Video: My Sewing Studio Trip on New Year's Day

It has been quite a while since I attended the big Sewing Studio sale on New Year's Day, and this time I decided to take you along with me! Come and see the shop with me and then I shop you what I got and talk about plans. Click the video below to watch now.

 

Video: Summer Fabric and Yarn Haul

I am suceptible to sales just as much as the next person, and I find that summer is the best time to grab fabric and yarn for your upcoming projects at the best prices. Come see what I snagged at 3 stores and what I plan to make with each piece. I can't link the fabric since it was from a local place, but I'm linking specific yarns I got in case you need to get some too:

• Knit Picks Stroll
  
• Knit Picks Muse Fingering
  
• Hobbii Silly Sock Disco
  
• Regia 4 Ply Design Line by Arne & Carlos
  
• Hobbii Black Friday Sock
  
• Hobbii Friends Cotton 8/4
  

Click through the video below to watch and let me know what you would make with these!

Fabric Haul: My Bi-Annual Sewing Studio Trip

July 4th was the bi-annual fabric sale at The Sewing Studio, and being an independent American, I had to observe this important holiday. I went with no plan this time, which can be dangerous, but I think I kept it pretty well reigned in.

So what did I come away with this time?

• 4 yards Art Gallery mint green cotton jersey
• 6.5 yards peach roses Laguna cotton jersey
• 2 yards lavender bamboo jersey
• 2 yards Espresso bamboo jersey

All of these knits will be various t-shirts as well as some knit dresses for my kids in the rose print. I love grabbing big cuts of their sale knits when they go super cheap. It's so great to have these on hand for when the need arises for a quick and satisfying project.

• 4 yards Rifle Paper Garden Party cotton in blue
• 1 yard Moda Garden Society Rayon
• 2.5 yards Ivy Pinpoint Oxford cotton shirting in light blue
• 1 yard Art Gallery Love Story Flower Stamp Adore cotton jersey

I'll be making a dress out of the Rifle Paper print - I believe this will be the first project I make from this batch. I majorly contemplated buying this or not, lol. I love it though, so I need to just sew it up. The faux patchwork print is a rayon and they only had 1 yard left after another gal got what she wanted. I grabbed it thinking I could get a top out of it - I'm thinking possibly with white jersey for the sleeves. We will see. The cotton shirting is perfect to recreate my ill-fitting Jasmine Top, and the floral jersey was another that they just had 1 yard, so this will be a basic short sleeve t-shirt.

• 3.5 yards green plaid cotton/poly/spandex 
• 1 yard Tula Pink Flamingo quilting cotton
• 3 yards Darling Velvet in Fuschia
• 6 yards black with red stripe plaid

This stack was all chosen by someone else I'll be making things for in the future :) The green plaid will be a button up shirt - I'm thinking the Presley by Charm Patterns. The pink velvet will be pants with the flamingo print being the cuff and pocket lining. This fabric is so soft and plushy. The black plaid with a red stripe will be some pants for him as well as a skirt or something for me - this was a factory remnant so it was $3 per yard and we bought the whole piece they had, so we bought the whole thing. This will be a fun challenge in having someone else who wants custom clothes.

We also grabbed a few other Tula Pink fat quarters for pocket linings for him, and the one thing I actually did need from this trip was buttons for my recently finished Sommar cardigan. I was working off memory for color and size and it actually paid off because these buttons are perfect and I'm excited to get them sewn on. The blue stripey buttons were just too cool so I grabbed 20 of them and I will figure out a project for them in the future.

Since I went with someone else, I was too preoccupied with having someone there too remember to film or photograph anything else. Crazy! But we had a fun day and I'm very happy with the haul. I feel that these things are all winners and I'm excited to churn out a few gable tops and that Rifle dress first. 

Do you live in Central Florida and did you go to the sale? 

Sewing Studio Trip & Haul

 

I have a tradition every New Year's Day and 4th of July that I go to my favorite place - The Sewing Studio in Maitland, Fl - for their big sale. On these days each year, they mark all their fabric and notions 40% off - even if it was already on clearance. Was I lacking in fabrics to sew? Not at all, but I did have a few things I was looking for and I always wait until this sale to stock up. My mom was sick this year, so I went all by myself for the first time ever.

I had a lot of fun and I was there for several hours. I bring a backpack to carry around my purchases while I shop, lol. So here is what I managed to bring home this year.

One of the first things I found were these ADORABLE Little Women Riley Blake quilting cottons. I grabbed a charm pack of this line of fabric a year or so ago because it was just so cute and I love Little Women. I have never figured out what to make with that charm pack, so now I have about 2 yards of each of these prints to go with that set. These were all in their clearance section, so they were a major bargain. 

