I did well (or badly, depending on your particular views on the subject of stashing things) last week. Four pieces of fabric in. One piece of fabric out.
The piece that went out was some cheap Abhakhan denim. Horrible stuff, even my newly sharpened shears had trouble cutting it and I had to construct the garment concerned using a size 18 jeans needle. Perhaps more will be written on that later in the week, and perhaps it won't. I don't want to jinx things by speaking too soon.
The pieces that came in were;
Divine grey mystery fibre which was a gift from RuthieK to console me after my grey trouser disaster earlier this month. It will become trousers once I have the pattern sorted out. I am a bit crap at doing burn tests. I stand in the kitchen thinking: “OK, its burning, its on fire, ooh, it smells...... it smells of…. Mmmm, let me see now… I know, it smells of burning things”. However, I think I shall attempt one on this fabric, Ruth wasn't sure what it was and I suspect it of being a natural fibre mix of some kind. It washes and irons well but does crease suggesting cotton or linen mix rather than wool. Also, it didn’t smell of wool when I ironed it. Surely I am not the only woman on earth who sniffs her freshly ironed yardage to better identify its composition?
Gorgeous cerise pink and black mixed fibre tweed from Craftswoman Fabrics. This was in the sale. My friend Julia bought some for a dress and sent me a swatch so I could see it. Which was dangerous since I had to have a piece as soon as I saw it. It was every bit as yummy as the swatch had suggested. This is going to become a Marfy dress. Specifically, the free pattern Marfy dress with the inset panels from the new catalogue. This would be the catalogue issued on Thursday, at least one copy of which managed to travel from Italy to the US in 24 hours, yet my copy couldn't even drag itself across mainland Europe and over the English Channel to land on my desk. Now that I know they have begun to migrate to their new homes, I have had to visit the post room on the most flimsy of pretexts, several times today. I examined the In tray in the office every half an hour in case it sneaked in whilst I wasn't looking. He who is guardian of the In tray has now started to shout "Its not here yet" every time I come out of my office and even look in the direction of the In Tray's home.
Two pieces of bamboo/lycra jersey; one red, one a sort of lavender colour. These were my prize fabrics from the Wool Contest. My monitor must be playing up as the lavender was a really bright purple on the monitor. I was a bit disappointed, until I found that the lavender works better with existing fabrics than the purple would have done. The red is a good shade for me, it has a blue undertone and is a deep, expensive looking red. The jersey itself is lovely and soft and the red is a bit thicker than a lot of jersey, making it ideal for the inevitable polo neck that will be one of the items made from each piece.
Now, although that was all that physically entered the house, I do have a joint order in at Fabric.com, with my friend, and I did go a bit mad in the $1.95 sale, ordering a massive 17.5 yards of fabrics. Three yards of that was full price Bemberg lining, the rest was sale fabrics, mainly Vera Wang wools and bottom weights, with some knits thrown in for good measure. There was a huge run on the fabrics, with much discussion at Pattern Review on the subject of stocking up. Someone bought enough that the box weighed 48 pounds!!!!!!!!! So I feel my total was a bit conservative really. However, I’ve not heard back from my friend to know if we got all the fabric we ordered. The totals were rolling down toward zero as we ordered, so I may have less than I think I have. And in any case, I won’t get it until April as my friend can’t get it to me until then.
Ah well, a healthy stash is a happy stash. The fabrics would get lonely if they didn't have enough friends to talk to.
The piece that went out was some cheap Abhakhan denim. Horrible stuff, even my newly sharpened shears had trouble cutting it and I had to construct the garment concerned using a size 18 jeans needle. Perhaps more will be written on that later in the week, and perhaps it won't. I don't want to jinx things by speaking too soon.
