fabric, clean out and embroidery

Yesterday my eldest daughter and I went on a fabric jaunt. We first took the train to Central and went to The Fabric Store in Surry Hills. This is a wonderful shop that has a wonderful range of fabrics, many of which are sourced from designers. Its not unusual to see “from Leona Edmiston” or “from Scanlan and Theodore” on a label. They have a focus on high quality fibres, so there is a lot of silk and wool, either by themselves or in fibre mixes. They regularly carry microfibre-type merino knits which are often used in outdoor/adventure clothing. Because of the sources of their fabrics, it is a changing supply and you never know what you’re going to find there, but chances are it will be interesting and attractive. Just maybe not what you’re after!

I had emailed them on Saturday asking about Ponte/Ponti (it gets spelled “ponti” more often here it seems, whereas “ponte” seems more common in the US), and they very kindly explained what it was to me:

Ponti is a double-knit jersey, where two “layers” are knitted simultaneously and are inseparable. It is reversible as both sides are identical, unlike regular jersey. It often has less stretch and more stability than regular jersey, and is usually made from cotton, wool, or blends with synthetics where one “layer” is a natural fibre and the reverse is a synthetic.
A good substitute would be any heavier weight jersey knits, or boiled wool jersey etc. We do have a couple of ponti fabrics in store at the moment – we don’t have a wide selection of colours, but we do also have several fabrics that would be suitable alternatives.
Hope to see you in store soon!

Aren’t they helpful?!

So we visited, and one of the salesgirls showed me some of their pontis so that I could see what they are like. Unfortunately they were not in colours (fuschia) or fibres that I wanted. I then had a good browse and found a black wool ponti, and eucalyptus green (wool?) one, and a heathered sort of grey blue. None of which were colours I wanted. But I now had a very good understanding of what the fabric was, both in description and by seeing and feeling them for myself.

We went back to the train and headed to Cabramatta. I have mentioned Cabramatta here on my blog previously. It is a suburb of Sydney where there is a high concentration of Vietnamese people, which means great food! But Cabramatta is also well known to dressmaking-type people as being a great source of fabric. There are about 10 fabric shops, which are usually packed to the rafters, concentrated mostly around John St and Park Rd. In the best ones, the staff are extremely knowledgable and very willing to help.

So we started at one end, and made our way to the other, stopping along the way for some yummy lunch. We quickly found some crushed velour for my daughter’s dress, in a colour she loved – mid blue. We saw some amazing lycras (always on the lookout for the fabric for my younger daughter’s next gymnastics leotard!) and lots of other beautiful fabrics. But very few double knits: black polyester, and a mustard. Um no. Of course I could have black, but I already have a number of black dresses, and really wanted a colour.

Of the shops, we found the ladies in My Hung were wonderfully helpful. The younger girl who was serving us was not at all sure what a double knit fabric was, but when her elder counterpart showed us the mustard one, I was able to show her and explain to her its characteristics (using my new-found knowledge!). We saw the most spectacular rainbow lycra (my daughter LOVES rainbows) which not only had rainbow colours, but they were shaped into rainbow shapes too! Across the top of that were printed little yellow stars, and silver holographic dots in swirly patterns. It is completely in your face and over the top (very much her style!). It was also $42 per metre. 🙁 Much more than what I was hoping to pay. But they said that they would sell it to me for $39. Hmm… still much more than what I was hoping.

By measuring my elder daughter, I realised that I’d really only need 60cm, and also that even if I bought a full metre, it would still be less than a leotard I could buy ready-made, and this would be much more personalised. So I decided I’d get some. It turned out there was only 1m on the roll, so they offered the lot to me for $35, which I took. I’ll get one long-sleeve and two sleeveless leotards out of it, and a VERY happy daughter when her birthday rolls around in a few months.

But we still didn’t have my fabric. The last shop we went to was Sogo Fabrics. Sogo is the most upmarket of all the fabric shops in Cabramatta. They have GORGEOUS fabrics there, with lots of bridal fabrics, and things like embroidered and beaded silks. I could spend all day there, working my way through all the possibilities! And there, I finally found something I could use: a navy/royal blue medium weight jersey fabric. Its not a double knit, but it is quite firm, and a lovely looking fabric. It was reasonably priced, so I bought it.

The lady who assisted me was very helpful in finding and choosing. The man who cut the fabric for me told me of a lady who came in to buy lining fabric (the cheapest fabric they have) and ended up leaving with $2000 worth of fabrics…! Their lucky day! I can’t quite imagine spending that much. With their beautiful premium fabrics, you could easily find some that were $100s per metre, but I still think it would take quite a bit of fabric to add up to $2000!

Very satisfied, we made our way home again.

Today I will begin cleaning up my office. The detritis has built up again, and I’m over it, so its time to tidy. Then I’ll get started on the Mountmellick project proposed for Beating Around the Bush 2012. Hopefully I’ll get to start stitching today.