Super fabric haul, much to sew.

Today, I bring you news of great shopping!  Apart from sharing my excitement at cheap fabrics, I'm going to be helpful (to your heart, but not your wallet) and tell you where to get it.

First stop: if you're ever near Doncaster (oop North), go to Waltons Fabrics in Goldthorpe.  Good times!  There is much spandex and giltter, but some real finds amongst them.  Apparently, many roll ends are ex-designer and almost everything was under £5/m.  I filled my boots with fabric, the likes of which I've often seen in commercial clothes but never for sale in fabric stores elsewhere.

Second stop: if you're more local to Cambridgeshire, there are many fabric stalls at the St Ives market, every bank holiday.  This morning I scored some stripey chiffon at £1/m.  You can't beat that for a muslin cost!  I just hope my first chiffon attempt will be wearable, because I quite like the fabric actually...

In other news, it's been real nappy week and I've used the discounts offered to buy a bunch of absorption fabrics to make more nappy boosters for TButton.  We'll see how that goes.  My washing machine wants me to hurry up and make them, because it's fed up of washing trousers.

Instead of making dull nappy boosters, I've actually been sewing a sweet sorbetto by Colette patterns.  I've done two muslins (out of an old circular skirt I found in my fabric box) and a bunch of pattern alterations.  I'm about ready to sew up in the real fabric, a deep red cotton with cream dots from Waltons Fabrics.  I've got purple for the bias binding.  I must be obsessed with polka dots; I've had the same fabric before in pale blue and navy blue already.

Behold, the fist muslin: a straight-up size 12, just taken in by 1.5" at the top of the straps (as is customary for me).  I just noticed TButton in the shot behind me, grabbing the clock off my bedside table: naughty!

In this first image you can see the sad evidence of a need for a full bust adjustment (FBA to its friends) in the drag lines at the sides.

Hello diagonal drag-lines from bust to waist!  Delighted to meet you!

Here is the sad back of the top.  Delightfully too large across the upper back (see baggy fabric at the armholes), and in need of a slight sway-back adjustment (see fabric pooling over me bum).

I also think the top is a little short to be wearing with my jeans, so I decided to lengthen it a bit too.  Before I took the top off, I marked the bust point by drawing on myself with chalk.  I transferred the mark back to the pattern to help with my FBA.

Sad in front, sad behind.  Sad sad sad.

I got out my scissors and set to work.  Behold how I ran out of sellotape and resorted to masking tape like a trouper.

More tape than paper.

I lopped 1.5" off the straps, did a 1" FBA,  changed down to a size 10 from the armholes upward, moved the bust dart up by 3/8", added 2" length to the bottom, did a 7/8" swayback adjustment and added a CB seam, and finally graded in a little at the waist on the back only.

FBA with a moved dart and added masking tape.

You'd think a simple loose-fitting top wouldn't need much fitting, but you'd be wrong, apparently.  Hey ho.

Hoorah!  Time to sew up a sweet sorbetto!