Fabric shopping online

Aaah, Sunday morning. Pyjamas, cup of tea and, naughtily, online fabric browsing time.

I purchase most of my fabrics online as my local choices are limited to Hobbycraft (dull) and John Lewis (overpriced and rubbish selection). Okay, there are a couple of independent shops in Cardiff, but they're away from the main shopping centres and rarely seem to have what I'm looking for.

People always seem surprised that I don't feel the need to fondle every fabric prior to purchase. My argument on this is that if you're reasonably aware what you're after and don't mind the odd surprise, then you might as well go for it. A good online shop will offer free samples if you're absolutely set on stroking (and often this scrap might be big enough for a Makie Make).

First up; Croft Mill. I bloody love this shop. A wide variety of fabrics of every kind, generally with a quirky name and description. Will send you up to 5 free samples: I normally add these to my existing order (visiting here is terrible for my bank balance) of loveliness. Their new Italian collection has some gorgeous lightweight lawns, two of which are on my shelf just waiting to be sewn up.

Yes... I own the shuttlecocks. Nom!

Next on the list has got to be the superb Ditto Fabrics. Based in Bristol, this shop has a great selection of quirky prints and sensible basics. Annoyingly, they look to have sold out of their elephant print. Boo!

Birds of Paradise cotton, available from Ditto Fabrics

Moving on to an eeevilBay seller this time, Favourite Fabrics. Although they've moved more towards the quilting market recently, this is still my go-to for simple cottons and basics at reasonable prices. Good news for Makie fashionistas is that they now offer a wide range of fabrics in fat quarters; more than enough for a miniature outfit.

Small-print floral available from Favourite Fabrics; perfect for Makie Couture

How's the bank balance doing?

We'll finish off then; this one is a bit of a mixed bag. Minerva Crafts and Fabrics appear to have recently moved off of eeeevilBay to a highly respectable online shop front. Inside it looks like nothing's changed and the site feels a bit like a jumble sale! Don't let that put you off though there are lots of listings for decent length end-of-rolls and remnants; I get a lot of outerwear weight fabric from here; trousers, skirts and wools for cloaks and coats, and I rarely pay more than a tenner for a couple of metres. Definitely one to browse with a cup of tea, but terrible for impulse buying.

Oooh. Tiger print cotton? £4.99/m? That's practically a neutral, yes? 

There you have it. That's where I tend to dispose of my dwindling disposable income. There are a couple of places that I've recently found and not really tried; Abakhan seems popular with you Northeners, and it looks like The Remnant House might be one to keep an eye on... especially if they keep stocking stuff like this bit of silky gorgeousness... I don't need it, right?

Leafy cotton lawn, £5.99/m. Mmmmm.... do not need? 

What are your favourite places to buy fabric online?

Sewing for Humans: Sewaholic Cambie Dress

Weddings weddings weddings.

The long-suffering bloke's sister is getting married today, so we're all off for a bit of a party (Plink is not coming with me. Too many opportunities for utter mischief) and as usual, I've decided that whatever I'm wearing is going to be made by me.

Typically, I'd found the perfect fabric long before decided which pattern to use. It was a bit of a toss-up between some vintage Vogue...

...or a patten I'd used once before...

...or this rather off-the-wall number (thank goodness I didn't go for this, would not have been flattering)...

Then huzzah and hoorah, Sewaholic released their Cambie dress pattern. Perfect combination of party but not prissy and perfect for the fabric I had in mind with its relatively simple lines.

Exceptionally glad I took the time to make a muslin for this, the first fitting highlighted a lot of issues. Hardly surprising when you're putting an hourglass shape into a dress designed with pears in mind, especially when the hourglass is only 5ft tall and overly-blessed with bazingas and booty. This means I've got a narrow back in comparison to my front, a huge swayback, a relatively skinny waist and chunktastic thighs (hoorah for full skirts!).


So. After starting with a size 10 all over for the first muslin, I dropped bust dart point by about an inch, converted to square neckline, chopped 1 1/2 inches off of the height at the shoulders to stop back neckline gaping wider than the grand canyon,  and widened waist darts for a bit of extra nip and tuck. 2nd fit muslin (now the lining) indicated I needed to take 1/2" off of the bodice length and drop the neckline by about 1/2 an inch, then do a bit more of a swayback adjustment. *Phew*.

Yay, BIRDIES! 

The skirt is made of neither of the pattern options; it's basically two 'option B' front pieces (the back cut in two for the CB seam) gathered. I've got quite enough 'natural' volume at the back already without adding more). Zipper sloppily inserted by machine as I was using a borrowed machine with just a straight foot, then hand sewn to shell and lining fabrics.

The fabrics are probably a little too heavy for the gathered skirt for this to be worn as a day dress. For special occasions where a bit of poofyness isn't a problem, it looks fine. Have to say that the colours of this print are spectacular and the fabric stitches up beautifully and presses well.

Let's hope it gets through the day without falling to pieces! Needle and thread locked and loaded in the handbag just in case... more photos to follow, naturally.

UPDATE!
The dress survived, as did I. Unfortunately there are but two photos of me wearing it, and both of 'em are blurred to oblivion. Oh well, I'm certain some more will surface. Here's me looking less than glam following a tussle with my sort-of-nephew to encourage him to stand still.

Friday night kickback

Plink and I have done a couple of night shifts this week (hers seemingly involving squids and fusebox snakes... No, don't ask me, see twitter.com/profplink for details) and phew, we're ready for the weekend.

Tonight has mainly involved finishing off hand sewing on a dress I'll be wearing tomorrow and having a quiet drink.

Hooray for weekends!

Reunion!

Huzzah and hurrah, the sewing machine and I have been reunited and it seems to be working perfectly again, yaay!

The other exciting thing that arrived is my copy of Alabama Studio Sewing and Design, which is (believe it or not) a guide to making couture jersey fabric clothing complete with full patterns. Although this was entirely purchased with my clothing needs in mind, Plink has been eyeing it up already... as well as the 2m of blue jersey in the stash upstairs.

Well, it's all going to have to wait. I'm on nights the next couple of days and I've still got to finish this dress for Saturday's wedding. Perhaps I could persuade Plink to do some hemming?

Eyeses!

Today has been frustrating for the Plink. First off, we went to Ikea and wouldn't let her come, then I've spent the afternoon sewing... But sewing for me, not impertinent Makies. I've got a wedding to go to in a week or so, and I need to look fab!

Anyway. Plink was mollified by my tidying her wardrobe and all my special Makie clothing-making bits into a couple of boxes.

Apparently, googly eyes make everything better.