Fabric shopping 2

I have a feeling this blog title will be making a regular appearance

So I set off yesterday with the aim of everyday wearable fabrics, I love all the fabric I bought in my last haul but not all of it was everyday appropriate and I want to be making all my wardrobe eventually so need everyday fabrics.

I was a bit stupid though and didn't think about the fact was bank holiday Monday and markets don't open on bank holidays-but at Walthamstow there are plenty of shops to call into...won't mention shop names but one lady followed me around her shop like a hawk which I absolutely hate and stopped me from wanting to buy anything, and probably put me off going back. I understand they want to show that someone is available and also have to be aware of thieves but what am I going to do, run out with bolts of fabric under my arm?? Anyway moan over...here is my latest haul

White stretch poly, teeny navy dots - £2/m, I bought 1.5

A linen look teeny stripe cotton, don't think it's a real linen but still nice - £2/m - bought 1m

Another poly and the colours really haven't come through great on thjs,its quite bright for me! My other have said it looked like a cushion...hope it doesn't when sewn up! £2/m again, I bought 2m of this in case need to pattern match

A lovely viscous again, I am really looking forward to wearing these lovely fabrics - £2/m - bought 1

This is a really nice quality Ponte - definitely a tilly and the buttons coco lined up for this beauty - this was £5/m and bought 1.5m. I am also sure I have seen this in a high street shop but I cannot remember where 

Another linen look but much thinner, will need self lining but at £1/m cannot complain, bought 2m

The colour REALLY has not come out on this photo - this is a really deep bottle green that despite this description does not remind me of school uniform! Again a lovely viscose but thin so will double up again - £1/m and bought 2

Absolutely no idea what this fabric is, it's pretty thick, not quite a scuba but I do not know, I cannot even tell if it is knit! It has a nice stretch to it so may make another coco with it

So this was my haul from Walthamstow but I also went on a bit of an eBay spending spree, they sent me a £10 off voucher if spend £20...would have been plain rude to not have spent it!

Right after I bought the new Colette Aster pattern  (I bought this the second I got the email!) I bought this 'chambray' which is actually another poly but it's a really soft poly, not sure I will be able to keep this long before sewing it, it's yum - paid £4ish for 2 metres from this eBay seller which I actually think is a Walthamstow seller too! Slightly more expensive on eBay to the shop but definitely still cheap and this arrived very quickly.

I was a bit disappointed at this at first, it was advertised as lawn but yet again another poly, on closer inspection of the product description (from this seller) it does say it's a poly but it is really nice and will,definitely need underlining...and again the colour isn't great, this is brilliant white - again was about £4 after using the voucher with good delivery service.

If anyone reading this is a old hat to sewing I am sure you are worrying about all the polys in my stash, I understand that the better quality fabric I use the better my final product will be but for just learning I cannot justify spending £20/m on fabric when I may just screw it all up! I (hopefully) have bought the best I can at as low prices and (hopefully) I will graduate to high quality!

I hope you all enjoyed the long weekend, and thanks for reading

Kristy xx

4 weeks today my sewing machine will be in London - yay!

OSD - Obsessive Sewing Disorder

Hello!

As I am still not sewing (5 weeks on Monday until I get my machine) I cannot keep away from looking (and buying but don't tell the BF!) at sewing related kit pieces or patterns, as I have been doing this I have come across some amazing sewing related items and I thought I would share some!

(and this is by no means a hint to said BF of any presents he may want to buy me just because I am awesome...)

Greetings card

Crates

Print

Book folding pattern

All my friends have either just (like me in november) turned 30 or just about to, one of my best friends is taking her turn in June and we have a thing about trying to buy each other the most offensive card we can - its all in good humour but I decided to up the game for her 30th (which makes me feel a little bit guilty she made me a nice card but her real gift is awesome) so I have bought this cross stitch and am about 1/3 of the way in....apologies if this offends anyone!

Cross stitch

The pattern is great and clearly set out which is making it an enjoyable make. She will love it! I will show the finished article as soon as I can!

