Fabricland Sale Scores (a small part of the total)
That fabric just threw itself in front of me!
It’s been a bad week on the fabric front. Or a good one, depending on your perspective. Fabricland had their Canada Day sale early, so almost everything in the store was 50% off. Cue time to stock up on lining, interfacing, and other basics. And there was a whole rack of stretch denim in various bright, springy colours—and I went with cream. Boring, I know, but these are totally becoming some awesome capris as soon as I have time to sit down to sew without my head spinning round. There will be piping*. And of course some more black coating for the jacket the hubby wants, which I’ll get to some day. Gawd.
Thrift Store Scores
Then, after dropping Tyo’s birthday treat off to her classroom yesterday (it HAD to be ice-cream bars. Which of course she couldn’t just take on the school bust with her, they’d be melted long before she got to school), I stopped by my Value Village. I wasn’t expecting much (having been just a few days ago) but it’s on the way home.
Apparently after my last visit (when there was no fabric worth mentioning) they busted out the good stuff. I walked out with 3m of sturdy black non-stretch denim (I may have to break down and make my hubby a pair), a similar amount of something that feels like a very lightweight wool, and about a kajillion metres of white starched cotton with this interesting bit of lacework (that only barely shows in the photo) on the one end. That may in fact be hand-worked lace, although I don’t know enough about such things to be sure. And some nifty notions, including tracing paper and a bunch of heavy-duty snaps and rivets.
Kid-Mades in progress
A bit of the kid-sewing has gotten done. Tyo’s almost finished Syo’s present (the white), although since the party is today I’m not 100% sure the last bits will get done. I opted to have her make it underlined, so I serged the voile to the gauze along the major edges and had her do the seams. This also pre-finished the edges and took care of her rather, ah, ragged cutting job. Syo did a bit of work on the dresses for the nieces, meaning we got them cut out, managing to remember that we really need all the fairies with their heads pointing up (bloody directional prints). Cutting two different sizes of the same dress at the same time is actually useful for fabric conservation, though, as you can put the front of the smaller size beside the back of the larger size and vice versa and get a little lest waste. Which is good since I only had about 1m of this stuff.
Don’t tell Tyo I said it, but Syo’s a bit better at this sewing thing. She pays more attention to things like sewing her seams straight and keeping her seam-allowances accurate.
In Me-Made June news:
June 24
June 24
Hmm, this is a Me-Made record: four items. Only because I’m wearing two toppers, but anyway.
Cropped Jean Jacket
Vintage Shrug
Boring yet incredibly useful tank-top
Gored knit skirt
I don’t wear this skirt much, partly because I really only have the one shirt (the tank top) that I think it really works with. Not quite sure why that is. The jean jacket colour-scheme is a bit out of place with this outfit, but my other jackets were all too warm, while I wasn’t quite ready to leave the house just with the shrug.
I’m happy to report that the shrug, which has been getting a LOT of use, survived its first machine washing unscathed, even with the large snag in the back I had to clip. I should make about three more of these, seriously.
June 25
June 25
Today, I will be wrangling 23 children for five hours (a double-decker end-of-school-year birthday party). Fortunately I think I’ve bribed at least a couple of other mothers to hang out with me (the hubby’s at work), but it’s still going to be insane. Wish me well. I was tempted to dress fancy, but I’m thinking comfort and ease of movement are the way to go. Especially as there’s a reasonable chance I’ll have to dodge water-balloons this afternoon.
Winged Cardi
JJ blouse (my first me-made everyday wearable! A little over a year old now, it’s holding up well despite its unfinished seams.
Bell-bottoms
And now, I’d better get cleaning before the hordes descend…
*inspired by details on some of my kids’ jeans. Seriously, kids’ jeans have the BEST details. Grown-up ones are so boring by comparison…
Tanit-Isis Sews 
Hi there,
Love your Fabricland & V V scores! I went to the Canada Day Sale too…….spent a bit too much but man, it was awesome eh?!
Just curious, where do you live? I”m in Maple Ridge, BC.
