Online Thanksgiving sales

A few weeks ago a bunch of the online fabric stores were having sales, and I decided there were some fabrics I could no longer live without.

These first two are from Gorgeous Fabrics. They only cut in whole yard increments, but always seem to be generous on most items (except for silks, as I've noticed.) So, I tend to buy 60" wide fabrics from them, and only get 1 yard. On the left is a stretch sateen in red, white, navy and tan. I'm planning to use Butterick 5351 view A to make a little dress for summer, which will match perfectly with this jacket. The one on the right is a thin white cotton called Instantly Heirloom Cotton. I'm thinking a summer tunic of some sort, maybe with 3/4 sleeves. No pattern has been selected.

These next two are also from Gorgeous Fabrics. The turquoise & yellow snake print is a jersey knit. No plans for it yet. The one on the right is a thin silk chiffon. It makes your eyes a little crossed to look at it all folded up, since you are seeing multiple layers from the top. I'm thinking Butterick 5355 view D, but not with the contrast neck binding. This will look great over white linen pants for summer.

All the others are from Fabricmartfabrics.com. They had 20% off everything, and there were a few things there that I've had my eye on for awhile. This first one is a slinky Maggie London border print knit. I've laid it out on my couch to show you the whole thing. It's very wide. This will have to be used for some sort of simple t-shirt. Perhaps I will include a neck binding of the solid mauve, so I'm not washed out by all that flesh color at the top. Or maybe I need a simple dress in order to utilize the flowers on the bottom.

I splurged on some fabulous silks, which they have wonderful prices on. This is an Anna Sui tie dyed China silk fabric, now sold out. I think the vertical vertebrae looking design is really interesting. I have no idea of what to do with it yet, but do have a little over 2 yards to work with. Maybe a fall/spring top with long sleeves? Suggestions???

Here are the other two silks, also Anna Sui designs. Does anyone know who exactly Anna Sui is? I confess ignorance in the area of fashion designers or labels. It would be interesting to see what she did with the same fabrics if she's got a collection somewhere. Maybe I should just search the web for that information... Well, anyway, the one on the left is a fun wide stripe of patriotic colors. I am planning a bias skirt, with seams of diagonal stripes meeting on the sides and the center front/center back. I use to have the perfect pattern for this, but can't seem to find it. These stripes will make cutting on the bias a snap. On the right is a silk I couldn't pass up, with stripes and embroidered butterflies along both selvages. I purchased 2.5 yards because it is somewhat narrow. No designs are springing to mind for this, either.

Did you happen to know that yellow is my second favorite color? I love it and am buying quite a few cuts of it lately. On the left is a polyester charmeuse that I bought for it's gorgeous print. A blouse? A dress? Not sure. The right side is a yellow cotton velveteen bought for Burda 11-2009-119, which I would link for you but it's in archive limbo land on their site. It's actually a little paler than desired. But since it's made of cotton, I thought I could dye it a darker yellow without any problems. However, draped over it is another yellow I happen to have in the stash, which matches perfectly. A monochromatic yellow ensemble might be a really great look. Thoughts?

Augh! I am buying fabrics faster than I can make garments!!! Why can't I help myself?

Simplicity 2608 - Red knit sparkly skirt

A big thank you to everyone who chimed in on the dressform question! I will definitely be making a purchase with that information in mind.

Here's the dress pattern I wrote about that I thought had received an unfair bad reputation. It's Vogue 1056, which I bought because I loved the interesting neckline. I decided to add 3 inches to the bottom and make the sleeves 1.5 inches longer. And I was so sure this was going to turn out beautifully, I didn't bother with a muslin. (Well, I guess I just about never bother with a muslin, to be honest.)

In reality, it turned out looking like this. I really don't know what I did wrong. The fabric is a stable matte jersey, but the neckline looks baggy and stretched out. I let it out here, took it in there. Nothing was working! (I hesitate to give this a bad review. It has been made without such droopy results. If you are interested in making this, I recommend a muslin to get the perfect fit before you cut into and ruin your fabric.)

Not to be defeated, and because I loved this fabric and kept it lovingly in my stash for over 3 years, I decided to comb through my pattern stash to see if anything I had might work for the remains.

Ta da! Turns out I love this pattern! It's just a simple knit skirt with an elastic waist, but with the folded over waistband, it doesn't look like an elastic-waisted garment. And because there's three layers of knit at the waistband, shirts with buttons can easily be tucked into it without showing through.

(That's my yellow Jasmine on the deck railing- a spring bloomer - putting on flowers in the middle of December! Crazy plant.)

Here at the inside you can see the elastic casing. I probably should have used french seams to encase this scratchy glittered fabric, but I thought it might be too bulky, and was scared to ruin the last little bit of my fabric. I zigzagged the waist seam allowance down. This is visible on the right side, but not with the folded-over waistband.


This is not what I was intending to make, but I'm happy to have saved some of the fabric and make a wearable garment from it. I also learned that I love this pattern and plan to use it a few more times.

***Edited to add that in order to have enough fabric for the skirt, I had to cut up the dress. So fixing it isn't an option at this point. :)

Dressform question

Back in early October I received some birthday money and the recommendation that I use it to buy a nice dressform. I don't really know where to start, but know I don't want one of those flimsy adjustable types from the local fabric shop. I have about $300 (or maybe a bit more) to spend. Have you any tips or suggestions? Know of any great places to buy one? Should I save some more money to get something super nice?