Next in the sale knit section, I was greeted with a bunch of Art Gallery cotton jersey prints :) I grabbed 2 yards of the red floral and the green floral to make t-shirts. I'm trying not to mentally allocate all my cute knit prints to being Gable Tops, but who are we kidding? Then I grabbed the rest of their bolt of white Laguna Jersey from the clearance as well. I got 6 yards in July and I wished I had grabbed more - who can't use a bunch of white cotton jersey? So this cut is 4.5 more yards. Then at the end of my trip I found this Robert Kaufman cotton jersey that has hydrangeas printed on it. I grabbed 2 yards of this as well. 

The top right cut in this photo is an Art Gallery quilting cotton from the clearance section. It's only 1.3 yards, but it was so pretty and I knew I could make a very basic t-shirt out of it. The rest of these floral prints are all Japanese cotton lawns from Kokka. This is the first time I've seen these at this store and they were just so inexpensive PLUS the 40% off, so I grabbed between 3 and 5 yards of each of these. I'm excited to make some button up shirts and dresses with these. The fabric is so beautiful and light - perfect for Florida.

The navy and brown pieces are pinstripe linen - I grabbed 2 yards in navy and 2 yards in brown. These are a medium weight and they will be skirts. The olive green is an imported worsted wool suiting and it has the loveliest drape. I grabbed 2.5 yards to potentially make a skirt, but I could make a dress instead. We will see. The bottom corner is probably my biggest buy of the trip - both in the deal I got and the quantity. 

This is a shot poly taffeta that I randomly found in the silk and poly section. This had a very old clearance sticker on it for just $2 per yard, so it was $1.20 per yard with the discount. There were some imperfections here and there, but most of them just looked like lines that got pressed into the roll that I think will steam out. They had 12.25 yards and I bought it all knowing I could use this for a historical dress. They used shot silk in the 18th and 19th centuries, so I could do anything from a Robe à la Française to a late Victorian bustle gown with this fabric. My children were amazed at its color shift - it reads mostly blue, but at some angles it is red, which actually comes off a burgundy tone. Very cool stuff. This will be a big project some time in the future, but I'm thrilled to have got such a good deal on the fabric to make it a possibility.

And finally the boring stuff, lol. I grabbed some 2 inch wide elastic because I want to recreate my favorite pair of Soma leggings this winter. I grabbed 4 yards of black and white. I also stocked up on twin needles, including one that says it's an embroidery needle, which sounds intriguing. There are 2 spools of white rayon thread from the clearance (they are hard to see in the picture). Then I grabbed this nifty stick on thimble to try out since thimbles always seem to fall off my fingers when using them and I get annoyed. 

So that's my haul this time :) I had a lot of fun and I really was very well behaved. There was so much more that I wanted to grab, lol. I didn't get a single piece of Rifle Paper fabric, for example. I plan on grabbing some in July though. So this starts my ban on buying fabrics for the next while. I probably will not buy any until the July sale, to be honest. Are there projects I want to make that I need different fabric for? Or course. But I have SO MUCH fabric on hand that I need to use. I'm working on getting all these fabrics washed and organized and then deciding what I want to make up first. 

I also made a reel of my trip over on Instagram if you want to check that out (@showandtellmeg). Have you ever been to The Sewing Studio? It's definitely the best in Central Florida.

Sewing Studio Trip July 2023 + Fabric Haul

Last week, my mom and I both were wondering whether we should go to The Sewing Studio for their annual sale. We both have so much stash that it's hard to justify, but we also wanted some kind of specific things that we can't find locally plus the 40% off is hard to turn down. So we drove over 4th of July morning and wound up spending more money than we have on any other trip, lol. Funny how that works.

The Sewing Studio is seriously the best fabric store in Central Florida - so much so that we drive an hour to get there when we go. There just isn't anywhere else that has such a high quality selection of so many types of fabrics and notions. We both wanted embroidery thread, which we hit first, but everything else was just a case of seeing what the universe told us we needed. I always check the clearance sections first because they are an additional 40% the already discounted prices. I had too much fun. Starting with knits, here is what I got:

 

• 2 yards of bright yellow organic cotton jersey (clearance)
• 6 yards of white Laguna cotton jersey (clearance made it $4.45 per yard!)
• 1.5 yards of peacock colored bamboo rayon jersey
• 1.5 yards of plum purple colored rayon lycra jersey
• 2 yards of coral swan print bamboo rayon jersey 

I didn't go shopping that day thinking I would buy a bunch of knits, but when I found the yellow and the white in the clearance section, it sort of started a trend. I've used Laguna jersey before - I made this shirt back in 2016 and it still gets regular wear. This material has held up amazingly well, so I'm excited to have a large quantity to make whatever white shirts pop into my head in the future. And the swan print is one I almost bought back in January. I think it was marked down even further now, so I had to grab some. It's such a lovely and soft fabric.

