It’s been a few months since I’ve done a fabric giveaway, and I happened across a Japanese bunny seersucker cotton and knew it was time. With Easter around the corner, it seemed apropos for this week.
This is not an April Fool’s post — I’ve never been good at the whole prank-pulling business, and I tend to worry that I’ll flub the prank and make someone feel really bad (it’s happened). So this is just a straight-up giveaway!
Quite a few years ago, I made a reversible skirt for one of K’s friends out of this bunny fabric, which is actually the kind of material used for Japanese summer kimonos called yukata and jimbei. It’s adorable. Inspired by the vivid pinks, I hunted around for coordinating fabric, and found a tulip print cotton voile (I’m pretty sure it’s cotton – it might have a little bit of synthetic fibers, but it’s sheer and perfect for a spring top) and a bold pink floral quilting cotton.
I have a little over a 1/2 yard of the bunny fabric, just shy of 1 1/2 yards of the tulip print, and about 1/2 yard of the quilting cotton. Interested?
I was fascinated by what folks were saying they would be willing to pay for in terms of products or services last week and it got me curious. It made me reflect on purchases that are guilt-free for me. I’m referring to things that may seem frivolous or unnecessary but they are delights — most of us make sacrifices to make sure the bills get paid but I think there is almost always a little room for fun spending. Items that aren’t astronomically expensive but require weighing the merits and feel absolutely worth it. At the top of my list: books. And coffee. Really good coffee. Fabric would be on there too, and many of you said the same.
What about you? Maybe you fancy citrus-scented soaps (I do!) or perhaps you happily treat yourself to cut flowers? Pencils or pens? To enter the giveaway, I’d love to know how you like to enhance your every day with small, don’t-break-the-bank items other than fabric, because clearly, y’all love textiles.
I will leave the giveaway open until next Thursday, April 9th and will announce the winner the next day. Yes to international entries, and good luck!
P.S. The first Furoku went out yesterday – please check your promotions or spam folder if you haven’t received it yet. Next month is going to be even better!
Well, I’m not into light pinks, they don’t suit me at all (even though the tulips are really pretty!), so I wouldn’t know what to do with the first two fabrics—but I just really adore that quilting cotton, so I’ll have to enter your giveaway anyway! Thanks for your generosity!
Hmmm, I have a weak spot for craft supplies, particularly all kinds of pencils and pens. I own a lot of pencils and pens because when I see some that I like, I tend to get them even though I don’t really need them. I can’t even draw. I periodically think that I’ll learn to draw, but so far, I haven’t.
Other than that, it’s really mostly fabric for me nowadays. And I try not to buy too much of that either, I already have a huge stash for someone who hasn’t been sewing that long!
Hmm, besides fabric? Well then I guess books just like you. I buy one about every week. Whether it’s a novel, a travel book, a sewing book, a biography – I just can’t get enough of books 😉
Chocolate. Definitely chocolate, Also vintage children’s books and thrift store yarn. Those are the three things that I love the most that can be bought for pocket change 🙂
Those fabrics would make a cute dress for one of my girls. The think I buy most often as a reward for myself is an e-book – especially if it is a new book in a series I’ve read. Also whenever Joann’s has a pattern sale I tend to snap those up too.
Take out food! Different taste and I don’t have to cook.
Hmmm I kind of fill this space with lots of different things. It can be fabric if it’s under a certain price or yarn or a coffee from a coffee shop. I think it depends on the day.
Those fabrics are adorable.
Oh! You like soap? I make my own it is the best soap, not citrus, but the best soap! I can send you one from my next batch if you would like.
I don’t buy anything regularly that is an extra treat that is a guilt free delight. I may buy your book, for instance (I will really), but I won’t buy a book a month. I read about four or five a week, so you can see that I splurge most often at the library. So any extras are often one-offs.
I recently started going to a ballet class once a week and tonight I am starting to learn to play the drums. I spend about six hours a week watching or waiting for my daughters to do ballet. it is getting pretty serious for the older one and I kind of want to do something too, besides reading those books mentioned above and yakking with the other parents. I have been skating once or twice a week for about 13 years. Ice time is expensive and it is most definitely a treat that enhances my life. We also take an ice-dance lesson once a week too.
On the savings side, we have no car, no mobile phones, no tv or cable tv services. So those are a lot of monthly expenses that we do not have.
coffee or mt. dew would be my favs… but clothes and books are a close second! 🙂
Besides fabric? Well I love getting good quality sketchbooks and unlined notebooks, preferably cute/unique ones. I love being able to jolt down an idea and make a quick sketch next to it and obviously I “need” good writing an drawing pens;-)
it would have to be wool or coffee or really good chocolate the sort of chocolate you hide from everyone else as it is your “precious”.
