Summer Sewing to SAVE!!

I want to encourage people to get back to sewing. And the two obstacles/complaints I hear  are ...  #1 Sewing is expensive and #2 I have trouble fitting my changing body.

So, today I want to show you how I am dealing with these two issues. 

Here is my plan to make one dress, two tops, one jacket and some pants.

Step one ... dive into my stash. 

Step two ... look for easy fitting, comfortable patterns.

I will write about altering patterns in a future blog.

Well, first I have 5 yards of this very, very nice washed linen. I kept seeing a promotion for it on FaceBook. You are required to buy 5 yards. But when you buy that much it is only about $7 a yard.

I will be selling some of it to my neighbor's daughter, who's taking sewing lessons from me.

If you use FaceBook you can go to the Fabrics-Store.com page to look for this promotion. 

Or use the link below to go straight to the page for this fabric.
Link to this terrific fabric

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And this is the pattern I plan to use. When was designing for Simplicity I tried to always use their patterns, but NOW I am branching out and have discovered StyleArc!!! 

I LOVE this dress. It is a great shape that will look good on anybody and can be fancy or casual.

So this dress will cost  - fabric $21 + pattern $11 + printing $8 = $40 not so cheap, but it is a dress to wear to a wedding. And it is a great wearable design and should be quick to sew.

Amazon has a lot of StyleARC patterns for sale.

But for this newly released dress design go straight to their website.

StyleArc is based in Australia and the shipping isn't too expensive, but it can take a long time. I opted for the PDF version, which meant either printing out and taping together 55 pages of 8 1/2 x 11 inch paper, or getting it professionally printed. I found a very reasonable service online. 
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PDFplotting.com

I had two patterns printed, so with shipping it was about $8 each. Really worth not having to print and tape 55 pages.

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I am lucky. People give me stuff sometimes. This is a piece of beautiful handmade batik from the Philippines. A friend of mine gave me a box of this kind of stuff when she was overwhelmed by cleaning out her house. 

​It is not enough for a dress so I needed to find a top pattern with very few seams in order to not break up the print.

When I bought the StyleArc dress pattern they offered this shirt pattern for free ... just the thing.

This shirt will cost - fabric $0 + pattern $0 + printing $8 - pretty good!

Another style that will look good on everyone. This link will take you to this pattern.

I, also, found 2 yards of this vibrant lime green linen in my closet. It was very stiff, so I threw it in the washer and dryer.

It now feels wonderful and has that nice rumpled look BUT it shrank quite a bit. It started at 74 inches long and is now 70 inches. Best to get all that shrinking over now.

To me, it is just the right weight for a casual summer jacket. And it will look really good with the white linen skirt I found at the Thrift Store and the black eyelet skirt I made for myself a few years ago. Read the blog I wrote about making it here!

I might be able to wear it over the white dress I'm making for the wedding, too.

And look a this perfect pattern I found in my pattern drawer! I paid $4 for it in 1994 from Minnesota Fabrics ... remember them??

I bought this fabric fairly recently, in September last year. And I found the receipt.

So this jacket will cost - fabric $32 + pattern $0. not bad.

And another style good for most.

Now I still look at Simplicity's catalog and I really, really like this blouse, but don't know what fabric to use.

I found this on a bolt in my closet . I actually kind of like it, but I'm not so sure it will go with the other things in my wardrobe.

thinking ....

I will head off to the Thrift Store to see what I can find. You can often find unused fabric and notions there. Or maybe I can find something to cut up.

Off I go ...

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Back from the store and OH BOY did I have good luck! Of course, when you go shopping at a Thrift Store you have to be very open to what you may find. 
Here is what I brought home.
1 1/2 yard dark grey cotton with colored strips (above) $4
2 yards off white corduroy (saving for later) $6
a bag with 5 zippers and a sewing kit $3
a bag with 7 yards of fabric $3 (4 yards of a navy/white stripe - saving) And the 2 different green and white stripes which I have decided to use for that Simplicity pattern. I will have to do some creative mixing.

So that top will cost - fabric $1.25 + pattern $4 = $5.25 very good!

Here is a very cool linen jumpsuit I also found at the Thrift Store and it actually fits me pretty well. But, I just can't wear it with those skinny little spaghetti straps ... maybe 40 years ago I could!!

Look at the great pockets it has! I am just going to turn this into a pair of loose summer pants.

Cost - $6

​So total cost for five quality garments.

Dress - $40
Batik top - $8
Green Jacket - $32
Simplicity top - $5.25
Linen pants - $6
extras - $10 (interfacing, buttons, thread)

Total - $101.25

And think of all the money I won't be able to spend, because I will be too busy sewing.

​I plan to post blog for each of these garments as I make them.