Quality Fabric for Every Budget

These days, inflation is driving the price of goods sky high. Fabric is not immune to this trend, but as thoughtful garment makers we know that sacrificing quality for price is not worth it in the long run. How do you purchase good fabric without breaking the bank? Is it even possible? No matter what your budget, I have my own personal recommendations on where to look and how to source great quality at a range of price points.

A note about location: I am in the US and my experiences revolve around ordering and shipping here. I do order outside my country but typically only from Canada or Australia. It's rare that I order from the UK, so my experience with UK shops is severely limited! If you have some good sources, please leave them in a comment below.

rayon rib knit from LA Finch

Budget-friendly

Shopping online for fabric is intimidating if you don't have a trusted source. Sometimes prices look too good to be true, and you might question how 100% linen can be $5/yard. This is where deadstock fabric comes in. Deadstock is fabric that has had a previous life in a fashion collection or design house. Basically, it's leftovers! It's often a small amount that has been purchased at a low price and is being resold by a fabric retailer. It's limited, it's one-of-kind, and despite the low price is often high quality. 

My favorite deadstock retailers are LA Finch Fabrics and Fabric Mart. I am constantly amazed at their low prices, and then always happy with the high quality. Almost all of my wool coating comes from FM because it's so affordable (under $30/yard for 100% wool, and even cashmere once!) and amazing. Josie at LA Finch is located in the heart of the LA fashion district and therefore has ready access to deadstock from those designers. She always carries interesting fabrics and I feel like I have an order on the way from her at all times.

A word of caution about deadstock retailers: if you love it, buy it. Nothing haunts us like the unique fabric we didn't buy that never came around again. Ask me how I know.

Another budget-friendly retailer is fabrics-store.com. Yes. The name looks fake. If you get on their website and look at their prices, you'll think it can't be real. I can assure you, they are real! Fabrics-store.com does one thing and does it well: linen. Tons of different weights, weaves, and colors. They have, by far, the best prices for linen and I've liked all the pieces I've gotten from them.

wool jersey from The Fabric Store

Mid-range

If you're looking for something specific and can't find it among the deadstock sellers, you may need to graduate to a more mid-tier retailer. Their selection will be wider but their prices may also be a bit higher. My go-to mid-range fabric seller is Mood Fabrics. They sell absolutely everything. Rayon velvet? 400 search results. Hemp jersey? 1600 results. They also carry highly unique trims and buttons. When you can't find something specific, check Mood.

Mood carries deadstock as well, helping to keep fabric out of landfills and their prices manageable. The New York store is located in the fashion district and makes Mood a seller you can trust.

The Fabric Store is located in Australia and they are my go-to for nice wool knits. They also carry Liberty of London if that's your thing. Their prices are not cheap, but I'm adding them to this category because they often run really good sales. Since they're in the opposite hemisphere from me, it feels like their sales work in my favor. My all-time favorite wool t-shirt is made from a jersey from there. They ship DHL to the states and always quickly.

wool blend coating from Emma One Sock

High End

You've been sewing for a while. You're feeling more confident in your skills and you want to splurge a little on a special fabric. Who can you trust at the high end of the fabric shopping scale?

I'm going to slide another deadstock retailer in here who tends to have higher end fabrics at higher end prices. Emma One Sock has, quite possibly, the most off-putting website to an elder Millennial like myself, but I can assure you that their fabrics are stunning. They provide a ton of photos, Pantone color details, and even links to coordinates. In addition to deadstock they keep a steady stock of high-end basics like wool crepe, linen knits, and linings.

Blackbird Fabrics carries just about everything I could ever want. Wool coatings. Yarn dyed linens. My favorite cotton/modal jersey. I would not qualify them as affordable but I will say that any time I order, I know that I'll be happy with the cost to quality ratio. It's probably a good thing that their fabrics aren't cheaper or I'd be shopping there all the time.

Did I leave anyone off the list? Who do you trust for consistent quality fabric?

The Best Fabric for Sewing a T-Shirt

The Best Fabric for Sewing a T-Shirt

If you have to pick one sewing project that is worth perfecting, I think you would have to pick the t-shirt. And like all projects, the t-shirt lives and dies with fabric choice. So, which fabric is best for your basic, boring, staple shirt? Lucky for you, I've made the same pattern over and over and over in many different fabrics, making it quite easy to compare them and see how they perform over time. I'm demonstrating with the Hey June Union St. Tee, but you can sub in any loose fitting knit tee pattern (note: I am NOT talking about close-fitting patterns that require spandex!). Let's get started!

