Not A LBD

So my goal this month was to make the perfect little black dress for winter. I had fabric. I had several patterns to choose from. I had motivation. One problem. I didn't have enough fabric. I must have cut out 3 different dress patterns, trying to fit them on what I thought was 3 yards of lovely black knit fabric. I'm thinking now that I must have asked for 2 yards, because clearly, I didn't have 3. I don't have my receipt to tell me what I bought, and admittingly, I'm too lazy to get out the tape measure to check what the actual yardage is. Suffice it to say, I now have a lovely black top for the winter. And it turned out great! But I'll get to that in another post.

So I still have this need for a new dress. I think it's because looking in my closet, there simply aren't many options for fall/winter dresses. And I am a dress type of girl. I've seen several lovely fabric choices as of late at Joann's, but at $12.99-$14.99, I haven't jumped to buy them. Seriously, if I'm going to pay that, I'm going to buy something from Gorgeous Fabrics or Emma One Sock, and get something truly special and unique. Yes, I could pay more. But a truly special piece of fabric that speaks to you is absolutely worth it.

So this morning, I got an email that Vogue fabrics was having a sale, so I decided to take a peak. There was one fabric I was moderately interested in, but nothing really spoke to me. I rarely buy fabric unless it speaks to me! My dress patterns were sitting here on my desk, taunting me. So over to fabric.com I headed to see what the Deal of the Day was. Last week I got an incredible piece of corduroy there, and one never knows. But it was only some quilting fabrics today. So I sort of searched around the sight, convinced that today was not my day to find fabric. And then I saw it. A piece of fabric that spoke to me. A most unusual piece that spoke to me. A simple, lilac, solid matte jersey. Almost all of my dress patterns call for this type of fabric, so I started looking more carefully. V8471 was still calling my name. I've been wanting to make it for almost a month now, but I hadn't found the right fabric. View B particularly calls to me. And suddenly, I saw "it". My dress. Made in the lovely lilac jersey, with a printed inset and cuffs. Sure enough, just a few clicks through the site, I found the coordinating fabric. It was a perfect match. The print is much too small to make a whole dress from, but as the inset accent pieces and cuff, I think it will be absolutely perfect. And even better, the entire cost for the dress, including shipping, was under $12!! Seriously, how lucky could one girl get?!

So now I am waiting anxiously for my email stating that my lovely fabrics have shipped. Of course, with today being Columbus Day, it probably won't go out. I have to give kudos's to Fabric.com - if you order first thing in the morning, as I usually do, they almost always have the order out on the same day. Plus, I think I only paid $3.95 for shipping on this order. I am definitely a happy customer!

I am thinking about some small design features I think I would like to add to this. The cuff's are vented. I think I'd like to see a lovely purple button of some type at the base of the vent. I'm also noticing that the pattern calls for fusible interfacing. Can I just say, my local Joann's NEVER carries fusible interfacing?! Despite the fact that they are finally getting a small quantity of decent knit fabrics, they refuse to carry knit interfacing. There's a bigger Joann's down the hill, which I may have my husband stop in on his way home from work and check for me. Except then I'll owe him - big time. Imagine dirty, grimy, been welding all day guy, walking into a fabric store! Hmm, think I'll call ahead first to make sure they have it for him....

On the other hand, I could use this opportunity to call over to Anne at Needlenook Fabrics. I could order the new Burda issue I'm coveting and get my interfacing...hmm...yeah, hard decision...

I've actually been sewing up quite a storm this past week. I'm presently finishing up a giraff print purse with V8466, which I shall post photo's of soon. I've also made to new tops, which turned out even better than I had imagined. I need to get photos though. I'm just not fond of taking pictures on hangers. It looks so flat - I think you just miss details that way. So maybe I can convince DH to grab some photo's for me. :-) More to come!