Friday, July 9, 2010

Sewing fun, shopping and Vogue 8597

Busy week but lots of sewing fun!

First up a day trip with the girls to the Ipswich Art Gallery to see the exhibition called 'The fabric of Society': Australia's Quilt Heritage from colonial times to 1960'.

It was fabulous and I highly recommend it to anyone within a reasonable drive to go and see it.

After the Art Gallery, we shopped at Bargain Box at Ipswich also and got some absolute bargains! After a lunch break we went to Sumner Park to the Fabric Collection (I think it used to be called the Fabric Barn??) and also got some lovely fabrics. Here is the obligatory photo of my haul...


L to R: 100% wool in black for a jacket, gorgeous stretch in a terracotta, snakeskin in a polyester jersey, a lovely sweater knit and a nice denim style fabric in gorgeous brown self-stripe.

I was most flattered when we got to the Fabric Collection to be recognised by the girls in the shop as they read my blog. Hi Vanessa!

I have worked a lot this week but shopping has been arriving at my door. First up I finally got some labels done.


These are an eBay purchase from a seller in Hong Kong. I paid $54 Aud for 200 woven labels - much cheaper than anything I could find locally. They took about two weeks to make and then I received them about a week after I was notified that they were sent. I am very happy with the quality of them and may order some more in a lighter colour.

Here is my first label sewn into a garment...


I also received books from Amazon. They all look great...



And even though I worked a lot this week, I scored a Friday off (rare for me) so I got to finish a top I started last week-end, using the fabric I purchased at the Textile Arts Festival. The fabric is gorgeous, soft and the most delicious colour called 'Warm Blackberry'.

I made Vogue 8597 View A.
You can see it is long and this is the shorter length it comes in. I am going to leave it for the time being though and see how it goes. The hem looks a little stretched out but this is hot off the sewing machine and I think it will settle down when I press it.

I did want long sleeves but did not have enough fabric, so 3/4 they are...


The review is here.

All up a great week full of sewing related stuff! I am still on a high as I got the day off and as well as catching up on a mountain of laundry, grocery shopping and tidying up, I sewed!!!

I am off to the gym soon to try a new PT group session called MMA and strangely I am looking forward to that too!

12 comments:

  1. Your top looks beautiful and love your labels.

    I love getting sewing related parcels delivered :)

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  2. Coincidence - we are going back to the Fabric of Society exhibition tomorrow and spending a bit of time in Ipswich too. Bargain Box was on the agenda as well. Your fabrics look good and the top you made is ab fab. Di

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  3. What great purchases! That's a lot of dreams!

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  4. Oooohhhh so many goodies! You are going to love the books...though the Little Black dress is still on my Amazon wish list, so I would be interested in hearing what you think of it.

    And since I'm not purchasing fabric right now...other people's fabric purchases are sooooo welcome to see! You did good!

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  5. What a beautiful haul of fabric... love the brown self-stripe. Cute labels.

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  6. Try wovenlabels UK. I've just bought a sewing machine and trying to sew up some pretty dresses for myself, but the first thing I decided I needed was a fancy label. I bought the cheapest set of labels there- but they arrived promptly and I do like the look of them.

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  7. Awesome fabrics - I saw the palette and it is definitely "you". You'll enjoy those books, too!

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  8. looks like you have been having such a good time! I like the top as is but you will need to see how it goes. Great fabrics and books! Enjoy.

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  9. I like the top, the neck looks very smart.
    You have a terrific fabric haul, there are some lovely potential clothes in that assortment.

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  10. woo hoo, sounds like a great week with gallery visiting and surprise days off and sewing and labels arriving in the mail. Can't WAIT to see what you do with that snakeskin - I just love a little animal (on others, it doesn't suit me). And corduroy such a lovely friendly fabric.

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  11. Love the snakeskin fabric and your labels. I just purchased the LBD book- very pretty pictures!

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  12. I like the snakeskin a lot too. Your sweater top is perfect on you and so right for the cold snap.

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Love to hear what you think...