• 3 yards of black Essex linen cotton
• 5 yards of coral linen rayon
• 2.5 yards tomato red Brussels Washer linen rayon
• 1.125 yards of white 100% linen

One of the reasons I really wanted to go to this sale was to pick up some linen. I wanted to at New Years, but I talked myself out of it because linen is so much more expensive than fabrics I usually use, but I've regretted that all spring so I decided to just bite the bullet and get what I want (within reason). The discount on everything makes it not as painful to buy, so I grabbed several solid colors for skirts and dresses. 

• 3 yards of gray base Happy Hilltop cotton sateen (clearance)
• 3/4 yard of fish print quilting cotton (clearance)
• 3.88 yards of mint base Happy Hilltop cotton sateen (clearance)
• 1.25 yards of navy blue 100% linen

Then we have the floral printed cotton sateen. These were such an amazing deal, I got both colorways. I had picked out the mint green and planned on getting 4 yards thinking it was the usual 44" or 50" wide cottons. At the cutting table, the woman pointed out that these fabrics are 108" wide! I was shocked for the price - they worked out to around $7 per yard. After finding that out, I grabbed the gray colorway too. This fabric is so light and smooth. These will make lovely dresses and skirts and I'm so excited about the possibilities with such a huge piece of fabric (not a luxury I usually have). 

• 1 yard of waterproof white canvas
• various Rifle Paper fat quarters
• puppy and kitty fat quarters (for my kids)

The fat quarters are always my downfall, lol. They are so pretty and inexpensive that I always grab a few even though I don't quilt. I love the Rifle prints though, and lately I've had knitting project bags on the brain. I grabbed a few that I thought would coordinate well for bags with a light colored lining. Then I always grab some for my kids as consolation for me being gone half the day lol. This time I got them 2 each and I will basically be sewing them into reversible doll blankets. The waterproof canvas will eventually be used for pad making and I've been acquiring the supplies to revamp my stash of them sometime soon.

• pedal stay
• knit stay tape (the best stuff)
• Lil Hookey serger thread hook
• embroidery threads (metallic, glow in the dark, holographic, etc)

And now the notions I grabbed (which ironically are what I picked out first). My foot pedals are always sliding across the tile floor and none of my cheaper solutions have worked, so I decided to finally buy one of these guys. I haven't tried it yet, but I'm hoping it keeps the pedal in the same spot as I sew. The serger thread hook thing just seemed too handy to pass up - I always hate pulling my tails through with a darning needle, so this will streamline that process. The rest is fancy embroidery thread. I tried to grab some basic colors but I also grabbed several of the clearance fancy threads. Embroidery thread just adds up so fast, ya'll. My mom bought a big box of rainbow colors that was regularly $200, so I'm allowed to borrow colors i need for a project. This was I have some fun ones on hand but can still get nice solids. One of these is reflective, which I thought would be cool to put the girls names on their backpacks this fall. So yeah - lots of fun even in the thread :)

Now I know this is a lot of stuff for a person who says they have a ridiculous stash, but I'm still pretty proud of what I brought home. My fabric purchases were entirely garment fabrics (the fish cotton was for my aunt) and they were almost entirely solid colors, which I know are work horses in my wardrobe.  I'm thinking of a Closet Case Patterns Fiori skirt for at least one of the cuts of linen and maybe a Charm Patterns Scout dress in the coral. The smaller pieces will be simple tops. We will see. For the knits, I'm contemplating the Gable Top by Jennifer Lauren Handmade and maybe a few Renfrew or Plantains. I never have enough solid colored tops, and these bamboo knits are so dreamy and soft. The colors of the Peacock and plum were just so rich. 

Friends there were so many lovely things I left behind. I was looking at many more linens and rayons and cottons and lots of threads, but the budget doesn't allow me to buy all the things. This will be more than enough to work with until New Years at least! I'm hoping this haul will really get me back in the swing of sewing clothing. I've wanted to for so long but I just never make it happen. Now I've dropped some cash, I'm hoping I will feel more invested and excited. 

The Sewing Studio Trip July 4th, 2018

So as with every year for my birthday, I went to the amazing sale at The Sewing Studio yesterday. This year it was just me and my mom and we spent hours spending a nice chunk of money on fabric. This store just has everything you could want and you can wander aimlessly touching all the lovely fabrics.

This trip was so important that I even took a break from moving to go, lol. We had a great day, and as always I wanted to show the spoils.

This is everything I bought this year. The pile doesn't look as huge as other times, but it's because the fabrics I bought are thinner - certainly not less in quantity.

Let's start off with the cottons. They had several Birch Organics Sea Life cottons in their clearance section, so I grabbed a few for 70% off (I know!). I got 2.25 yards of Sea Snails, 2.5 yards of Eight Legs, and 7/8 yard of Here Be Monsters. The two larger cuts will be shirts and the other was just irresistible so I had to grab it :) The pink with the trees is a lovely Art Gallery poplin called Nightfall Mystical Woods Solar and it's a lovely light weight - this will be a shirt. Bottom left is 2.12 yards of Rifle Paper Co Sun Girls in Sky for an apron for my sister. Bottom right is 1.38 yards of Kujira + Star Sightseeing Sand Dollar by Cotton + Steel - no idea what this will be, but it's super cute.

