Fabric wanties - March

Well it's nearly the end of March and therefore time to check in with Fabriholics Anonymous.

So far I seem to be doing quite well, in that I have purchased no fabric since the 1st of January 2014. None. Zero. Not a single yard. Or fat quarter even. Sigh. But the fabric wanties, oh the wanties have been bad this month. I nearly wrote this post a couple of weeks ago but decided just to get on with sewing and ride it out rather than dwelling on it and making myself feel worse.
It isn't quilting cotton that is giving me the wanties this month, even though there are some seriously beautiful fabric collections coming out at the moment that I am very sad to be missing.
April Showers by Bonnie & Camille.

Image from http://camilleroskelley.typepad.com/

Color Me Happy by V & Co.

Image from http://www.vanessachristenson.com/

Foxfield by Tula Pink

All images from tulapink.com

So yep, if I was buying quilting collections, these are what I would be buying. But my FQ and half yard stash is pretty healthy and to be honest I am enjoying getting to know it a bit more, rather than just cramming more fabric into it without even knowing what's there already. Starting to think about the quilts I want to make this year and how I might use my stash to do that.


What I am struggling with is wanting longer cuts. And dressmaking fabrics.


I have several bags on my WNQIP (works not quite in progress list) for some time now and have already made a start on my Travel Duffle. I have also purchased a zip for a Noodlehead Cargo Duffle and am starting to think about fabrics for it. And really wishing I had more 1-2 yard cuts. I had to use Kona Snow for the interior of my Travel Duffle as I just didn't have a long enough coordinating cut of a coloured solid or print. And while I am happy to piece bag exteriors, I do love a striking lining. Having to make do feels a shame, somehow, given the amount of work, fabric and interfacing that goes into making a bag.

Aeroplane bag interior

And of course my Staple dress made me want to make more Staple dresses. Specifically a Staple dress made out of Essex Yarn Dyed Linen in Denim with cute contrast neck and armhole facing and possibly even pockets. But I only have 1 metre of the Denim. I've tried to squeeze those pattern pieces on, even followed Grainline Studio's advice to try pattern pieces flat rather than on the fold, but nope, it's not going to fit.


Not being much of a dressmaking means that of course my stash rather lacks the cuts and type of fabric required to make adult sized clothing. So why, you might ask, could I not resist buying a bundle of patterns for just the types of fabric I do not own?

Well I couldn't. That Staple dress, plus the ongoing Great British Sewing Bee, has made me want to make things for myself. And the pattern bundle was half price last week, and when I looked at the collection I knew I could make, suit and wear ALL the patterns in it. Just the kind of tops I love. And I wear jeans, umm, almost every day!


But I do not own interlock.

I'll take that neutral stripe please

Or sweater knits.

And the india ink fleck (top left)

Or ponte de Roma

Oh, it would have been so easy to fall off the wagon. Dressmaking fabrics don't count, right??

Yes they do.

Because this exactly what I do ... I have plans to make so many things, then I get distracted and go off on a tangent and start making other things. Well, I can still do that, I just can't buy fabric to do so. So no, I can't make all the Just Add Jeans tops yet because I do not have appropriate knits. I do however have a couple of metres of grey jersey cotton, bought to buy some PJ tops for the girls. To go with the as yet unmade Fanfare flannel PJ bottoms. And grey is just my thing, apparel wise.


So I am thinking about the Parisian top, like this ...

But I have quilts to finish first!