Mini Fabric Haul

I have a real struggle with the whole post Christmas post new year thing, Its not that I feel sad I just have no motivation. I kind of juts want to sit in my jammies and binge watch tv series whilst eating chocolates [FYI I've just finished lost and now feel like there's a hole in my soul that no T.V series will ever fill]  

To be honest I've just been letting it run it course, yes I have no motivation to do actual things but I've read two new books that Rikki brought me and I finally bit the bullet and tried crochet again! [But more on that another day] 

Anyway I decided that my fabrics just weren't inspiring me so I went fabric shopping! Now FYI I'm calling this a mini one because I spent less than £50 and it didn't take me all day! I was given money by my mum to go fabric shopping which will be a bigger haul! But this one was to perk me up and give me something to sew up whilst I wait out the last of winter! 

I should probably say this haul comes courtesy or Rikkis Grandad Ron and our friend Steve! 

Anyway I went to abakhans on Friday after dropping lil man off at school, which meant I was completely alone! I took a list and was very vigilant with how much everything was going to cost me! Especially seen as I wouldn't have my mum to pick up any short fall and I only have my Christmas cash on me! Needless to say the staff as always were very helpful! [I feel like I'm rambling.... I'm terrible at writing posts where I've actually spent money after two years of being on a VERY tight budget!] So onto the fabrics!

2.5m of red stretch velvet - £8.40

I'm going to use this to make another GBSB wrap dress because how lush wold a velvet one be? Incidentally lil man helped me pull this out of the dryer after prewashing and I struggled to get it off him, he was all wrapped up in a swath of warm fuzzyness! ADORABLE! but seriously kid get your dirty mitts off my fabric!!! 

Feather/Leaves Poly knit - £4.03 

this was from one of the bins, I'm thinking of using this for some colour blocked raglans! [I have a pattern which is very similar to the Linden sweater but that I was given for free and came from prima magazine! I think its designed for a thinner knit but I think if I cut a size bigger I'll be fine!] 

Red Stripe - 2.5m £3 something per metre

I had this off the roll and now I have no idea if its a polycotton or a cotton. But I did spend ages debeating between the black and the red, The red won because I'm trying to inject some more colour into my wardrobe this year! I'm going to use this the make a [hopefully] wearable toile of a vintage pattern. From what I can remember the bodice has some interesting darts which is why I chose a stripe? That or I'll look like a cheaper version of bananas in pyjamas!

Tie Dye print - some sort of poly thing - £7.33? 

This also came from bin and is destined to be a simple sew wrap dress. I thought it was worth making another because I've had so much wear from the first [as yet unblogged I'll get on that soon!] and its just so versatile! 

Poly Knit Stripe - £7.19 

From one of the cages and destined to be a Coco dress and by destined I mean I cut one out when I go home and I'm wearing it now.......... [Its awesome!]

Tape measure cotton - 2m - £5.94 p metre [I think I got it cheaper because it was on sale!]

I've been eyeing up this print for ever! I mean I love sewing and its got tape measures on it! Could it be more perfect?  Naturally I'm going to make a Lilou dress [Yes I know you think I'm boring but I have a lilou obsession and I am not ashamed!!!!]

Jewel print - poly peachskin?- 3m - £0.75p per metre! [yes your reading that right!!!]

Okay so I'm torn between whether this is the most fabulous fabric I've ever seen or really tacky! but I can't argue with 75p a metre so it came home with me! I think its going to be a long summer dress maybe? If it doesn't look ridiculous!

And thats it!

Wish me happy sewing and lots of motivation!

Frankie 

Do I have to prewash fabric?

Prewashing fabric is not something I was aware off before I started reading sewing blogs, but now it's the first thing I tell new sewers, remember to prewash your fabric.

But why do we prewash fabric? Well there's two main reasons
1. Sometimes fabric shrinks. Prewashing it means you've pre shrunk the fabric which in turn means your fitted dress will still fit perfectly after the first, second and third wash.

2. Sometimes it's not quite colour fast. Pre washing can get rid of excess dye that might still be sat on the fabric!

In my defence I thought I had prewashed this, but it turns out I had prewashed my other dark red piece of fabric. Awww well you live and learn hopefully some stain remover will sort it out!

Other reasons to prewash fabric:

- It can help to indicate how much your fabric will fray each time it goes through the wash. And therefore how much finishing you need to do on the seams.

- prewashing can show you how wrinkled your fabric will be after each wash and therefore if your going to iron it every time.

- If your using second hand or vintage fabric a good wash can help to remove weird smells and stains (Incidently if you think your vintage fabric has moth balls pop it in a carrier bag and put it in the freezer for a few days and then wash, the cold kills the moths and their eggs.

- ironing after prewashing can alert you to fabric flaws , and holes in the fabric (this is useful for vintage fabric) and faded areas. 

So how do you prewash fabric?

( DISCLAIMER : this is how I prewash all of my fabrics however I DO NOT use expensive fabrics and I don't have time to faff about with washing, if you are using a expensive or sentimental fabric I suggest you get your washing advice from a dry cleaner) 

Right so I personally do it in this order (for day to day wear fabrics)

Buy fabric

Chuck fabric in washing machine using the same amount of powder and comfort as I do for a normal load. Wash at the same temperature as I would for a normal load. (30° for colours  40° for whites ) 

Basically treat the fabric exactly as I will when the garment is sewn up. I find this way stops any nasty surprises! 