Next up - deliciously drapey stuff. I got 2 yards of Telio Dali rayon poplin in the Birds on a Wire print. This will be a top. The bottom right us a designer remnant poly chiffon that is a navy background with coral flower clusters. This will be a skirt. And the pièce de résistance - I grabbed 3 yards of this beautiful Art Gallery rayon challis called Flowery Chant Subtle. It's just heavenly feeling. This was my big splurge of the trip and it will be a dress.

I only bought 2 knits this trip - crazy, right? The white is an eyelet knit - so cool! It's polyester, but II loved it too much to care. I grabbed 2.38 yards and it will be a top for my and one for my mom. The lovely floral is another splurge - I got the last 1.25 yards of this Art Gallery jersey called Sprinkle Peonies and it has gold metallic on it :) This will be a lovely shirt.

And some specialty cottons :) The top left is Telio Playtime cotton poplin in navy blue with amazingly bright oranges all over. I grabbed 4 yards and this will be a shirt dress. I can't wait :) Top right is Cote D'Zur cotton seersucker by Robert Kaufman. I grabbed 2 yards to make a shirt. Bottom left is lovely cotton voile called Botany Full Bloom by Windham fabrics. Isn't it awesome? This will be a top and I have some skirt fabric I think will match it wonderfully. The blue and yellow and 2 yards each and they are cotton voile for tops.

I went a little crazy with the fat quarters, but at least this time I didn't just grab willy nilly. I grabbed 6 fat quarters of Cotton + Steel Rotary Club telephone dials print, 6 of Cotton + Steel Trinket Whistles, and 4 of Cotton + Steel Fruit Dots Gum. I figured with that many I could make a really cute bag with each. I grabbed 3 other single fat quarters, 1/3 yard of a floral, and a 1 yard cut of gray with pianos.

And the notions. This time I specifically needed serger supplies (which I will talk more about soon). I grabbed 4 white cones of Maxi Lock thread and 4 gray cones as well as 2 packs of serger needles. Speaking of needles, I really stocked up. I've run out of my go-to size (universal 70/10) and last time someone else took them all, so I grabbed 3 packs as well as a pack of 65/9s. I grabbed a multi size pack of jersery needles and 2 different sizes of microtex needles as well. I got a refill pack of blue chalk powder for the Chalkoner pen since they didn't have an actual blue pen. I also restocked on frixion pens! They may a felt tip variety now and I grabbed one of each color available. I also got some awesome twill tapes. The larger one has acurate inch increments and I grabbed 10 yards there for waistbands and other places that need stabilizing. The thinner white and gold tapes are centimeters and I grabbed 6 yards each of these.

Check out that line - and this was halfway through the day when the line was much shorter. The cash register is up by the front door, lol.

And I took a picture of my favorite section - I spent a lot of time fondling these rayons, voiles, and linens. I was seriously tempted by some $30 per yard watercolor rose printed linen. Gosh that stuff was dreamy...

So that's my trip this time :) Like I said, the stack may not look as large, but it certainly is about my usual quantity of yardage. Also I had a fun day with my mom, which is always great. I'm so excited because now that my house is on the verge of selling (we are counting the days now!) I will have all my time back without any guilt of needing to fix things around my house instead of sewing. I anticipate quite a serge of new items being made very soon, and it's so awesome to finally feel that way. So hopefully I will be able to start making nice dents in my stash and at least sew up the equivalent of what I buy on each Sewing Studio pilgrimage :)

Anyone else do any heavy fabric buying this week?

My Sewing Studio Haul, Jan 1, 2018

They say that how you celebrate the new year will be a reflection on what your year will be like. No better way to start a new year than by buying fabric, amiright?

Guys - I made my biannual pilgrimage. Yesterday I went to my beloved Sewing Studio in Maitland, Florida for the awesome mega 40% off everything sale. This 40% off is on top of any discounts that were already on the pieces, so I managed to snag quite a few pieces that were actually 70% off. When I left the store, one of the owners said, 'Good job!" when she read that I saved $375 off their original prices, lol. It was magical. I got a ton of stuff. So why not show off what I snagged, eh?

