02 January 2015

Belated San Francisco and Christmas write-up!

I was in San Francisco for a conference a few weeks ago. Well, to be clear, Matthew was there for the conference and I went along to see my space science friends, see the SFO sights, and go to sewing shops. While I was there, I saw a post on Carolyn's blog that she was \ in San Francisco for the same conference and was asking if anyone wanted to meet up for fabric shopping/coffee, etc. After my husband encouraged me to email her, we got together and went to Britex fabrics! It was my first time meeting up with another person who is as obsessed with garment sewing as I am. We had a great time chatting and walking through the fantastic fabric shop. Carolyn is friendly, super talented, and makes wonderful clothes. I'm glad I got over my social awkwardness to send her an email. Thanks for fabric shopping with me!

After our shopping excursion.




While I was at Britex, I picked up a couple pieces of fabric that are more than what I usually pay for fabric, but I have found with fabric you usually get what you pay for. Let's hope that is true with my fabric pieces! Not shown below is some faux leather trim I got to go on v-neck part of a v-neck tunic I am making.

Up first is a navy/black/white brushed cotton check that is either going to be an Archer or I'm going to modify the Archer into a Bruyère hack. I was looking through my feed reader on my phone in bed the other day while Matthew was asleep next to me. He woke up, saw me looking at this picture from Lladybird and said sleepily "You should use your fabric to make that". Ha! So it has been decreed. One side is very soft and flannel-ly and the other is smooth and the colours are more vibrant. Should I put the softer side against my skin or should I put that facing out?



The other piece I bought is a green/brown wool/acrylic sweater knit remnant. I only have 1.5 yards, but I'm pretty sure I can squeeze a close fitting sweater out of it. I will probably use the Renfrew pattern with the V-neck. It is really soft and cozy.



Check out what Carolyn bought here. I can't wait to meet up with more sewing people!

I went to a couple of other fabric shops in San Francisco that were all within walking distance of our AirBnB. The first one (where I didn't buy anything) was Discount Fabrics. It was a bit overwhelming with all the rolls of fabric scattered across a large warehouse space. I thought about going back to get some wool jersey I saw there, but did not. The other fabric store I went to was Fabric Outlet. I loved this store. It had a great feel, the fabrics were laid out well, they had some amazing deals ($1/yd! Precut fabrics $5/yd!), and I just noticed that they have an online shop! If you are in the area, I would recommend checking it out.

I bought a grey 100% wool sweater knit that is going to get turned into a sweater dress. I am probably going to take the Lola pattern (which I used for my birthday dress this year and loved), and eliminate all the front and back seaming as well as the pockets. I want to preserve the cables on the fabric.



I also bought a black interlock knit to go under the wool to keep it from being itchy against the skin.



You might have noticed that all my fabrics were fashioned by my new dress form! Matthew bought me one for Christmas after sneakily getting my measurements. I love it. It is just a little small for me, so I have been researching the ways to pad up the different areas to make it fit me!



This is the aftermath from opening up the dress form!



In other Christmas gifts, my sister bought me a horse head mask, so it promptly went on the dress form.



She also got me some fabric as well. A really stretchy thin grey knit that I am going to use for bra making and a firm black/gold woven that will most likely become a skirt. Thanks, sister sister!



Woo! That was a lot! I was also going to include my year end write up, but I am going to put that in a new post. Happy New Year, everyone!

4 comments:

  1. I'm glad you like the fabric I sent and can't wait to see what you make with it!

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  2. That horse head mask is amazing! You need to style more of your homemade clothes as a horse. :-)

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    1. Ha! I'll see what I can do. Matthew won't let me keep the mask out because it is too creepy. So now whenever you open the closet - Horsehead!

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