It has occurred to me this morning that I completely forgot to post an update on how my No Buying Clothes Challenge is going. It has been another month of not buying any clothes and I am continuing to learn and develop from this process. An update is in order!
I am happy to report that in terms of staying away from buying any clothes is has been a successful month! I haven’t bough any clothes and continued to make everything that I need or wear what I already have. However there are still a few things I learnt I could improve on.
- I am in need of a plain off-white sweater… I am talking super simple, off-white sweater that would go with everything. In the past J-Crew’s Tippi pullover was my go-to buy. It’s exactly what I am looking for. I have to admit, I even almost convinced S to buy me one as a gift… But it didn’t work.
My main issue when it comes to the sweater is not that it is hard to make. It’s easy! With a serger it will not take long either. However, I am having trouble finding the right knit. I want something that is of a better quality with some natural fibers and is a light sweater knit, not a t-shit knit. But I am having trouble locating the fabric in Calgary and actually in Canada… If anyone has suggestions for good quality sweater knit I could buy, on-line or in store, outside of Canada too, I would love to hear them!
- I have noticed that my fabric spending has increased dramatically! I guess having an excuse of not buying clothes for a year somehow justifies buying all the pretty fabrics I see even if I am not going to get to them in a bit. I guess a fabric stash is not all for sewing and can be considered a collection of sorts, but overspending on fabric was not part of the plan for the year. I am not sure how, but I will have to curb my fabric spending and shop my stash. There is this thing they call willpower… I wonder where can I get one of them…
- Finally, I have been doing my Wardrobe Architect project, mainly following along with Christine’s journey and doing the exercises as she completes them (because I am too lazy to do it on my own). I was very excited to have my color palette finalized and named!
It am sure that I could have narrowed my Main Colors to include less of cream tones, but it was unbelievably hard for me. They are all so pretty!! So I left it as is. The experience lead me to realize the full extent of my love for warm off-white and cream tones and come to terms with it. So now I don’t feel as guilty sewing all shades of off-white tops! I love them and I will wear them.Having the palette also affected the way I look at my fabric stash and how I shop for my fabric. I used to come down on myself for not having enough bright pretty loud prints, and would force myself to “venture out”. The reality is though, that I just don’t wear them and don’t like them. It is also okay to have a more toned down closet if it reflects my style.
There you go, I think it was another month full of learning and reflecting. We’ll see what the next month brings!
Love,
Anya
Glad to hear it is going well, I am staying strong too! My fabric buying has also gone up, though, so I need to get a handle on that as well. I have so many pretty fabrics to sew with!! Did you consider this cream french terry from Blackbird? http://www.blackbirdfabrics.com/bamboo-cotton-french-terry-heather-almond/
I am so glad you are staying strong as well! Yes, it is so hard not to buy fabric… I really have trouble with that! If you find any tricks that work for you, please share! I will do the same.
I actually do have that exact cream French terry from Blackbird! I will take a look at it again tonight, but I was hoping for something that looks knitted as in a sweater actually would. But it may work! Thank you for the suggestion and a reminder! All my Blackbird fabrics are very treasured and I am too worried to cut into them, and I forget about them. They are such good quality!
You live in Calgary?! I live in Calgary! Finding good fashion fabric here is SO hard! I’ve been pondering ordering some merino from the new The Fabric Store online store. There is a fabricland in the NW that if you search HARD you can SOMETIMES find not a completely terrible knit. But OI! It is harrrdddd! I’m hoping to do a very similar challenge in 2017, as right now I work in a clothing store where I always have to wear at least one piece of current product, making it pretty much impossible to not shop haha. My instagram is ally_mariko feel free to find me! Mostly knitting and dogs of late, but I am hoping to get my sew-jo back in gear 🙂
I do live in Calgary! That is so cool! I barely know people who sew in Calgary 🙂 I agree, it sucks! I was thinking of checking out Olga’s fabric on Bow Trail just to see if they carry anything, but they tend to be pricey. But may be I should also check out NW Fabricland, they do tend to have a slightly better selection, which is weird…
I hear you about working in a clothing store! I used to work in a few as well and it was pretty much impossible not to spend my money there, especially with “you have to wear what you sell” policies. At least you get a discount! I’ll find you on instagram, and I need some knitting inspiration as I am hoping to give it a try later 🙂
I so feel your pain on the struggle to find great fabric in central Canada!
I too love Blackbird fabrics and am inclined to buy from them if they have anything close to what I’m looking for – I really hope they continue to grow!
I just made an order from a place called Style Maker Fabrics (braved the USD exchange with my birthday $) since they had a nice selection of different garment fabrics. Order still on the way, so I can’t speak to quality/service yet, but I think I recall some nice sweater knits they had…
It’s so hard! I am glad I am not the only one struggling 🙂 I love Blackbird Fabrics and I also really hope they continue to grow. It seems that States and Europe have a really nice selection of fashion fabrics online and Canada seems to lag behind a little bit.
No way! I would love to hear about your experience! I have just checked out their fabrics and they do have a really nice selection of sweater knits. I love their ivory pointelle and I may have to brave the exchange rate as well. Also, happy belated birthday!
Hi Anya,
I got my Style Maker Fabrics order on Monday and just remembered now that I was going to let you know my experience. I ordered it on the 3rd and they shipped it the very next day, it got stuck in Seattle for a week and then finally got moving and arrived on the 18th. A bit slow but that was all USPS oddness not Style Maker. There was taxes (gust&upset for me) assessed at the border plus a $9.95 flat rate handling fee that I had to pay when I picked up my parcel. The package was a bubble wrap envelope that looked a bit battered and the fabric inside was just wrapped in a tissue paper however all my fabric was fine. I’m quite happy with the quality and will likely order from them again if they have something I can’t find either locally or through a Canadian supplier although it was a bit pricey after exchange (so terrible right now!),shipping and fees at the border.
Oh autocorrect. That should say (gst & pst for me) lol
Hi Anne! Thank you so much for letting me know about your experience.
Sometimes USPS can be frustrating eh? I had a package stuck in their distribution center once for over a month… ugh!
I am glad that your fabric was all fine! And its so good to hear that you are happy with the quality. I will definitely keep them in mind and order from them in the future.
haha and damn, autocorrect 🙂
Sadly I can’t help you with finding the perfect sweater knits, I haven’t found them either! I live in Finland and don’t shop online, so there’s that, but I think it’s a universal problem. I saw a good sweater knit ONCE, but didn’t buy it because it wasn’t season appropriate, and of course it was gone the next time. This is fabric that I would consider buying online, so I’ll be checking back too 🙂
I agree, it does seem like it is a universal problem. I can so relate to not buying the perfect fabric out of season! I’ve done it before and regretted it when I couldn’t find it… Usually it is sale coating fabric for me. I will likely end up buying sweater knit online, and I will definitely write about my experience with it!