(Please ignore the mess in the background, haha). The whole loot in all its glory. It's ridiculous, isn't it? lol I tried to focus on less novelty prints and more solids and everyday patterns. I achieved this to an extent, but I still could not completely resist the quilting cottons. Ah well, here is what I bought:

These are some of my most precious finds. The magenta is a dreamy wool lycra blend - it's super drapey and just feels amazing. Normally this fabric was $19.49 per yard, but it wound up at $5.85 per yard so I grabbed 3 yards of this to make maybe a dress. The beige is a wool/poly blend that has a very nice drape as well - I grabbed 2 yards to make a Hollyburn skirt. The bottom two are both Geometric Nordic Double Gauze - I've washed these both and they are already getting nice and fluffy. I grabbed 4 yards of the gray and 3 yards of the neutral. The gray will become a dress and the neutral will be maybe a Sailor top and who knows what else. It was just over $3 a yard, so I grabbed a bunch. I've never used double gauze before, but I'm always reading how much people love it so I'm thinking it will be a great summer in Florida fabric.

I grabbed 1 yard of Rifle for Cotton + Steel Royal Peacock Navy cotton/linen canvas from the Menagerie line. I was hoping for the parrot rayon, but they didn't seem to have any left. I love this print, and I grabbed enough to make a knitting bag. The paisley print is a neutral gold color silk jacquard that I plan on using for a nice top for a special occasion piece. The coral is an ombre poly charmeuse that fades from coral to red. I grabbed 2 yards to use as the lining for a guipure lace skirt so I can finally use my Craftsy class. The black is a lovely 100% silk. I'm not sure what you'd call it exactly, but it's semi sheer and drapes like crepe. I just washed and dried it in the machine and it has a nice matte finish. This was so cheap I grabbed the 2.5 yards they had left and I plan to make a flowy top.

My only knits I purchased this time - I just wasn't super inspired by the rest. The floral is a super pretty Art Gallery jersey called Reflections of Love. I grabbed 1.5 yards and hope to make either a 3/4 sleeve Plantain or my 3/4 sleeve Boatneck Renfrew hack. The blue is a Ponte di Roma I think. This was a remnant piece, so I got 1.13 yards for a sweet deal. I'm going to use this as the collar and cuffs for my Disney going shirt this year, plus who knows what else. I find solids like this are handy to have around.

These are my fun quilting cottons - all dress quantities. The navy blue powerlines is called Me + You Grafic - 4 yards of this. Look at the lucky cats! I grabbed 4 yards of this as well. The safety pins is called Mrs. Sew & Sew - I got 3.25 yards because that was all that was left. The pink is called Zephyr from Cotton + Steel - 4 yards here. I've learned that 4 yards is a good go-to amount when you want to make a dress but don't know exactly which pattern, just fyi.

The peach storks is from the From Porto With Love collection by Cotton + Steel. I grabbed 2 yards to make a shirt sleeve button up shirt (hopefully the Sassy Librarian Blouse). The birds on power lines are from the Graphic Me + You line. The green is "sulphur" and I got 2.33 yards for maybe a Sailor top. The gray is 1 yard just because it was cute, lol, maybe I'll stick the two colors together? We shall see. The mustaches is an Alexander Henry print and I grabbed 1 yard. The gray with the squares is an Indah Batik that I grabbed 2 yards of to make a top. I love the crisp weight of this one - it's not as thick as quilting cotton, so I'm hoping it will be easier to wear.

These were all remnants and fat quarters. In the remnants, they range from 1.63 yards to 0.38 yards. I even grabbed a 3/8 yard piece of Garden Party in Crimson from the Wonderland collection by Rifle Paper for Cotton + Steel :) I've always liked this line, so I'll use this piece for a bag or something. There are 10 fat quarters, two of which I found 2 of so I can use them on slightly bigger projects. Two of them are from the An American in Paris line, which is cool. I even snagged a fat quarter piece of Goldfinch, which I've liked for a long time. These are all random and I'm sure they will work for accents, bags, pads, etc. Time will tell.

And finally my utility fabrics and notions. I grabbed 1 yard of Bosal In-R-Form Sew In Stabilizer for my bag making ventures. Last time I got the fusible because I didn't see the sew in, but this time I am happy it's the sew in variety. This goes a surprisingly long way - I managed to make a small cosmetics bag, 2 larger organizer bags, and some pocket pages for one of the organizers out of my previous 1 yard cut and I still have enough left for another cosmetics bag at least. I was to make myself one of the organizer bags, so I knew I needed more. I also grabbed 3 colors of bag mesh simply because they had it and now I can have it on hand. I finally got a Snap Setter tool! I've been trying to get one of these in the sale for a few years, but I've always been too late and they were all gone when I got there. Not this time :) I got 4 handbag zippers that are 43" long (2 mint, 1 lavender, 1 blue) and 1 white separating zipper that is 25" long - these will be great for my organizer bag and whatever else I want to make. I also restocked on my needles I broke over Christmas as well as getting some serger needles to keep with my other goal of the year in getting a serger up and running.  I even got a couple of Sewing Studio stickers! These were free but no less exciting, lol.

