Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Stashoholism Confessional: Fabric Mart Bundled Me In

Fabric Mart Free Bundle 9-2011

I had gone a while without ordering fabric from the internet--my last order was in July, knits from Fabric.com. But I opened one too many Fabric Mart emails, and they enticed me with their sale on ponte knits. They were doing a promotion for a free 10 yard bundle with a $75 order. It's amazing (or horrifying, depending on your perspective) how quickly you get to $75. While I definitely enjoy carefully selecting my fabric, dreaming up projects for them, the anticipation of waiting for them to arrive, there is something about a mystery bundle that is too much fun.

I have no idea how they select and package their bundles, but the times I have received one it seems almost as though they look at my selected order and actually make an effort to give me fabrics I will use. And they did an excellent job here!

FM Rayon + S2305The pick of the litter is the rayon print in cream, hot pink, and black. I immediately saw it as a pussybow blouse, and then I thought "Why make a blouse when you can have a dress?" I am hoping I have enough fabric to make the Cynthia Rowley Simplicity 2305 dress with a tie neck.

The navy and green print is a polyester knit; you can't have too many of those. At least, I can't.

The black fabric is a nice lightweight high quality glossy cotton. This was extremely fortuitous. One of the items in my selected fabrics is a black cotton "lawn." I need a lightweight black cotton to make bias tape and for lining pieces where white batiste won't do. Well, the "lawn" is actually a heavy-weight faille; a wonderful fabric, but not at all suitable for the purpose for which I ordered it. The bundle fabric is exactly what I was looking for.

The pastel print rayon is not my style and not great quality, but it will be perfect for muslining lightweight projects (maybe my sari silk?).

The only thing I won't find a use for is the khaki/beige knit. It's a nice heavy knit and it appears to be pre-fused with a lightweight interfacing (in other words, the black side cannot be used as the public side). It would be perfect to make a waterfall cardigan or unstructured knit jacket. I do not wear brown, ever, and if I were ever to wear brown it would be rich brown, not khaki. This fabric is too close to the color of my skin.

If you would like this beige/khaki knitfabric, sign up for the giveaway drawing in the comments. I'm limiting to US only; so sorry to my international readers but this heavy fabric would be quite expensive to ship internationally. As usual, you must have commented on my blog in the past six months to be eligible.

Fabric Mart 9-2011-1

And here is what I actually ordered. I love the faille knit in black with blue print. And such a steal at $1.99/yd! It is high on the list to make Butterick 5677 (on sale today for $1.88!), the colorblock dress, with black.

I was hoping the blue in the faille print would match the midnight blue ponte next to it, but they are completely different colors so no go there. LOVE the midnight ponte. I haven't decided what to do with it yet. Maybe Butterick 5559, the Maggy London with the pleats radiating from the side seam.

S2754 in Pink and Gray I mentioned before that I passed my yellow and gray fan dress Simplicity 2754 on to the Goodwill, as it never stopped feeling like a nightgown to me. I liked the pattern a lot, though, so I got this pink and gray rayon knit fabric to replace it. The bad thing about new fabric is that it pushes planned projects to the back of the line. The good thing is that it is inspiring to sew up. So all that remains on this project is the hem.

B5672 in Animal Print For my long awaited animal print dress, I will use Butterick 5672. I have high hopes for this pattern. It is a nice basic shape, but the pleats give it a little extra interest. This animal print rayon knit appears to be the same thing as the Style Studio Stretch Rayon I got from Fabric.com in July, as Fabric Mart had a different colorway of the print I got from Fabric.com in their selection. It is a nice weight and appears fairly stable (with a little bit of growing at the hem). I'm not sure it will totally work as a slinky number like this; it is stable but not the type of fabric that will stay highly fitted. We'll see.

The next rayon knit print is to match some purple satin from G Street to make an outfit for my mom. I'm not sure she'll love the bright bold print, but I think it will be cute on her.

The fairly unappealing olive textured knit is to underline the gorgeous olive sweaterknit I got from Golden D'Or in Dallas last Christmas. I wanted a similar color, not a flesh tone, to underline the sheer sweaterknit and this is the first time I've found something that will work. I have been puzzling over the content of that sweater knit, btw. It burns to a hard plastic bead, but the smoke isn't thick and curling and it doesn't smell like poly. I pre-washed it by hand and when wet it is clear there is some wool in it. Woot! I think it is a wool/nylon blend, but no guess on percentages. I am kicking myself for not getting some of the hot pink, too!

The last is the cotton "lawn," which, as noted above, I speculate is really faille. As far as I know, lawn is a smooth, lightweight weave. This fabric is quite heavy (bottomweight at the least; it would be hard to wear as a dress), ribbed along the cross-grain, and has a sheen that made me suspect that it was actually poly--I was pleasantly surprised when the burn test said all cotton. I don't wear a lot of black. I think it looks good on me, but when I'm reaching for something to wear I am almost never in the mood for darkness. So I was contemplating whether to keep this. However, I think it would make a spectacular less-than-formal suit with a Chanel-style jacket. I don't see myself doing the full Chanel treatment, but I have McCall 6041 and it gets good reviews on PR. I will not, however, be "making it crafty." I see black-on-black grosgrain ribbon trim for this. Very chic.

