A Little Shopping: Chadwick's Heirlooms

On a recent trip to Richmond, I had the opportunity to visit a couple of fabric stores.  Unfortunately, one of them seemed to keep casual hours so I didn't get to shop.  Oh well.

However, I thoroughly enjoyed my excursion to Chadwick's Heirlooms!  They are on the west side of Richmond in a large building that's sharing space with an antique store.  They carry a huge supply of fabrics, patterns, laces, and everything heirloom sewing--plus a great selection of quilting cotton.  However, they also had some other things like twills and beautiful floral cotton lawns like Liberty prints and others.  Those florals were a huge temptation, but since I didn't have anything in particular in mind for them I didn't buy any.

I did buy a navy twill (shorts/pants), a bunch of Imperial batiste in white (just to have on hand), 2 patterns (Trisha by Maja's Heirlooms and the Pinwheel Tunic & Slip Dress by Oliver + S), and a pincushion.  Not much to say about anything but the pincushion.  It's not like I needed another one, but this one is a wrist one and it fits!  Its armband is leather and very soft.  My wrists are pretty small so finding something comfortable and that fits can be challenging.  It's my first one ever for my wrist, and I think I will really like it!

Pincushion by Considine Creations

I think Chadwick's has such an extensive selection of fabrics, that even if you are not an heirloom sewer you will find something to love!

Sweet Zips

In my last post I mentioned alternating something easy with something hard.  After making the lavender outfit for dd, I decided to make some small zippered bags that the ASG youth will be sewing later this year.  It helps me as the organizer to see how difficult/easy a project will be.  The store, Creative Quilting Connection, where the youth meet have kits made up with all the supplies needed including instructions and 1 zipper (you have to buy 2 more because the kits will make 3 of the bags).

I made 2 Sweet Zips.  You can find a link here and another here with downloadable instructions.  It is an easy sewing project, and the pattern is meticulous about making sure the insides are all finished.

They are super cute and super small!  I think this will be a good way to get over fear of zipper insertions for the kids, too.

Here are mine:

Aren't they tiny?

I still have 2 more of each kind to make.  The fabric is already quilted and ready to go, but I needed to buy more zippers.

Here is an inside view:

Makes them look mangled!

McCall 5615 and Simplicity 8550

Lately, I've been sewing more.  A lot more.  Combining an easy sew followed by something more time consuming makes me feel like a lot has been accomplished.  

Anyway, this is a more involved sew for youngest dd.  This fabric was selected by and purchased for her older sister to get an outfit which never happened.  I had bought some lavender raw silk and a printed quilting cotton intending to make Simplicity 8550 princess seam top and cropped pants. The raw silk was a bargain price because there was a fade mark down the middle of the 1 yard piece.  I think I had planned to use the cotton for the pants and the silk for the top.

Youngest dd liked a different top pattern--McCall 5615 View A--so we went with that instead.  Still did the Simplicity pants though because they were much narrower.  The ones from McCall were quite roomy looking.

Because of the change in patterns, I opted to combine the cotton with the silk in the top.  I used the printed cotton for the straps and the gathered mid-section and the raw silk for the rest of the top.  The pants are made using the quilting cotton:

She does like posing!   And it's really hard to see the fabrics on all of my pics:(

I liked the detail here.

Loves to accessorize...

I really disliked the floppiness of the gathered mid-section of the top.  There was nothing to secure it so it would always look nicely gathered after washing and during wearing.  In a fit of inspiration, I decided to sew beads randomly on it to hold those gathers in place.

Can you see the glittering seed beads?  This is more like the real color.

The beads add some interest and detail.  While I'm not sure it was worth all the extra work after catching dd stuffing it through the regular wash and dry cycle, it will make a nice spring and summer outfit--if it survives!

I have some other fabrics to make another outfit just like this one, and already have it started.  The straps on both have given me fits!