Wow, do I regret not returning to Jay’s Fabric Center in St. Petersburg sooner!  I went there once in 2005, before I really understood what quality fabric was.  I didn’t think much of it because I looked at a few bolts that were $10/yard and decided it was too expensive, not even looking around much.  Dumb move.

Today I went knowing much more about fabrics, and let me tell you.  This place was all I wanted in a fabric store!  I wish I would have thought to take pics.  It’s the size of a standard Joann’s but it’s ALL fabric and notions!!!  They have solids on the perimeter and prints in the center, which the employee told my inquisitive 6 year old is so that you can see the prints in more detail (since they’re more accessible).  They have a modest selection of quilting cottons, around $10/yard, then an awe-inducing array of fashion fabrics.   They had everything there, from sportswear to formal.  I saw the most beautiful special occasion fabrics, the likes of which I’ve never seen.  The most expensive I saw was $130/yard, but most were $30-70.  Rolls and rolls of them. Tons of French terry, which I was very happy to see.  They had a sale table of knits, lots of swimwear, denim, broadcloth, batiste, gabardine, satin, chiffon, everything, I tell you!

I was so overwhelmed by all the wonderful stuff I only bought 3 things… French terry for $6/yard, knit print for $4/yard (sale price), and some hot  pink elastic belting, the price of which I forgot but I know was cheap!  They have cool zippers, drawers full of buttons, notions, threads, patterns, home dec fabrics and notions.  It was beautiful.  I won’t have to order my swimwear elastic online anymore, as they carry it in 2 widths, plus the hooks for bikini tops.  So much unique stuff I’d never seen before.

The service was very good.  I was asked if I needed help or a cart to carry my fabrics while browsing, and I waited less than a minute to have my fabric cut by a very nice employee.  Their hours are limited (9-5:30, closed Sunday), but other than that I can’t think of a single complaint!

I went to Miami looking for a store that is a mere 1/2 hour away!!  I haven’t been to many independent fabric stores (just Vogue Fabrics in Evanston, IL once when I lived in WI), but I can’t imagine it getting any better than this unless you’re in NYC or LA.  SO worth it!

I stopped at Joann’s to look for patterns on sale, and I’m super glad I did because they had several patterns I wanted!

vogue 1154

McCall’s 6091… is this Natasha from America’s Next Top Model??

McCall’s 6074- the lack of a photo makes me nervous

McCall’s 6078- making the one on the far left

Butterick 5446.  Carolyn’s review was very helpful- I’ll be narrowing the sleeves too

Yesterday, one of my coworkers had a great idea to help solve my fit issues and solve the mystery of what size I am: call a tailor!  So, I called Alterations by Nora, explained my dilemma, and she says, “no problem, just come in and I’ll do it!”  I ask how much, she says no charge, I say come on, you’ve gotta charge me something!  She says, ‘it takes two seconds’ and I should come by anytime next week!  I’m always so incredulous when someone does something nice for me.

Tonight I’m just laying low at home on the couch, doing some snoop shopping.  My cousin and her friend are visiting later this month and asked me to take them to Miami.  I’ve never been there, and it’s as good a time as any, so I say sure.  The catch?  They want to go to Dash, some store run by the Kardashian bimbos.  How very sad.  I make her a deal:  I begrudgingly take them to the bimbo store if we can visit a fabric store or 2.  We have a deal.  So, I hear Miami is a stylish place, so I need to make my frumpy ass look cute.  Hence the snoop shopping, so I can find out what’s fashionable right now.  Wouldn’t ya know that my favorite item so far is a t-shirt dress….

My ex reinstalled drivers for my camera, so I can upload and post pics again! And I can show you the great Amy Butler fabrics I scored!

About 2 weeks ago, I decided to check out a quilt shop in nearby Sarasota to get some Amy Butler fabrics, which I love. I went to Alma Sue’s Quilts, about 20 miles from my house. I nearly fainted when I saw that they were on sale- 45″ wide quilting cottons were $6/yard, and the Nigella 60″ twill weight fabrics were $7/yard!!! That’s insane!! The quilting cottons are normally $9/yard and the Nigella collection retails for $18/yard!!! Turns out it was the last day of their anniversary sale- talk about luck!!! I ended up buying 6 pieces of fabric and 2 patterns. Check out the beautiful fabrics I got! It was so hard to decide what to get!

I hit the sale at joann’s 2 nights ago and actually found some presentable fabric!

The one on the left was from the clearance area- I paid $2 a yard for it! I think it’s a cute retro print, which will be great for Butterick 4919:

The yellow is just a poly/cotton broadcloth, which will be a wearable muslin for this tunic:

And the lavender cotton has some embroidery on it and is a nice light weight for summer. I’m making this top (view D), which was out of stock at Hancock’s tonight:

Tonight I went to Hancock Fabrics to grab some 99 cent Buttericks and found stretch poplin on sale for 3 bucks a yard! They had great colors, but I immediately went for the magenta. That’s eventually become:

I was just browsing the catalog when I ran across this one. I bought it for the princess seams, which I can do a FBA on, and the collar looked really simple and quick.

I’m hoping to get a lot of sewing done this weekend!

I felt pretty crappy today with some mystery virus, but Michaels and Hancock Fabrics had great sales.  Sofia and I drove across town and picked up some scrapbooking supplies at Michaels, then went to Hancock’s.  We got 4 cones of MaxiLock thread for $1.77 each, a spool of thread to make a UFO skirt, some machine needles and Velcro for 50% off, and some patterns:

Something different.

I’m going to try the Kwik Sew lingerie patterns I have first, but if nothing else, the camisole is cute.

I’m thinking of making view C in a cute Amy Butler print.

This just looks like the ultimate hot weather dress.  The binding intimidates, though.