Holiday - Fabric Purchases and Happy Snaps

I've recently been on a 2 week holiday to North America. We had an amazing time, visiting Toronto, Montreal, Seattle and Vancouver. I thought today I'd share a few of the pictures that I took while we were away, but first, the likely reason that you're here... the fabric I bought...

I got this stack of fabric from DressSew in Vancouver. Visiting this store was a perfect example of how fabric stores breaks the space-time-continuum; somehow many hours elapsed between when we entered the store and when we left.

Physics-breaking glitches aside, despite a questionable first impression when I walked into the store due to all the fancy dress costumes the selection of fabrics was impressive. I was particularly taken by the wool suiting selection, which was far cheaper than anything I would get in Melbourne. Unsurprisingly, the majority of what I bought was wool fabric. The original pile was quite a bit bigger than this, but I knew we had limited suitcase space.

I've sketched up some of my ideas for this fabric in my fashionary, shown here...

 
Left: Some slightly textured khaki fabric, which will become either another Ralph, or a Moss skirt.
Right: Some dark green ponte to make another B5559 (first version to be blogged soon).

 
Left: Green wool suiting, which I would like to make a blazer from
Right: Aubergine wool suiting, which I'm contemplating making a biker-style jacket from

  
Left: Some lovely lightweight striped jersey, which I will probably try making a Plantain t-shirt from.
Right: Some Animal print flanelette, which will become some PJ bottoms for the boy.


Left: some cross-hatch suiting, which will probably become a dress, I'm not sure what style exactly.
Right: Some grey wool suiting, which will likely also become a dress of some variety.

In addition to fabric shopping, I also got to meet up with some awesome North American Sewists.

Firstly, the lovely Gillian organised a meet-up in Toronto:

[ Photo Source Gjeometry ]

I then met up with the lovely gMarie in Seattle, but have realised that I forgot to get pics :(

And then while I was staying in Vancouver I was super excited to make a trip to SewaholicHQ:

While visiting Tasia I was lucky enough for her to show me some sneak peeks of her upcoming designs, and let me tell you I am SO EXCITED to see them released, there are some fantastic patterns coming up!

Sadly for you, the only sneaky photo I took while there was this one of the view out of Tasia's office window.

And lastly, as promised, here are some general holiday snaps:

Toronto:

 

Niagara Falls:

Montreal:

 

Seattle:
 

Vancouver:

  

Of awesome meet-ups and new fabric

Before it gets ridiculously late to write about this, I wanted to put together a quick post about the awesome meet-ups and fabric shopping that happened on my recent jaunt to Europe, and even more recent trip to Queensland.

First up my trip to Europe. While I was there, on a drizzly afternoon in Birmingham I met up with the lovely Sabs for a little bit of fabric shopping (more about that later) and lots and lots of gossiping. It was a very enjoyable afternoon, although I'm a little worried that I talked a bit too much, as I had a sore throat afterwards! Sabs kindly showed me her favourite fabric haunts in the centre of Birmingham (although we had unfortunately scheduled our meet-up on a day the markets were closed), and as well as the pieces of fabric I purchased I came home with a lovely piece that Sabs very generously gifted to me.

Me and Sabs

Next up was the enormous and overwhelming meet-up in London, on Goldhawk Road to be exact. There was a massive 35+ people that came along to the meet-up, which in all honesty was a little overwhelming. I only managed to speak to a handful of people.

We gathered outside the tube station, and then split into groups to hit the shops all along Goldhawk Road. After that we all went to 'Liz Cafe' for lunch, where the staff were incredibly accommodating to our massive group. And after lunch there was the swap to beat all swaps. Wow everybody had brought stuff to swap! There was a massive table of fabric, another of notions and another of patterns.

 

It was an amazing day, and sadly I didn't actually get any photos of me with any of the fabulous ladies that I met. However, here's one I've stolen from Roisin of me with Emmie, Alison, Roisin, Vicki Kate, and Amy:

(Pic stolen from Roisin)

I'm sure by now you're just wanting me to get on with it and tell you about the fabric. Ok, ok, I shall oblidge...

