OK, ok so I didn’t actually win a lottery, but it does feel a bit like it! For years now, I have been signed up to freecycle and my husband is forever asking why. I signed up years ago to get rid of some of the stuff that came with our house and just never quite got around to closing my account. A local lady was clearing out her mums sewing stash, and I got lucky. I have now ended up with a stash about twice the size it originally was, but this fabric came at no cost, and therefore I am much happier to use it for toiles and learning, so it really doesn’t matter if the final garment doesn’t get worn all that much, just as long as I learn something.
In addition to the fabric,
I also collected a large stash of patterns, mostly from magazines in the 80’s and 90’s I would guess, but it’s going to take me some time to go through them, and I’m not sure I’ll ever actually add all of them to my pattern library, but I will enjoy having a look through them and add the ones I think I’m most likely to make / are least like any of the other patterns in my stash.
I also collected a load of threads as well as some mending yarn. I love the names of the old threads – I’d much rather sew with Light Pomegranate or Juniper than the boring old numbers we get now, and who wouldn’t want to sew something with Frivolous Pink 🙂
I thought I should share some of the fabrics and some of my thoughts about what to make with them – all suggestions gratefully received There are loads of fabrics that I’m not mentioning here; it would take me forever to list them all, but there’s loads of linings and curtain fabrics, and small pieces that will get used for bits and bobs here and there. The picture above doesn’t even show all the fabrics.
First up is a couple of pieces of very lightweight drapey twill in a small floral pattern – one of these is navy & red, and the other is more navy & purple. These might get turned into dresses for my daughter, but there’s also the possibility of something for myself if I have enough fabric.
This heather wool blend is beautiful, and I am hoping that I have enough to make a coat for myself, I think this would look gorgeous as a classic winter coat or jacket.
There’s about a metre of this diagonal check blue fabric. I have no clue what it is, it appears to be some sort of double layer knit with absolutely no stretch whatsoever. I am very tempted to get this cut into another GBSB A-line skirt. It may be a bit too lightweight for this, so I’ll have to have a think, but this was the first thought that came to mind.
In addition to that is this amazing vintage fabric – I have absolutely no idea what it is, it’s not a canvas-weight, but it’s definitely not lightweight either – it needs a pattern with some structure so I could see it being a shift dress of some kind, but to be honest I’m not sure I’d ever wear something this bright – the only main colour that I’d normally wear is the blue, but I’m not sure there’s enough of that for me to be able to forget the bright pink and floral aspect! This fabric is so gorgeously of it’s time that it really needs to be made up into something that will get made and worn and loved, so let me know if you have any suggestions.
As I say, there are loads of others, but I just don’t have time to list them all – for reference, the top arc in the main picture is mostly lining fabrics although there’s a small piece of black fur that would do for a collar for a coat maybe. The second arc is fabric that’s possibly going to be used for a “real” garment, but will probably end up as a toile, and the bottom row are the real beauties that will end up as wearable garments (hopefully!)
