Skip to main content

Fabric Shopping, Muslins, and Sewing Distractions

Fabric Haul


Every month I tell myself to stop buying fabric until I make several garments with the fabric in my stash. Unfortunately, most of what I currently have in my stash is for making dress/button-up shirts, which I still need to work out some fitting issues. I've gotten a lot better about not buying new patterns by the five-fold from Jo-Ann Fabrics during the Big 4 sales, although I have bought a couple new patterns from Sewaholic and Thread Theory.

But fabric shopping....oooooh, I just can't help myself sometimes! I'll have an idea in my head and then I HAVE TO GET THE FABRIC NOW! I got into one of those fits last Friday. I blame Marrie and her amazing stretch cotton sateen dress. That dress is so cool and exactly the style and colors (black and white!) I would love to use as the backbone for my work wardrobe builder.

After thinking about stretch cotton all morning, I sped-walked over to Michael Levine during my lunch break hoping to find some fabric to make a dress. I was also hoping to find this flamingo print fabric I saw on their website.

Flamingo Print Fabric

I failed in both areas, but walked away with a really pretty polyester "woolen" suiting fabric, which of course I can't find a link to online (go figure...). I was drawn to the faint purple plaid lines. I've been thinking of making either a fitted or fit-and-flare work dress out of suiting fabric and this fabric was very affordable for me to attempt to make one. These are the two patterns I'm contemplating, neither of which I have ever made.


Then the following day, I read about The Fabric Store's storewide sale. I really don't enjoy driving to Mid-City, but 30%-50% cotton prints? Yes, please! I'll brave the d-bag drivers for a good fabric sale. Every time I walk in TFS I'm overcome with relaxed blissfulness. The store is clean, organized, bright, airy, calm. I love it!

I wanted to buy so much more, but I limited myself to a white/pink/black print stretch cotton (yes!!), a bright blue very lightweight merino wool jersey, and a fuchsia/burgundy abstract cotton print that I think will make a nice summery dress (see first photo above).

Later that day I made good progress by cutting out muslins for both dress patterns and I cut the merino wool for the Thread Theory Henley pattern for my husband. I had originally planned to have a marathon sewing day on Sunday, but then this little girlie came home with me after my morning volunteer shift at the shelter:

New Kitten in Town

!!!GAHHHHHH!!!! SO MUCH CUTENESS!! I CAN'T TAKE IT!!!

I first saw this kitten at the shelter two weeks ago. She was in the kitten foster area because she wasn't ready to be adopted. All last week I kept showing my husband her photo and he was surprisingly receptive of the thought of adopting her. On Sunday she was old and healthy enough to be adopted so I told my husband he better come over quick before she gets adopted. There were three other kittens being adopted at the same time so there's no way she would have been available the entire day. He met and played with her and agreed that we should take her home.

The rest of the day was devoted to making sure my other cat, Bailey, a three-year old giant of a cat, wouldn't kill her. He's very curious and is still trying to figure her out, but they seem to be getting along. Every now and then Bailey gets territorial and will be too aggressive, but I'm happy with the progress that's been made so far. Here's my favorite photo so far of our little Arya (yes, that Arya....my husband's pick seeing as how I named our first cat).

Little Arya Mid-Grooming

I haven't done any sewing since adopting little Arya, so I'm not sure how she'll react around fabric and thread and the sewing machine. Luckily Bailey doesn't try to eat thread and I've gotten a lot better about protecting any pins. I better get back on the sewing bus because I want to use up my stash so I can buy MOAR fabric!

Comments

  1. Ha ha, sorry to be a bad influence! ;) I am exactly the same way about fabric shopping. Just yesterday I had an "I need this fabric now" moment, but I was able to close the internet window before my credit card came out. Totally jealous about The Fabric Store sale, wish I could make it to L.A. before its over.

    ReplyDelete
  2. What an adorable kitty!! I'm glad I can't get to any fabric stores on my lunch break or I would be in worse trouble than I'm already in! I do drive past The Fabric Store on my way to work though, and that is VERY dangerous!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

{Simplicity 2154} Not so Retro Anymore

I meant to post this on Sunday, but somehow life got in the way. By the way, how was your weekend? (I feel like talking about mine so I'm going to pose a rhetorical question first.) I felt so off all last week as I kept getting the days mixed up and my husband was out of town for half of the week and normally I'm all like " SEWING ALL NIGHT! Woooo!! ", but I just wasn't feeling it. Instead I was mopey and sad that he was gone and my cat ignored me most of the nights (is that not the saddest thing you've read all day??) This is how I felt all last week.......mehhhhhhhh...... But the weekend made up for it. We celebrated our SIXTH (!!) wedding anniversary at Animal , which we first went to three or four years ago, I think for another anniversary dinner. Then two nights later, on Monday, we went out for sushi at Sugarfish , which in my opinion is the best value for the quality you get. And now it's already Wednesday evening! Where did the week go?

{Travel} Tokyo Train Travel

One of the things I obsessed over while planning my trip to Tokyo was train travel. I knew we could sight-see all over Tokyo by just using the train, but how exactly would we do it? What tickets did we need? How much were the fares? What lines to take? I consulted with my brother (who lived there for a couple years in the 2000s, my mom (who was born and raised in Japan and lived there till her mid-20s and has gone back every now and then over the years), and friends. I also read a lot of blogs and websites scouring for info. If you're traveling to Tokyo and only staying in Tokyo, which is what we did, then here are some train travel tips to save you some headaches. Do note that I'm notoriously frugal, but in some cases I'm not always suggesting the cheapest option. Sometimes, it's worth paying a few extra yen to save time and travel easier. 1. Choose a Hotel Near the JR Yamanote Line My #1 suggestion for visiting Tokyo, is book a hotel near one of the stations al

Sewaholic Davie LBD

What's your definition of "Work Appropriate" when it comes to dresses? Of course, one's work environment will determine the definition of "work appropriate" so it's not necessarily a one-size-fits-all situation. I started drafting this post before I read Charlotte's recent post about dressing for work and loved reading her post and the discussion in the comments. Personally, I work in a fairly conservative industry. I'm an engineer, I work in an office, and when I go to client meetings, project interviews, public outreach meetings, and professional work events, the guys are in suits (mostly with ties) and the women are in similar attire (suits, pencil skirts w/ nice blouse, sheath or fit-and-flare dresses). Go to Banana Republic or Ann Taylor's website and check out the work styles. That's my "work appropriate" attire. Apparently my husband severely disagrees. And I found out we had drastically different opinions regar