This is the almost embarrassingly large stack of fabrics that came home with me from our holiday. From the top:
- Gorgeous almost Liberty style lawn from Macclesfield
- The lovely fabric gifted to me from Sabs
- Green floral chiffon from Birmingham
- Origami cranes chiffon from Birmingham
- Rayon from Birmingham
- The softest voile in the world from Paris
- Another lovely voile from Paris
- Some Liberty Lawn that I got in the London Swap(!!!!)
- Some Liberty Lawn bought on Goldhawk Road
- A stretch sateen from Goldhawk Road (I went halves with Roisin as it only came in 5m pieces)
- An unknown but very soft fabric from the London Swap
- A purple floral voile from Goldhawk Road
- HOT AIR BALLOONS! Poplin from Goldhawk Road
- Some Jersey from the London Swap
- Some textured suiting from the London Swap

It's a really good job that I'd taken across three quilts, so had that space spare in our bags and just about squeezed everything in.

I also mentioned a trip to Queensland at the beginning of the post. I went up to Brisbane for the weekend to see the Quilts 1700-1945 exhibition (which was really interesting, well worth the trip if you're in the area) and see my Gran. However while I was there I met up for afternoon tea with the three lovely ladies pictured below:

Steph, Myself, Liz and Reana-Louise

I had a great afternoon, and the conversation just didn't stop until it was time to go home... and even then it didn't stop as Liz and I ended up going out for dinner too since we still had heaps to chat about.

So that's the wrap-up of the meet-ups I've been to in the last month or so. And I can't believe it's only a week until Frocktails, where I will be joining about 30 other sewcialists for some delicious dinner, yummy cocktails and beautiful frocks. I can't wait!!!

One Pattern Seven Bloggers - Revisited - Inspiration

The reception to our revisit of the one pattern seven bloggers idea has been a little overwhelming. Thanks to everyone that stopped by and commented on the post last week. Remember that the giveaway is still open, so head on over to that post and comment before the 31st of August to be in for a chance of winning one of the 8 prizes.

Today I'm going to talk a little about the inspiration for my dress...

As soon as the Macaron pattern was chosen I knew that I wanted to make a lace dress. Working with lace has been on my wish list for a while now, I was just waiting for the right inspiration for it, and I decided that this is it. I would be guilty of a massive omission if I didn't say I was heavily influenced by Liz's gorgeous lace Macaron in deciding that this would be a good project to try lace with. You can see all the details of her dress, pictured below, here.

The last added bonus to choosing to use lace, was that I decided that my Macaron could hopefully become my dress for Frocktails, and I thought lace could make a fantastic cocktail dress.

Liz's Gorgeous Macaron | Source

So, with that in mind I visited a few local stores looking for lace. Originally I was hoping for a nice coloured lace, that I could then put a neutral (probably black) behind. Sadly fabric shopping luck was not with me, and I was really struggling in finding some lace that I liked. Then finally I found this lovely black lace at GJs during a Social Sewing day:

I auditioned quite a few colours for the underlinining, but the sheer number of options was a bit overwhelming for my poor little indecisive self. Thankfully the lovely social sewing ladies were happy to weigh in with opinions on which to choose, and this olive green colour won, almost unanimously.

So that's my inspiration and fabric choices for my dress. Be sure to tune in next Monday to see the finished thing, and check out the blogs of the other ladies to see what their inspiration is:

• Marie from A Stitching Odyssey
• Reana Louise from Reana Louise 
• Kat from Petticoats and Peplums
• Jen from Jennifer Lauren Vintage
• Amy from Sewing Through the Motions 
• Sam from Buckingham Road

Social Sewing goes on the Road

Last Saturday we went on an adventure. A group of fearless sewing enthusiasts met up, bright and early on a beautiful sunny day, with the plan of buying lots of fabric! Yes, the Social Sewers went on a little road-trip! 9 fabric stores were visited over 8 hours, and countless metres of fabric were purchased, and even more were stroked, gushed over, and even hugged.

We started the day at GJs, then Rathdowne remnants, then moved onto 5 stores that I'd never been to before; Darn Cheap Fabrics, The Cloth Shop, Cutting Edge Fabric, The Button Shop and Astratex, and finished off at The Fabric Store and Alannah Hill. We then rounded off the day with dinner at Rockwell and Sons. You can get the details of our full itinerary over on the fabulous Kat's blog, who organised the whole day - so massive thank you Kat!

(In this pic is a sneak peek of my new dress! Finished before going to bed the night before! Blog post coming soon...)

I'm not entirely sure how many people we had in total as some people popped in and out throughout the day, but there were many! There was even representation from a whopping four states and territories; Victoria (obvs), ACT, Tasmania and South Australia!!

