Orders

There were sewing-related things I'd been thinking about ordering for months, but kept putting them off.

Grail, Chosen (un)Wisely

 So.

Making a motorcycle jacket from a sequined fabric is not an original idea. Once I saw a sequined motorcycle jacket, though, I definitely wanted to make one.

I haven't, yet, but I do want to.

A big barrier to this potential project has been that I have a very particular idea of what kind of sequin fabric I want to use

• Sequins that are sewn flat, not flippable or paillette or a shape besides 'round'
  
• Sequins that are 6mm, not 3mm micro sequins
• Sequins arranged in offset rows, not meandering, random, or without the offset
• The base fabric is opaque, not mesh
• The sequins are metallic, not holographic, iridescent, matte, or transparent

And apparently any one of those requirements is unpopular unfashionable, let alone combined.  The few places I did find that offered this specific--and admittedly kinda old fashioned*--format of sequined fabric...tended not to have it in stock. *It's the Seventiesness I want.

Or, well, they might have it in stock in colors that I didn't want.  If I was going to pay [gasp] $30 per yard, I was absolutely going to be picky about colors.  Silver, gunmetal, black, pinks, purples, even blue-greens: all fine.  No. gold.

And I was willing to splurge on this fabric, especially since I could probably get away with 1¾ to 2 yards--since motorcycle jackets are short and made of a lot of pieces, they can be squeezed out of surprisingly small (for jackets) yardages.

But you can't buy something you can't find.

So I checked whenever I'd think about it; watched stuff that was "not close but I might settle for it" get reduced and sell out on FabricMart; cursed JoAnn for only carrying the trendy sequin stuff; tried variations on web search terms that made the search engine tilt its head like dog who might have recognized a word you just said.

Honestly, though, I mostly didn't think about it.

The kiddo needs pants--he's doing virtual school again this year, but we have to go to an in-person orientation soon to pick up the school-issued computer, and Husband thinks the last pair of pants I made for the kid are...kinda weird.  I could make another pair, of course, and in a more neutral fabric, if I had any such fabric.  Husband wanted to look for a pair of ready to wear pants, so we spent a while in Walmart this morning with a tape measure (the kid stayed home.)  Since he's built like a piece of spaghetti, it took a while to find options that were long enough (or nearly so) but with a waist that could be reduced further with elastic without turning into paper bag waists.

We managed to find two pairs!

That particular Walmart tends to have little to no stock of mill end pre-cut fabric, but I decided to go look anyway, just in case they had something suitable for Kid Pants.

They did not, but, given the way this post started, you can probably guess what they did have

I can't say it's exactly what I was looking for, because I didn't have an exact color in mind

but wow.

Spotting it felt a lot like when I spotted the #3-4 transitional 1960 Barbie in beautiful condition in a pile of "everything you can fit in this bag for $3" toys in a thrift store (a feeling heretofore approached only by going to another thrift store the very next day and finding a Sasha baby Sandy.)  I grabbed it in delighted disbelief, then very intentionally went back to regular browsing.

This fabric is a 50" wide synthetic double jersey knit base, with the sequins covering 40" of width (which, in retrospect, is probably common on sequin fabric, and that "I could get by with 1¾ yards" thought was...naive.)  

The overall length is just over 3 yards (I know the label says 3 yards, but I have been lied to by a mill end pre-cut label before), but that part around the three yards point shows its true nature of being a mill end

There should be plenty of sequined area to make another Burda 6800 (more likely than KwikSew 3764, but I do have other moto jacket patterns I haven't tried out yet.)  We'll see how much of this end is left before trying to figure out if I might make something featuring it.

One of my long-ago Wawak orders included a set of brass zippers with light pink tape, in number and sizes for Burda 6880, too, and I also have pale pink fabric, with black pinstripes, suitable for lining.  And light pink Saba C thread!

So, while I don't know when I'm going to make this into the motorcycle jacket I've been imagining for ages, I do have the supplies for it.

and it will definitely be an Unwise Sewing Adventure

Redestashing

About six months ago, I did a big cloth destash.  I was pretty good after that at resisting bringing home any more cloth--sure, a few doll friends sent me a few bits of doll-appropriate cloth, but that was easy enough to add to the (admittedly, already overflowing) open suitcase that has held doll cloth that had been either also given by generous doll people, or else that came from the thrift store cloth grab bags that were my downfall.