The other thing about hitting 30 is that EVERYONE around you starts getting married - I have SEVEN weddings over the next year and as I love handmaking gifts (or buying handmade) I purchased this pattern yesterday

Mr & Mrs

I think I will change the colours up a bit for the couples if I can work it out and I don't think I will have time to make it for everyone but definitely some of them.

Also, this may have fallen into my basket due to the 50% sale this shop has on at the moment...a Harry Potter themed home is acceptable right?

Harry Potter

Also, I am actually starting to think about and plan Christmas presents - I know this is terrible as it is still closer to last christmas as it is to next but if I am handmaking them I need to get organised but I won't bore you with them just now

Have a great weekend guys!

Kristy xx

Fabric shopping

Hello everyone, hope you are all having a fun weekend - I am home alone for the first time and realising I get bored on my own pretty easily these days!

I have found a good way to alleviate weekend boredom though...fabric shopping!

Gorgeous satin border print...Will not be easy for a beginner like me to sew but I got 2.5m of this and can see a pretty dress for the 7 (!) Weddings I have in the next year

I think this is cotton lawn and want to make a skirt for my holidays with this

Not a great picture, but it's a chiffon and sooo soft - 3m of this loveliness and I want a brightly coloured underlined dress

I am not 100% sold on this but it's so soft and think will make a lovely top for work - just a metre again

Another metre for a skirt (I am going a bit skirt crazy)

This is a buttery soft lawn - just a meter again

This is a linen and I bought this as it's got seagulls on! Seagulls!!!!!

If anyone follows me on pinterest u out will see i love novelty prints on sunflower so this won't be a shock!

I went to Walthamstow market and trundled around...I cannot believe all this cost me £19! I cannot believe how cheap it is for how good quality it is! Some of these lovely pieces were £1 each with the seagulls most expensive at £4.Bit worrying for a growing stash when this is 30 mins away from home!

Happy weekend sewing peeps!

(6 weeks on Monday for the sewing machine to arrive!)

My personalised colour palette

Introduction

After reading this months edition of Seamwork (Colette patterns monthly subscription magazine) I thought I would have a go at creating my own colour palette. I generally do not wear many colours, I always feel my pale skin and ginger hair means I just do not suit colour. My wardrobe is full of black, white, greys, navy and the occasional royal blue or turquoise so thought this may be a useful tool.

Materials and Methods

I followed the Seamwork article to a tee except finding the corresponding paint chip number - I would have done this but it links to American paint companies and after doing all these collages below I had ran out of steam to try look for a British version.

Results

WARNING: The following pictures contain a Make Up Free Kristy and it isn't all that pretty! I wanted to test this on my natural skin colour not on my make up face. I do hope I don't put you off your food while reading or scare any young children!

Using the ColorSnap app on my phone I took a few pictures and it came back with the colours:

I didn't take note of the colours from the background or my top

Think I have a bit of make up residue...ooops

No pointing out my grey hairs....

From here I loaded the RGB values into the Adobe Color CC website and took the complimentary, compound and triad colour recommendations for 8 different colours shown.

I then spent bloody ages figuring out how to do collages on a very slow laptop to try and show me the correct colours without using the base colour

Discussion

There are no real shocks in the colours except for the orangey/mustard shades and the pale pinks. I have tried mustard before and it was awful and I would have assumed pale pink would just be a wash out on me.

I really like all the dusky mauve colours, this will definitely be nice to add to my wardrobe as will more earthy colours. It has confirmed I cannot wear many bright summery colours too which I am happy about as I think I would have been disappointed to have been missing out!

Conclusion

I am happy with this process, even if it did take me a bit longer than anticipated. But I now have a permanent colour palette to refer to when shopping. I also know which colours to team with what which will only help. I am going to get these collages printed to keep as a reference (much easier than finding the paint chips!) to help.

I hope I see some other blogs with this process, it would be interesting to see.

Just a quick update on my other news: I have moved house! Yay! I have also purchased a new desk or 'Sewing Table' so I am a couple of steps closer to actually starting sewing again!!! 

Thanks for reading

Kristy xxx