Fabric Haul!

Following on from Me Made May I've had a bit of a fabric shopping spree. There are not really any options for fabric shopping where I live, so I buy all of my fabric online and tend to splurge on a big order about once a year. 

This recent fabric haul comes from Fabricland. I knew that I wanted to make some jersey dresses and t-shirts so I have mainly bought jersey. Here's what I've bought: 

1. Blue and Yellow Floral Viscose  

I loved the print of these fabrics and the hints of yellow in the print. I bought 2m of this at £3.99 per metre. I originally planned to make a lovely summer dress using this fabric. It has a lovely drape but is quite lightweight and I'm worried it might be a bit see through. I'm not certain yet but I'm sure the correct project for this fabric will appear with time!

2. Black and White Gingham

I've wanted a gingham dress for a while now and classic black and white check will go with a lot of accessorise and cardigans in my wardrobe. I think I've got 3m of this fabric which was £2.59 per metre. I have visions of something really simple: a knee length dress with a gathered waist, round neck and short sleeves. I have several patterns in my stash which might be suitable.  

3. Black and White Stripe Rib

Over this Winter I have enjoyed wearing my two Cleo Dungaree dresses by Tilly and the Buttons but have lacked any long sleeve t-shirts to go with them. I love anything stripy and so picked up 2m of this stripy rib fabric at a bargain at only £2.49 per metre. I'm planning on sewing a long sleeve Freya shirt from Tilly Walnes' latest book Stretch!. 

4. Tiny Floral Jersey

I had to have this jersey as soon as I saw it's lovely floral print. I don't think the photos on the Fabric Land website do this print much justice as it's beautifully detailed in real life and I love the pink, red and yellow colours. I also have 2m of this, bought at £4.99 per metre, which I originally intended to make another Freya t-shirt. However, it's very soft and with a lot of drape and I'm not sure it will work very well. I think it would make a lovely short sleeve Frankie t-shirt. Perfect for the summer.   

5. Gray Spot Print

I've wanted to make another Moneta dress by Colette for ages, as mine have seen so much wear. What I love about this gray polka dot jersey is that it will be suitable to wear for work and also casually. This was £4.44 per m, I have plenty to make a dress and maybe also a t-shirt! 

6. Navy with Pink Roses

Again, this fabric (£4.99 per m) is destined to also be another jersey dress, perhaps another Wren wrap dress by Colette. My previous wren dress has seen lots of wear but is made from a winter jersey so this one would be great for the summer. It's also another dress that could be worn for work or at home and I have plenty of red/pink/navy shoes and accessorise to go with it.  

7. Peach and Navy Large Spot Jersey

This fabric is the only one which has been disappointing. It's made from a polyester, which doesn't bother me, but there is not a massive amount of stretch in the fabric. I had in mind making a Joni dress from Tilly Walnes' recent book Stretch! and thought the large scale print would look great. I also didn't realise the spots were navy and not black. I'm not sure if this will work out as Joni dress but at only £3.99 per m, I figure I might as well give it a go! If it all goes wrong, I can put a side zip in!


I'm currently in the process of washing all the fabrics so that they are ready for cutting out. I'm really excited to start sewing and am having trouble deciding which to make first! 

Chambray Shorts

I don't usually wear shorts - I can never seem to find any to fit quite right due to my curvy thighs and slim(mer!) waist. After a spell of hot weather in April I decided to see if I could make some shorts myself.

I knew I wanted them to be lightweight for hot weather and a looser design with an elasticated waist. After searching for some patterns I came across several tutorials on designing your own shorts pattern and decided to have a go myself!

As the basis of my pattern I used the Margot pyjama pattern from Tilly and the Button's first book Love at First Stitch.  I made a few changes to this pattern. I decided where I wanted my shorts to finish, added 1/2 inch for hemming and this gave me the correct length. Because I was not using the channel for a drawstring, I added 5/8 inch to the fold line marked on the original pattern when tracing. I wanted to my shorts to be loose fitting and slightly a line in shape, so I added 1/2 inch to the outside hem of both the front and back pieces and curved the side seams slightly at the bottom, following a tutorial from the book Gertie Sews Vintage Casual by Gretchen Hirsch. I then cut a length of fabric for the waistband. 

The fabric I used was some chambray originally bought from Calico Laine that was leftover from a blouse I made. Despite this being the first time I have ever sewn shorts/trousers, I put these together very quickly in just a few hours spread across three sessions. For some reason there was a length difference along the crotch but I trimmed down the excess and it seemed to work out ok! There are also several issues with the waistband. I had a lot of trouble cutting out the length I needed out of what was left from my fabric. When I started sewing it in it was slightly too short. I tried to ease it in but it has puckered a bit- annoyingly at the front. It's also too wide, so I've made a mistake when calculating the width of fabric needed. 

Since making these I have worn them a couple of times - mainly around the house and also on holiday in Spain. They were great on the beach and comfortable without being at all revealing- I don't think I could wear short shorts!

I would definitely class these as a wearable muslin. I think they would look better using fabric with a better drape and maybe a bit of pattern. I need to fix the problem with the waistband and perhaps take some width out of the waist for a sleeker look. I'm also thinking about curving the bottom hem at the sides as a bit of a design feature.