Never Enough Fabric!

We’ve talked about threads, needles, stabilizers, etc. but let’s get to the best part of sewing, …. fabric! We’re getting ready to start a new project and we  look through our “fabric stash” but somehow we just don’t have all the right fabrics and colors we need for what we want to do. Sound familiar?  So, we have to postpone starting the project until we can get to our local fabric stores. They have some of what we want, but not all. We go home with our new purchases and then go online to find the rest. Now we  wait until  the newly purchased online fabric arrives…… Meantime, we are itching to make something, so we go back to our stash and find something to temporarily satisfy our desire to create.

Solution! When you see a fabric you like, buy it! Don’t know how much to buy? Decide if the fabric is a “focus” fabric or a small print or marbled “blend-able”. If it’s a focus fabric like a large print that’s very distinct, buy at least 1 yard and if you can afford it buy 1 1/2 or 2 yards. Distinct fabrics are generally only produced one time. When the fabric is gone from your local quilt shop, you won’t get it again. If desperate,  you might find it online at Equilter.com, Fabric.com, Connecting Threads,  Missouri Star Quilt Company or Keepsake Quilting.  (see creative links on right).  They have the warehouse space to purchase a lot more bolts than your local quilt shops can.

Plain, marbled or small prints that “read” plain from a distance you can usually buy again, but the dye lots may not be the same. I suggest you buy as much as you can afford, because you can use it for multiple projects where a blender fabric is needed to offset a pretty print. Many times, a plainer fabric makes a nice project by itself.

Another piece of advice. If a pattern calls for 1 yard, add at least a quarter yard to allow for any mistakes. If I need 2 yards,  I add 1/2 yard. It’s always better to have a little extra in case you didn’t follow the old saying, “measure twice, cut once”.

This “rule of thumb” buy extra,  can also work for clothing fabric purchases. So keep that in mind when making a fabric purchase for a clothing pattern.

Thank you for the nice comments you are making. Would love to hear from more of you. Have a question? I will try to answer it for you. I have enjoyed sewing almost all my life. It relaxes me as well as giving me great joy to see a project finished.

If you have an idea for a blog, I would love to hear from you.

Until next time …. happy sewing.

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