Cotton Jersey

The most basic of all knits: cotton jersey. And it's actually kind of hard to find! I'm not sure why, I love a good cotton jersey. Of all the fabrics I'm evaluating today, I will say that it has the least fluid drape. Without spandex, it can have a poor recovery, meaning you should tread carefully applying the neckband (put it in flat if at all possible so you can control the stretch). That said, you can't beat the breathability and easy-to-care-for cotton t-shirt! If wrinkles bother you, pull it out of the dryer right away and you'll be fine.

Merino Jersey

This one made it onto the list by accident! Ages ago, I ordered a rayon jersey from The Fabric Store Online and was accidentally sent one of their lightweight merino jerseys. The shirt I made with it has become, no exaggeration, my favorite shirt of all time. The drape is beautiful, better than cotton but not as clingy as rayon. The recovery (I don't know if it has spandex or not but I think not) is great. I machine wash on delicate and lay flat to dry. It never bags out, is naturally anti-bacterial, and always looks great. Worth mentioning, I have a few tees in merino/spandex jersey and I don't like them as much. They seem to shrink more with the same laundering process.

Rayon Jersey

Forgive me for putting a dress on here, but this is just a hacked longer version of the same t-shirt pattern. I wanted to show a rayon jersey that did not contain spandex. Lightweight, drapey, okay recovery but sags with wear. Fewer wrinkles than the cotton jersey, but still wrinkled. Lighter than a rayon knit with spandex. Not my favorite, but not my least favorite either.

Rayon/spandex Jersey

The biggest strength of rayon/spandex jersey is its comfort. Soft, liquid drape, it's very wearable. Its big weakness is that it is heavy, and over time grows and grows and grows. It's not unusual for me to take a year old t-shirt made with rayon/spandex and cut it down almost a full size. I used this fabric a lot when I started making shirts, but over time I haven't been pleased with the longevity. If you look closely on the one above, you can also see how it has pilled, a common trait of rayon jersey.

Modal/Cotton/Spandex Jersey

Now that we've dipped our toes into the rayon knits, let's look at a blend. Modal is one of many names for a cellulose (plant) based fiber made from trees, bamboo, etc. (see Tencel and Lyocell below for the same sort of fiber). Fabric I've purchased with the brand name modal tends to be a higher quality than something generically named rayon. In particular, I love modal when it's combined with cotton and spandex. The addition of cotton makes the t-shirt less prone to pilling and sagging, and makes it lighter weight. This shirt is one of my faves and has not grown over time like the green one above. In taking these photos I noticed that it has mayyyybe just the start of some pilling, but I have worn and washed it a LOT for even that to happen.

Tri-blend Jersey

Now we've arrived at one of the only times I allow polyester into my wardrobe. Many shops sell something vaguely called "tri-blend" as shorthand for a fabric with three fibers. Typically these will be cotton, polyester, and spandex. These are kind of hard to find (I got mine from Sly Fox) but they are great! The polyester means they're a touch less breathable than a fabric containing only natural fibers, however that is made up for in their longevity. I've worn the crap out of my tri-blend tees and they just keep coming out of the wash looking the same. No sagging! If you sneak a peek at your favorite ready-to-wear tee, I'd bet money it is made from a tri-blend.

Tencell Lyocell/Spandex Jersey

I'm still on the fence about this particular shirt. It has the softness of rayon/spandex, but I haven't had it long enough to see if it sags over time. I miscalculated the neckband (it needed to be shorter) and so I'm not crazy about how that part looks. It does seem to wash well. I wanted to include it because it was overstock from a high-end designer, so it must have some value! 

I probably have even more blends and weights hanging around, but I think these are the ones you will find most often shopping online. The only ones I don't have to show are a polyester knit, and a linen knit. I avoid polyester as much as possible, but it would typically behave like a slinky rayon jersey. All the linen knits I've encountered tend to be sheer, expensive, and not always with great recovery. They would behave a lot like cotton jersey.

