This past month has been, at least for me, a very creative one. I don't know what has happened, but at the moment I find myself going through my huge stash of sewing magazines, scrolling through Pinterest and browsing different online fabric stores constantly, and then picturing new projects in my
head that I want to get done in the summer.
I've had so much fun going through my extra-large fabric stash over and over again and just coming up with ideas to use some of the very old fabrics that I've owned for years.
When I was a kid my mom took me to the sale of the local fabric store and somehow I ended up with a lot of fabrics that have been sitting my stash for years. I didn't really know back than the differences and qualities of different fabrics, so I just picked everything that looked nice and didn't know how to pay attention to the type of fabric. I did exactly the same with yarns because I bought everything that looked pretty and now I have some weird yarns and only one skein of them from fifteen years ago...
Nowadays, I've learned to be more specific with the fabric that I buy from the sale. I have to at least have a good idea what I'm going to do or then I buy some easily usable fabric like cotton muslin or jersey that I can use for various different things. So my tip number one for Summer clearance sales is that think carefully what you will actually need and how much will you need it. Write down your ideas on a piece of paper before going shopping. I know it is so hard to resist the temptation when you see a love yarn or fabric.
This June I have spent mostly sewing for others than myself, I bought a lot of fabrics just to sew presents for my sisters and some baby/toddler clothes to give out as presents or to use later on. I've sewn so many dresses for myself that I've run out of space in my closet.
So I made a jersey tunic for my sister and a rosepatterned dress for my other sister. My fingers were just aching to sew something and sewing for others is a very good way to ease that ache
Thought number 2: Write down the stuff your family or friends like to wear or what colors they like to use and if you really want to buy something from the Sales keep in mind that a self-made present can be even better than something store-bought.
I'll write a more detailed post about my summer projects later on
after I've gotten more than halfway through my sewing list for this summer. Now I'm waiting for my new linen-viscose fabric to arrive, so I can start sewing some nice summer trousers.Number 3: Write down somewhere the website or magazine (an excel, a bullet journal) where you've seen a great pattern that you want to do, but don't have the time right now. I love going through my collection of magazines, but sometimes it is just so frustrating to look for a certain pattern to use. That totally happened with my wedding dress a few years ago, I had a certain bodice piece in mind and went through my collection at least three times before finding it.
I've also had time to knit and after a long pause to make some bunnies. Aren't they just cute? I ran out of grey yarn for the girl, but a black ear and arm doesn't matter too much.