Stash Enhancement

In truth, July has been a wash up on the crafting front. But what I've neglected in sewing, I've made up for in buying! I have a couple of gorgeous new fabrics to show:

Liberty of London Dufour Viscose Jersey

Liberty of London Tana Lawn Summer D

For starters, let me tell you that I've never bought a Liberty fabric before. We do have reasonable access to the Tana Lawn in TO, but the jersey I have never come across before. In truth, I didn't even know that Liberty made jersey (though I'm sure that admission makes me seem very provincial).

I purchased both of these at Ewe Knit. (BTW, you can purchase fabrics and yarns online if you're not in the close surroundings.) I do sense that Ewe may be better off changing its name to something like Ewe Knit and Sew because, about 6 months ago, Claudia started stocking a variety of quilting fabrics. More recently she began stocking the Liberty Tana Lawn and, just this week, she got her first shipment of Liberty jerseys. I wonder, however, how many people realize that sweet fabrics are to be found in this well known yarn store.

I'm not going to suggest that Liberty is cheap-and-cheerful anywhere, but it's competitively priced here and I love that I can take a 15 minute walk and come home with all kinds of fabric including stretch fabric, the type I prefer, sewing and knitting notions and zillions of awesome yarn options. So often, one experiences the sad closure of a store that has met all the needs (Caban, anyone?). But it's terrific that Ewe has joined the 'hood because I love the stuff they stock.

A bit on the fabrics:

• The deliciously soft, woven (tana lawn) is an awesome, moody landscape that reminds me of a rural winter. I have no idea of what I'll do with the 2 yards I purchased, but it affected me the way no pretty floral ever could. Of course, I was recently reminded that it's a directional fabric, just to make it trickier to work with! But I know I will use it well, at some point in the future.

• The viscose jersey is a riot of Catalan colour, but it's busy in a way that's so intense that said fabric pattern actually recedes into neutral. Gillian has been doing some great video fabric reviews lately wherein she debates the stretch properties (and other features) of her newest fabrics, which has put me in mind of describing this one to you. The Liberty jersey is not spongy but it has an excellent weight. It's got about 50 per cent stretch in the width and 25 per cent in the length. The recovery is excellent as is the drape. I mean, it should be. This stuff is 40 bucks a yard. It's a perfect weight for a knit dress. It's got enough heft and drape to skim beautifully without being so heavy that it drags. Of course, the fabric is vibrantly dyed, per its pedigree. FYI, it's quite wide (56 inches).

So, today's questions: Do you like Liberty fabric? Have you used it? Did you know that Liberty makes stretch fabric? What do you think of my choices?