So which is my favorite? Hands down, no question, merino jersey! Second would be a tri-blend cotton/poly/spandex or a cotton/rayon/spandex. My favorite source for merino jersey is The Fabric Store Online, and as mentioned above you can sometimes find tri-blend at Sly Fox, or The Fabric Snob. Ready to sew your own t-shirts? Grab the Union St. Tee pattern here to get started on your own closet full of tees!

Is there a fabric I left off that you want to know about? Leave a comment below!

This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for your support!

A Peek at my Stash: French terry

Unless you've been under a rock, you've probably noticed French terry eeeeeeeverywhere lately. It seems like this once hard to find fabric is finally making its way into more shops. I've been hoarding different cuts of it, and I'm itching to have an entire closet of warm, snuggly sweatshirts.

In case you're not familiar with French terry, it's basically like any other good ole knit fabric. It has a smooth, regular knit side and a loopy back side. Some terrys are called "double terry" or "towel terry" and they have loops on both sides (y'know, like a bath towel). It's similar to sweatshirt fleece, the only difference being that on sweatshirt fleece, the loops are cut, creating a "pile" or "fleecy" surface. French terry is almost always a natural fiber like cotton or bamboo, often mixed with spandex or a little polyester for stability. The loops generally ensure that it's plush and thick. No wispy paper-thin jerseys here!

So how about a few stats on my FT stash?

Number of cuts: 9

Amount of yardage: About 11 yards!

Oldest cut: I believe it's the white bamboo, probably 3 1/2 years old, making it one of the first fabrics I ever ordered!

All have a purpose?: Mostly!

Number of "what was I thinking??" cuts: Zero!

Wow...until I lined them all up, I didn't realize quite how much I had! Isn't it always the way? And I didn't even pull out the navy scraps I used last year for my Hudson Pants. The white cuts are partial yardage that I've had for ages. I've used them for cloth diapers, nursing pads, cloth wipes...they're the gift that keeps on giving. The grey one is set aside to recreate one of my favorite RTW skirts (yes, you read that right, a French terry skirt!).

You can see a lot of other solid neutrals. I plan on sewing a bunch of sweatshirts with fun details, to keep it interesting. Pinterest has given me a lot of good ideas. 

And of course, when a fabric becomes more wide-spread, you get a chance at fun prints, like this floral from Raspberry Creek Fabrics on Etsy (side note, Etsy seems to have a crapton of cute printed French terry).

I'm not much of a floral person, but I thought I'd take a chance on this one and see how I like it. Worst comes to worst, it will make something cute for one of my daughters.

But I've saved the very best for last.

I can post now, because I received my order, and I'm no longer worried about it selling out...this is wool. Wool French terry. Striped wool French terry!!!!! From Mood. Dying. And it is SO soft too. It's hard to tell from the photo (and IRL if I'm being honest) but the darker color is navy, not black. This is one of those fabrics that makes me get project paralysis; it's so perfect I don't want to screw it up. Hopefully with a few sweatshirts under my belt I'll settle on the best use of this most delicious fabric. I already have the Fraser Sweatshirt from Sewaholic traced and ready to go!

Do you have any French terry in your stash?

A Peek at my Stash: Denim

Today I'd like to kick off a new series, all about snooping around in my fabric stash. I'm hoping that by writing these posts, I'll pay more attention to the lovely fabrics I already have, rather than constantly buying new ones. I encourage you to check out your own stashes and see what forgotten beauties you have lingering there. Tell me all about it in the comments! A little accountability goes a long way, right?

I'm currently slaving away over my very first pair of jeans (!!!), so we're going to peek at the different denims I've been hoarding. A few quick stats:

Number of cuts: 5

Amount of yardage: 8 yards

Oldest fabric: 2 1/2 years old

All have a purpose?: no

Number of "what was I thinking" cuts: 2

These denims range from short remnants bought at Jo-Ann's, to larger designer fabrics bought at Mood. Some are stretch denims and some are not. I believe the short pieces were intended to be jeans for the kids, and the longer pieces jeans or Sewaholic Thurlows (for the non-stretch denim) for me.

My biggest "what was I thinking" offender is this sparkly stretch denim:

I bought it to make Jamie Jeans, probably a year ago, but now it's screaming 14-year-old girl at me. Since I am not a 14 year old girl, I will either chop this up for muslins, or hoard it until one of my kids IS a 14 year old girl.

