I need to do some laundry.

A couple of weeks ago I took a plunge and tried my first ordering-fabric-online experience. I've been skeptical of this, for the two huge reasons of Color and Quality. Fabric to me is so much about color, I wince at the possible catastrophes monitor differences or poor photography might create. Imagine getting a red you thought was your red, to find that it's actually too orange or too blue or too muted. Similarly, I handle a fabric to feel its quality. All the finishes they put on at the mills don't help, but even so, I need to know how it drapes, how heavy it it, how close the weave is, and if it's well made. All very difficult to tell from a picture.

So I was nervous. But I have a pattern for these very cool pants which are close fitting and are really fun to wear when I am feeling thin. Except that that happens less frequently than I'd like. Fabric with a little bit of stretch would be perfect for these pants, but I didn't find any at my local fabric store. However, fabric.com had some stretch cotton twill in wild bright prints. This was not a hasty decision. I considered the possiblities for several weeks. Finally I decided ok, it's cheap enough that I can live with it as a learning experience if it turns out to be a disaster. And I took the plunge. (Isn't this directly contrary to my post last week about spending as little as possible this month? Yes, except that a) it was *very* cheap b) fabric doesn't count anyway c) I ordered it before Thanksgiving.)

The box arrived today and I just opened it. Yipee! The colors sure are bright enough for me! Pink is drawing me these days, I may have finally reached a saturation point with my winter standbys of black and bright red. There's one piece of wool twill in bright bright fuschia pink, some stretch twill with a retro pink "links" design, and some stretch twill in green plaid with daisies. I know, I know. But it's bright. And come March, when there's very little daylight and too much snow, I am going to be *so* glad to have something besides brown corduroy to wear, even if it is lime green with daisies.

The laundry refers to the fact that I wash every piece of fabric I use before I cut it. Even 100% wool and 100% silk. With proper precautions of course; cold water, gentle agitation, air dry. Dry cleaners do not inspire me with confidence, and I like knowing that the fabric is pre-shrunk before I nip and trim. Contrary to popular instructions, I believe that there are very few things that can't get wet and be sudsed. In the case of wool, I prefer the soft bloomed surface post-washing to the slick treated off-the-bolt texture. Perhaps I have a bit of a fetish about washing... I can't bear to wear new clothes from a store until they've been washed. Anyhow, one project for this weekend is clear: get those new fabrics through the cleaning cycle so that they can be fashioned into fun things.

One can't tell the true quality of a fabric until it's been washed, so I'm not yet unreservedly enthusiastic. But so far, everything looks promising. If I get them home and scrunch them and fondle them and they still seem good, I'd do this again.