New York - The Garment District

I spent a day in New York walking the Garment District (I may have gone back at the end of our stay when I realised there was a tiny bit of room left in my bag to make sure my bag was completely full of fabric). I don't really have a lot of choice when I go fabric shopping here, just a couple of chain stores, so my jaw dropped walking into some of the fabric shops I found.

I searched the internet for shop recommendations before I set out so I made the best use of my time. I am glad I did as some of the shops I went to are not marked from the street and can be a little tricky to find.

This is the shirting cotton in B&J Fabrics. I could have only gone here and spent all my money and been really happy (the staff were also very helpful and nice). This shop has the most amazing fabric I have ever seen. It is not cheap but probably all worth the money. I ended up buying a few pieces for shirts for Chris. Good quality shirting fabric is impossible to find in WA.



 The wool knits and wool flannels were amazing. I didn't buy any and I am kind of regretting it.

Of course I went to Mood. It was pretty busy and the knit section was the only area I could get a few photos.

I bought some cotton and some fantastic thick Italian Jersey which will be good for some kind of jacket or shrug.

I spent a loooong time choosing some ribbon in M&J Trimmings. It was all so beautiful.

Hidden away on the 9th floor at 265 West 37th Street is Metro Textiles. They had great knits and double knits.

H&M Fabrics was bursting with rolls of fabrics. They had a great selection of Italian wool down the back. I bought a little bit for a coat for Evie. Once again I'm regretting not getting more.

Spandex House had great swim wear fabric, lots of solids, patterns and spots.



 It really was fun to wander in and out of shops and be amazed at everything. I'm not sure how anyone could live in New York and not sew.

Road Tripper Duffle Bag

Before I went to Quilt Market I was lucky enough to test sew Betz White's new pattern the Road Tripper Duffle Bag.

I learnt some great new techniques making this bag. The instructions are so clear and so thorough that it all made complete sense and came together perfectly.

It is a great size for a weekend bag and has pockets on the outside and inside so there is room for everything.

I used some Heather Ross Rapunzel fabric I had been saving for the perfect project for the main fabric and Stamped by Ellen Luckett Baker for the contrast fabric. The handles were made from fabric from my stash. They were all linen/cotton blends which are a really nice weight for this bag.

This pattern is part of the Road Trip Pattern Club. Sign up and you get five patterns from amazing designers over next couple of months.

 

 

Quilt Market Part 2

A few more pictures of Quilt Market and some of my favourite booths.
The fabrics from Cotton and Steel lived up to the hype, there is something for everyone, whether you quilt, sew adult clothes, children's clothes, bags or toys.

 Quilts by the clever Carolyn Friedlander.

 An amazing quilt from Violet Craft. I went back to look at it a number of times.

 Beautiful neutrals from Amy Ellis for Moda.

I saw very few softies, but I found these at the Riley Blake booth. Love that whale. The tutorial for making your own is here.

 I will definitely be needing some of the new Kokka quilting fabrics.

I didn't bring much from Quilt Market back because I knew I still had to visit New York (stay tuned for a post about the garment district!) but I did get a few things. Some bundles of solids from RJR fabrics. I have a plans for them and hope to cut into them this weekend.

I did bring back a few rulers. It has become quite expensive to get them posted to Australia so I bought them while I had the chance. I love the curved ruler by Sew Kind of Wonderful. It really is clever and I can't wait to try it. I have a few of Marti Michell's rulers and love them so I was excited to see her booth and buy a few. I couldn't resist this huge Dahlia one.

                   

Uncommonly Corduroy

One of the best things about Quilt Market was getting to meet Stephanie Dunphy. We have known each other online for ages, but it was so nice to meet in person.

Here she is busy signing copies of her book Uncommonly Corduroy.

 It was great to see all the quilts and bags from the book up close and also to touch them, because you can't not touch corduroy!

 I love the cover quilt and its twin. The fine corduroy that Stephanie uses is so fine and beautiful and makes the most amazing quilts.

 I think this Kaleidoscope quilt is so clever and I think my favourite project in the book.

 Stephanie sent me home with this amazing version of her Caifornia Girl Bag made from the best linen blend camera fabric! I love it, it is the perfect size to fit everything in.

The best thing about the projects in this book is you can choose to do them in corduroy or you can choose any other fabric such as quilting fabrics or those lovely linen/cotton blends. I'd also like to try them in a nice fine velveteen.

Quilt Market Part 1 - The Australians

I'm back! It's been a crazy, but fun and exciting two weeks. Quilt Market was just as amazing as I thought it would be. I thought I would share some of the amazing and clever Aussies I met.

The incredible lovely Gail Pan.

 Every time I went past Jen Kingwell's booth I had to stop and have another close look, she is the reason I will learn to hand piece.

 I love the grey and white quilt by Helen Stubbings from her new fabric range.

 This incredible quilt is Gossip in the Garden by Anni Downs of Hatched and Patched.

 Sarah Fielke's new fabric range Enchanted is so crisp and beautiful.

 Gorgeous softies and fabric by Melly and Me.

 There is a good reason that this booth with fabric from Emma Jean Jansen

 and Rosalie Quinlan won a prize for having one of the best booths!

I think I managed my school house without too much jet lagged rambling and it was so much fun to do the book signings and meet so many lovely quilt shop owners!

Heading to Pittsburgh



My bags are nearly packed and I am ready to start on the long trip (36 hours once I get to Perth) to Pittsburgh for Quiltmarket.

I'll be doing a Schoolhouse on Thursday at 4.40 in Room 326. Come and see all of the quilts from my book. I am so excited about seeing them again, I haven't seen them since February last year!

I'll be signing books on Friday and Saturday and the rest of the time I will be wandering  seeing as much as I can!