Ooh pretty fabrics, my daughter would love the bunny one. My weakness other than fabric is also books. We have a wall covered in floor to ceiling bookcases which are full to bursting. I should really start reading them all again because I haven’t read some of them for about 20 years but I still can’t resist buying new ones!
My little girls would love something made out these pinks! Hope the draw is open to international readers!
Hello Sara! Yes, it’s definitely open to international readers :-). Thank you!
I’m with Max, my guiltless pleasure is a class. I started taking guitar lessons last summer and I love it. It also inspired my daughter to start playing music (first she did mini zither and now piano. I consider coffee out a guilty pleasure but I have a standing date with a friend for Friday morning coffee to chat in Spanish for a couple of hours and this is excluded from the guilty part, the pastry I eat is also excluded from the healthy eating guilty part. Fabric comes from biweekly budget, I have a set amount for non-household expenses and sometimes I use some for fabric but not very often. I consider fabric a useful thing though, not a pleasure per se, I guess because I tend to buy with a project in mind.
I think my pleasure is more stealing time: instead of doing laundry or cleaning I will tink with a ukulele or guitar for a couple of hours. I knit. I might sew. Sometimes I take a whole day to read. Sometimes I read til 3 am. Sure, I need to pick up the slack the next day but I do enjoy that I can choose to take this time even if it comes with a bit of guilt.
I would have to say that my guilty pleasure (other than fabric and patterns!) is my three year old granddaughter. I love to sew for her, and to surprise her with little gifts whenever I can. One of her favorite surprises is her own little pot of strawberries, that she shares with her baby doll of course. Another favorite is new dolly clothes. Thank you for the chance to win such lovely fabric!
That’s a really interesting question! When I was out of work a couple of years ago, and we were trying to save money, I found that it was the little things I found hardest to give up. I think it relates to a feeling of freedom. Even though people always say “the little things add up”, I would rather give up one big thing, and have the freedom to buy little indulgences – like have a sandwich at a café if you are out for a walk, or chocolates, or coffee. I think it relates a bit to experiences, too…. it’s not so much having a good tasting coffee, but going down to the coffee shop and sitting and relaxing, etc. So, I had no problem at all giving up our second car, and replacing our pricey TV subscription with Netflix connected to a computer. But I would always want to keep the freedom to have little indulgent experiences.
Other than fabric? 🙂 books. I just love them! I try to get them guilt free in thrift stores, but more often than not they are new. Current obsession -Japanese sewing books of which I am just waiting for shipment to come in. 10 new fresh books, i can barely wait. then there are gardening books. Books about chickens. Kids boks. Crime. Novels. Classics. Sewing. Crafting. If someone told me -you have X amount extra every month to do what you want with, I’d spend it all on books.
Tough question! Since having kids, I tend to forego the little luxuries so that I can do things for them. I do enjoy a rare Starbucks frappuccino but it is rare. I love buying high-quality art supplies for my kids; skip a few frappes and buy some nice colored pencils.
I buy good butter, have a weekday subscription to the New York Times, use a nice lemon verbena hand cream, and willingly pay up for best-quality thread.
Fancy shampoo and conditioner. Nothing is more extravagant than a good hair day:)
bath supplies, more specifically different types of salts and oils. there is nothing more healing to me than ending a long day with a hot soak in the tub – and for a mermaid-soul living so far from the ocean, it’s healing for my soul to soak in salt water:-)
Ahhh. My daily strong soy hot chocolate. I am trying to cut down/out sugar from my daily eating, but this is proving difficult given my love for what is basically chocolate soup!
Also, a good magazine we have here, The Monthly, with good political, social writing and just good writing all round.
They are the two things I love to buy and that make me happy 🙂
Paper, beautiful paper, washi and handmade and Japanese tissue paper, beautiful German watercolor paper. I mostly look at it, touch it and sometimes I craft with it. No wonder I love fabric so much because it is paper that doesn’t rip easily.
Chocolate for sure!
I am willing to pay for good quality organic produce at our farmer’s market that we use through the week. It’s not cheap but we as a family have decided that we won’t compromise on this.
On a more personal front, I would say coffee and chocolate.
These are some lovely fabrics, and my daughter’s favourite colour is pink (again!). thank you for the giveaway.
I like the idea of guilt free luxury purchases but its not part of my genetic (or nurtured!) makeup. Almost every play purchase is a “but I so so so want it, guilt be damned” purchase. From bickies at the shop to clear stamps for a card to that crazy fabric I love but will never use – all guilt.
Okay, that being said, I have a craft room (not table or box or anything so contained) so my guilt purchases have become a regular thing. In fact, the craft room is spilling into the spare bedroom. Cue eyeroll from hubby. It was truely getting out of hand for awhile and so I brought in my pocket money rule. I get a monthly allowance to spend. I can save it up for something big or keep treating myself on regular smalls. It doesn’t stop the guilt, but at least I know I am not totally breaking the bank 🙂
Lovely fabrics, but I have too many pink kids fabrics so please give it to someone more deserving if you happen to pick me.
