Comfort stashing
8 June 2010, 22:21I’ve had a bit of a bad day today, so instead of stuffing my face, I went and did a bit of online comfort fabric shopping.
(Full fabric stash viewable here, with new stuff at the bottom)
I’m definitely most excited about the mustard + navy combo right now. I saw two different people on the street wearing mustard tops and navy bottoms within the space of about 15 minutes yesterday, and both times I did a double-take at how great it looked (one was a casually-dressed Shoreditch man and the other was a smart City lady). So I’m definitely making a top out of the goldenrod cotton rib knit and pairing it with a pair of slim-cut stretch navy twill trousers (Patrones 290 has some amazing slim trouser patterns in it but more on that in a bit!).
I like to think I was quite sensible with my choices, buying things that a) I can’t easily buy here, like the quality stretch wovens, b) I’ve got mental plans for already, and c) will work for Fall and Winter, which is when I’ll be seeing what I’ve just bought. And I’ve kinda noticed that I don’t wear loud prints anywhere near as much as the solids in my wardrobe, so I’m trying to keep those to a minimum (both prints in this order are for gifts!).
Because I’m anticipating filling my own suitcase with NYC fabrics while we’re over in America, my mom volunteered her and my dad’s suitcases to haul over any online fabric orders I place between now and the wedding.
So this was my haul from Fabric.com anyway, and I also anticipate getting some more bamboo lycra from Wazoodle and maybe some other goodies from some other US fabric stores before the summer’s over.
Care to tell me about your favourite US-based online fabric shops, or ones to stay away from? The only caveat is that they need to accept non-US credit cards, which have caused me problems at a couple US shops in the past…
And I’ve still got time to sew through some of my own stash to make room before this arrives!
tags: shopping
I have had great luck with Fabric.com as well, and have many colors of that very rib knit just waiting for me to dive in & crank out summer tops.
I have also had good luck (and found even more of the nicer rayon and silk jerseys) with fashionfabricsclub.com. It looks like they ship to the UK only via USPS (!) but I didn’t find payment method info for non-US cards. Probably worth an e-mail to them, though!
You will have a blast in NYC, as you know. It’s been many years for me and I still remember – Mmmm…fabric…
— M Kate Jun 9, 12:30 AM #
I think you were quite sensible to buy your US fabrics now. If you buy enough to be charged for VAT, you may as well do it now before VAT goes up (which looks all but inevitable.)
I love mustard with navy blue. I also like orange with navy blue, but it tends to look a little too “eastern seaboard sports team” if you aren’t careful!
— Karin Jun 9, 12:47 AM #
You were very good. Now, I would have stuffed my face WHILE shopping on-line!
— gwen Jun 9, 01:30 PM #
Despite a lot of sewing activity lately the stash seems to be pretty static. To try and control it my recent comfort buys have been some vintage patterns and a couple of lingerie kits.
Enjoy your new haul. I’m sure I’ll be seeing the yellow navy combo all over the place now. It looks good.
— Zoe Jun 9, 04:16 PM #
Very nice choices. I bought a mustard colored sweater last year to replace my old orange one — both are great with jeans. (And yes, orange and blue are my east coast school’s colors…)
I like your pink fabric. It is similar to a flannel I bought at a local store for 2 or 2.50 USD a yard. I used it as a border in a baby blanket. Alas, no cool monster fabric there, but plenty of John Deere themed prints.
— Sharon Jun 9, 05:03 PM #
My favorite online shop is Emmaonesock. She ships abroad so I assume that she takes foreign credit cards.
— Nancy k Jun 9, 09:57 PM #
My favorite online shop is gorgeousfabrics.com. I have never not liked anything that I ordered from that site (however, the fabrics there are good quality and more expensive than the bargain sites, and can not be returned, so I am obviously way more careful when ordering from gorgeousfabrics than I am with fabric.com or whatever other site with free/cheap returns). That said, you are going to NYC in the fall. The shopping experience in the Garment District does not compare to shopping online — it’s like a dream where you just think of a vague idea for what kind of fabric you want and 50 options for your vague idea magically appear. The prices in the Garment District (at least for things that I buy, like rayon jersey, silk charmeuse, and cotton voile) are lower than the prices online AND the fabrics are just as good or, most of the time, better than online. Many stores in the Garment District will ship your purchases to you AND will not charge you sales tax on the fabric if they ship it (I always have the fabrics shipped so that I have both hands free to hoard more at the next store I visit). So, my advice is to wait and put all your fabric money towards a shopping extravaganza in NYC.
— Olga Jun 10, 04:45 AM #
I just posted a mustard fabric, which will go with the white and navy floral print I bought in Philly. Great minds. I am very partial to fabric.com for the prices and free shipping. Just had a bad experience with Fashion Fabrics Club and given their shipping prices don’t plan to shop with them again. FabricMart is hit or miss, but the hits are outta the park. Vogue Fabrics has a few good deals going at all times.
— The Slapdash Sewist Jun 10, 02:27 PM #
I agree about FFC shipping; I happened to find some REALLY great stuff & prices so was willing to pay to ship. AND I agree that the Garment District is the way to go – a total joy.
— M Kate Jun 10, 10:56 PM #