Warning - Fabric Porn Ahead!

The Sewing Garage Sale was a H-U-G-E success this year for me!  Lots and lots of new yardage to add to the stash!  Now I know what your thinking - I thought you were trying to get rid of the stash Star?!??!!?  Well - yes, but... considering I sold over 140+ yards of fabric, I think I can justify buying 50 yards.  Yes - I typed that correctly!  After tallying up my totals, I purchased 50 yards of fabric!  And I found some fabulous deals!

First off - this was an AWESOME year for finding good knits.  Hurray!
From left to right:
Black/Magenta knit - 2.675 yards - $4.00
Blue/Green abstract knit - 2 yards - $4.00
White/blue/purple knit - 2 yards - $6.00

And more knits....
Black/White/Gray floral - 2.75 yards - $8.00
Black/Gray Cheetah - 1.75 yards - $7.00
Black/Gray sweater knit - 1.5 yards - $3.00

And more knits....

Squares poly blue/green knit - 1.5 yards - $3.00

Black/Green/Turquoise abstract knit - 2.25 yards - $4.50

Teal bird print - 2 yards - $7.00 - look closely - it's little abstract birds in this print!

And yes - more knits!

Light blue plain - 1.375 yards - $3.00

Blue stripe knit - 1.25 yards - $2.50 - This is already cut out as my fav turtleneck again.

Black/white houndstooth - 1.5 yards - $4.00

A mixture here:

Purple knit - 1 yard - $2.00

Pink/Purple paint swatch linen - 3 yards - $6.00.  You don't often see me wearing pink but this piece just kept calling my name.  I'm thinking a dress out of this one.

Blue/purple watercolor look linen - 4.25 yards - $4.00.  This was calling my name too.  Probably another dress.  

Another mixture here:
Black/White reversible - not sure of the content, maybe rayon? 3.375 yards - $6.00
Black/White floral pique - 3.25 yards - $9.00.  This was going to be a dress, but when I found out it has some stretch to it, I think I'll make some capri pants.  Yes - I said the P word - I'm going to make some PANTS!
Black/White polka dots - these two were sitting right next to each other - what a perfect combination!  2 yards of each one for a total of 4 yards for $6.00 - These two will be a super cute dress!

And lastly,

Black/White quilting cotton - 1.66 yards - $2.00

Black rayon jersey knit - 3 yards - $5.00

Red silk lining - 4 yards - $10.00.  A bit much for this one, but it just happened to match some red fabric I already had cut out for a dress and needed a lining for so I bought it.  Still cheaper than I could buy it for in the store though...

And of course some trims and elastics - all of this for $4.00

 

So my grand total after the tax man applied his amount came to $118.53 for 50 yards of fabric and trims.  I don't know where you can find that good of a deal!

I have now finished serging all of the edges, pre-shrinking everything and you can see I've cut out two things already.  So now the tough part - finding room in my stash closet to store everything!

Happy sewing everyone!

Star

Named Patterns - Kielo Wrap Dress

I loved the Kielo Wrap Dress by Named Patterns the moment I first saw the pattern.  And bonus - when I found this galaxy knit print at Girl Charlee - it was a match made in the heavens!  I decided to snap my photos at the crack of dawn this morning and I think it made a difference!

The fabric is a very lightweight knit with alot of stretch which will be perfect during our hot summer months.  

When cutting out the pattern, I double checked to make sure a major "galaxy" print wasn't placed on a prominent portion of my backside if you get my drift here.... I think the pattern placement worked out quite well.  Also - I raised the slit in the back by about 4 inches to allow for more leg moment.  You never know when I might need to run to catch a falling Star in this dress!  

The armholes were a bit low for me - probably because this knit has so much stretch.  I raised them up by one inch.  The neckline and armholes are finished using binding cut from the same fabric.   The instructions for the neckline and armholes could use some revamping - especially for the beginning sewist.  It wasn't clear how to properly finish the bottom of the armhole with the binding.  The armhole comes to a "V" at the bottom rather than a traditional rounded curve so trying to have your bindings overlap as with a rounded armhole is next to impossible.  

The pattern is drafted for someone that is about 7 feet tall too.  I ended up cutting 6 inches off of the length.  I know I'm not the tallest person in the world, but that's alot for me to cut off!

This dress is a fairly straight forward and simple project to sew.  The seam allowances are only 3/8 inch so that took a little reminding each time I put the fabric under the presser foot!

  

All in all - I'd say this dress is going to be a good one and get alot of wear this summertime.  I have version #2 on the cutting board at the moment too.  I may end up changing version #2 to a knee length dress, but I'll have to wait and see what it looks like.  And for everyone following along with my stashbustin quest - here's the latest....

Latest Stashbustin' Stats:

Yardage for this dress = 3 yards
YTD yards sewn = 37.375 yards
Remaining yardage to reach 100 yard goal = 62.625 yards

Happy sewing everyone!

Star