My favorite cut is this black organic cotton stretch denim, from Nature's Fabrics:

This is what I'm currently using for Jamie Jeans. Can you believe I've never owned a pair of black jeans? They definitely seem more sophisticated than your standard blue jeans, and I cannot wait to see how my finished pair ends up.

Any secret denim shame hiding in your stash? Any beauties? Tell me someone has some of that amazing Cone Mills denim that Heather (from Closet Case Files) was offering a few months ago!

Bridesmaids' Dresses: The Fabric!

I'm moving along at a snail's pace on these dresses, but hey, at least the fabric is here and washed!

We ended up with three shades of green jersey. From lightest to darkest we have avocado cotton jersey (sold out), green cotton jersey, and olive bamboo jersey. All three are from Nature's Fabrics. Jeanne was wonderful to work with after there wasn't enough yardage for a single color. She picked out a few coordinates, emailed me photos, and got the package out right away once we had decided.

I'm sure jersey isn't at the top of everyone's list for bridesmaids' dresses, but I'm beyond happy that there isn't any polyester involved. I wore a RTW polyester shirtdress last week, and even though I was indoors most of the time, I was sweating like crazy! I can't wait to wear a breathable natural fabric at the wedding.

Next up is gathering measurements, printing the pattern, tracing, and making bodice muslins. Of course, my printer has been acting up, so a run over to Office Depot is in order. A note about Named Patterns; their PDFs come grouped in sizes of two. For example, size 0 and size 2 are in one PDF, size 4 and size 6 in another, etc. Normally this wouldn't be a big deal, but now I'll have to print a few different sizes to cover everyone. And I still have to trace, because the pattern pieces overlap.

Colors in first photo are more true to life.

And a little legal note, I believe that if you're making garments to sell, there are strict rules about purchasing patterns each time, licensing, etc. I am not selling these dresses, I'm simply being reimbursed for cost of materials. I believe that would fall under personal use and not commercial.

I hate it when sewing prep work takes longer than the actual project, but hopefully by this time next week I'll have something to show for it!

Stabilizing Knits: Yay or Nay?

A few weeks ago I received a great question from Nilla about stabilizing knits, in particular raglan tops since I was posting a raglan-style sweatshirt. Her question got me thinking hard on the topic of stabilizing knits:

I'm a total raglan sleeve convert these days too. I've been meaning to ask you, since you're the knit expert, do you ever use fusible interfacing on your raglan seams? I think you're supposed to use it on regular shoulder seams to prevent them from stretching. How about the neckline? Burda patterns often have you stabilizing a lot of seams, but I'm beginning to question the necessity of it. It really makes the supposedly fast and easy knit projects a bit tedious :/ 

If you've done any reading about sewing with knits, you've probably come across the ever-popular advice to stabilize shoulder seams "to prevent them stretching out over time". There are a variety of ways to do this, by sewing in clear elastic, twill tape, or using a strip of interfacing.

Twill tape in shoulder seam

Now it was nice of Nilla to call me an expert, but I wouldn't go that far! I do, however, have a lot of experience. I'd say 75% of my projects are with knits. At this point I've tried a little of everything, and here's my oh-so-scientific conclusion:

It doesn't matter.

Shocking right? I've never noticed a problem with seams stretching out over time. Not on my me-made knits, and not on my RTW knits either! Maybe it's happened and I haven't noticed. Maybe other people have had that problem. But what length of time are we talking here anyway? If I've had problems with baggy knits, it's been the fabric itself and not the seams. There is no substitute for good fabric and stabilization can only go so far.

Much more important than stabilization, in my opinion, is pressing with steam. Shoulder seams stretch a bit as you sew because they are cut with the crossgrain, or stretchiest part of the fabric (generally). To shrink those seams back into place, I steam press them immediately after sewing.

Can you tell which one was stabilized and which one wasn't?

As for raglan style tops, the diagonal "shoulder" seams are not cut on the crossgrain like a traditional shoulder. Therefore, they are more stable. I can't recall seeing a pattern that recommends stabilization there and I don't think I would ever do it. Neckbands typically require stretch to go over your head, so unless you use a stretchy stabilizer (clear elastic) then I wouldn't bother there either.