Then, another doll friend visited from out of state, bringing about nine large plastic storage tubs' worth of cloth (and one more tub's worth of lace, elastic, thread, buttons, and zippers.)  I knew she was bringing some cloth, but that level of generosity was overwhelming!  (I believe the cloth and notions had belonged to a relative who had been a bit of a hoarder,)

I was immensely grateful and spent a fun few days taking over the living room and sorting everything.  I separated out the wearable clothes (there is so much yardage in my life that, unless the clothing is already severely damage or made of something I am specifically looking for, I feel better letting the clothes be clothes--and several of the pieces fit!  The kiddo is wearing a shirt from there now, too.) I separated out the household linens, which included several table cloths (some of which are lovely vintage items that I really want to figure out how to safely remove the stains that may be older than I am), some Incredibly 1970s bed sheets and curtains, a few blankets, and a stack of napkins and dish towels, many of which were in the vague color scheme I like for the kitchen, and the timing was fantastic because the napkins I'd made about four years ago, and the dish towels that I bought longer ago than that, really weren't looking good any more.  But these new-to-me napkins and dish towels make me happy!

There were also two rugs, which both quickly found spaces in the home.

And then there was the rest, the stuff for sewing: clothes that had already been cut into, and proper yardage.  So much yardage.  I separated that into "tiny pieces suitable for doll clothes," "yardage that looks useful, but isn't inspiring me at the moment," and "WOW that is AMAZING" (OK, and also a very small pile of "heavily textured 1970s synthetics that, with all due respect, I don't ever want to touch again.")  I put the "useful but uninspiring" things back into some storage tubs, which are now in the basement, and brought the pile of WOW in here, to take up a lot of space while I tried to figure out how to store it.

I finally realized that what I had to do was to go through my cloth again--all of it this time--and destash for the second time this year.

I removed this much

That's two stacks that are roughly 18" tall each.  They just about filled two of the large plastic  storage tubs.  Most of what's visible came from thrift store fabric grab bags.  Maybe I've learned my lesson on those...

I was able to work the WOW cloth into the spaces where the goodbye cloth had been, and I decided to re-stack just about everything.  The interesting bed sheets and tablecloths and such went into the top of the closet with the blanket tops I've made (and the sheets thrifted to use as their backs), and some of the more utilitarian cloth (like the four yard cut of vinyl/oilcloth) went into the bed-in-a-bag bags that had been holding a lot of the cloth that got destashed. (and that black trunk visible in the goodbye cloth piles picture--a trunk which arrived full of buttons and zippers and thread and more--replaced the plastic tub that had been holding my cloth scraps.  The trunk is possibly precariously balanced on the closet's wire shelf, but it will be easier to get out than the plastic tub was...if I don't drop it on my head in the process.)

And the rest...

OK, technically not all of the rest--I didn't touch the top of the shelving unit, with the wool and the faux fur and the jaquard/tapestry pieces.  Someday...

Anyway, I wanted to document this, because I know it won't stay this tidy for long.  And it is so pleasantly tidy

Late August Thrift Cloth

So I've been putting little videos on YouTube with the intention of documenting doll things I've found and done, but, when it comes to reporting thrift finds, I can't help but want to show off the sewy stuff I find, too, and I brought home a nice handful of cloth this week, most of which were featured in the latest video (that still is such a weird thing to think about in reference to me.)  But, since me waving cloth around in a video isn't the best way to show off the cloth, and since anyone who might be here for the sewing, with no interest in the dolls, probably would like to see the cloth without enduring the dolly natter, I'm posting pictures of the cloth here.

Starting, as shouldn't be surprising given the directions my brain goes, with cloth that's not in the video at all.

Just a little thrift

Ventured to the out-of-the-way Goodwill yesterday, was confronted with a bin full of 49¢ patterns, managed to constrain myself to only four.

My Stash to Bust

I took some quick pictures of the condition of my cloth stash storage, which I keep intentionally (kinda) small.

In the closet is a bookcase...well, actually, it's an abandoned retail display case, so it's sturdy enough to hold the cloth on its commercial-grade shelves.

And...yeah, it's pretty packed.  (Above is the bin of scraps, next to the  suitcase full of lace and trim and bias tape.)  This shelf is for pieces that are a yard and larger (with a pair of rolls of fabric leaning beside it.)