So that was my haul this time :) My bag was so big that the ladies at the door were concerned about me carrying it to my car, lol. I managed just fine. Another year, another awesome time shopping in a fabulous store. If you're anywhere in the vicinity of Orlando, I definitely recommend you make the trek over here. They have the 40% off sale again on July 4th, so start planning now :)

Sewing Studio Trip - July 4th, 2017

So I made my annual pilgrimage to The Sewing Studio in Maitland on the 4th of July :) For new readers - The Sewing Studio is the absolute BEST fabric store in the Central Florida area (seriously, you should check them out if you're local), and twice a year (New Year's Day and the 4th of July) they put their ENTIRE STORE 40% OFF even if it's already on clearance. Seriously. It's the greatest thing ever. People come from all over for this sale. I talked to ladies who drove from Gainesville and Jacksonville just for this sale. It's amazing. Since I live about an hour away from this fabric heaven, I don't tend to make it over super often, but I always try to go for the big sale. This year I was joined by my mom and sister, and we had a lovely time buying too much fabric. Here's my haul this year:

Admittedly not as much as previous trips (and it's a pretty lack luster photo), but I was on a budget this time and I'm very happy with the pieces I snagged since I feel they will all work in my wardrobe. So let's look at the breakdown.

First up: the knits :) I actually didn't plan on buying lots of knits this time as I have amassed quite the collection, but when you come across cute designs or luxurious fabrics for a steal you need to be ready, amiright? So top left is a Télio Dakota knit in navy blue with yellow dots on it. This is a rayon spandex and it's has a lovely drape. I grabbed 1.5 yards for $11.78. Top right is a completely delicious Bamboo Rayon jersey in a bright plumy purple color. I grabbed 1.5 yards for $14.00. Bottom right is an adorable cotton jersey by Dear Stella with flamingos on it! I grabbed 1.5 yards for $16.00. Bottom left is an Art Gallery cotton spandex jersey called Philosopher's Thoughts (it has deep thinking phrases all over it, lol). I grabbed 1.25 yards for $15.00. All of these are destined to become different t-shirts.

In the cotton section I stayed a bit more frugal (i.e. all of these were clearanced at 50% off plus the additional 40% off). Top left we have Chrysanthemum Blooms by Joel Dewberry in an awesome greeny yellow. I grabbed 2.5 yards for $9.32. Top right is called Faril by Lotta Jansdotter - it's white with greeny yellow butterflies all over. I grabbed 2.5 yards for $9.23. Bottom right is called Quill by Valori Wells - it's Essex Linen which is 55% linen/45% cotton. I grabbed 2 yards for $9.70. Bottom left is called Correspondence by Jim Holtz (it's postal style stripes) and I grabbed 1 yard for $3.73. I plan to make an outfit with the blue and yellow pieces. I bought the linen/cotton to make a skirt (possibly a Peggy skirt by Blue Ginger Doll, but I'm not completely decided), and I plan to use the Faril fabric as a Sailor Top by Fancy Tiger Crafts to wear with it. The Chrysanthemum fabric also matches the linen, but I'm not sure if I will feel bold enough to wear that much floral at once.

In the miscellaneous stuff, I grabbed 1 yard of Bosal In-R-Foam (which is a fusible foam stabilizer for purses and bags) for $12.50. I also got the end of the bolt on this lovely Télio Viscose Batiste in Midnight Blue. This piece is 1.75 yards and I paid $6.34. I got 7 fat quarters that were 50% then 40% off - 3 Cotton & Steel buildings from their Penny Arcade collection, 2 florals on a navy background, a blue Cotton & Steel XOs and a brown floral. All of these were $0.97 each. I snagged an entire tube of gray buttons for $2.00, some khaki thread (because I was all out), and 2 Dritz seam gauges. I've used my old seam gauge so much that I've rubbed all the measurements off, lol. So I decided to grab 2 more to make sure I had them on hand. Also I've wanted to try making a more stable bag for quite a while, and the Bosal interfacing is recommended for a lot of patterns by Sew Sweetness. I have a particular bag planned as a gift that I need to make this week, so this was well timed. It felt pretty expensive at first, but this stuff is 58" wide and I'm sure that I will get quite a few bags out of this 1 yard piece. Normally this stuff is $19.29 per yard.

I seriously contemplated some of the more trendy fabrics in the store as well. They had most of the Cotton & Steel Les Fleurs collection and the new Alice & Wonderland Collection (both designed by Rifle Paper in Orlando), and the rayon just feels dreamy in these fabrics. When it came down to it though I just couldn't help but think of how much fabric I have at home, and even with the 40% off sale it would be quite a chunk of change (for me) to get enough for a dress in the rayon. Maybe I'll make something from these in the future when I'm not on a strict budget. But today is not that day :) It's honestly not a bad thing - I walked away very happy with everything I purchased. Were there other amazing fabrics I loved? Absolutely. But that's not really hard to do, you know? I love fabric, lol. I'm proud of my self control and I still love what I bought. You can't beat that.

