Brown and tan herringbone fabric for sale. Quarter for scale of weave
In a previous post I shared a bunch of different fabrics that I have for sale. Well I’ve gone through my stash even further, and here are even more! Continue reading
Kelly Green imitation linen. The swatch looks teal, but it’s really a Kelly green. Quarter for scale of the texture.
Over the past few years I’ve shared posts about going fabric shopping… well in this post I’m SELLING off some of the fabrics I’ve bought over the years.
Largely this is because I just don’t have the space for everything I have… nor the time to sew up everything. Continue reading
Finished apple leave and twig-dyed wool yarn showed with undyed yarn for comparison.
In my last post about dyeing with apple tree bark, I showed off my finished yarn (sort of a soft mustard with a touch of peach… but in actuality I did the research first, and then did some totally different dyeing before going back to what I had researched.
I wanted the chance to dye just with apple leaves, and a chance to dye just with the bark – BUT in all of my research I got antsy… too antsy to wait for the bark to soak, and too antsy to find the alum for the leaves and do the pre-dye mordant.
Tapestry wool (and one spool of lovely linen) from the Fibre Fair
Just a little shopping spree brag blog post here. I visited the Calgary Spring Fibre Festival on May 12, 2018 and picked up a few different items.
From one seller I bought a lovely spool of natural hemp (as recommended by my friend from @Black Sheep Textiles) and from Aubusson House Fibres Fine Yarn & Supplies I bought a number of spools of tapestry yarn. These were $10.00/lb, and I bought 3lbs. This should be plenty of yarn to play around with, and usually sells for $15.00 for a 1/4lb spool. Continue reading
A bunch of the fabrics I purchased at the 2018 Grandmother’s Fabric Sale hanging to dry after washing.
If you’ve read my blog for a while, you know that I’m a huge fan of the Grandmother’s Fabric Sale. For good reason – all the fabric is donated, and so is super-cheap to buy (about $1.00/meter for regular fabrics, and $2.00/meter for fancy and home dec fabrics), plus the proceeds all go to a worthwhile charity.
Inside the 2018 Grandmother’s Fabric Sale
Now.. if you go looking for something specific (tropical suit-weight cherry red worsted wool for example…) or need a specific measurement (4 meters) you’re going to be out of luck most likely. However if you want to add to your child-friendly quilting fabric collection, or want a pile of polar fleece, you’re in luck. A little digging and you can find a happy balance between the two too.
One of the many piles of yarn at the 2018 Grandmother’s charity Fabric Sale
This year I wanted to get there two hours early. Doors opened at 2:30 p.m. on Friday, and I hoped to get there at 12:30 p.m…. but my ride was late and we didn’t get there until a little after 1:00 p.m. Well… an hour and a half early put us SUPER far back, though it was enough to get us in on the ‘first round’. Thank goodness! I brought a camp chair, a drink, and some nuts (but should have brought sunscreen too – I got burned!) plus a book to pass the time.
They only let so many people in at a time, so if you’re in the first batch (of 50?) you’ll get in when the doors open, but if you’re further back, you’ll creep forward as they let other people in. Next year I definitely want to try to get there earlier… though I heard some of the true keeners were there at 9:00 a.m.! Of course, you have NO idea how many spots the people ahead of you are holding for people who will come later…
As I mentioned in an earlier post, there are many cities across Alberta (and Canada) that participate in this sale. Usually they’re all on different days, so a real keener could go from city-to-city finding the best deals if they were up for a drive. This year multiple sales were all held on the same weekend though… so unlike previous years when I’ve been able to add the fabric sale into my trip to an SCA event, I only visited the Calgary sale this year.
I started off by going into the Home Dec room this year, and bought on my first round
Yep… I did two rounds. First I went through and paid, then dropped my purchases off with my friend who finished just before me… then went back in for another round. In previous years they let you back in again without waiting in line again… and they said they were going to do so this year to – but as I was paying I overheard someone saying that it wasn’t fair… since there were people still standing in line… So I opted not to take my chances since my friend was willing to wait for me.
After home decorating fabrics I headed to the 3 meter, 4 meter, and 5 meter long fabric tables. I bought
Next, I went into the fancy fabric section, and picked up:
Finally I went to the 1 and 2 meter long fabric tables, and picked up:
Going into the building I picked up an inkle loom (though either it was damaged or it got damaged trying to carry it around, because when I got it home I saw damage. Hopefully I can fix it though!)
On my second round I picked up a big bag full of different crochet cotton balls ($1.00 for a grocery bag full!), some yarn which I HOPE is wool but is probably acrylic to try tablet weaving with, and a huge spool of hemp yarn…
I looked through the craft and notions rooms, and popped my head into the quilting room, but didn’t get anything from these rooms.
Spinning wheel for sale at the 2018 Grandmother’s charity fabric sale in Calgary
There was also a spinning wheel… which I was super tempted by – but it didn’t look entirely complete, and I wasn’t sure if I would be able to FIND the parts to get it up and working for me (or someone else).
If you want to get a note when the next Grandmother’s Fabric Sale comes around, or want to follow to see what I MAKE with some of these fabrics… come follow me on Facebook. If you are a WordPress user, consider subscribing, but if not… Facebook is a great way of seeing what I post in your feed.
If you want to see works-in-progress photos before I finish my projects consider following me on Instagram too! I also share photos from the SCA events I attend, yummy food photos, and photos of my super-cute puppers. 😉
