Sew Expo Loot

I have a whole bunch of FOs to share with you but I think they will have to wait until subsequent post(s). While it’s fresh in my mind, I’d like first to show what I bought on our mini-vacay. There’s not that much but I don’t have a lot of time today. I’m off to a Spectrum meeting later and after that my Guild’s annual memorial lecture. So without further ado:

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That’s fusible stay tape in white/bias and black/straight, a really big cone of white cotton thread (for sewing up items before dyeing), and fold-over elastics (2 dyeable and 1 black). (Links take you to the companies I purchased from.) I also got:

a bra kit in ivory from Bravo Bella. I want to say that I got fabulous service from this company. Monica and her staff were very helpful and she took quite awhile to get the size of my underwires correct. She matched them to my bra over my clothes! I was glad I was wearing one that I made, though not my best bra. When I checked out the supplies in the kit I was surprised that there were no rings and sliders included and only a very short piece of strap elastic. A lot of online research later, I came to the conclusion that Monica’s bras are made in a similar way to Anne St Clair’s. (Thanks to Audrey for the clue!) She considers that a custom bra can be permanently adjusted for strap length and all that is needed is a little piece of elastic at the back where each strap attaches to the bra back. Unfortunately my back design calls for longer pieces (at least 9” each) and I personally like to be able to adjust tighter as the elastic stretches out so luckily I have matching strap elastic and a set of white sliders and rings that will substitute. The fashion fabric is quite stretchy so I was glad a piece of lining tricot was included for more support. Other oddments are a piece of fusible interfacing which is meant to stabilize the straps and a short piece of twill tape for the centre front which I probably won’t use since there’s not really enough room in the front of my bridge for it.

Interesting aside, I compared the quality of the plush-back elastics from three sources: Bravo Bella, Bra-maker’s Supply and my local shop, Dressew. Ahem. I hate to say it but Dressew has the best stuff even though it is only available in a load of odd (but lovely) colours and no black or white. It’s also cheapest, most being only $.25 per metre. Go figure.

Back to the shopping. In the Kasuri Dyeworks booth (no shop link available) I got this little piece of shibori:

This is a kit to make a small drawstring bag. There’s also a piece of printed silk for lining and a kumihimo braid for the drawstrings plus directions. Of course I recognised the braid as good old yatsu kongo gumi. (You might have to bigify to see it.) I plan to actually make up the bag though the seams will intersect in the floral pattern somewhat. However I would prefer to use it rather than keep it in a drawer somewhere.

What else? Oh yeah. My shoes.

When I got my last pair of shoes which are khaki/taupe I was really looking for grey! These are a nice medium-grey nubuck with bronzy-metallic and a bit of thread stitching. They’re made by Ziera from New Zealand and they are so comfy. They’ve already passed the Walking 8 Kilometres Test on the first wearing! Success.

Yes, I really envy those who can wear hot shoes with heels and pointy toes and all. My feet are picky! But considering how much I walk and how well my feet cooperate, they are totally worth spoiling with comfortable and expensive shoes. After all, I can make all my other clothes – but not my shoes!