New Year's Resolutions

One of my sewing resolutions for this year (Learn how to sew with knits and better use my serger) led me to buy this pattern today. The Joann's near work was having a 99cent Simplicity pattern sale, as I discovered when looking for skirt hooks to fix a costume for The 39 Steps. Which of course meant that I had to buy some of these on-sale patterns.

When I got home I picked out fabric from my stash for this pattern, pictured below. It was form one of those pre-cut sales bins at Denver Fabrics, and I got 2 yards of it for $4 per yard. Not really sure what it's made of, but it's pretty and a knit, which is all that I care about for fulfilling this resolution!


I know, I know. New Year's now? It's practically February. So I'm a little late to the game, so sue me.

Shopping Ladies

First things first: I don't want to forget to mention that Bolt is having a big sale this weekend, so if you live in the Portland area and haven't had a chance to check it out yet, this would be a great time to do so. There aren't many smaller fabric stores that can sustain themselves in the midst of Joann's myriad coupons and Big Names like Fabric Depot, but Bolt has some really fun prints that you don't find at either of those places, so I like to support them when I can. Prices aren't amazing, but they aren't outrageous either. I am going to try to go there first thing tomorrow morning, as most of the rest of my weekend is booked solid.

Speaking of Bolt, the last time that I went there I purchased two yards of the fabric at the left. I think it was the color combinations that attracted me to it at first. The yellow and teal/blue are really very bold against the brown-maroon background. The background color is just great in itself, as it is a nice neutral color that isn't used all that often. the scale of the women makes this fabric prefect for me to base some purse series around. I bought this fabric specifically with purses in mind. It's especially great since so many of the women are carrying purses in the print. I also love the great variety of dresses/outfits when you look closely at the fabric, and the fact that there is some skin tone diversity! I could see this as a cute simple skirt as well, just a plain A-line. Erin would probably make a dress out of it, but then again, that's what she does best!

Anyways, I don't know where my receipt is that would show me how much I paid for this per yard, but i'm sure it was about $7 or $8. I believe it is a 100% cotton, 45in wide heavy quilting cotton.

Polka Dots, Part 2

This fabric is one the I saw at Joann's for the first time last week. It was on sale for 40% off (I think it was originally about $9 a yard). The dots on it are variegated in color and regularity, which I really like. The size of the bigger polka dots is about the size of a dime (sorry, it's hard to take a proper scale picture when you are taking the photos in the store). It's a fun lightweight silky fabric that would probably make a nice airy dress for the summer. It two big downfalls/reasons I didn't purchase it (besides being on a tight budget): 1. the white background. White backgrounds are hard for dresses for me, and the hand/feel of material wanted to be a dress, but the coloring on it wanted to be a skirt or a lining. It would make a great lining for a jacket. 2. It's 100%polyester. While that actually isn't really a deterrent for me personally, it would be for quite a few sewers I know. Mostly I can sit and admire this fabric for it lovely colors and uneven spacing, but don't feel the need to Make Anything out of it.