Fabric acquisition

Here are some of the gorgeous fabrics I have been buying up big in lately. Should see me through for ooh, say the next few months!

Stocking up on basics: these two photos are of fabrics I bought in the after-xmass sales. They are all 'ribstop' cottons except for the black (far left), which is a soft fall linen-cotton mix. Having worked with ribstop before, I love it. Hard-wearing, reasonably crease-resistant, yet light, and fairly cool to wear.

These three gorgeous fabrics are my christmas present from my mother. 1.2 m each (enough for a blouse or skirt) of these three craft cottons from the wonderful Dragonfly Fabrics.

More after-xmass sale fabrics. Left: The two stripes (the pink is barely in the picture, bottom-middle) have the stretch running opposite to each other. The pink has horizontal stripes, the mint has vertical. The plain pink is 'seaspray' cotton-lycra. I love seaspray - heavy t-shirt weight, has a high sun protection factor, and wears well, so when I see it on special in a nice colour I nab some. The apricot is a gorgeous soft rayon-lycra knit. Mmmm!
Right: the label said this was 'seaspray' cotton-lycra, but it is a lot softer than the usual seaspray stuff. Hmm.... Anyway, I bought this today because I realised if I only got ooooh, say, another 40cm of another colour, combined with the leftovers of my warm pyjamas ('seaspray' in lemony-lime) I could have even more fun mixing and matching up knits in t-shirts than I have done so far (having cut a few of them out already).

 

More of today's acquisitions: Left, a soft cotton called 'bridie', in turquoise. Centre and right are cotton-lycra poplins. (The colour on the right is lilac. My camera couldn't handle the purple sadly).

Last but not least, my mother bought this for herself. A lovely soft cotton, a beautiful mix of colours from the distance (suits her perfectly!) and close up you see the gorgeous pattern (Can I fit any more superlatives into that sentence???)

Swing era sew-along, and other pattern delights

Last night I bought my first e-pattern - Sense and sensibility's "swing dress" Never being one to do things by halves, I bought a few BurdaStyle e-patterns. Going back to Sense and Sensibility this morning to check on fabric types, I discovered there is a sew-along on this very pattern, happening at this very moment, and is up to about the muslin/fitting stage. I have never done a sew-along before (I figure the stuff I did in Home Ec at school doesn't count) and am gonna give it a go. Could be a lot of fun! At the very least I may get my dress done sooner than I possibly would have otherwise.

The BurdaStyle part of my shopping expedition started with these gorgeous-looking wide-legged trousers in "half-sizes" ie petites, drafted for women 5ft 3" which I happen to be - plus another half-inch that must not be forgotten, that takes me to 5 ft 3-and-a-half inches. (I reckon the extra half-inch is my curly hair so it shouldn't affect the trouser pattern too much!)

I have been wanting to make a dress in a similar style to this one here. 

This Burda pattern is the closest I could find (I am not too fussed on having a collar).

In thin white fabric, with a scarf and loose hair to tangle in the sea breeze along the seashore, as the pattern photo shows, doesn't strike me as much to write home about (I prefer bathers or board-shorts on the beach!) but the one below, one of Burdastyle's members, is pretty much exactly what I want - but maybe in a soft blue instead?

And last but not least, I bought this just because I couldn't resist the pretty dress. Oh dear.

However, I realise I have in my stash a potential fabric. This cotton-lycra woven sateen.

The flowers are quite large, but with judicious placing of pattern on print, and application of lace and trim, maybe it would work...?

Having thus inspired myself, I am now going to sew.