Recommend: Shabby Fabrics!

So today I thought I'd start with a new blog feature, my personal recommendations for your various sewing needs! I want to sort of broaden the scape of this blog a bit so I'll be able to post more often and make it more helpful to all my followers~

Later down the line I'd like to make a few tutorials as well. I think it's important for us to share what we discover while sewing and crafting. I learned so many of the things I know now through what other people had done; their discoveries as well as some of their mistakes! (You definitely do learn from your mistakes more than anything else)

So with that, let's begin with a fabric site that has my heart completely at the moment...

Shabby Fabrics

This site is like a haven for Classic and Sweet lolita fabrics! (I mean look at the site layout alone!) 

I was lead to this wonderful site through a fellow lolita seamstress on the Livejournal community sew_loli. She also wrote a very amazing and extensive review of her purchase with them here in this EGL post.  

Really, this site is just amazing. When browsing other fabric sites, I'm used to finding a few nice gems here in there in their "toile" or "floral" sections and such, and happening upon things randomly. 

I also do the bulk of my fabric shopping locally in the Fashion District here in New York City, and yes I do find fantastic things with some digging, and with checking many stores along the street (39th and 40th streets between 7th and 8th avenues is basically all a bunch of fabric and trim stores, if you're ever in the NYC area be sure to go check it out!) 

But Shabby Fabrics has so many great things all in one place! I can literally find about 10 different things I want to buy at once! The fabrics themselves are extremely inspiring. Many of them are Japanese imports as well, so even some of the major Lolita brands have used them, one being Innocent World!

I have many favorites, and though I cannot currently buy all of them, I'd like to get a few soon. Here are some of my current site favorites:

(Click the fabric images to go to their page on the site)

Yuwa 163 Yuwa Fabrics

Mary Rose Classic 2060-12C

Mary Rose Classic 2060-11E

Mary Rose Bella 1110-11C

Mary Rose Angel 2070-12C

Antique Rose 7241-T Lecien Fabrics

Mary Rose 1070R-12D Robert Kaufman Fabrics

And here's a tip, you can take the names of these fabrics and search them on other fabric sites in case they sell out here before you could buy, or if you want to try your luck with looking for a better price. Sometimes people on Ebay or Etsy sell their precut yardages for a little cheaper, so look out for those deals as well.

Now for my own recent purchase!

In my last entry I spoke briefly about it. I had a great buying experience, got my order quickly, and I was impressed by the quality of the fabric and print. 

Here it is paired with a solid ivory cotton I've had for a little while. Sadly this print is no longer available on the site (I believe I bought the very last of it since it was on sale)

And good news, I've finally come up with something I want to do with it! Right after I complete my Virgin Mary JSK, I'll begin work on a nice classical Onepiece dress. Here's the design I drew a couple days ago...

The main fabric will be the printed floral cotton, and the center panels of the front will be the ivory cotton with an overlay of ivory lace fabric that I've yet to purchase (sort of like a bridal lace). 

I hope this post was helpful to everyone! I'd love to see the things people make out of these fabrics as well, do share if you do!

I'm also happy to say I've reached the 100+ follower mark! Thanks everyone for supporting me!