If you're going to stabilize knits, fine, go for it! It certainly can't hurt. But don't beat yourself up if you forget. Like Nilla mentioned, it does take extra time and makes those quick projects tedious. Like I said, I'm not an expert, and I'd love to hear other opinions! Have you ever seen a seam stretch out over time? Do you stabilize everything?

Prewashing my Fear Fabric

A Fear Fabric can be scary for lots of reasons. Maybe it's expensive, hard to sew, or the care of it will be too difficult. Last week I posted a photo of my Fear Fabric on Instagram and admitted a huge roadblock--prewashing!

This is a terrible overexposed photo of my fabric, to show you the open spaces in the knit. I don't know nothing about no knitting, but in my ignorant terms I'd call this a sort of crocheted lace? I've only had one run-in with this type of fabric before, and when I casually threw it in the washer/dryer it tore. Whomp whomp. I definitely did not want that to happen again!

After my plea for help on Instagram, Girl Charlee responded that I should try using a wash bag. My plan had been to hand wash, but I liked the wash bag idea much better (I'm lazy). I found the above bag at Wal-Mart for about $4. It was kind of tricky, because most of the bags they had were small lingerie bags, not ideal for 2 yards of knit fabric. This bag is big enough, but it's divided into 4 compartments. Luckily, the "walls" were mesh as well and I was able to smash them down and fit in the fabric. Yay! If I couldn't do that, I probably would have just cut out the walls.

Hopefully this will do the trick! The bag is in the wash as I type. The fabric is a cotton/nylon blend and I definitely want to take care of any possible shrinkage from the cotton. Even if you plan to hand wash a garment, if you don't preshrink natural fibers, they can shrink with steam/pressing. Bad news bears! 

A big thank you to Girl Charlee for coming to my rescue and for sponsoring the Fear Fabric Challenge. Read all the details about the challenge and giveaway here. And check out the first entry, a fantastic Halloween costume, in the Flickr group!

Fabric Indecision--Help Me!

Most of the time I have no problem seeing a fabric, and knowing just what it should be. But sometimes I do get stumped. I need advice!

I recently bought this beautiful polyester knit from Mood (more here). It's opaque, medium-weight, and slinky like a poly jersey. Here's a photo of the fabric draped over me, for scale:

This fabric nicely fits my spring/summer color palette (pinks and blues) yet has interest to it due to the print. I only ordered a yard because I knew if I got more, I'd want to make a dress. Yet I rarely WEAR polyester knit dresses. A top? That's a different story.

So help me decide! A Renfrew (or is that too much FLORAL)? A tank top (perhaps too boring)? Maybe a tunic, like this:

What is this fabric saying to you?

Black Friday Haul

If I don't post tomorrow, it's because my husband read today's post and made an end of me. Just kidding! sorta...check the newspapers...

I did get some deals on Christmas presents for other people over Black Friday/Cyber Monday, but I'm not posting them here so as not to spoil the surprise! Did you buy fabric over Thanksgiving weekend? There were some good deals out there!

Oh Girl Charlee. Knits are such a weakness of mine and their sale was too good to resist. But that lovely print on the far left was $1.50/yard!! And I've had my eye on it for a long time. The pink knit on the far right is cotton ponte from Mood. I already had a yard of it but I needed a yard and a half for my particular project (it's a secret!) so I was happy to get more at 20% off.

Jo-Ann's had some pretty good deals as well, and an un-advertised one was 75% off remnants. Whoa. I overexposed this photo so you could see the color differences. The two on the left are linen blends and the one on the right is a stretch denim. Leggings for AB! The linen pieces are both 1 yard and ended up being about $1.25 each. I also picked up a bunch of interfacing at Jo-Ann's since it was 50% off plus a 25% off total purchase coupon. Plus buttons and thread were buy one get one free. Worth leaving the house at 7:30am with no coffee!

I normally churn out a lot of projects quickly, but my husband's winter coat has slowed down my pace. My two cubbies of un-cut knits are...what's the word...full? Stuffed? Refusing to hold any more? Yeah. Better get on that once this coat is done!

