The increadible kindness of others

It feels a bit like Christmas today, I have, sitting beside me, a huge bag of fabrics and I'm itching to get started working with them.

Before I do anything I thought I would blog about how this all came about.  A lovely lady used to do a lot of sewing and has since given up, but still had a ridiculous stash of fabric and habby.  She decided to clear out, and to donate all the fabrics to people she knew, people who would love them and use them.

What followed was an incredibly exciting day of facebook activity, a photo and description of the fabric would be posted, and the first person to say yes would be given it.  When it came to buttons, it was so fast paced it was a real race to see who was given what.

I can honestly say that this lady has really made my day/month/year.  Due to having to support two houses on 1.5 salaries, we have not had much spare money, so I have been buying cheaper fabrics, often polycottons and synthetics, unless there is a brilliant deal going.  I firmly believed that any luxurious fabrics would have to wait.

I am honoured that I was allowed so many of the fabrics (I may have got a bit over excited, but who can blame me!).

So, what do I have in my bag?

The top left is a navy houndstooth wool suiting, which I hope to turn in to a suit for work, I've not measured it, but there seems to be plenty.

Beside it I have a couple of yards of a fairly thick linen which will be fabulous as a summer top

Then come the silks, that's right, 100% silk charmeuse or chiffon.  The rose patterned one is the chiffon, I'm already imagining a skirt with the chiffon floating over the top, and as I have about 5 yards of it, I may even consider a top and a dress! As it is silk, I would have to find some good deal for a similar quality lining for it, but it is so pretty.  The cherry and banana prints are so much fun, I'm hoping that the Cherries will turn into a tea dress type thing, and the bananas I am considering for a top or skirt.  The bright abstract is hopefully going to be a Sorbetto top, if I can work out how to adjust the darts.

Under the abstract is a Calvin Klein wool, its a burgundy red with dark green through it.  Again, I'm hoping to make this into a suit, though pattern matching could be fun.

The final row has a really fun Buru Buru dog print, which I plan to make into a little dress and nappy covers for a friend who is expecting a little girl.  The baby is due in November, so I'm aiming for about a 6 month size, but I have no idea which pattern to use.  Finally I have yards and yards of silk crepe (I think it's silk) which will be at least a skirt if not also tops and dresses.

In a final act of kindness, another lady dropped off my fabric to me as my hip is playing up again and I couldn't make it to where the fabric handovers were happening.

Which is your favourite from my new stash, and any suggestions for patterns?