Friday Show-and-Tell

Good afternoon, lovelies. I'm currently finishing up my copycat-themed dress for this week's Sew Weekly challenge (based on Esme's adorable vintage dress), which is taking a bit longer than I'd imagined. I'd like to blame a pattern or fabric, but really I've been busy with school and going to see The Civil Wars. So, in lieu of another dress post, I thought today I'd do a little show-and-tell of recent sewing finds.

 First up, are my two local fabric finds. Up until the last few months, Austin had a dearth of non-chain apparel fabric stores. Then, in a matter of months, we have two wonderful new ones: TexStyles and Fabricker. I have yet visited Texstyles, because it is so far south, but I made a pilgrimage to Fabricker last week and came away with these two beauties. The blue is a lovely floral-print silk charmeuse that will probably become a Sencha blouse and the pastel is a Liberty Tana Lawn that was both beautiful and an absolute bargain. If you're an Austinite who hasn't made it to Fabricker yet, I definitely suggest it - the store is small, but brimming with lovely, quality fabrics.

 Next up are three fabrics from Harts Fabrics, which is quickly becoming my favorite online fabric retailer. Not only is their customer service superb, but they always have gorgeous fabrics for the fashion sewist. The orange ikat print and the navy anchor print are actually from the same line of Dear Stella Fabrics, which walks the line between quilting and apparel fabrics. I am just dying to turn them into summery sundresses! The blue ikat is a viscose challis, a fabric I've never worked with, but which seems to be calling for a Darling Ranges Dress.

 Finally, my favorite recent fabric score. For a span of a few days earlier this month, Fabric Mart had this Marc Jacobs cotton bow print in stock. Naturally, I snatched up four yards of it. I'm thinking it will turn into a version of this Anthropologie bicycle dress, which is one of the most worn RTW items in my closet.

 

On the pattern front, I made a few recent discoveries at the Austin Antique Mall. There is the woman whom my sister and I refer to as The Button Lady. She has a room just chalk full of vintage buttons, sewing notions, and patterns. For once, I had enough time to peruse her giant bookshelf of patterns and came away with three I couldn't resist - a 1960s pussy bow blouse and two 1950s shirtdresses!

Elsewhere in the antique mall, I stumbled across my favorite button find to-date. A whole card of vintage forest green Girl Scout buttons! I couldn't get them to photograph well, but they are a lovely, vibrant dark green with the Girl Scout seal on each one. The former Girl Scout in me is already hunting around for some khaki fabric, imagining a grown-up GS shirtdress.

In other news, the good folks at Burdastyle seem to have lost their minds, because my Liberty print Simplicity 2215 is the member project of the week! I know, I can't quite believe it either. I actually had to take a screen-grab of the page, just to keep as proof. Incidentally, I'm also kicking myself for adding that particular picture to the site, because every time I see it, my mother's voice yells in my brain: "Stand up straight, Mary!"  Of course, that would be the picture chosen for the front page. My mom would be mortified, but even that's not killing my Burda-fueled bliss.

Have you had any great sewing finds lately? Any fabric you just adore or a box of vintage patterns scored at an estate sale?