Sewing Inspiration: Lace

When I was a kid, my sisters and I would pitch a fit if our mom tried to make us wear something with lace. Even a tiny bit on the edge of a sleeve or bodice and we would reject the whole outfit. My mother's wedding dress had lace all over it and we insisted that we'd never wear something like that (omg girls are the worst...can't wait until AB pays me back for all that!). Fast forward to my wedding day, when I wore a dress covered in lace.

Photography by Alex Turco

The poor man who altered my wedding dress had to remove all the lace on the side seams, take those in, and then hand-sew the lace back on (this was in the days before I knew how to sew). By the way, did you see the vintage wedding dress on Coletterie earlier this month? Stunning.

fabric.com

Something about summer makes me embrace lovely laces and eyelets. I've been kind of obsessing over a lace-backed tank top, also known as a mullet top if you ask Trisha at Made by Trisha (business in the front, party in the back). She also made an awesome lace dress for a wedding in Vegas. How come none of my friends get married in Vegas?

Don't worry, I put my money where my keyboard is and I have actually made a lace-backed top. Stay tuned until tomorrow for the rundown. Scared to try sewing with lace? Me too. I may have to get some of this knit lace PRINT from Hart's Fabrics. All the drama without the fickleness of real lace.

Hart's Fabrics

But if you want some help, I found a good tutorial at Sew Fearless for working with stretch lace. And lest you think I only like black lace, this is one of my favorite images I've found on Pinterest:

I can't find the original source I'm sorry!!! Ugh. Pinterest. I love you, but some of your users are very reckless with their pins.

Oh, and my mom's lacy veil did make its way into my wedding. It was used to wrap my bouquet <3

What about you? Have you ever sewn with lace?

Sewing Inspiration: Linen

Have you been following along with Fabric Friday over at the Oliver+S blog? A few weeks ago they did a post about linen, complete with videos. I highly recommend both of them, the first one is short and shows the crazy amount of work that went into harvesting flax (the plant from which linen is made) in ye olden days. The second video is longer, but I promise it's worth it. It's in French and Italian for crying out loud! It shows all the steps of modern flax growing, harvesting, the production of linen fabric and its use in Paris couture. Anyone who loves natural fibers won't be able to resist the inspiration. Oh, and there are subtitles, so you could even watch it at work. On your break, OF COURSE ;)

One quote from the video: "It's always better to work with noble materials." I agree! (Sorry polyester, you have your place, but i doubt anyone will call it a "noble" place.) When I saw that Pattern Review was hosting a natural fibers contest this month, I was excited about it, and decided to enter my CKC Ruffle Dress from last week. It also got my mind going about pretty linen skirts and dresses. I'd love to use Simplicity 2209 and adapt the bottom into a skirt pattern, preferably in a lovely red!

I *heart* my Fashionary sketchbook

In the meantime, I have a pile of a navy linen/rayon blend waiting to be made into a Negroni shirt for my husband. I used the same fabric (from Jo-Ann's) to make these shorts for AB last summer. I enjoyed working with that linen, and the colors are so pretty! The only part I didn't like was how easily it unraveled. I'm hoping that my new serger will come in handy for finishing the seams. And I know everyone hates on Jo-Ann's, but I love their printed linens almost as much as I love not paying shipping for fabric! This one, in particular, always catches my eye. It would make such a pretty dress!

Jo-Ann's

Okay, one more quote (sorry, those beautiful French fields really inspired me!):

"Today's mistakes lead to tomorrow's marvels."

What are your thoughts on natural fibers?

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Sewing Inspiration: fabric

The Muse. Anyone who has tried/failed/succeeded at being creative has had brushes with the Muse. Something that inspires you to action, something that makes you say "wow". Like most creative-minded people, I've tried my hand at a number of things, from writing to drawing to graphic design. What I always found to be lacking (in addition to any skill, ha!) was the Muse. When I began sewing, I felt like I'd finally found the perfect thing: fabric. It's plentiful, it's beautiful, it's varied, it's ever-changing. It's easy to be inspired by something that fits that description!

Girl Charlee (no longer available)

The best thing about fabric is that it's a two-way street. Sometimes you may see a textile you just love, but not know what to make. Other times, you'll see something you want to make, and then fabric will help you accomplish that vision. 

Girl Charlee (no longer available)

My fabric choices tend to be all over the place. I realized recently that I was attracted to a LOT of knit stripes. But exactly how many of those do I need?