I'm sure by now you're wondering what I bought, I was very restrained, buying only three pieces of particularly special fabric (having my stash out on display in my room is helping my resolve to sew with it and remember that I already have fabric before buying more!) But here they are:



At the top is some delicious silk/cotton from Darn Cheap Fabrics, it's just so beautiful and drapey, and might possibly become another portrait blouse. On top of the silk/cotton are some blue buttons to finish off my Whole Wheat Cardigan. Then the fabric with the birdcages is another lovely drapey viscose fabric from Astratex that I just could not walk away from (there was hugging of the bolt before purchasing it too). And on the bottom is a lovely wool suiting from The Fabric Store. I was being strong until I saw Kirsty buying this one, and it's so soft, and it was half price, what's a girl to do?!

And while we're on the topic, don't forget that the next Social Sewing is on the 23rd of Feb. We hope to see you there!

Sewcie Tea

The darling Mel of Poppykettle is organising a trip for High Tea; Sewcie Tea. An excuse for pretty dresses and to eat yummy treats - you can be sure that I'm going!!

[image source - Poppykettle]

You can find all the details on her blog post here. Will you be joining us? I believe that if you're not local to Melbourne you can join in by sending her a pic of yourself in your high-tea finest and join in in spirit.

I'm hoping to make a pretty dress for the occasion, and am even hoping that this event will give me the push to finally have the guts to sew up the blue roses liberty that my Gran gave me. The plan is to make something that I can also wear to a wedding I'll be going to later in the year.

I was thinking something with a fitted bodice and a full skirt, but there's so many decisions to make! I think I've settled on a bodice a bit like the one below, with a wide scooped neck and extended shoulder seams to make little cap sleeves. However, I don't know which kind of skirt I want; gathered, pleated, gored, circle? So many options!

Are you going to come to the Sewcie Tea? (If you are, remember to RSVP to Mel)
What kind of dress would you make with the blue roses liberty?

PS: And for Melbourne locals, remember the fabric shopping trip Kat is planning for the 9th of Feb? No? All the details can be found here. That should also be a fun day!

Post Christmas Fabric Shopping...

I had a lovely Christmas with my family, but none of my gifts were sewing related (gasp!).  So I'm sure in subconcious retaliation I've taken full advantage of the post-christmas sales...

First, on Boxing Day I went into the city with Kat to go to the Clegs remnant sale. I was very restrained and only bought one piece of fabric, this disrupted-striped jersey (1.6m):

Then yesterday I popped across to spotlight with Oanh to see if they had anything that struck my fancy, and they sure did! I'm a sucker for nice printed cottons (or poly-cottons), and this time of year Spotlight never disappoints!

First this pear print searsucker is destined to become a dress (2.5m):

 

And a fruit print voile, probably also a dress (2.5m):

 

I couldn't go past this chiffon on the sale table, it's so beautiful (3m):

 

And this chiffon will probably become another pendrell blouse (1.5m):

 

And how cute are these birds! This poplin will probably also become a dress, or maybe a skirt (2.5m):

 

This is also a voile and so striking. This will be a dress or a gored skirt, I haven't decided (2.5m):

 

I absolutely fell in love with this peacock print voile when Oanh spotted it! It MUST become a dress with some fussy cutting to perfectly place the peacock! (2.5m):

 

Another printed voile, probably another dress (2.5m):

I don't know what this was, but it has gorgeous drape. I bought it to give to my Gran to potentially become a Sorbetto (1.5m):

Of course none of it was for the two projects I have planned: my Cordova jacket and Hollyburn skirt, but nevermind, there are plenty more fabric shops to visit! The big decision now is where to start...?!

Lunch time fabric shopping... now with added Amanda...

Last Friday I had a very exciting lunch break; the fabulous Amanda was in town, and since she asked for fabric store recommendations in Melbourne, I offered to catch up with her in my lunch break in Fitzroy to visit The Fabric Store and the Alanah Hill outlet (that also sells fabric).

I wasn't intending on buying fabric myself, I was just planning on being a fabric enabler, but you know those kinds of plans never pan out, and I ended up purchasing the above pieces. On the left is some feintly striped jersey from The Fabric Store- you can't say no to a $4.80 t-shirt can you!? And on the right is a lovely print drapey shiney something from Alannah Hill. The "right" side of the fabric is VERY shiny, but the "wrong" side is just matte enough and the colours just as vibrant so I suspect that side is what shall be used. It is going to become a dress, I'm just not sure what design yet; if you have any ideas or suggestions please share! I got 2.5m of it.

