Is there a Trick to Sewing Glittery Fabrics????

My gut is telling me not to do it. It's a GORGEOUS fabric but I fear it will ruin my sewing machine. And I wouldn't even think twice about running it through my serger. I fear it will damage my blade. The fabric is a black slinky knit with a gorgeous and intricate design of ---- in which the flowers in the design are highlighted with lots turquoise glitter. I mean so much so that when you even look at the fabric a pound of glitter sloughs off. Here it is. It's absolutely stunning!

Something tells me that the thought of sewing this should make me nervous.  Other sewers have cautioned me against sewing this fabric as well. Sigh......but it's so beautiful fabric and I really wanted to make a gown out of it. But back to the store it goes! This whole situation has got me thinking about whether or not it's feasible to sew such a fabric. I definitely could use some advice from anyone experienced in this area. My extent of sewing fabrics with glitter has been satins with small amounts, nothing to this extent where it covers 50%+ of the fabric.  Have you sewn with any type of glittery fabric? Was there lots or a little glitter? Did it mess up your sewing machine or serger??? Is sewing this fabric by machine even possible? Got any tips???? Thanks, you guys are a WEALTH of information. I'm looking to satisfy my curiosity:)

Help!!! I think I may have washed out my denim design?!?!?

Today I purchased a gorgeous animal print stretch denim from Jo-Ann's today with the intention of making a cute top which I'll reveal later. In preparation to work with the fabric, since it was cotton, I naturally washed it for pre-shrinking. After washing it I pulled it from the  machine and to my surprise and dismay I didn't see the animal print design anymore. I was shocked!!!! The design was really subtle to begin with.........(see the pic---it's barely noticeable here but in good lighting you can see the animal print fairly well........

 (Animal print denim photo courtesy of Joann.com.)

 and I hadn't paid much attention to how the design was created (it appeared to be somewhat embossed).  But let me tell you that I nearly went into sheer panic when I no longer saw it. I figured I hadn't washed it correctly so I frantically checked the Joann's website to find that I'd washed it fine (I used the light cycle instead of the delicate one but that wouldn't have made a big difference). I figured all was lost and put it in the dryer for a while. By that time I was convinced I'd washed it out???? I retrieved it from the dryer a few minutes later and began to see what appears to be the design, reappearing. I've laid it on the drying rack and am hoping for the best. I won't know until the fabrics completely dry if the pattern will return in it's totality. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Strange, huh??? Have you ever experienced anything like this with a fabric???? Have you had any pre-treatment woes???

I See Cardigans in My Immediate Future.......

I'm definitely not a fan of cold weather! So I try to refrain from even thinking about the upcoming fall and winter and will go as far as putting off my cold weather sewing until the very last minute. Yeah, as if that will prevent the impending Fall or Winter. Fortuntely I live in a subtropical climate which makes it easier for me to have this case of denial/procrastination.
   However I ran across a great cardigan pattern and actually became quite excited about the cooler weather. At the very least I can wear it at my place of work NOW which is always freezing to me!!! It's McCall's 6084 and I soooo love it! I'm sure everyone has this pattern by now. Isn't it too cute!!! I'm raving about this pattern. It just goes to show you how much of a simple girl I really am!!! LOL! Hey I'm all about cute knits!!!

So I started looking for fabric. I have a plethora of knit fabric but will only use a thin and  knit jersey that drapes well.   Well I was at Wal-Mart earlier this morning and saw a bin of fabric containing several bolts. Upon further investigation I noticed that each bolt contained 5 yards of fabric for $5. And what did I see? The perfect knit fabric for my cardigans. So needless to say without even blinking an eye I bought 6 bolts of a variety of colors. So 30 yards for $1/yd.  And I only need 2 yards max of each color for the long sleeve cardigan.  After that I'll have enough leftover fabric to make tops, dresses, etc.  So here's the fabric I bought.....Plum, Maroon, Deep Purple Tan, Charcoal gray, & Teal.  Seriously, I could have a cardigan in every color imaginable. But I'll try to maintain some control! LOL!

So I'm excited I have the perfect fabric for the job. Normally I don't like to use such a thin knit when making dresses but for a cardigan it's absolutely perfect!!! And with this pattern being 1 hour or so (which it says on the envelope), I hope to begin making a few in August or September. BTW, the last of my goodies also came in the mail today. Here they are....

