Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Stashoholism Confessional: Way Overboard Edition

I gave up my car on July 6, and I used this as an excuse to go nutty buying fabric. Of course, half of that fabric was purchased online, the whole point of which is that it does not require the use of a car, but we'll put that aside for now. And it also doesn't account for the shopping I did last Saturday after I had given up the car. But we'll also put that aside. I would say that I wouldn't buy any more fabric for a long time, but I already made an order from FFC for more of the yellow twill because I bought only a snippet and had no idea I would LOVE it so much. But after that....oh, who am I kidding.

Last Hurrah With the Car G Street Fabrics Extravaganza:

G Street Fabrics, 7/5/08

The brown stripe will be gender-neutral reuseable grocery bags for friends who are getting married (they are cut out but not sewn); the green stripe will be a 3/4 or long sleeve blouse for cold weather; the blue print remnant will be Simplicity 4589, with the upper band being white; the textured white will be a pencil skirt, and also a collar for a navy and white version of Vogue 8408; the off-white knit print will be a new half slip and also just to have; and the white cotton/rayon jersey knit is already a sexy goddess version of Vogue 8386, which I apparently never reviewed even though I took all the pictures months and months ago. Huh. I will probably enter the white dress in the knit contest because it doesn't look like I'll have time to do anything else before the end of July. Incidentally, I LOVE the cotton/rayon knit. This was a remnant, meaning it must have come from a bolt at some point. And yet, I couldn't find any cotton/rayon knits on bolts anywhere. I am always looking for the perfect jersey knit. I find the 100% cotton available to us in fabric stores is generally too heavy and bulky to do the stuff that RTW does with cotton jersey. Hmph.

First Internet Fabric Purchase of the Year, from Fashion Fabrics Club:

Fashion Fabrics Club, 6/08

These stretch cotton twills are for a Mondrian dress project. The white is also the base for a dress overlaid with silk chiffon in a white, black, and yellow floral print, based on Simplicity 4224, which was my very first pattern review! The strapless underdress is done. The quality of these fabrics is sensational. If you're looking for a sturdy dress-weight white, look no further. And at $5.25/yd, they are a steal! I love the golden yellow so much I want to make a shrug out of it, to go with various things I have planned (including said chiffon overlay dress, possibly the Mondrian dress, the maxi-dress out of one of the G Street prints below), but I only ordered 3/4 yard because the yellow will only be for pockets on the Mondrian dress. So I ordered another 1 1/2 yds. And since the shipping is flat rate up to 5 yards *and* the ITY prints have now gone on sale for $3.95 I ordered a couple more of those.

I also have given myself permission to buy just about any knit print that catches my fancy; this is one stash category that is *always* used up. So I stocked up on ITY prints at $4.75/yd. Some are better quality than others. The black/white/yellow graphic print in particular is so thin that I probably would not have bought it had I fondled it in the store, while the black with off white wispy circles is a nice heavy weight for Fall. I was a little trepidatious about the described "metallic" gold in the red/black/gray, but it's pretty unobtrusive (though definitely there). I mean, metallics TOTALLY have their place in my wardrobe, but that print is otherwise chic and grown up, and I thought metallic gold an odd choice to toss in. All in all, though, I'm quite pleased.

Fashion Fabrics Club, 6/08

Fashion Fabrics Club, 6/08

I was a little annoyed with myself after I ordered the blue and pink, because I thought they were the same print in different colorways, and then I'd feel weird wearing both garments. I was so pleased to find they weren't! One of them will be BWOF 05-2008-121. If it's pink, the bands will either be hot pink or blue; if it's blue, the bands will be black. I really can't decide. My top choice is pink with blue bands, BUT I don't love the blue fabric. It's a perfect color match, but while I loved the matte eyelet texture of it in my BWOF 04-2008-128 that I wore in Paris, I don't like the texture for the pink. I want something equally sleek and with a bit of sheen to the main fashion fabric. I'll try to post photos of the options at some point.

G Street Outing With Friends:

G Street Fabrics, 7/13/08

The wool skirt length is just a black; they are normally $6 but were 30% off and I really couldn't pass up a wool skirt length for $4.50; the red polka dots falls under my unlimited knit print stash allowance; the silk has already been turned into a wrap skirt to go with my orange polka dot blouse out of my Vietnam fabric and McCall 5426 (wore it to work yesterday and was complimented in the staff meeting); and the black, white, and yellow cotton print will be a maxi dress (yes, Cidell, you have finally worn me down) out of the pattern I made my college graduation dress from--of "That's a ugly dress!" fame. Something about the giant stripes really drew me in, and a print that big can only be used on a maxi dress.

Total damage: *gulp* 33 yards.

Buying fabric is way too easy. Once my FFC order arrives I am fasting for a while. I need to decide the parameters of it. I'll be in Chicago this weekend, but luckily it will be a very quick visit for bridal festivities and I can't even think about trying to make it to Vogue Fabrics. Right? Please tell me it's way out of the way and nowhere near an EL stop. Please.

11 comments:

NancyDaQ said...

Yikes, 33 yards is a lot of fabric!! Guess you'll be busy sewing now that you won't be driving.

Big Sis said...

Yowzah!! You just made me feel SO much better about my stashaholism. I'm not sure if you just gave me license-to-buy or comfort, though.

cidell said...

It's a lot of fabric, but I think I have you beat in the last three months. I'm just not adding it up for the world to see.

Long live the Maxi Dress!

Mary Beth said...

sorry to inform you but there are *two* Vogue Fabrics stores near El stops: Roosevelt Road (Red line) and Main St., Evanston (purple Line). Good luck resisting!

Dana said...

I love your fabric choices. I should be getting my FFC ITY order in this week. However...after reading this, I'm going to have to go back and look at the non-sale knits and check out the twills!

Marji said...

Great fabric buy.
And bless you for not listing the sources, so that no one (that would be yours truly) knows where to go to find that great china silk print.

And that salad that you give the recipe for below looks too good. I'm printing the recipe.
Thanks

Anonymous said...

I love fabric too. My ideas are faster than my sewing capabilities! great choices!

Anonymous said...

Oh, I love it! And thank you for pointing out the may-08 burda dress. Have to make that ASAP! I'm going to the library tomorrow to get it!
Oh, and BTW about Scandinavian food... Next time you are going to Denmark, let me know, and I'll get you something great to eat!

Jamie said...

Thank you for being an enabler. Thanks to you I just purchased 15 yards from FFC! I think I must be over being mad at them because the ITY was calling my name...

I can't wait to see your Mondrian-inspired dress. I've been thinking about making one myself for quite some time, but just don't see it working in my wardrobe or with my life...at least now I can live vicariously through you!

Little Hunting Creek said...

I agree, you can't have too much nice knit fabric. The good stuff is hard to find, so when I find it I buy a bunch. Of course, now my hobby could be called collecting fabric instead of sewing. I'm not confessing how much I have in print - what if my family reads it? they'd never let me buy another thing!

Anonymous said...

Great finds! I'm impressed that you already know what your going to use each cut for. I'm usually clueless. LOL