Stocking up during sales

I have still not managed to sew anything but I am getting closer, with my final Uni assessment piece due Monday night, so I hope to be sewing very soon.

Anyway, today two stores I have been know to shop with are both running sales, Lincraft and Textile Traders, so I made the most of having a bad back and not being able to move much today today and sat here with the lap top doing a little shopping.

From textile traders I ordered these ...

From Lincraft I ordered these ...

While I was at it I purchased a french curve and long clear quilting to help make altering patterns a little easier ...

At least I should be ready to sew when I have the time.

EDIT: I just discovered one of the Janome overlockers is on sale for half price. It is so tempting, my overlocker is 20+ years old and I am beginning to wonder if it is worth paying for new blades and an overhaul or whether I should just buy the new one? The difference between the cost for either option won't be much ...

No progress yet

Apart from the second part of the fabric order arriving and ordering some extras to take advantage of the 40% off sale at Spotlight, including Muslin and a couple of lightweight lawn fabrics destined to be tunic tops or kaftans, there has been very little done on the sewing front. I have downloaded a couple more PDF patterns from independent designers as well. I don't know if these recent acquisitions will fit into a SWAP plan, should I decide to take part, but they will surely form a good part of my Summer sewing plans.

It's arrived, well ...

I ordered 9 pieces of fabric from Darn Cheap on the 2nd of October (as per earlier post) and some of it arrived this morning; the two bottom weights, the grey knit and the grey/white patterned woven.

The grey knit is the softest knit I have ever felt, it is wonderful, and will be perfect for a loose fit summer top or tank. It feels so good I went back to the site to see if they had other colours in the same fabric but they only have a pink-salmon colour which I don't think would suite me, shame.

The plain black is a linen blend and looks like it will work well for a skirt or cropped pants, which was the intention when I ordered it. It will be interesting to see if it softens at all on washing or whether it will remain a little crisp.

The gray/white patterned fabric is a bit silkier than I expected but it will still be good for a loose flowy shirt or kaftan for Spring or Summer. I am not sure if this might shrink so I am a bit undecided about whether I should pre-wash it or not.

The dark denim is a lot heavier than I expected and is more of a winter weight fabric so that will be added to the stash for sewing next year, perhaps.

I am assuming the remaining knit fabrics are in another package and hopefully they will arrived tomorrow so I can start planning what to do with them, I am eager to get some sewing done but then again Artisans Square's SWIG rules have not been posted yet (usually happens first week of November or thereabouts) so I may hold off making any plans until I decide if I will be Swap-ing or not.

Copy Shop Printing of PDF's

In the past few years I have started buying PDF patterns instead of printed patterns, not only is there instant gratification but I don't have to pay shipping costs either (which can be quite high now the Aussie dollar is low against the USD).

Normally I print these at home and spend a few minutes taping them together before cutting them out but I wondered whether it would be worth taking them to a copy shop to have them printed, especially those with a large number of pages. However, here we only have Office Works who offer this service BUT they are known to state that copyright issues prevent them from printing sewing patterns. Really? We pay the pattern designer for the right to use their patterns and they often supply us with print at home and copy shop versions so we can print them either way. I can't understand why there is a Copyright issue? Some people have taken their receipts for pattern purchase in with them still to be told now.

A pattern group I am in has taken this issue up with Office Works and an outcome is pending. I believe that because a customer pays for these patterns and they are supplied in this form to be used they should stop being ridiculous and just print them. There has been some forward movement on this issue but I am holding off printing until I hear that the local store has agreed to print.

I wonder, have you ever had this issue where you are?

A little shopping

After todays not so successful attempt to buy fabrics locally I decided to go online and see what I could find ...

The center top and center bottom are bottom weight wovens, the bottom right corner is a woven and the others are all knits.

The bottom weights will be pants or skirts (depending on how they feel, drape etc), the black and white patterned woven will be a summer over-shirt or kaftan and the rest will be tops. No patterns decided as yet, I won't do that till they arrive which hopefully won't be too long.

All fabrics are from Darn Cheap and as their name suggests all fabrics were very well priced.

Love Notions Laundry Day Tee #2

I whipped up another of these tops today but this time I used some mystery knit fabric I have had in my stash for an unknown length of time. I think it is probably a mix of cotton and lycra but it doesn't have a lot of drape and while the fit is still ok it does not hang as well as the ITY knit I used yesterday. Still ok but not great but it probably didn't help that I forgot to make the shoulder adjustment.

This afternoon I popped into one of the local fabric stores to get some more fabric and found something that looked a little different so I decided to get that. What I found weird was that when I asked for 2m the lady serving looked at me like I had three heads. She questioned why I needed that much fabric, was I making a dress, etc. No, I am making another top and yes I am aware how much I am buying, the pattern I am going to use suggests 1.8m and I always allow a bit extra for shrinkage. She was still hesitant to cut the 2m I asked for and I almost had to convince her that I knew what I was asking for. It was only $14 per metre so I really can not understand her concern, after all anything left over can be used for contrast sleeves and neck or sleeve bindings.

I would have thought shops wanted to sell their goods but perhaps I am wrong ...

EDIT: Yesterday I cut the above mentioned fabric, sewed shoulders together, installed sleeves, sewed side seams and all was going well ... till I attached the neck band. Ugh. Despite it being pinned in 1/8's around the neck somehow during sewing it 'slipped' and the result was atrocious. I have never had that happen before! I removed the neckband best I could but needed to trim down neckline once that was done (due to holes being snagged during unpicking). I recut the neckband a little longer and a little wider and re-applied it. It just looks horrid. I don't have enough to recut the front and back and while I know there will be some way to rescue this and make it work (perhaps with the addition of a yoke) but for now I am over it. I am putting it away and will (perhaps) come back to it some time in the future.