Then I chuck it in the tumble dryer on the standard setting and iron according to how I iron most things (I do turn my iron down for some fabrics so its worth testing on a scrap)

The only exception is when I buy coat fabric this I wash according to the fabric and advice I find on line and dry in the same manner. Naturally I don't wash coats every week so they tend to be more luxury items as far as washing goes and I tend to hand wash quite a few of them so they stay nice! 

Much love 

Frankie 

Xxx

Sewing On a Budget

Sewing is expensive, Yep I've said it. Contrary to popular belief sewing is not a cheap hobby. It used to be don't get me wrong, when our grandmas were doing it, it was cheaper much cheaper... but now? Now its one of the most expensive addictions you can have, yes I said addictions, just like alcohol or heroin, only sewing's a lot healthier and a lot more addictive.

As someone with a family and bills and all the other junk that comes along with having adult responsibilities I don't have a fortune to spend on sewing. In fact I don't even have a budget. 

So here's my top tips for sewing with a small/non existent budget:

1. Embrace sewing-

Shout it from the dammed rooftops!!!! "I sew talk to me about sewing! Tell me your wisdom! Keep me in mind if your having a clear out!" I can't tell you how many times I've received sewing stuff just because people know that I sew, I've had buttons from neighbours, curtains from my mother in law, and I've had two! count them TWO! bolts of fabric given to me! Just because people thought, oh Frankie sews she might like that.

This dress was made using fabric given to me for free by a friend, and the buttons are from ine of my mums neighbours!

2. Embrace home wares-

Have you ever actually considered how much fabric is in a duvet set? or say in curtains? And how awesome some of the prints are? And how cheap they can be? Charity shops have hoards of duvets and curtains going for a pittance and if your just starting out its a hell of a lot cheaper than buying fabric. 

This pinafore was made from my mother in laws curtains, and I've already got my eye on the curtains in my mothers living room, just as soon as she gets around to redecorating. I've even told my brother to keep me in mind for when he decorates his kids rooms, I mean who doesn't want a dalmatian print dress?

3. With regards to getting a machine-

Ask around, you would be surprised how many people have one sat in a corner. One of my machines came from my partners aunty, she moved house and decided she didn't need it and i got it! Its a fantastic machine! I mean seriously its great! and if nobody you know has one for lends or keeps then you can get some great deals at places like lidl and aldi. My first machine was from aldi and boy it was loud but it got the job done! And now my sister has it. Its the circle of sewing machine life.

4. Harvest your clothes - 

Sewing is about so much more than just having fabric, you need buttons and zips and ribbon and lace and all kinds of crap! You know where you can find these things for free? on old clothes that your going to bin. Buttons on shirts, ribbons in clothes, patches, ZIPS! I always unpick zips off clothes even the short stumpy ones in jeans! There is a whole haberdashery waiting t be found in your throw away pile you just need some patience and a good seam ripper! although its quicker to remove buttons with a sharp knife! 

5. Harvest your clothes some more!

This time for fabric! you can either re cut the pieces or you can refashion them! You'd be surprised how much fabric is in clothes, things like maxi dresses and sarongs are my favourites to use as fabric because there's loads of fabric! but I've also made corsets from jeans and this dress which was completely free!

corset material - off cut from my bridesmaid dress - free

skirt material - bedsheets that mother in law didn't want - free

slip - [not handmade but second hand]

back zip - removed from one of my partners old hoodies - free

straps - from an old ann summers bra that I paid a small fortune for - free [and glad I got my monies worth!]

6. Buy the basics-

Sometimes people have an old pair of scissors and often people get rid of thread but there are some pretty decent deals out there too! I love hobbycraft value thread and I've never had any issues with it, the colours are basic but for a pound who's complaining! I also love their value fabric scissors, I live in a house with a idiot male at some point he's going to pick up my scissors and cut paper with them. It is pointless me having an expensive pair! and these are pretty sharp for the price!  

7. Pick your patterns carefully-

I know a lot of people like to hoard patterns but when your on a budget its just not a viable option, especially with patterns coming in at the £8.00 mark.  Instead I love books that come with patterns like the two gbsb books or love at first stitch. I tend to think if you have a few basic patterns you very rarely need anything else. my most used patterns are the lilou bodice block, my princess seam bodice block, my cropped jacket and my pencil skirt pattern. I very rarely use a pattern at all for full skirted looks instead I just mark dimensions on the fabric. It can even be used for copying ready to wear outfits, just make a note of all the features like pleats, pockets and what the bodice is like and you wont need a whole new pattern. And there's a whole load of free patterns online! literally just a click away! Aswell as the awesome patterns that sometimes come free with magazines and online magazines! 

8. Embrace Polycotton

Polycotton is one of the cheapest fabrics around and it gets a bad rep. I personally love! It wears well, It washes well and it irons well! What more could you actually want? 

Its also great for starting out because you don't feel too bad if you make a mistake! Minerva crafts have a fantastic line of polycottons in some great prints! 

9. Buy By weight! 

abakhans have a great buy by weight system in their stores and you can get some real bargains! This dress was brought by weight and its still holding up and in wardrobe rotation it also pushed me to work with a fabric I hadn't tried before.

10. Birthdays and Christmas!

Its a hobby so its perfectly acceptable to ask for vouchers as a birthday or chistmas present, I have a lovely friend who always buys me a hobbycraft voucher for my birthday and my mum always put money aside for me to go fabric shopping with aswell! 

I tend to think you know its a hobby and not just a fad when your willing to have your birthday spends go on it! I once thought I might take up running as a hobby until someone offered to buy me a sports bra for Christmas! eww no thanks I'd rather have fabric! 

Much Love

A very thrifty frankie

xxx