September 30, 2013

Shop: Holiday Fabric

 
First up, thanks for all your lovely comments on my recent posts! Especially to all the love I got for my red Bombshell Swimsuit. I'm glad I've inspired a few of you to reconsider the pattern by omitting the back ruching. It really is a fun and easy pattern to sew.

As promised, I'm going to show you my holiday fabric purchases. I was lucky enough to visit two very "famous" fabric stores. I've always read about Britex Fabrics and Mood Fabrics on sewing blogs and thought they were the gods of the fabric store world. Britex was several floors of fabric and Mood was of warehouse proportions. Unfortunately I had very limited time to peruse as I had three impatient males waiting for me outside.

Never fear! I still came home with a good bounty of beautiful fabrics. Lets take a look!

The blue floral is a rayon challis from Britex Fabrics. It is beautiful and soft with a wonderful drape. I was always curious when American bloggers talked about rayon challis. We don't seem to get much of it in Australia, so I was keen to get a piece to give it a try. I'm not sure about the print as it was an impulse buy under intense time pressure but I'm thinking Vogue 8810 view C for a classy retro summer dress.

The other two are silk prints. The yellow is from Britex and the navy from Mood. Both will become dresses for work. Pattern suggestions are welcome! I'm thinking something with a gathered elastic waist for the navy.


These three are for the boys. The Dr Seuss cotton (from Britex) is for summer pyjamas and the check fabrics (Mood) are for simple shorts. Mr N chose the checks in Mood as "I was buying too much fabric for yourself. What about us boys?". Point taken. He certainly does have good taste in fabric.

 
I don't know what it is about this ikat print from Mood but I really like it. The photo does it no justice. The blue is brighter in real life (see the last photo) and the fabric is a denim weight with a touch of stretch and texture. I originally thought a sheath dress but am now thinking a Moss Mini skirt and a pair of Iris shorts. I am torn. What do you think??


This is my fabulous haul of Mood knits. I love them. I could have bought more but they're heavy and I was running out of room. The colourful zig zag is destined to be a simple singlet style dress. I'm thinking of getting the Mission Maxi pattern but shortening it to just below the knee. It will be perfect with an orange cardi and silver sandals. The brown zig zag is for Vogue 8871. I'm pretty sure it is even the fabric used on the Vogue website. I'm going to make a teal polymer clay bead necklace to go with it.

My favourite knit is the animal print. The print is ok but the quality of this fabric is amazing. I bought 3.5 metres of this viscose spandex knit as it is beautiful and thick with a lovely drape. I'm planning another Vogue 1250 (surprise!!) for work and a shortened Mission Maxi for casual wear.

The blue and pink print almost has an Australian botanical look to it. Mr N thinks it is more of a coral print. The quality isn't anything special as it's quite a thin cotton knit with limited recovery. I'm thinking the Lady Skater dress and possibly a loose tee if I have enough left. If you have any ideas, let me know!


Although I didn't get them on holidays, I got two pieces of linen from Tessuti just before we left. I spotted the Giganta Red floral print linen on the website and since I thought it was all sold out from last year I quickly grabbed a few metres. I have Burda 7379 marked for this pattern. I think the pairing is perfect for a breezy floral summer dress! The last piece to show you is a textured denim blue linen (Santorini Look linen) that I've already cut Vogue 8810 out of. I bought it to make another pair of Colette Juniper pants (must show you the first pair) but once it arrived I realised it was way too sheer for a pair of pants. I was considering the Colette Hawthorn pattern but decided to use a pattern I already had instead of adding another pattern to my ever growing stash. I'm a bit excited about this dress. It's all ready to go.

So there you have it. Some beautiful fabric to remember our trip by. I always think of our holiday in Japan whenever I wear my Japanese floral Simplicity 2360. Fabric makes the best souvenir!!

And if you're wondering how I get all this fabric home when we only travel with backpacks, rollable space bags of course!



Do you buy fabric when you travel? Where's your favourite fabric holiday destination?

L x

10 comments:

  1. I'm so jealous, I can't speak right now.

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  2. When I was in Japan last year I drove my husband crazy with my fabric searches. We are heading off to France soon and I have earmarked a few fabric shops in Paris to visit.

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  3. Great haul. Yes I buy fabric when on holidays.... although only in the last few years. I've done lots of backpacking and that does not allow fabric purchases - financially or weight wise. I just got back from Auckland yesterday and bought some lovely knits (all plain). I'll put them on my blog later in the week... I'm off to Sydney this afternoon!

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  4. I love buying fabric when I am travelling, although I hate carrying it! Doesn't matter where I am I'll shop for fabric. Recently I have bought from London, LA, Louisville and Melbourne!!

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  5. So. Much. Glorious. Fabric.

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  6. That IKAT!!! Good ikat is VERY hard to find.

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  7. Not only did you travel to wonderful places in the States, you acquired some wonderful fabrics! I'm looking forward to seeing what you make.

    Rose in SV

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  8. The best kind of holiday souvenirs to bring home! Many years ago pre-kids I bought so much fabric in Bangkok and Thailand that I pretty much threw out all the clothes I brought with me at the end of the trip and my backpack only contained fabric so I could get it all home without paying excess luggage fee!

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  9. Prior to having kids on holidays we used to visit my husband's family in the Czech Republic quite a bit. I quickly found some great fabrics stores that sold fantastic quality wool, cotton and linens you'd never find here in Oz and so much cheaper! I have also bought some fabric in Holland where my family is from but the fabric is more expensive. I love coming home and dreaming about what to make with it and yes, it's a lovely memory. sigh.

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  10. So glad you made it to Mood! Those are some great fabrics you bought. Happy sewing!

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