Fabricana Fabrics

After I finished writing the last posting, I spent forever filling up that corner jacuzzi and had a delightful bubbling bath. A glass of wine and it would have been perfect only there was no way I was sending for room service. Can you imagine what that would have cost? An astronomical amount I'm sure. Never mind that wine is on my "don't eat" list. The thought was nice.

The drive to the ferry was a bit of a journey. You'd think the on ramp would be right opposite the off ramp and that you'd just get on the highway in reverse of getting off, other side. Not so. I had to drive parallel and make my way over to a different interchange before I could get on but it all worked out in the end. Luckily, I have a good sense of direction. Not the go north or south kind but the left and right and know where you are and where to go from here kind. I had about a twenty minute wait at the ferry and that was it. There was hardly anyone on board so the line-up for breakfast was short.

When we docked in Nanaimo, there was a sailboat in the harbour and it was snowing. Hmm... and they think I'm addicted. That's some dedication. Sailing, in February, in winter, in a snowstorm. I just buy fabric. Here's what I bought at Fabricana on Wednesday.




I bet you know this bundle isn't for me since I'm not a beige girl even with lingerie. It's a meter of soft lace with a double scalloped edge for my friend Sharon who I'm teaching how to sew bras. Actually, I'm done teaching. She knows how and is fine tuning fit and learning now.

The package is of twelve small roses in the exact same cream color. They are in place of a bow. One bow at BraMakersSupply.com is $1.00 although to be fair I just read that I could buy a bag of one hundred bows in assorted colors for $25.00 IF - that is - I wanted a hundred. There were twelve roses in the bag for $1.59. That works. Unfortunately, there weren't any in black for me. The two meters of lace is for trimming cups. See the interesting way that it's rolled? Carol at Fabricana taught me how to do that. It's neat and easy.

These trims are for me. The top one is black chiffon finished on both edges. As you know from an earlier posting, I brought chiffon yardage to use to embellish a t-shirt with. For $0.69 a meter, I decided pre-finished was a better idea. The lace was $1.19 a meter. I wanted two meters but was a good girl and bought the remaining .60 so that there wouldn't be some silly small scrap of a remnant for Carol to deal with - LOL.

I set some guidelines for shopping only allowing myself to buy fabric if it was significantly different than anything I could buy at home, if the price was reasonable, and if it was not black or predominately black. I've always worn black with color only lately it's been a lot of black with a little color. I wanted to shift that ratio a bit.

On the left, is a heavier knit. It's almost sweatshirt weight. My initial thought is a spring jacket of some kind although it's not too heavy to become a dress or skirt. The fabric on the right is for a skirt. It's a knit with rows of frills across it. I intend to cut it to length and width, add a lining that is seamed to the hem pulling the front fabric around and under slightly, and add an elastic waistband. I bought enough extra to cut across and use the frills for embellishment on a top - a completely separate top and NOT a go with top. That would be too matchy matchy for me.

These two fabrics are knits as well. I bought a meter and a half of each which will be enough for a t-shirt with scraps perhaps for a bra to match. It'll depend on what style of t-shirt I sew. Now that I've perfected my T & T pattern, it's time to branch out a little.

On the left is an embellished corduroy. This is the fabric that Carol's (the woman at Fabricana who helped me) vest was made out of. It looked so amazing on her that I wanted one too even though we have vastly different figure types. The vest was atypical, more like a short sleeved top. It had a shaped neckline, a side zipper, and no center front opening. It was short, waist length, and she wore it with a hip length, long sleeved, t-shirt and an ankle length, knit skirt. FABULOUS.

I had a delightful day shopping in downtown Nanaimo. The chocolate cake at Bocca was fab. I found a Joseff Ribkoff skirt in the second hand store for $40.00. GREAT deal. In another store that I really love, they asked me if I'd like a cup of tea. Yes. How nice. After tea, we spent several hours trying on unusual to me clothing styles. There was one dress I absolutely loved and never would have thought looked good on me. Unfortunately, it was too tight or too loose. They didn't have my perfect size. Maybe that was fortunately. It was $300.00. Even on sale that's a LOT, especially to someone who sews. I did buy a lovely necklace at 50% off.

Late afternoon, I picked Caroline up at the airport and we went straight to Fabricland at the absolute opposite end of town to catch the evening sale. She's well stocked up already and we have three days of shopping to go - LOL. Tomorrow night, we won't shop because we've been invited out to dinner. That leaves only bits and pieces of time on Saturday and Sunday. That's good. We've both spent enough already.

Class starts today. I'll tell you about it next week. There may or may not be a posting on Monday depending how things go. The B & B isn't wireless - how strange. - plus Caroline's flight is at 6:00 in the morning which means we'll have to leave here around 4:30. Ouch.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - fabric and friends