So did you grab any fantastic fabric deals this holiday? If you're a Florida sewist, I highly recommend heading to The Sewing Studio next sale!

The Sewing Studio - Let Freedom Ring, 2016!

So, I chose to exerise my liberty this 4th of July by buying amazing fabric for a steal of a price - as I usually do :) I took a break from moving and unpacking to go with just my mom this year and we had a great time. For those of you not from Florida (or new to my blog), The Sewing Studio is a fabric filled treasure trove located in Maitland (just outside Orlando, still sort of Orlando). The store has high quality fabric for everything from quilting to wedding dress making to home decor and everywhere in between. Each 4th of July and New Year's Day, they put their entire store (!!!) on sale for 40% off. This includes the items that are already in clearance for 50% off - you get another 40% off of that price. Craziness. Since these biannual sales coincide with holidays where people sometimes give money (Christmas and my Birthday at the end of June), I like to splurge on all kinds of stuff twice a year :) Generally I spend most of my time in this store looking like this:

Yep - that's "The Sewing Studio Effect", lol. It's so much fun. I do still have to reign myself into a budget, especially since it would be SO EASY to spend way too much with all the lovely silks and laces and other fancy threads. I can let loose a bit, but still within reason. It's a pretty overwhelming experience the first few times you go, but I've gone enough to get something of a game plan each time. If you're in the Central Florida area, this store (and especially this sale) are well worth a trip on your holiday. Anyway, you're all here for the fabric, so let's get to the good stuff :)

This was my haul this year :) I went a little crazier than normal (meaning I purchased a few things that were a bit pricier than my usual), but I have plans for almost every piece of fabric. If only the purchase included guaranteed time to make up everything you want, right?  Here's what I came away with specifically (all fabrics listed clockwise):

•  4 yards of Moda Bandana Bows and Dots print cotton - This will most definitely be a dress :) I'm thinking it would be cute as Butterick 6321 if I can find a matching blue or mint green for the contrasting pieces :) 
• 4 yards of Cotton + Steel Homebody Buttons printed cotton poplin - This will be probably a dress, perhaps a shirt dress? I only wanted 3 yards at first for a Hollyburn skirt, but when there was just 1 more yard left on the bolt I bought the whole thing. 
• 3 yards of  Windham Snippets mint green needle and thread printed cotton - Another dress here :) I may go for the tried and true Simplicity 2444 or 1419 - just depends on how those dotted lines handle darts.
• 1.5 yards of Free Spirit Memory Lane pink floral printed cotton - this is soon going to be on my lampshades in my new bedroom :) Whatever is left will also be used around the room on pillows and whatnot.

•  2 yards of Amy Butler Soul Blossoms Cotton Canvas in Temple Tulips print - This is another I have to decide on. Originally I wanted to make a bag, but it would also make a pretty cool a-line skirt. With how wide the fabric is, I might be able to do both :)
• 2 yards of Free Spirit dark blue twist printed heavy canvas - this will also be a skirt, possibly a Melissa, and the excess will be great for a bag too.
• 2 yards of Cotton + Steel Mochi Folklore Moon Rabbit Autumn Rice printed linen cotton. This is 55% linen, 45% cotton and has a metallic gold border print. I think it will be a great flared skirt.
• 2 yards of Art Gallery floral printed lightweight denim - This stuff was a slight splurge for me. I almost bought this exact fabric a month ago on Fabric.com, but held off and got some Brussels Washer linen instead. So when I saw this for 40% off, I knew I had to get enough for a skirt. I'm still deciding on a pattern, but it will be flared :) It's so pretty and drapey in person! I can't wait to make it up.

• 2.25 yards of crazy 3D squiggle flowers in pink and purple on mesh - This will be an epic skirt. I'm thinking circle skirt on this one :) The flowers are done the same way as one of my favorite trims I've used (on my mom's birthday shirt last year), and it was just so pretty and fun.
• 2 yards of bright pink poly chiffon - this will line the crazy flower skirt :) It's not opaque at all, but the crazy flowers plus this make for just enough to not show off anything.
• 1.5 yards of emerald green rayon jersey - This will be come a plantain tee with 3/4 sleeves. I adore this color, so I had to get some. Now if I can just find a nice mint green ...
• 1 yard of Mickey and Friends printed cotton jersey - Isn't this adorable?! I'm not usually a "wear Disney characters" type person (I blame the oversized t-shirts of my chilhood printed with Winnie the Pooh), but I think in the right pattern this will be really cute (especially if I wear it to the park itself). I'm thinking a Sorrel top with white collar and cuffs, but we shall see.