What a cute collection of fabrics – my 6-year-old would love them.
We recently emerged from a period of having to be extremely frugal – not to the point of suffering, but we did go a few years without takeaway dinners, coffees out, decent clothes etc. I still find it hard to spend money on myself, preferring to spend it on my children. That said, I’ve come to view my creative pursuits not as luxuries but as activities that are essential to my mental health, so from time to time I buy myself a Japanese pattern book. And hey, the more I sew from them, the better value they are!
Lovely giveaway, thank you. It’s always good quality chocolate – everything else would go first, but chocolate is a necessity!
Hmm…Netflix. Definitely Netflix. It seems rather extravagant given my try-to-spend-nothing budget, but I happily fork over the bucks every month so I can watch ridiculous (awesome) Korean dramas while I sew. And a once-a-week visit to our local all-natural bakery so my little girl can sip (spill) hot chocolate, and munch on fresh bread.
The one high end purchase that never has to be justified in our house? Bicycle componentry. “sure honey, we could have saved $100 by buying the cheaper chainrings, but these ones weigh 10grams less. That’s a serious saving, right there…”
Hmmm. I typed lots more about giving you coffee beans if we were neighbours and my daughters love of pink fabric…. Vanished.
For me it would be magazines. Crochet, sewing or cross stitch magazines. I love flipping through them and ooh and aah over everything I see. Other then that: books or little things to give to my kids. Both my girls love things like stickers, coloring pencils, coloring books, stamps, paint etc.
Loved reading everyone else’s pleasures. Buying quality food ingredients when we can afford them, chocolate, time alone in project land without interruptions, and fresh flowers when life gets tough and the weather is poor. I have too much fabric and no girls so no fabric, but I wanted to participate anyway before folding all the clothes. ☺️
I have a weakness for notebooks! Pretty notebooks will get me every time even though I have far too many that I haven’t even started using yet! x
OOOO I would so love those pinks!!!
I love a good fabric, but I also love a really good chocolate. I can never say no to a good dark chocolate, especially if it’s combined with some caramel. Thanks!
I like new earrings. Not expensive ones. Just something that suits me that minute. A definite pick me up.
Pretty unoriginal I guess but I definitely splurge on best-quality chocolate. And then I either just enjoy it alone or bake it into my favorite almond-butter brownies. I also love fresh flowers, but I only occasionally buy them from the farmer’s market. I love to pick wild-growing flowers in our yard and neighborhood.
My fabric purchases are sometimes guilt ridden. I have projects in mind for them, but never any time to sew. One day when I work through my stash, perhaps I’ll feel better about that huge pile… Although I buy books for myself on sale, I have no qualms about buying books for little ones at full price. They deserve it!
I plan on buying your book once it hits the shelves. Although I can’t participate in the monthly subscription you’re putting together, I’ll gladly support your literary efforts. Even though you won’t “make it rich” with publishing, you are enriching the lives of countless children (and their parents) by giving them the gift of reading and imagination.
Of course, I do indulge in fabric, but to satisfy my budget, I always buy what’s on sale or have a coupon. That applies to almost everything I buy! Period. About once I week, I like to drive thru McDonald’s (OK, cheesy, right?) and buy myself a non-fat iced mocha. It’s so good and gives me such sweet comfort!
Aside from fabric? When I’m out shopping, I usually sneak a skein of yarn into the cart and stash a bit of chocolate beneath that. 🙂
I buy a fancy chocolate bar every week that I eat a square or two from everyday when the kids are driving me bonkers or just because ( on bad days I eat half the bar). I also have a weakness for yarn, craft books, and just about any arts or craft supply.
I buy packs of seeds, yarn , sewing notions, and a small eyeshadow palette once in awhile.
I have a soft spot for thrift store clothing. I buy it thinking that I might make something out of it one day as I love the fabric. Apart from a quilt made out of old shirts I’m yet to touch my ‘one day’ pile of garments!
Oh, those fabrics would make great skirts or a dress for my girl…besides my fabric addiction, I love to buy sewing patterns&pattern magazines (mainly Burda), more than I’ll ever be able to sew, cute small notebooks (I always carry one with me), and chocolate, lots of chocolate! Any kind of chocolate really…’cause a true Belgian can’t live without chocolate 😉
Thanks for the giveaway!
Music, i love the ten minutes walk to get to work listening to music. I love to search for that special songs that will walk with me, It is really TIME FOR MYSELF and it may sound strange but i makes me feel so conscious about life, like an every day reconexion!