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I have a lot of projects in my cue. Since I’ve been back to apparel sewing again in a big way I’ve started accruing quite a pile of patterns and fabric and ideas for what I want to make next.

Back in April I finally got a chance to spend a day with my sister for a belated birthday lunch and fabric shopping in the city. The day was cold and rainy, much like today, but we managed to hit both Vogue Fabrics and Fishmans Fabrics. It was like fabric heaven. I planned ahead and took a bag with all the patterns that I wanted to find fabric for and notes on ideas for other things.

I came home with this selection of goodness. I started with the wool paisley. I loved the colors and shading. It has a hint of aubergine and chartreuse green mixed with grey and taupe. I was inspired to use it for a lined Chanel style jacket. Then I looked for coordinating fabrics. I found the eggplant purple wool challis (for a blouse) and the taupey/grey wool twill for slacks. Then on the remnant table I found the green cotton/lycra knit for another top. You can see the patterns I have in mind below. This is going to be my “slow sewing” project for the summer.

I am going to go the extra step and make muslins for the jacket and blouse. I’ve made the pants pattern before so I know where to tweak the pattern for a better fit. I’m planning bound buttonholes for the jacket and lining the slacks. The plan is that come fall I will have a well fitted, designer looking coordinated outfit to wear to church (when we find one we like!) and work.

Of course that was back in April, since then I’ve done more damage to the state of my stash. Last weekend I took Sarah to Michigan for a college visit at GVSU. Before we left a quick Google search for “fabric stores Grand Rapids Michigan” revealed, Fields Fabrics. We stopped at their 44th St. location on Saturday and I made a minor haul. Their prices were very good and the selection at this location was okay. They seemed to have a lot of (nice) polar fleeces and signs that indicated they had a “truckload sale” on fleece. Next time I will check out one of their other locations and see if they have more apparel fabrics. Sarah did find a really high quality Malden Mills Fleece for a blanket that puts other lesser quality (Joann’s) fleece to shame.

I purchased some matte jersey for another go at McCalls’ Perfect Knit Dress. This time I got enough to make the wrap style. They also had quite a selection of stretch wovens at very inexpensive prices. I purchased the taupe cotton for another go at the McCalls pants and the blue and white print for yet another New Look wrap dress for summer.

The other dress or shirt pattern that I want to take a go at is Butterick 5451. I saw it reviewed on Pattern Review.com and liked the look. (I’m obviously on a quest for the perfect wrap top pattern!) I just haven’t decided on what fabric to use for it yet. I think I will just use a quilting cotton from my inventory. Here are the leading auditioners:

I really like the dark chocolate brown dots. I’m thinking one of the Amy Butler fabrics for the blouse or tunic length and the big polka dots for the dress length. What do my fellow MessMakers think?

I guess I had better hit Publish and make my way upstairs. I still have to pre-wash some of these and I have a birthday party to attend Friday night and want to do a quick embroidery project for a gift for that. While that is stitching out I think I will make some final decisions and maybe start cutting something.

Some new goodies were delivered this week. (See the link in the right-hand column for my etsy shop)

First off I picked out a few of my favorites from Lila Tueller’s newest line, Santorini.


(Note that the olive print with the creamy yellow background is backordered)
I lovelovelove these prints! The colors match my kitchen and living room and I’m dying to get my sewing machines out finally to make some pillows out of these.

Next up is the newest from Tula Pink, Hushabye.

(Note there are two other small scale prints available in all the colors, they are listed in my etsy shop.)

This is such a fresh line for babies. My niece is expecting her second baby next spring and I’m excited to make something special for him or her out of fabrics from this line. I just love all the little hidden animals and surprises to be found in the details.

Just checking online stuff before heading out for the weekend and found a nice convo in my Etsy inbox. It informed me that I was “top fived” by AllegrasCloset in a street team interview. Pretty cool.