6 out of 13 not stashed

In December, I was lucky enough, thanks to a fellow sewist, to have a week long holiday in Wellington, NZ.  Now, knowing I was going to be able to visit a variety of fabric stores I purposely saved up my money for a FABRIC SHOPPING SPREE!!  This worked perfectly into January’s theme of ‘Not Stashed.’

I’ve managed to make use of 6 of the 13 fabrics I purchased and I think this was because I only bought fabric if I had a specific project in mind to use it for.

Item 1:

Pattern: Grainline Studios Scout Tee – woven t’shirt.  I modified this into a cropped t’shirt by removing 10cm of length from the hem.  I also added a decorative zipper to the back (zip also purchased during spree!)

Size: size 4 – true to size for my measurements

Fabric: A charcoal, leather look fabric purchased from The Fabric Warehouse.  It it fine(ish) with a good drape, as in I wouldn’t make trousers from it but it could work as a skirt.  It also has these neat little perforations/cut outs.  I think I bought the very start of the roll as there was about 15cm of solid fabric (no cut outs) and so I utilised this for a contrasting pocket.

Cutting/Sewing:  This fabric sewed up really nicely.  I was unsure how it would go being the self bias for the neckline finish but it sits just fine.  Because this fabric won’t fray, this made attaching the zip simple.  I just sewed it in place over the right side of the centre back and then cut the split in the fabric underneath afterwards.  I used quilters clips instead of pins and also temporary spray adhesive for the zip and pocket so that I wouldn’t leave pin holes in the fabric.

Items 2 and 3:

Pattern: Thread Theory Strathcona – t’shirt variation.  A great, fitted, mens t’shirt pattern -from one of my favourite pattern companies!  Note however that the sleeves are very fitted so this may not be to everyones tastes.

Size: I find the sizing for the Thread Theory patterns very true.

Fabric:  Both merinos purchased from Levana Textiles in Levin.  My husband chose three fabrics for himself for me to make him t’shirts from; he walked away with more fabric from this shop than I did!

Cutting/Sewing:  I *just* managed to squeeze each t’shirt out of a metre of fabric – somehow including stripe matching!  I did have to piece the neckband though ending up with two pieces instead of one on the fold.  The stripe fabric was the most annoying fabric I’ve ever sewn with!  It just would not stop rolling right up on itself.  This made judging the seam allowance tricky and also kind of impossible to perfect the stripe matching.

Items 4,5,6:

Not garment sewing but I’ll include a quick photo anyway.  I recovered an old chair, footstool and cushion with fabric from Fabrics Direct and Stitchbird Fabrics.

I loved my little sewing tour of Wellington (and surrounding areas) and getting to visit all the new to me shops.  Now just 7 more fabrics to go!!!