Smaller lengths of cloth go into the dresser

Almost everything in here was acquired with doll clothes in mind, top two drawers for broadcloth, bottom drawer for knits, other drawer for random whatever else.  The top two drawers used to be much fuller, until I decided the density was annoying and started pulling out coordinated sets of prints, some of which got combined with pieces from the shelves to form this pile

There are eight different groups of cloth here, most of which may be enough to use for blanket tops?  I'll find out eventually...

Teal Thread in the Bobbin

I initially loaded the bobbin with teal thread because I decided I had no more excuses for not sewing incredibly belated birthday doll clothes for a friend (who ls Australian, so who knows how belated the stuff will end up being after whenever it is that I get everything finished once mailing time is added.)  No pictures of those, because they're supposed to be surprises, but then I did sew this for Etsy with the same thread

(It's not a thing like what's for my friend, who prefers Mod style for dolls.)

Then I said to myself that it would be a good time to finally sew something for the kiddo from either the Angry Birds print or the Skylanders print, both of which had blue/teal grounds.  He's not really interested in either game right now--his heart belongs to Terraria at the moment, with Minecraft and Lego Worlds getting sporadically remembered--so I figured it wouldn't bother him if I chose the fabric and the project.  s.o.t.a.k. handmade has been posting a lot of drawstring bags lately, so that inspired me to try a drawstring pouch.  I'm not sure if I've ever made a drawstring pouch before, and my results are pretty much what you'd expect from jumping in with no pattern and a reasonable-but-not-positive idea of how it would be constructed.

Skylanders it is.

It's large enough to hold all the figures (I scored a bakers dozen of them in a thrift store earlier this year...)    I did use a middle layer of a heavy twill to give it body, with a vaguely-cloud print (sky) for the drawstring casing and a continent print (land) inside (get it get it?)  And then I made another one that's not as structured and is lined with the kinda-cloud print (because I didn't have enough of the continent print left) to hold The Portal of Power.

I think I'll use the Angry Birds print to make a pouch to hold all of his Angry Birds figures and Telepods, and I think I know how to add a divider inside, which seems like a useful thing...

Well then

In the last post, when I mentioned that I had some solid fabric that might maybe sorta match the pink in the odd toy print?

Yeah.  It's not perfect, but, for something I just happened to have (and which itself was either a thrift acquisition or random gift), it's very very good.  And also the same slightly coarse texture as the toy print!

They've both been laundered and added to the everchanging sewing queue...

Thriftin' Again

Since it's a Sunday, meaning Husband is home to watch The Child, and it happens to be my birthday, I decided I'd trek solo to some Goodwill stores today.

The first store I visited didn't turn up anything even vaguely tempting--yesterday was the "July 4th cancelled the regular Half Off Saturday so we're doing Half Off Saturday on the 11th" day at area Goodwill stores, and the stock levels in that Goodwill reflected this.  I wasn't there even 10 minutes before I set out for the other, closer Goodwill.

It was considerably better.

I hadn't been thrifting for a while, because The Child doesn't have the patience for it anymore, and I respect that. (Summer break ends in a few weeks, so I can get back to thrifting more often, if I want...which...I'm trying to convince myself I don't want, because it's not like I lack for stuff...  Anyway.)  I picked up several color-of-the-week fabrics, some of which I might have purchased earlier at 'full' price if I'd been in the store then.  Maybe.

Top is one of the half-price selections.  I knew there was a lot, and had the idea that it might be nice in a dress with an excessively full skirt.  There's cotton involved, although I can't tell if the slightly oily hand is from polyester content or from the heavy ink.  It's 44" wide, and as I was measuring the length, I found an attached tag with a handwritten note of "8 3/8  $1.99."  The length ended up being more like 9¼ yards, though, and I paid $4 for all of it, so...yeah.

Middle is cotton, 42" wide and 3 5/8 yards long.  It was marked $1.99, which seemed low for the way that store prices cloth--I discovered the stains after I got home.  Ah.  I'd been thinking I would make a shirt from this, so there was plenty of room to work around the stains, but I doused them with stain release before throwing the piece in the washing machine.  No stains left when it came out!  (I've seen many pieces of thrift store yardgoods with stains in the middle.  My imagination has decided that they were all used for bake sale tablecloths.)

Bottom is a yarn-dyed cotton plaid with a slight nap (not a full-blown flannel.  I think I'm the only person who's not a huge fan of flannel.)  56" wide by 2¼ yards long, was half price at $1.50

The other yarn-dyed cotton plaid is a set of colors that can't decide if they're royal blue and taupe or dark purple and pale green.  At 1 1/8 yards of 56" for $1 (another color-of-the-week cloth) I don't mind the ambiguity.

