June at Seamstar

This month is flying by and I am in a super busy period as always happens around this time: it's just before the summer holidays so my day job is busy, there are lots of family birthdays coming up, lots of hops and stuff that I have made/am making things for so I am taking a little time out to stop and have my monthly browse at Seamstar.

Let's start with some cotton lawn, the perfect summer fabric and there are some new arrivals that I hadn't seen before.  This is Lennox Gardens by Robert Kaufman 

The same print is also available as part of a bundle:

The dark floral in the bundle is Floral Blue, also by Robert Kaufman.  I'm not sure if that is black or navy in the background but I really like it.  It is harder to get darker lawn prints and this one is a beauty!

The plain prints are Cambridge lawns, also by Kaufman.  They come in a selection of pastels and are handy for lining, binding etc on dresses/tops/skirts and for clothing generally.  They are all very useful and I particularly like the Nude colour way, it's a very pretty shell pink.  All the Kaufman lawns are 110cm/42" wide.

Lawn is lovely to quilt with too.  These solids would be a luxurious backing or contrast fabric for prints.

With Glastonbury coming up along with a zillion other festivals, I chanced upon a few suitably themed prints.  There is this cute 'Tents' print from Dear Stella  which I couldn't resist getting a fat quarter of for for fussy cutting.

There is also a bundle which features this print along with some  Lotta Glimma.

If you wanted to take this theme further, there is a Camping Chairs 3 fabric bundle that will play nicely with the tents- the chairs are Dear Stella and are also available individually.

Pushing the theme a little further, you could arrive at the festival in a Mini.  

This Mini print is by Dashwood.  Courtney has put together another bundle with this print in too.

I bought a stack of supplies at Seamstar last month so I thought I would give those a mention- this is the sort of stuff that doesn't look very exciting in photographs but is the basics I need in stock for bags, pillows etc.  Starting with Vilene Quiltex fusible fleece:

If you've used Vilene H630 low loft fusible fleece, this is very similar.  It is the same weight, lightweight and thin but the main difference is that it has a pre printed diamond grid which is the adhesive part that fuses.  I've just used this on a Oakshott pillow tutorial that will be on the blog next Monday and I really liked it.  Lighter than batting and because there is less to fuse, the ironing/adhesive process is a little faster and less stressful.  It adheres lightly as only the grid fuses and if you then want to use the grid lines for fast quilting, that's handy too.  I also used this to make some softy toys to give some light lawn a little weight for hand sewn details and it was good for that too.

I also tried some Ultra Firm and Flex double sided fusible interfacing for a 3D box type project that I am making for a magazine.  Wow, its very interesting stuff, great for providing stiffness (no sniggering there at the back), perfect for fabric boxes and baskets and it is easy to put under the foot of the machine and sew.  I didn't fuse it very successfully- the double sidedness wasn't suitable for what I was making.  Instead I used it as a sew in and it was wonderful.  You could use it with fabric to make wrist key fobs instead of canvas strapping.  I also fancy it for bag, wallets and passport holders if you a want sleeker look than fleece/batting and instead have firmness and structure.  Great stuff.  It is sold at 30cm/12" wide and by the metre.

If you fancy a taster pack there is an offcuts bundle for only £2 which is a great chance to try different sorts of interfacing for future use.

I also stocked up on zips.  There are general use standard zips from 4" to 22":

as well as invisible/concealed and chunky plastic zips. 

Enjoy!  I will be enjoying Glasto on the telly and radio next weekend, especially looking forward to Elbow although the best thing is the unexpected amazing performance that crops up each year- no knowing who that could be!