Happy-making shopping

[velvetpage]

My sisters and I just went out to buy - dress fabric.

We bought seven metres of a lovely blue satin, in a shade slightly darker than the Mediterranean on a summer's day. It's got just the barest hint of a pattern in the weave - palm trees. I love it. It's slinky, a bit, and will drape beautifully. We figured three metres each, though we haven't decided on patterns yet, and one more for the dress for Elizabeth.

The fabric and thread for all three dresses came to $52.00. That's not including lining, because we haven't got a pattern yet and aren't sure if we'll need it. Also, no trim or interfacing. My aunt is coming Saturday morning (!!!) to shop for that. (She's also looking forward to the excuse to shop Ottawa Street. Hamilton just happens to have one of the best fabric/upholstery/design districts in the country, and it's a few blocks from my house.) My aunt is a quilter, and she loves Ottawa Street. The presence of that street right around the corner is the reason for my general nonchalance when it comes to crafting supplies. I shopped four different stores before finding the material for a wedding present a few weeks ago, but I still spent less than an hour there and came away with exactly what I needed at a good price. Yay, Ottawa Street!

Now I need to stop eating and start working out, so as to look better in that clingy fabric when it's made into a lovely dress by my talented aunt.

Comments

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

They do sell the cloth in metres, but the patterns are all American so they're in yards and inches. Sometimes they'll be translated, but not that often. My quilt mats and rulers are all in inches, for example. It just means some mental math - a metre and a yard are nearly the same length, so I just use them interchangeably unless I'm buying more than ten yards (which I hardly ever do.) I have yet to buy a set of curtains - I've made three sets since we got married, and I've sewn a wall-hanging quilt for my dining room window-that-isn't, all using fabric from Ottawa Street.

[shavastak.livejournal.com]

Nifty-shnifty! See, more reason to visit, so's I can see your curtains.

Are your curtains translucent or did you manage to find fabric that actually blocks light? I will probably want to make my own curtains one day (far in the future!) but I have NO idea how to start.

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

I didn't even try to find fabric that blocks light, because none of the curtains were for the bedroom. I've got a blue-on-cream toile in the living room, and I made a pair for the kitchen windows at the apartment that will soon (hopefully, at last) go up in the back room. I really need to get some pretty sheer stuff and make a swag for Elizabeth's room. There are some lovely tulles designed to complement dress satins, that would look so pretty in her room.