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I have been doing some snoop shopping for Fall! I can't wait to talk about all my ideas (in addition to these--my sewing time delusion is going strong). What's appealing to you right now?

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Thank you for the advice on the project that reveals itself to be a fail midway! I ended up finishing the dress. Love the style, and it was good to make this "muslin," which showed me a few needed fitting tweaks. I will try to take photos this weekend and show it to you next week.

18 comments:

isidore said...

It sounds like they sent you the wrong fabric instead of the navy lawn. I just bought some lawn from them in a different color, and it was definitely lawn and not a bottom weight like you described. Call them up and tell them! The one time they sent me the wrong fabric, it only took a minute to call them and give them the order and item number, and they sent out the right fabric and let me keep the mistake fabric too.

I'm really jealous of your bundle, you got some great pieces! I always seem to get pastels when I get a free bundle, and my fabric tastes are pretty similar to yours. Last time I think I got 3 yards of pale pink satin. Blech! I can't really complain, it was free. Maybe I can be a princess for Halloween.

puu said...

after the PR shopping day in NYC a few weeks ago, this is pretty much my sewing life:

"The bad thing about new fabric is that it pushes planned projects to the back of the line. The good thing is that it is inspiring to sew up. "

great picks! can't wait to see them!

Karin said...

Ah go on! Make it crafty! (just kidding, I have yet to see this pattern made up as per the envelop.)
The surprise bundle is surprisingly good. Your own picks are even better. I wish that fabric mart shipped internationally. Then again, no shipping to the uk keeps me out of trouble. Looking forward to the lovely dresses you will sew out of this fabric!

Adelaide B said...

Mystery Box! As you know, I love a mystery box. Have fun!

elizabeth said...

With prices like that, who could refuse? Perhaps you're being too hard on yourself.....?

Sarah C said...

Mystery boxes are my favorite thing from Fabric Mart!! The pattern you have picked for the cream, black and hot pink rayon is perfect!

Mrs. Micawber said...

Love that Cynthia Rowley pattern. And the pink/grey rayon knit. I gave up ordering rayon knits online because they always turned out too sheer.

How could they not know what lawn is?

meli88a said...

I did the same thing... fell for the FM promotion and got the bundle as well. I also have the tiny floral rayon, we'll be fabric twins!

Sandi said...

They got me too with the ponte sale and I was also thrilled with my bundle~

Amber Elayne said...

pretty! Love the blue faille especially but I'm quite impressed with your free bundle too! I was looking at the Simp 2754 and the lines are nearly identical to my Wings of Glory top, if you extend the bottom into a shirt length.... Time for your Anthro top :)

ELMO said...

Whaaaa, I was going to buy that navy/lime poly knit and it was removed from the site. I've sewn up the leopard print for your Butterick 5672, it's so soft and yummy isn't it? You received a nice selection.

Wag Doll said...

Oh thanks for the inspiration -I've got the Simplicity 2305 pattern beucase I love the style but I had no idea what fabric to buy, you're right - it would look great in a print. Can't wait to see the end result.

Lynn Mally said...

Wow, this is a lot to absorb--both for your readers and your closet! Could you post your sewing list somewhere again? I tried a full scale Chanel style jacket once...and almost died. Your solution sounds goods.

Nethwen said...

Ooh, I like that blue and black print you ordered. And free mystery boxes? I need to check out Fabric Mart!

Joy said...

I'm amazed the bundle is so good.
What? No crafty jackets for you? (:

Witch Hazel said...

Wow, you certainly chose some beautiful fabrics! And to get so much good stuff for free with it, the mystery box deal sounds enticing indeed!

If you really have absolutely no use for the beige knit, I have recently picked up McCalls 6408 at a 99c sale, and the beige would be perfect for that cardigan. I actually LIKE beige. :)

orange dream said...

Please sign me up for the beige knit!

I'm actually sad to hear that the floral rayon woven is bad quality. It has that cool+prairie vibe that I've been feeling. Oh well. I guess I'll buy other fabric haha

Anonymous said...

Blogger keeps deleting my comment, but I'll try again...

From your experience it looks like mystery bundles are definitely worth a go. That poly knit is really fun and the rayon looks like it'll be a nice wardrobe staple.

I have several tops in the works at the moment. I was struck by one of Cidell's recent posts about needing clothes to wear to watch football. It occurred to me that I've been sewing and dressing as if I was still teaching. It doesn't bother me that I dress dressy for a SAHM, but it does bother me that I end up in pajamas or workout clothes when my kids have dirtied up my nice clothes simply because I have no casual wear. So if I finish all of the tops, my sewing treat to myself is the same Butterick color blocked dress in turquoise and white. I can think of no place practical for it in my wardrobe, but I think it's awesome, so darn it, I'm going to make it work.

I rather like khaki too. I'm not a brown lover, but khaki doesn't wash me out and it brings out my hair. I would me more than happy to take it off your hands. ;)