Below that is just over a yard of a 60" wool plaid, which might become a winter jacket for the kiddo.  Maybe.

Next is another half-price cut, $1.50 for 2 5/8 yards of a 60" polyester lining fabric with a fine yarn-dyed stripe.  It's a bit heavier than the lining fabric I'm used to.  If I ever make that chintz floral print motorcycle jacket that's been percolating in my mind, this'll go inside.

The solid yellow cotton and the blue cotton blend (I really wanna say it has nylon in it) were purchased because I have the idea to make a Fallout Vault Suit for The Child (shh, don't tell him--it's a surprise.)  I had debated going to JoAnn Fabric today specifically to buy stuff for that project, but the Goodwill in that direction is usually disappointing, and, y'know, there was always the possibility I might find some suitable cloth in Goodwill...  Yeah.  They're both about 2 5/8 yards long, with the yellow being 45" and the blue being 60"--more than needed for both, but for about $5 combined, that's OK.

And then there's the toy print.

The fabulously off toy print.

It's a slightly coarse cotton, which I expect to feel a lot softer after it's been washed and dried (which it's doing right now.)  At 44" wide and about 43" long, I'm envisioning it in a skirt with a wide border of a plain pink cotton at the hem.  I don't have any plain pink cotton, much less in that odd shade of pink, so that will require a further purchase...although...I wonder if I could bleach that intense salmon I have (it's a similar coarse cotton, too...hmm...)

So.  Nine cuts of cloth, most of which I have Actual Ideas about, totaling 26 3/8 yards, plus a small tin, two T-shirts, two dolls, a Lego Technics set (still in it's screamingly-late 1990s box--I didn't know that Technics pieces were ever made in purple and teal...), plus tax for a bit over $25.  My friend M says I have Magical Thrifting Powers.  I'll admit it, I'm proud.

But now I have more to sew...

So, what to make next?

I was ready last night to jump in to cutting something out, deciding to do an idea I'd had for a while...then realized that the reason I hadn't made it yet was because I hadn't yet prewashed the intended cloth.  It was late, but there was enough time to get it washed and into the dryer (note: we currently live in a HOA-controlled subdivision, clotheslines aren't allowed, sigh.)  I pulled out a stack of vaguely similar color prints and got them all into the washing machine and out of the dryer this morning.

(Picture taken pre-laundering.)

Will I now proceed to use them all for projects in the near future?  Ummm...

But

Whenever I do decide to use them, they'll be ready!

Stopping by with some more cloth

Popped into a Goodwill quickly yesterday, convinced myself to get these

Yardages and detail pics under the cut.

Some more new (to me) cloth

Had a chance to make a child-free stop in Goodwill today, came home with these

Have I mentioned that I like wax cloth?  I like wax cloth.  So I couldn't resist this little piece, 30" of 45" wide, in black and purple (and...ecru...), for 99¢.  It will be perfect for a skirt, since the border is on both edges; just need to decide between skirt-alone or skirt-on-dress, with probably a black bodice.

The center piece is 45" wide by 40" long--although I suspect it may technically be one meter long?--and cost $1.99 but I didn't have to try too hard to convince myself to buy it because, eee, it's a sheer brocade

Again, not a lot there, but enough for a skirt overlay, at least.  Not sure what fibers are involved, but do think it's highly likely to have been made in India--there were a few saris hanging with the cloth, too. (This Goodwill often puts saris with cloth, not sure if it's because they don't realize they're not 'just' cloth, or if they have no designated place to put saris, so, meh, might as well put 'em there. They always seem to sell fast.)

Lat piece of cloth is just a bit over 2 yards of 45", very polyestery (and crinkle texturey), and was color of the week, which meant that no-one had bought it for the previous four weeks (I haven't been in this Goodwill for a while, because the kiddo has lost his enthusiasm for going--there's no Minecraft playin' there...) so I took pity on got it for 99¢.  Not sure what I'll do with it, not sure about the shades of green, not sure if it's as vintage as it seems, but it is still neat-o, in its scribbly horse,  drip-dry way.

Today's thrifted fabric

$2.99 each, both just under 4 yards, both cotton.  The abstract auto print is 35" wide, so probably genuinely vintage, and the tartan is 45" wide.