I received The Sewing Answer Book and was suprised that it was such a tiny book. I've thumbed through it and my first impressions is that it's a great book for beginner sewers since it seems to answer basic sewing questions. I haven't really ran across anything I didn't know just yet, but I haven't read the whole thing, Hey if I get a few new tips that would be awesome. But I do think it's best for beginner sewers!!! I definitely may recommend it to some of my sewing students.
I can't wait to watch the Beautiful Sheers Simple DVD. Again, I've sewn with sheers (chiffon, georgette, etc) but I'm particular about the techniques I use. I'd like to see how the experts do it and see if they've got some great tips and shortcuts I haven't heard of. Plus, I've been eye-balling this Burda pattern and can't wait to make both looks (especially the one on the left) sometime next year in a cute sheer fabric!!! It's so Bohemian chic!

Well that's it for now. I've got a Burda top I need to finish sewing, a dress I'm making for a client (I'll blog about that soon) and a few client alterations. Things have been picking up and like most of you I've been busy, busy, busy. Until next time, Happy Sewing:)  BTW: You can watch the new episodes of Project Runway Season 8 online, if you were to busy to catch it this past Thursday. Just go to http://www.mylifetime.com/shows/project-runway!!!

Just call me the "Jacquard Hunter"!

This past weekend the family and I thought it would be a great idea to take a quick trip out of town. Well we decided to head on down to Jacksonville, Florida (only 1.5 hours away). I don't have to tell you what my main focus was on (aside from spending family of course)....... FABRIC stores Of Course!!! I had to know how many fabric stores were in a 20 mile radius of our hotel. Are you laughing at me? You know you do the exact same thing!!!  Besides looking at fabric is one of the main ways I relax (the other ways are sewing, reading sewing books, planning my seasonal wardrobes--but you must believe that aside from sewing I do have other interests---LOL!!!) Well it turns out that there were 3 Jo-Ann's (that's all I had to work with) in proximity to me and my AWESOME Hubby took me to all 3 in a 2 day period. He actually volunteered---he's so AWESOME and SUPPORTIVE! For the record--he NEVER accompanies me in the store, but will always gladly wait for me in the car:)

Secretly I was delighted that I'd get to visit so many Jo-Ann stores. Mainly because I had a deep, dark secret. I've been trying to hunt down printed jacquard fabrics for the last few weeks. You see, my serious obsession with printed jacquard fabric began a couple of months back and has driven me to the limits.  In April I spotted a beautiful black and white floral printed jacquard, stared at it for 5 minutes, picked it up and stared at it some more,  and reluctantly left it on the shelf after spotting the $14.99/yd price tag. At the time I couldn't think of a project to use it on and I was so focused on buying fabric for my Mother's Day dress so I passed it by. What was I thinking??? I saw this fabric again when Erica B made this Wonderful Dress. At this point I knew I had to track this fabric down. So armed with a few 50% off coupons, I began the mission to track it down. And tracked it down is what I did!  I managed to find 3 different types of jaquard's I liked in Jacksonville and added it to the one I already had. So I've got 4 cuts of jacquard prints and can't wait to find nice projects for each of them. They have an awesome print in addition to a great texture, which is characteristic of jacquards. These 2 combinations make for a very lush looking fabric with a great hand.

(These are 3 printed jacquards I picked up in Jacksonville. There was only approx 1.5yd of the b/w and the multicolor one on the end. Not much to work with but I'll figure something out--maybe I'll do a strapless top. I have about 3 yds of the blue/green jacquard in the middle. So I really plan to make something cute with that). 

(I've posted this pic before in an earlier post, but here is the first printed jacuard fabric I bought (second to the left).

 Ok, I think I've got my printed jacquard fabric fix! I can't wait to begin working with these. Definitely expect a fancy little number from at least one of these fabrics before Summer's end. If you have any suggestions I'll definitely take them. Stay tuned:)

The drought is over.... I've finally bought some fabric!

I've refrained  from buying fabric since I haven't seen any good deals as of late. You see I don't live in a city overrun with fabric stores where I could potentially go broke all of the time. Rather, I live where there is one Joann & one Hancock fabrics, and to be quite honest, I'm not really impressed with the selection at either store. Maybe I'm hard to please or maybe I'm looking for a store that stocks printed knits from floor to ceiling.

 So for me, fabric shopping usually happens in spells and I'm not too reluctant about buying good fabric when I see it (especially on sale) because I know that I might experience a "drought" and go weeks without buying fabric.

Well after not buying fabric for what seemed like forever, I was pretty excited when I found the pieces pictured above. The cast of characters are as follows (from left to right):

*Turquoise floral swimsuit fabric- I got this from Joann and with coupon it was maybe $6/yd and I only bought 1 1/4 yd which is more than enough for a swimsuit. I know I already have 4 other swimsuit fabrics but couldn't resist getting this one to add to the collection.