The pieces that came in were;
Divine grey mystery fibre which was a gift from RuthieK to console me after my grey trouser disaster earlier this month. It will become trousers once I have the pattern sorted out. I am a bit crap at doing burn tests. I stand in the kitchen thinking: “OK, its burning, its on fire, ooh, it smells...... it smells of…. Mmmm, let me see now… I know, it smells of burning things”. However, I think I shall attempt one on this fabric, Ruth wasn't sure what it was and I suspect it of being a natural fibre mix of some kind. It washes and irons well but does crease suggesting cotton or linen mix rather than wool. Also, it didn’t smell of wool when I ironed it. Surely I am not the only woman on earth who sniffs her freshly ironed yardage to better identify its composition?
Gorgeous cerise pink and black mixed fibre tweed from Craftswoman Fabrics. This was in the sale. My friend Julia bought some for a dress and sent me a swatch so I could see it. Which was dangerous since I had to have a piece as soon as I saw it. It was every bit as yummy as the swatch had suggested. This is going to become a Marfy dress. Specifically, the free pattern Marfy dress with the inset panels from the new catalogue. This would be the catalogue issued on Thursday, at least one copy of which managed to travel from Italy to the US in 24 hours, yet my copy couldn't even drag itself across mainland Europe and over the English Channel to land on my desk. Now that I know they have begun to migrate to their new homes, I have had to visit the post room on the most flimsy of pretexts, several times today. I examined the In tray in the office every half an hour in case it sneaked in whilst I wasn't looking. He who is guardian of the In tray has now started to shout "Its not here yet" every time I come out of my office and even look in the direction of the In Tray's home.
Two pieces of bamboo/lycra jersey; one red, one a sort of lavender colour. These were my prize fabrics from the Wool Contest. My monitor must be playing up as the lavender was a really bright purple on the monitor. I was a bit disappointed, until I found that the lavender works better with existing fabrics than the purple would have done. The red is a good shade for me, it has a blue undertone and is a deep, expensive looking red. The jersey itself is lovely and soft and the red is a bit thicker than a lot of jersey, making it ideal for the inevitable polo neck that will be one of the items made from each piece.
Now, although that was all that physically entered the house, I do have a joint order in at Fabric.com, with my friend, and I did go a bit mad in the $1.95 sale, ordering a massive 17.5 yards of fabrics. Three yards of that was full price Bemberg lining, the rest was sale fabrics, mainly Vera Wang wools and bottom weights, with some knits thrown in for good measure. There was a huge run on the fabrics, with much discussion at Pattern Review on the subject of stocking up. Someone bought enough that the box weighed 48 pounds!!!!!!!!! So I feel my total was a bit conservative really. However, I’ve not heard back from my friend to know if we got all the fabric we ordered. The totals were rolling down toward zero as we ordered, so I may have less than I think I have. And in any case, I won’t get it until April as my friend can’t get it to me until then.
Ah well, a healthy stash is a happy stash. The fabrics would get lonely if they didn't have enough friends to talk to.
3 comments:
Yes a wonderful week with all that lovely fabric! I have not bought any fabric since the show in November - yes really! I think the grey fabric is cotton, but since I cannot remember where I bought it, I am no help at all.
You're not the only one who sniffs when ironing. Although when I do my burn tests, I ask for DH's help.
I did wonder what you'd get for a prize - more fabric, how appropriate!
All sounds yummy.
I'm rubbish at identifying by sniff. I usually just went by the ashy remains - that is if it went hard and plasticy or not and of course, wool is 'self-extinguishing'. Makes you feel all technical and sciency though.
I went to Mandor's yesterday. Went to buy denim. Didn't buy denim. But I bought moleskin, Teflon coated cotton canvas, oxford cloth 2 buttons and a reel of thread. (all for bags) that's not too bad, no?
Well that was just in the dress section. I did a lot more damage in the quilt section.
The most dangerous 4-letter word in the English language.
S
A
L
E
Oh!!! My word verification word is washioni! Which is what you have to do after fabric purchasing - very appropriate.
Cheers,
AJ
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