I tried to adjust the color so the auto print would look more accurate on my screen--it's definitely not anything that I would call "salmon."  "Grapefruit" might be closer.  Maybe. Or a bluntly-phrased "excessively faded red."  Only not actually faded.  Maybe someone out there knows a precedent for this color?

I suspect the tartan may be at least edging toward vintage, too, based on the sticker I found as I was measuring it.  I know tags like that were printed in bulk and used for ages after, so it's not necessarily as old as that typography and expectation that all cloth would cost less than $1 per yard might make it seem...but...then again, it might be.

My recollection of the thought process upon seeing it: "Ooh, plaid!  Hmm, but...brown.  $2.99 per yard?  Hmm.  There's a lot of it, too--at least 3 yards.   But...brown.  Heh heh, just think of the wannabe Vivienne Westwood dress that could be made from so much tartan.  Even with brown?  Yes.  Even with brown."  So.  Will this hypothetical dress ever be made?

Um.

Quick, quick, thrift

Stopped quickly in a Goodwill this morning, got a few things including these

Not necessarily intended to go together--there's a bit over 8½" yards of the gray 60" wool (or at least wool-heavy blend)--definitely don't need that much for these skirts...  The wool cost $7.99.  As usual, I have only the vaguest ideas what I might do with it, but, if I need wool for a big project, I'll be ready...

Oh, wait. Sewing. Yes, yes, sewing.

I made enough doll dresses for Etsy to set myself up for two weeks to sew whatever I wanted, and I...didn't want to sew much of anything.  That's not saying I didn't sew anything, I just...didn't...sew...much.

HEY GUESS WHAT MORE THRIFT CLOTH

Uh...yeah.  Had more things to mail today, decided to go to the post office in the other direction, which is near the library...and another Goodwill store...

The heart print, at $1.99 for 1½ yards, was a splurge (well, for me it was.)  Look at it, though.  Make jokes about how hypnotic it is.  It's a bit heavy for cotton broadcloth; we'll see how it feels after being washed.  If it still seems heavy, it has a high chance of becoming an A-line skirt, while, if it softens a lot, it may become an eye-searing shirt. *suppresses a cackle*  The green print was color-of-the-week, so marked down from $1.99 to 99¢.  It's cottony (I'm not sure if I'm fooling myself into thinking it feels like a cotton-ramie blend), 35" wide, and almost 3 yards.  I feel its destiny should also be a shirt, at least for Ken or MH guys.  For human-size stuff?  We may never know...

Oh, hey, more thriftstore cloth...

I have long had a weakness for wax print cloth...and Mid Century Modern styles...so, when they seem to come together, and in 5 yards of 45" cotton for $3.99...

Yeah, I'll buy it.

And the kiddo really liked this (1¼ yard 45" cotton), although he wants to use it as a map, not have anything made from it.

That's OK!  I already have a stack of prints he has picked out for shirts...

I really will sew something to share here, someday.  Look, I managed to sew a buncha doll clothes over the weekend:

I'd like to get at least a month of doll clothes sewn in advance before doing human-size stuff.  We'll see how those plans go...

I'll sew something, eventually

In the meantime, I'll keep sporadically finding yard goods at Goodwill.

Like this:

Here's a more artistic view

I decided it was worth the splurge and paid a whole $2.99 for what ended up being 4 yards of 35"--definitely feels cotton-rich, might be 100% cotton with the polyester-y feel coming from the heaviness of the screen printing.  I initially thought it was a modern print with retro style, but the 35" width and the fact that the ends are  ripped instead of cut make me wonder if it might be honestly older.  It's in beautiful shape if it is.  There's no information on the selvedges.

I'll probably use most of it to make something for me, but the print's a good size to use for doll clothes, too...

And I finally finished repainting some dolls, so I was then finally able to clean the paint supplies off of my sewing table--like so:

...sooooo I have fewer excuses to not sew now.  And I did sew one doll dress yesterday!  I just...um...need to sew more...

Oh, uh... Hi.

Still haven't sewn anything.  When I looked back at what I sewed last year, I didn't do anything until March, so this may be completely normal for me.  Looking forward to getting  more sunlight as the northern hemisphere slogs toward Spring.

"Not sewing right now" doesn't mean "not buying cloth right now," though...

Bought some more cloth in Goodwill this morning. Oops?

A bit different than before--this is a stack of just over 200 4"² pieces of cotton.  Hello, so many doll dress bodices and pieced skirts...

Anyone interested in seeing the prints that particularly catch my eye (in good ways and in bad), or would you rather wait to see what I sew from them?