I gotta be totally honest here… It did not occur to me that anyone would even read this blog, not even when I posted a link onto Pattern Review. So, to anyone who did and was disappointed in me, I deserve that.  I did not have my shit together. I still don’t, so if you came back, you must really be dying for something to read! Sadly I don’t have much to show for the past few weeks. I have had to do a lot of travelling, and thus have not had much sewing time. I am working on a skirt, Mcall’s 6706 and will make a post about it when its finished and I can get some pics of me wearing it. Or maybe I just throw it on my dress form and call it a day, haven’t decided yet. In the meantime I will post up some pics of my most recent fabric haul from Fabric Mart and the very recent Joann’s pattern sale. So, I love Fabric Mart, they don’t pay me to love them, they don’t even know who I am, I just like the service they provide. I subscribe to the Julie’s Pics, which means I pay $50.00 a year and I get a coupon a month and a swatch sample booklet and special pricing and first dibs on those samples. They have their own special section and they can sell out really quick! The coupons are a great deal, and I like being able to touch and inspect the fabric I want to buy up close and personal. Fabric Mart gets the majority of my monthly fabric stash cash because of the swatch booklet. If other fabric stores did it, I would have to increase my stash budget! If anyone wants to see an example of some of the swatch packets, I will get a pic up here, just let me know in the comments.  Without further ado, here are the main things I bought…

Golden Raffia Sweater Knit

Black Chevron Crepe

White and Gray Stripe Rayon Crepe

This stuff was 70% off!  It is by far the best thing I bought and it was not part of Julies pics, just a random impulse buy.  It has beautiful drape and is opaque

And, since I was already close to the budget busting mark, I threw in a $15.00 mystery 10 yard bundle. They send you a random assortment of fabric remnants that add up to 10 yards. I like to gamble guys… Sometimes it’s a hit and sometimes it’s a miss. This was more of a miss for me, but the last one was great, so you never know. Straight to the muslin bin for these guys.  I didn’t bother to take pics before I dumped it in the bin, but I will do so in the future.

Also I ordered 4 yards of black ponte, nothing special, just a good staple to have around and it was a nice heavyweight for a good price.

I did my usual wash and fold for my new beauties and when I went to put them away, I realized that I had a serious problem of the storage nature.  I seem to have outgrown my fabric storage method. My mom told me to chill out on the fabric buying, but I say, I just need to sew faster and store more efficiently! What do you guys think?  I had been storing half of my fabric in a closet hanging on hangers, the other half was under a table already matched with summer patterns.  But when I went to hang up my new stuff, there was no more hanging space.  So I took it all off of the hangers and folded it up in neat piles in the closet.  I need some storage shelves or cubes or something.  I will figure it out when the new Home Goods store opens here.

Stay tuned for the skirt pattern review, I should be finishing it very soon.

Also, I made my second pair of Ginger Jeans by Closet Case Patterns and I love them, but I cant fit my fat ass into them.  Apparently living out of a suitcase, using a slightly less stretchy fabric, and cutting a smaller size than the last ones led to this disaster.  I finished them off and they will hang in the closet waiting for hemming and hardware until I lose the 15 pounds I put on during the summer.  Its not a big deal, I just really wanted to wear them now.  Ill post the pic of them hanging, patiently waiting for me to fit them again…