Girl Charlee (no longer available)

When you're able to identify what appeals to you, and why, I think it helps you to be more selective. I may respond to stripes stripes and more stripes, but intellectually I know it doesn't make a lot of sense to keep buying them. It certainly won't expand my horizons or teach me to challenge myself with something different.

Emma One Sock (no longer available)

I also know that I tend not to buy solids. I find them to be somewhat boring when compared to all the fun patterns available. But in reality, solids are the most versatile of all fabrics. Whether you need a small accent, or a great basic like a black cardigan, you wouldn't get too far without solids in your wardrobe.

Hart's Fabric

Since I do have a one year old daughter, I am blessed to be able to indulge on whimsy. There are many fabrics that I could never pull off for myself, but AB can happily oblige.

Girl Charlee (no longer available)

Jo-Ann's

In the end, fabric is my favorite part of sewing. I love taking something as basic as a sheet and constructing it into a beautiful, functional item. It's the epitome of creating.

Mood

Project Runway recap: spoiler alert!

Guess what! My fabric from Mood came this week! If you recall, my husband gave me a very generous gift card for Valentine's Day. It was so much fun shopping online and picking out whatever I wanted. And is there anything better than waiting for UPS??

1. Cotton batiste 2. Stretch poplin 3. Cotton poplin 4. Cotton/lycra knit

5. Rayon/lyca knit 6. Poly knit 7. Stretch denim 8. Wool jersey

I'm excited about all of these fabrics, and the majority are already destined for certain patterns. One thing I wasn't expecting was how generous Mood would be in their cutting. In some cases, I received almost a half yard more than I ordered. Every single piece had a little bit extra. It's crazy! Even my one yard of purple grosgrain ribbon was longer than 36". Hear me shouting "thank you Mood!". My favorite is definitely the poly knit. The picture on Mood's website, and my picture above, don't do it justice. It's textured and does not feel like polyester at all. The wool jersey is for a wrap dress (wearable muslin finished this week, can't wait to blog about it next week!) but it is a TAD itchy. Just enough that I'm afraid I may not wear it without a lining. So stay tuned for details on lining a wrap dress...just as soon as I figure out how : )

And now on to Project Runway. Man, I thought my birthday last week made me feel old. This prom episode was just as bad. I hated everything the judges liked, and I liked everything the judges hated. Did anyone else think it was pretty stupid to have a prom competition when two of the judges had never been?? Cue entrance of prom pictures of my own:

Junior prom.

Senior prom.

Photos have been highly edited/cropped due to people in them not being my husband : ) Also, the pink dress from my senior prom (it's actually coral) is my favorite piece of clothing I own. Ever. If I could wear it every day, I would. Take note, Heidi and Nina.

I thought the new mix of teams was interesting. I loved what Stanley said about wanting to work with Layana in order to learn something new. That's an unexpected bonus to this season with the team competition, I think the designers are forced to stretch each week. You don't see any Vens making the same rose motif over and over and over. Sadly for Stanley, Layana's whining surely must have gotten on his nerves. It grated on me and I only watched it on TV for two seconds.

When the designers did their show for the high school students, I thought for sure that Patricia and Samantha's dress would get KILLED. It looked the most like duct tape, it was downright weird, and it was so poofy that you couldn't even have a date stand next to you for pictures (and c'mon, you spend half of prom having your picture taken, so how would that work out?). When Heidi revealed that this dress received the most student votes, I pretty much gave up critiquing. Obviously I know nothing about prom anymore. Especially because Richard and Daniel's was by far my favorite. It was cute, flirty, and I did like the underarm lacing because it was different. And no, I did not go to prom in the eighties!

It was nice to have Zac Posen back this week. It was doubly nice to see him fight with Nina. I vote for a Zac/Nina cage match!

The double elimination of Tu and Kate was hard to watch. Kate did nothing in her interviews besides go on and on about how easy it was to boss Tu around, yet she said NOTHING about being sorry for getting him eliminated. If I were Tu, I would not have been quite so gracious, so good for him. I will miss his silly phrasing that makes no sense. And Michelle's win? Meh. Hated their dress, and Michelle's 80's rocker vibe is surely going to be the thing that gets her eliminated at some point. Possibly next week in their apparent menswear challenge. We'll see. Happy weekend everyone!