Thrifting luck: Indian fabric

We do have a couple of charity shops where I live and I like to go there to buy old duvet covers that I use as muslin fabric. I am fitting a shirt for Lescha at the moment and my gosh the pattern pieces are just massive. I am on my fourth muslin and you can imagine how much fabric you need to assemble a long sleeve mens shirt. But at least, I am almost done now and can soon cut into the real fabric.

The cotton fabric

When I went to the charity shop I did not only buy duvet covers, but was extremely lucky and found some beautiful fabric. For just £6, I got three meters of this amazing pink cotton/poly-cotton and two meters of a pink chiffon. The start and end of the cotton piece is decorated with colorful and golden flowers - I just love it. I think the fabric was intended for a making a sari, because it said Indian fabric on the price tag.

Golden flowers

The chiffon is pale pink and looks like the sides are batiked in blue. It is decorated with the same flowers as the cotton fabric. 

The chiffon on top of the cotton.

I haven't decided yet, what I am going to make with them. A dress obviously. But should I combine the cotton and chiffon in one dress or should I make a dress from the cotton and a thin summer scarf from the chiffon? What do you think guys? Any ideas?

I am playing with the thought to participate in Laurens and Andis outfit along. I think the cotton fabric would make a perfect Simplicity 1803 dress. In my mind I see a pink bodice and a skirt with flowers printed all over it :) I haven't bought the pattern yet, but I am tempted. As for the knitted cardigan, I am going to knit Andi's Hetty Cardigan in pink wool. 

What about you? Are you participating in the outfit along?

Fabric shopping in Kiev and update on fabric stash

When we went to Kiev, I naturally couldn't resist visiting the fabric and haberdashery shops. Unfortunately, I had forgotten my mobile at home and couldn't take any photos from the shops. The shops displayed their cut fabrics on the walls, and only one of the shops displayed the actual bolts. The shops in Kiev have the most amazing haberdashery I have seen so far. So many amazing trims (you had to look through books and choose the one you want), buttons in every collar and different types of zippers.

I restricted myself to 4 fabrics (one more than I am actually allowed according to my stash diet rules, ups).

1. Some really soft stretch denim. Who was I, to resist this amazing polka dot denim? I just had to have it. I bought 1 meter and plan to make a skirt from it. Do you have any skirt pattern suggestions for stretch cotton? I initially thought I could make the Colette Beignet, but am worried that because of the stretch it will be too loose.

2. Patterned wool jersey. I spotted this fabric immediately, because it is purple and it has flowers woven (knitted?) into it. It appears a bit old-fashioned, but I think with a thin cream jersey as an lining the flowers will pop and it will make a nice winter dress. I don't have a specific pattern in mind yet, but I am eyeballing the new Moneta dress from Colette patterns.

3. White flower lace cotton. There was some confusion when I bought the fabric, because initially I wanted to have a similar lace cotton with smaller flowers. I wanted two meters to make a summer dress, but there were only 1.3 meters left. Thus the sales person recommended to buy the fabric I got, because it was from their new range - indicating that there should be more. But it turned out they only had 1.5 meters. Maybe something got lost in translation :) I don't speak Russian and relied on Leschas translation. But hopefully it will be enough for a nice floaty summer dress.

4. Hot red corduroy. I was looking for a baby-ribbed corduroy for ages in Goldhawk Road, but couldn't find what I wanted. And then I saw this fabric in Kiev and knew it was what I wanted. Again, they had only 1.5 meters left, but that should just be enough for the Colette Parfait I am planning to make out of it!

I also got some buttons and trims in the haberdashery shops. And why should it be different, I bought the last of the white buttons and the denim trim. I love trims and for some reason haven't used them in a while. But now you can look forward to seeing them soon on one of the summer dresses.

I also found some buttons in an old allotment that belongs to Lescha's family. I was really happy that I could take them (and they might have been happy that the buttons were gone). These buttons were probably cut off old clothes to be thrown away. I don't know how old they are, but I like the idea to wear a piece of history :)

That's were I found the buttons. A good scrub and they will be as good as new.

Back home I organised my fabric stash - to make space for the new arrivals. I have to admit that at the beginning of March I went twice to Goldhawk Road with some lovely blogging friends and naturally couldn't resist buying fabric. However, I stayed true to my stash diet pledge and didn't buy any poplins or quilting cottons.

Contrary, I bought 3 chiffons - a fabric that I haven't sewn with yet and the thought of cutting and sewing it scares me like crazy. But I just couldn't resist: butterflies and birds - my most favorite motives. Actually, Kelly, Claire and I bought 1 meter each of the white and blue bird silk chiffon. Let's see what we all come up with!

I also got some linen with pink flowers on it and some white and gold-striped jersey. Finally, I bough a great rose jersey (not shown), which I wanted to make a slip from (Gerties slip). But as I don't have all the little ingredients for it yet, half of the fabric has already been turned into a jumper from the Burda magazine (as soon as I manage to take photos, you will see it). The blue cotton lawn I got as a Birthday present :)

So my stash in total:
old: 26
in: 9
out: 8
new: 27

Anybody else struggling with keeping to the stash diet rules???

Snooping around in my stash.

I don't know about you, but I love to snoop around in other peoples stash! It's like snooping in their wardrobes, which I like (of course) as well. You get to know people better because of their choice of clothing. The same might be true about stash fabric, but I just love to see the fabrics and colors other seamstresses use to get inspired :)

You might remember my last post (at the end) about participating in the stash diet organised by Gail from today's agenda and Andrea from stitch parade. I haven't written down my dieting rules yet (but soon to come) and I also didn't show my stash. I mean, I am telling you I am dieting, but actually you don't know if I pretend and really use what there is in my stash ;) That's why I am showing you my stash today and then I can count down the fabrics that I have used so far, hua.

My lovely stash:

Cotton poplins and voiles:

Most of my stash fabrics are cotton poplins or cotton voile and as you might notice most of them ended up to be blue! Speak about color preference. Most of them have a pattern. I love patterns, but the problem is, you just can't combine them. I need more plain ones! Also, most of the fabrics are only 1 m long (they came from the blogger meet-up in August 2013) and you can't make a dress out of them.

More cotton poplins and lawns.

Do you have any ideas what I can make with as little as 1 m of fabric? Have you used a specific pattern that you would recommend?

Linen, denim, wool and brushed cottons

I also have some linen, denim, wool and brushed cottons in my stash. The grey and red denim (on the far right) are actually from 4 years ago when I started to sew. I tried to make trousers from the grey denim and they just looked hilarious big. I still have the trousers and plan to cut them apart so that I can use the fabric for a skirt. I bought the red denim for a canvas bag I made. Also a fail, because with an jersey lining (!) it was just not stable and lives hidden away in a box now. The white-black checked fabric is made from wool and I bought it in Kiev (Ukraine) four years ago, when visiting Leschas family. (Leschas mum has finally stopped asking me, when I am going to use it. Embarrassing) I planned to make a dress out of it, which I think might still be lovely because it is a thin wool.

Jersey:

My jersey stash is really meager, that's why I am so keen on buying new ones. And as these are all purple, I should definitively get my hands on another color. Some blue maybe? The berry one on the right is actually only half a meter left over from my Burda top. So, there is not enough left to make a whole jumper. But I could combine it with the pale purple one in the middle.

How about you? Is your stash bursting as well? How do you keep your stash organised? I though it might be a good idea to measure every piece to have an idea what resources I have available!