*Jacquard floral print---I got this at JoAnn's and I loved the bright colors. I've only got 1 1/4yd so I can only make a top or skirt. I wanted to make a dress but silly me didn't buy it when they had a lot of it. I think the $14.99/yd price tag (with no coupon on hand) made me squirm a little.

*Black, pink, burgundy floral stretch poplin- You know I love my stretch fabrics and the colors are great! I bought this one from Fashionfabricsclub.com and bought 3 yd clearance piece for $9 or so.

*Burgundy, pink, brown, tan floral stretch poplin- Got this puppy from Fashionfabricsclub.com and bought a 2 yd clearance piece for $8.

*Purple charmeuse with abstract prints- This was also purchased from Fashionfabricsclub.com and was about $8 for a 2 yd piece.

BTW, the middle piece has already been cut up and sewn into a delightful number I plan to wear to church and hope to review on tomorrow. Nothing encourages new sewing projects like new (and old) fabric!

So I have a quick question for you guys. Where do you normally get your fabric? Are there any online sites and any fabric warehouse (that are within a day's drive from Savannah, GA because I'm willing to travel) that you know of?  I've heard of some fabric mills in North Carolina and some fabric stores in Atlanta. And of course I have to make another NYC Garment district shopping trip (the last one was several years ago). I'll gladly take any of your suggestions and recommendations!

Happy sewing to ya:)

New Knit Goodies!!!

After making it to work and checking my emails I ran across this Fabric.Com sales flyer in my inbox.

I figured they were still trying to see some of the items I saw listed on last week so I almost didn't pay it any mind. It's been a couple of months since I ordered something from these guys.

I'm so glad I didn't ignore this email. It just so happens that they were selling printed jersey knits for the low, low, low price of $2.99/yard. After seeing this, I still quite don't know what happened. I've never placed an order so fast in my life. I think I had my order complete in 4 minutes flat!!! Time is of the essence when you're trying to acquire fabrics that in 2 of my 5 selections, had less then 10 yards left. So here's what I got. With the possible exception of the last 2 (please keep your fingers crossed for me that they still have enough left to complete my order), I  managed to get these fabrics.

  

  

 

 

 

Looking at these fabric, I'm sure some of them might raise a few eyebrows. I always trust my instincts when it comes to fabric. I don't have a method---- it's all just instinct. If I love the pattern and colors it's an automatic "shoo in". And I can usually match the right fabric with the right pattern. I can't wait to get my hands on these knit fabrics!!!!!

Oh You Elusive Black Stretch Corduroy.....

  So I just received the two batches of fabric I'd been waiting for and I wish I could say I was beaming with joy. One of my packages looked a little small so I had that sinking feeling that an item was missing. So I tore through the packages to take inventory. I got my knit (yeah!!!). Check. I got my print corduroy and black velour. Check. And that was it.  What no black stretch corduroy (and grey stretch corduroy)!!!! That was the entire reason for the order!  Uggghh. Not again!!!! I feel like it's taunting me. I always get so close and then that darn black stretch corduroy eludes me.
   It just so happens that the company I bought it from ran out--which I guess happens--and that's fine. However, the company (which will remain nameless) did not make me aware of this ahead of time, since it's not in their policy to do so. So I had to find out the hard way. Darn!!! But that's ok--because now this is personal and I'm going to hunt that black stretch corduroy down like I've never done before. Price is no longer a factor (I can't believe I just said that:) ), especially since I only need 2 yards for pants. Let me know if you Guys spot some.
   Ok now that I'm done ranting, I'm pretty happy with what I did get. I loved the cotton knit I bought from Best Online Fabrics (HomeJewel you were right!!!).   I don't have to explain to you why--I'm sure you gathered that from my last post. I love the colors in this one. My husband thinks the print is a bit much but I have some ideas on how to make this work. I have 2.5 yds and could spit it for a top and/or dress.

Now my biggest steal was this black velour fabric. It was at a deep discount--since this was the last of it. I got 3 5/8 yards for only $12.50 which is a steal considering that's the price of just one yard in Joann's.  I've always wanted a velour jumpsuit. Now I've got to find the right pattern. Let me know your recommendations. I recall Adrienne making a really cute one not too long ago!!! If only I could remember that pattern #....hmmmm.

This last piece I'm sorta on the fence about. I bought it for this simplicity pattern so I could make the skirt and vest for my daughter (you might recall I made the jumper a month ago).  Yhe print was a little bigger than I expected and might be a bit much. I'm debating whether to return it or not. I'll have to sleep on it.

It was great to get my fabric but I really hate I didn't get my black stretch corduroy. But hey that's life. The search goes on and one day--just one day--- the elusive black stretch corduroy will be mine-- Mark My Words!!! :)