Sounds like you’re having the same hideous summer weather as we’re having. Supposed to have a barbee today, mmmmmmm.
I’m just across the Rockies in southern Alberta. We’ve had about five days, total, so far that have actually felt like summer… and not REAL hardcore summer, either. 😉
Great fabric score. I recommend white wine for you and your helpers at the party. It was the only way I got through my kids parties at that age!
Nice loot you got there :O).
I have a pair of maternity pants I made in boring cream and I LOVE them! Seeing all the great prints at the store I have a hard time buying basic but I am so glad I when I do. You are going to love those capris you have planned!
GOOD LUCK with the party! We stopped having home parties a couple years ago, after Middlest had a Pokemon party with 11 kids, a pinata, and me as the only adult. I said “Never again!” and we’ve done family outings with 2 or 3 friends instead ever since. Much easier on the pocketbook (and the mental state). You’ll have to tell us how you survived!
Your fabric scoop is AMAZING. I can not wait until the 4th of July sales here, I desperately need interfacing, a new marking pen, patterns for shorts, etc. etc. I am thinking I will regret not picking up colored denim since it was on sale this week, but I have so much regular denim and stretch twill, it’s a bit ridiculous.
By the way, I have a black skirt that looks exactly like the blue one and I only ever wear a tank top with it too. Everything else adds too much bulk around the midsection.
Off to cut out fabric for another project!
When we lived in small apartments, we did all the parties at the park (always a little stressful due to the uncertainty of planning around weather, but we only ever had one fall apart due to weather). I think Tyo would explode if I tried to make her pick just her three best friends, though. That kid is SOCIABLE.
I am a sucker for denim, too. It’s such a satisfying fabric, somehow. And you know you’ll always use it eventually.
I think you hit the nail on the head about the skirt. It needs a total no-bulk top. Which is fine, just not the majority of my tops.
I am in awe of today’s outfit (25th) also, you should wear red more!
I know! It’s by far my favourite colour. I used to wear a lot more, but my hubby doesn’t like it. Which shouldn’t affect how I dress, but somehow does…
Wow, what a haul! I see lots of fun sewing in your future.
I hope I can sew for my kids some day. My son appreciates PJs, but that’s it. My daughter rejects it all, lol. Tyo is a good (and lucky) kid. I hope she had a great b-day.
I agree…red is your color. Beautiful.
I think it has been almost a year since I scored some fabric. Now I really shouldn’t complain, ofcourse, since I have a packed full fabric cabinet, but somehow it always feels like there could be something missing, eh? 🙂
I hope the party went well and everyone had lots of fun!
I hope your party went well! Great outfits… that cropped jeans jacket is toooo cute!
Your visits to VV are truly amazing. I have never EVER seen anything like you describe in the way of fabric, notions, etc., at my local VV or Sally Ann, for that matter. Sure, there’s lots of old linens that could be used as projects, but none of the scores that you get! Lucky you!
Honestly, I think the biggest factor is consistency—I pop in quite a bit. If I only stick my nose in once every few months, I don’t find very much. (and of course, I don’t tell you about all the times I nose around and come up with nothing). Neighbourhood demographics may play a role, too… my neighbourhood was built about 30 years ago, so many of the original owners may be in the process of down-sizing now that their nests are empty.
5 HOUR PARTY! You are a nice mom, mine are two hours tops. I also think you look great in red, you should wear it more.
Last year was only three hours and I actually found it MORE stressful trying to cram everything into the shorter time frame. This year we still ran out of time (I had included note-books in the treat bags and was planning to have all the kids autograph each others’, which we didn’t get to) but at least the food and presents were all managed with plenty of time. (Keeping in mind that this was two parties in one—because we are generally on vacation home for Tyo’s birthday, we have combined her party with Syo’s the last few years so she gets to have a party with her friends from school. So there’s 2x the present-opening etc.)
ooooh total score! i love the japonese print in the top pic, so pretty! (cue ooh’ing and aah’ing). congratulations on surviving the weekend, btw. that sounds positively scary to have so many 8-11 year old kids at one time!
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