases where the movie is better than the book.)

The September Issue is sort of an answer to TDWP. It shows Ms. Wintour being tough and critical, sure, but in the context of being an editor who has to be the one to make the final decision. It also shows how she has to manage up to her publisher and to her advertisers and that she is making the business work. The "fashion is stupid" role that Andi plays when she first starts at the magazine is played in The September Issue by Ms. Wintour's siblings, who consider her work silly and useless. I can't say that she was totally humanized, and I'm sure she is not pleasant to work for, but it was a fascinating look into a world in which I will never directly live, but that influences me every day as I get dressed. Aside from which, she must have a sense of humor somewhere--she employs Andre Leon Talley! Although I'm sure ALT would object to the notion of himself as an "employee," I assume money is involved somehow.

Last night I started watching Valentino, The Last Emperor. Loving it so far! (I am incapable of watching a movie at one sitting now, as I am so long out of practice.)

Any movie recs for me, fashion or non-fashion? I have a weakness for rom coms, as long as they are not too terrible.
How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days: terrible.
The Proposal: not too terrible.