Online bargains

Fabric shopping is the best. I get totally sucked in by gorgeous prints, textures, colours…

However, one of my no.1 things I try to remember when buying material is to keep in mind what it can be used for. There’s no point having some gorgeous fabric but nothing to make with it – it’s impulse buying and a waste of money! So I always try to think – what will this work with? If I have an idea I’ll check the pattern requirements to see if the weight will work, and how much will be needed so I don’t buy anything unnecessary. Unless it really is a bargain that’s too good to turn down, do not purchase unless it can be used for a specific project!

There are loads of good online sales at the moment, so here’s a round up of what I bought and what I plan to make with them.

Our baby is now officially overdue (come on, baby!!) so when looking I carefully chose fabric for specific garments that’ll be good for everyday wear and mixing-and-matching. From Minerva Crafts’ sale I bought…

• Penny Spot Cotton Poplin (down to £4.99 per metre)
• Poly cotton chambray in mid blue (also £4.99 per metre)
• Floral print (totally wrong season but it was £2.99 per metre!)
• …and what turned out to be so so gorgeous, this rainbow stitched stripe cotton for just £3.99 per metre (down from £11.99). I am in love with this.

The plan for each of these is… a Tilly and The Buttons Clémence skirt from the blue chambray, a Sew Over It Ella Blouse from the spotty loveliness, and probably a Sew Over It Betty Dress with the stripe fabric, but it’s so gorgeous I’m going to have to really think before cutting in to it! (Let’s pretend I did it some justice and ironed the material before photographing it).

I’ve also fallen hard for The Crafty Mastermind. They stock fabric, patterns, hardware and haberdashery items, plus their sale is brilliant! I sold a bunch of stuff on eBay and got a surprising £80 so left it in my PayPal account and treated myself to these bad boys from their sale (and at zero cost from my actual bank account!).

The plan for these are…a Tilly Mimi Blouse with the birdies, probably with a contrast collar using one of the colours from the print, a New Look 6483 with the orange stripes (it’s such a good everyday shirt pattern), a Simple Sew Grace skirt with the black and white stripes, and I think a Tilly nursing Bettine with the spottiness.

Look forward to sharing the makes as I get through them!