Anyway, I had a great (but brief) time with Amanda, who is just as fabulous in real life as she is on her blog, and can't wait for when she comes down to Melbourne again (she has promised to try and make it to a Social Sewing weekend! Let's do our best to make her stick to that!). Sadly however, we didn't get a pic together as I encouraged her to run for the tram just as we were parting, quickly curtailing photographic opportunities.

What's next?

Since getting back from my holiday I feel like I've kind of lost my sew-jo. I'm drifting a bit and don't really have any focus or drive. I think most of the problem is that for so long before I went away I had other things I was supposed to be working on, my mental list of things I want to be working on got pushed by the wayside.

In an attempt to kickstart my drive to sew fun things again I decided to have another look through and tidy of my fabric stash, which has still been growing despite how little I've been digging into it. I've taken out all the pieces of fabric of a decent size, taken photos and tagged the photos in picasa with a descriptor of what kind of fabric it is and how much of it I have.

The problem is, I don't 100% know what I want to do with all of it, so I thought I'd post the pics here and ask if anybody has any suggestions or comments...

Shirting

  

These three shirtings have been around for a while, infact I blogged about making them into shirts over a year ago, wow! They are still destined to become smart button down shirts, I just need to commit to doing it and choose a style/pattern.
The one on the left is a really luxurious feeling one, I have 2m of it.
The one in the middle has some stretch in it, so the shirt can be more fitted, I have about 3m.
I have about 1.5m of the one on the right and I think it will become another JJ though (sans ruffles, possibly with a collar?).

Drapey Blouse Material

  

The left material is a gorgeous silk that I bought from Tessuti with the plan of making a Sencha blouse, but then I fell out of love with the pattern.
The middle one is some kind of man-made material that I inherited with beautiful drape, however it's quite a small piece so I'm mostly limited by what I can fit.
The last is a chiffon, which I can imagine as another Pendrell, however I have 2.5m of it so that seems a bit of a waste. But then it's more of a waste sitting unused!

Printed Cottons (or similar)

  

This left one is another inherited fabric, and I LOVE it but have no idea what to do with it (I have about 2m).
The one in the middle is a lawn that was originally bought to become a jasmine but after making a 'wearable muslin' I discovered that I need to work on the pattern a bit if I want to make a wearable one of those. I have 3m of it.
The gingham is larger than the one I used for the Jasmine muslin, maybe 1cm or so? I have 2.5m of it, so it could become a dress... but which one?

  

The two on the left are what's remaining of the masses of spotty sateen I bought at Spotight. All the small bits were put together into a quilt top and one of the larger ones a crescent skirt. These two are bigger pieces (4m and 3m) and are destined to become dresses I think. At least one of them will be another version of this self drafted dress (potentially with modification to the neckline, who knows!). I'm not sure about the other one.
The fabric on the right is a voile I bought aaaages ago with the intention of making Butterick 5350 but that never eventuated. I'm not 100% sure I love the pattern anymore (or all the inevitable alterations required to make it fit me).

  

At least these last three I know what I want to do with them! The fabric on the left I bought at the Rag Market while I was in Birmingham and is going to become a full skirted Cambie.
The one in the middle is hopefully going to become a Rooibos. I'm a little concerned because the poplin doesn't have any drape whatsoever (even after pre-washing). I was planning on lining it, but I am now thinking of maybe underlining it instead....
The one on the right is the last of the stretch sateen I used to make my first Cambie dress and is definitely going to become a pencil skirt!

Flanelette

At some point this will become some PJ bottoms.

Jersey

      

All of these pieces are jersey. The colours haven't come out completely accurately; the top left is a lovely bluey-grey mottled fabric, and the top middle is a beautiful cream. These are all destined to become t-shirts of some kind. The bottom middle most likely long sleeved, the others probably short sleeved. I might try some new variations so I don't end up with too many t-shirts all the same except the colour!

This last one, which is much more of a teal colour than the picture is showing, is hopefully going to become a jersey dress of some description. Very experimental since I don't currently have a pattern for a jersey dress, but I am planning on following the tips and techniques in sew u home stretch.


Ok, now I've gone through it systematically I at least have more of an idea of what I want to make... now to pick where to start!!!

As I mentioned at the beginning of what has become quite a long post (well done if you're still with me!), any suggestions and/or comments gratefully received!