These were all remnants, so they were really cheap :)

• 1.75 yards of Amy Butler Alchemy Velveteen - this was a wild card purchase because to be honest I have no idea what I will do with it, but it was so cheap. This cut cost me $3.00. It's super soft, especially now that I washed it, and I can't decide if it would be ok to wear or not. It may become a skirt, but then it may end up covering a chair, lol. I'll have to see what inspiration strikes.
• 1.62 yards of black and white polka dot knit mesh - This will be really cute as a shirt, maybe a Parisian top with a white collar? It's a fairly dense knit, so I might not have to line it. 
• 0.9 yards of Ming green 100% silk chiffon - this piece was just one of my favorite colors and it's so beautifully drapey. This will become a top, but because it's only 42" wide I'm not sire if I can get a whole top out of it or if I'll have to use a different fabric for the back or something. I generally stay away from silks since I'm clumsy and tend to get picks in it, but this one seemed fairly robust. 

After the hours of fabric selection, we hit the notions wall and I was pleasantly surprised by some products I love that the store just started carrying (they now stock Sew Keys E knit stay tape!). The threads were grabbed for some of the fabrics I purchased that day (as well as the mint green zipper), plus I got white and navy thread since I go through those colors faster than anything else. The pink zipper is for my crazy flowers skirt, and the plum zipper was just really inexpensive so it will end up in a skirt eventually. I'm running low on Wonder Tape, and they only had this Dritz brand (I usually buy the Collins) but at 40% off I figured it was worth trying out. I gasped aloud when I saw the SimFlex Expanding Gauge! I've toyed around with buying one of these for years, but I just never justified spending $20+ on it. Since it was only $12 I decided to grab one and I can't wait to add buttons or pleats to something so I can try it out. My final decision of the day was the bag of buttons. I brought along my Hetty Cardigan to see about buttons for it since I'm almost finished and I didn't love anything in my stash. I actually laid my sweater out on the floor in the button area and went back and forth auditioning various button styles, and when I came across these round shiny ones I knew it was meant to be. All the others I tried were either too small, too red, too orange, too "old lady"-ish. These were the exact color of my yarn and they were the perfect size AND they were shank buttons (my preferred for hand knits). There was only one catch - I needed 9 and the store only had 8 if I bought the display button too. I tried out more buttons, but none held a candle to these. So, I tried out using a decorative button at the top of the sweater and ended up with a pretty mother of pearl checkerboard inlay button to possibly go with it. I still can't decide if I will use this button or just pull out the buttonhole band and redo the spacing to have only 8 holes. We'll see. I've got til the end of the month to finish, lol.

So, that was my sewing studio trip :) I think we were in the store for about 3 hours, which is pretty normal for us. It was crazy busy when we first arrived, but when we left it was much quieter (thus how I was able to lay out my sweater on the floor). It was a fun day, and I've been washing fabric ever since. I've also already uploaded my fabrics into Trello (thanks to Camille for this post - so great for organizing!), and I love scrolling through my collection online at will :)

I will confess that I started off my fabric buying weekend a little early by going to the local Hancock sale. Hancock is going out of business (which is so sad since I just moved to right around the corner from the nearest store), but they are in the final throws of their going out of business sale and prices are finally low enough to get some good deals. Saturday night I came away with this:

• 4 yards of coral rayon challis - this will be a dress, possibly with some other rayon as a contrast to give more interest.
• 2.38 yards of damask printed stretch cotton twill - this is going to be a skirt (I'm thinking a traditional knee length "jean skirt" style like the Style Arc Sally skirt) and I'm sure I'll have excess which will probably become a bag or chair cover.
• 2.5 yards of charcoal gray stretch denim - I'm really wanting to try sewing Ginger jeans, but I've been too cheap to potentially waste fabric on a muslin. This was cheap enough that I'm not too worried about it, so we'll see how that goes.
• 5 butterick patterns I've had my eye on: 6090, 6260, 6321, 6282, and 6285. The patterns are still not super cheap at $1.99, but I've wanted these for a while so I went ahead and bought them. I'm holding out that they will go a little cheaper soon and then I may get more. 

This was my second trip in to Hancock, and it's seriously so sad that they are closing. This store has been in the same spot my whole life and for a long time it was the only fabric store I knew about, so it's certainly the end of an era. I hope someone buys them out and reopens, but I'm not holding my breath. I'll especially miss them when I need notions on the quick - they were my place to go for thread and buttons all the time (so much so that the night shift ladies nick named me "button girl" because I was always there for buttons). I guess the universe just really doesn't want me to live that close to a fabric store - they are currently building a Hobby Lobby near my house that I'm selling and they are closing the Hancock around the corner from my new place - I can take a hint!) It's probably better for my budget, but it's still a bummer that now my nearest store is the Joann's in Melbourne :/ Anyway, it was a great weekend of retail therapy and fabric shopping :) Now I just have to get to making things with all this so I can justify going again on New Years' Day!