Burda 7828 and Me Made May

As much as I love my colourful dresses made from quilting cotton, sometimes I just want to wear a simple dark coloured dress. Enter Burda 7828. I wore and wore the two I made for summer a lot so I made a long sleeved version using some crinkly grey knit from the stash. I made a couple of alterations to the top so it has no tie. I love this pattern, very quick and easy to sew,  so easy to dress up when you want to go out and so comfortable to wear around the house.

 Other things I have worn for Me Made May this week.

• New Look 6106 Skirt
• Onion 2037 Wrap Dress
• Simplicity 2591 I made last week
• Simplicity 2152 Skirt

Fireworks by My Fabric Relish

Look at this beautiful quilt!

Melissa from My Fabric Relish made it for her Mum for Mother's Day using the Fireworks pattern from Strip Savvy. It looks fantastic made up in Color Me Happy. 

It is so exciting to see people making quilts from the book, it is so interesting to see them made up in different fabrics and colours. If you make something from Strip Savvy, I would love to see a picture of it!

Pebble Quilting

This is what I have been doing for the past three days. I can finally see the end in sight. This is not a small quilt and after the first hour of this I was convinced I was insane, but all of a sudden yesterday I realized I was really enjoying it. So I probably am insane.

 

 

 

Blue Steps

I don't think I have ever shared this version of my Steps quilt from Strip Savvy. I had such a hard time choosing fabrics and colour schemes for the quilts when I was making the quilts for the book, there were just too many fantastic choices. I drew all my quilts in Electric Quilt and coloured and recoloured and made sample blocks and for a Steps I made a few different versions. In the end my scrappy version using left overs from the other quilts in the book was the one I chose, but I really like this scrappy blue one. Olive has claimed this one and she drags it all over the house and takes it to bed with her.
If you are looking for a use for all your little left over 2 1/2" strips or need a baby present this  pattern is perfect.

 

 

Me Made May

I decided last week to join in Me Made May this year. I thought it might give me a chance really clean out my wardrobe, to see what I really like to wear, what needs to go out and what I need to make.
So far I have worn a couple of t-shirts I made last week, 2 different Simplicity 2591 dresses I made recently, a Simplicity 2226 skirt, A Schoolhouse Tunic and a New Look 6775 tunic.
I should have a new dress which isn't a Simplicity 2591 to show you later this week!

Simplicity 2591 #3-7

I probably need an intervention. I wanted to make another Simplicity 2591 but I couldn't decide on the fabric. So I cut a few more. I think my wardrobe for Quilt Market and New York is sorted.

 

Ottobre Summer 3/2014

I had thought about not renewing my Ottobre subscription, I have quite a stack after subscribing for about 8 years, but a new one arrived yesterday which has quite a few good basic patterns in and the girls all found patterns they need to me to make next summer.

The twins loved this cardigan.

 They also loved these shorts.

 I think Olive will need these next summer.

 Evie loved this vest/hoodie.

So I will keep subscribing. It does look like a lot per year, but considering how much I have sewn from them over the years it is really good value, especially as they patterns go from babies up to teenagers and I think it is hard to find good teen/tween patterns especially among the big pattern companies.

Winter T-Shirts

Sorting through my wardrobe last week I realized I need a few basic winter t-shirts. I love the Plantain shirt I made a while ago, but I wanted something more fitted and it needed a few tweaks on the neck, shoulder and under arms so I spent a few hours making a perfect t-shirt pattern for me. It was basically a mash-up of the Plantain shirt and the Birgitte Tee. 

I do love a bit or twin needle top stitching.

 I am really glad I spent the time as now I have a good basic pattern I can whip a new one up in under an hour.

One thing I find quite tricky is to find good stretch fabric for shirts. I don't often mail order knits as they are usually quite bulky and cost too much for postage (my one exception is Craft Mamas - I love their fabric!) so I am limited to local shops. All of these have come from Spotlight or Textile Traders. Many times I go in there and come out empty handed, but sometimes I get lucky. I have found searching the stretch in Spotlight or the bargain tables for rolls marked as Designer fabric which is usually marked as being a polyester blend and $5 a metre is worth the time. I think Spotlight must buy old rolls from manufactures and mark it all the same. The four shirts above were all from rolls like this and they are all very different. The blue is almost like Metallicus fabric while the yellow is quite thick and heavy and exactly like a cotton/lycra. The pink and black are also quite different from the others. Do you have a favourite place to shop for knit/stretch fabrics?

Baby Tea Leaves

A new cardigan for Olive just in time for winter. It's the baby version of the Tea Leaves cardigan. I couldn't resist making this in the suggested yarn - Madelinetosh Pashmina. I used Astrid Grey which is a beautiful pale grey. The pattern, like the other versions of Tea leaves, is excellent. My knitting leaves a lot to be desired. I knit a lot of this watching Borgen so I was concentrating on reading the subtitles not what I was doing and there were a few dropped stitches, the bands probably should have been redone and there are holes under the arms, but they aren't too noticeable when she is wearing it.  I made the 18-24m size and it only just fits Olive at 19m. I do tend to knit a little tight, but she is not tall for her age, so I would recommend making a size or two bigger than is needed.

I managed to get a couple of photos of Happy Olive before it ended in Cross Olive screaming for the camera.

Simplicity 2591 #2

After a small change in my hair colour last week I realized I needed some clothes to match. I pulled out this beautiful soft denim and made another Simplicity 2591.

You can just make out in the picture below my favourite part of this dress pattern - the darts at the bust which you sew before you sew the princess seams. I can't believe I haven't seen this in a pattern before and I have been sewing for dresses for over 25 years. It gives the top of this dress such a nice fit.

 I used Liberty for the binding and inside the pockets.

I made it a week ago and have already worn it three times.