I have mentioned my mom also sews and she sells her work. One of the things she sells is luggage tags. This is a picture of a new fabric she was hoping for help on naming so they don't have the tags on them yet but you can see more on her Etsy site as well.
Mom has an incredible assortment of luggage tags. She makes 12-24 of each print and moves on. She has multiple shoe boxes of these things done at any given time. Some of the prints take a little while to find a home but it makes for a great assortment.
Someone recently inquired for a larger purchase. A bridal party that were going to Vegas so they wanted a bunch that were like one she sold on Etsy a while ago.
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Let's just review a few facts...
- I haven't been able to sew much with all this restrictions on moving and feeling crappy
- I haven't gone shopping because I haven't been walking all that much lately.
- I also have tried not to go shopping because I have enough stash to sew through.
What did I find? Silk noil, 45" wide, regularly $20/m on sale for $5/m. All solid colours, I bought 4m of it in black. I have not worked with silk noil before so I'd be happy to hear from any of you if you have and suggestions on best uses. I was thinking it could be a nice dress but in purchasing black, I was also thinking maybe light summer pants? I think it would work well with the pants blocker that I worked on with StephC. I did not take a picture of the noil, you know how black photographs. Good reviews may result in me going back for something a little brighter, they did have about 8 bolts in colours other than black.
I also bought 2m of a cotton print, sort of a buff yellow background with red poppy like flowers. Mostly because the red matched the capris I was wearing at the moment and I struggle to build an outfit with those pants so it will fill a gap in my summer wardrobe. It might be a good one to try the Pendrell blouse. I bought the pattern when I got Renfrew but I haven't tried it yet.
Prior to "bad things happening", we were in Toronto with friends from Vancouver. I happen to have ended up with a "Renfrew Action Shot". I wasn't drinking so most places I was asking for some form of bubbly water or club soda and a lime. At the Irish Embassy, I ended up with a poorly cut piece so it was really two wedges that weren't cut through and I was a bit excited as I really like limes. So for the next round, our friends asked for LOTS of limes for me. They delivered.
Silk noil? Any horror stories? Watch outs? Love it because...? Should I buy more?
Silk noil is a dream to sew, it is like sewing cotton, but nicer, cause, well it's silk. I think it is one of my favourite fabrics to sew. I like to wear as well as it can be casual or dressy depending on what you do with it.
ReplyDeleteIf I were you I would buy as much as I could afford. I don't know that I would sew pants in black silk noil, it will likely fade in unwanted places (butt and knees). I am not sure how well it would hold up to the wear either. You could always over dye it with Jacquard iDye.
If I had some, I would do flowy unstructured or at least less structured pieces. Dresses, fuller skirts, blouses, Sorbettos. Oh, damn, I want me some silk noil.
Okay, I'll head back and buy more of another colour. Maybe two colours. ;)
DeleteTwist my rubber arm.
I can't tell you a thing about silk noil, I have some silk in my stash but I'm terrified to touch it because my FIL brought it back from Thailand years ago and it's real Thai silk....
ReplyDeleteYour mom's luggage tags are gorgeous! Whenever I need specific prints for a project, I've always gone to Ebay or Etsy. They have never failed me, whereas bricks and mortar stores often do.
I'm currently wearing my purple Renfrew -- man, I love this pattern so much. But I hear you on the stash, because I just went shopping and bought more fabric and I still don't have nearly enough jersey to do all the Renfrews I want. Why do I always seem to have too much fabric but not for the things I actually want to sew?
Well, I took ElleC's advice and bought two more 4m pieces, one in red the other in a beige/linen colour.
DeleteMom does very good work. I have no idea how she sews the same things over and over and over, but she loves it. I would send her to online retailers too, but she's well... a bit old school. I dunno that she would go for it but it may come to that if she really wants that kind of fabric. Although she has had a very good experience with her Etsy site. It's not as seasonal as the craft shows so while overall she doesn't make a ton of sales, at least it's spread out over the year. And things like the wedding garters sell well on Etsy and she can't give them away at craft shows. Not the right audience.