Fabricholic Hell & Fabricholic Heaven

Le Trench had hit a hitch. I was concentrating so hard that my tracing wheel broke under the strain. So, fine, I finally placed an order online for a new one – no, I can’t find any locally. But days later, still no package. Luckily, while stewing over what to do next and starting on homemade shoulder pads for Le Trench, I stumbled across a sneaky back up tracing wheel hiding in the back of a sewing bits & bobs drawer. So tracing will commence again tomorrow.

In the meanwhile, of course I couldn’t help myself and started browsing for yet more fabrics online. Am oggling over luscious knits at Tia Knight’s ebay store (& her own website which offers free shipping on orders over £50). Thankfully there’s so much choices that I’m paralysed into not ordering more. Not just yet anyway.

Fabricholic Hell…

And also in the meanwhile, I’m suffering a Fabricholic’s worst nightmare: The Battle of the Moths. My walls are covered with Mama & Papa moths’ blood stains. And the freezer too has been taken over by clothing in an attempt to exterminate those pesky Baby moths. I haven’t gotten around to the fabrics just yet. I’m praying that the boxes they’re in protect them to a better extent than my closet, which has curtains instead of doors because London apartments simply don’t have enough space for outward opening closet doors.

And here’s the load I’m fighting for. You think I’m kidding when I say 191 fabrics and counting? Ha! Here’s the proof: pages after pages of swatches. And that’s not including the latest load. (And what I might just order from Tia Knight any day now.)

The swatch books was an attempt to get on top of the fabrics. I thought if I can carry swatches of what I have with me when I go fabric shopping, then I’ll be less likely to end up with more of the same. There’s only so many washed out pastel habutoi a girl needs.

That it did help a bit. But so far no luck matchmaking fabrics to patterns, and the expectant piles of fab clothing yet. Not even after I’ve measured & noted how much I have of everything. I’ve given up identifying fibers. Like many others I have no luck with the burn tests. And as I have a reputation for burning pots & kettles, I thought it safer to keep away from boxes of matches.

On the rare occasions I did find a match for a pattern, it was also getting hard to keep track of which box the candidate slept in. So eventually I numbered all the boxes (and trunk), and noted the number on the swatches.


My 26 boxes + 1 trunk of catalogued fabrics. Not including the latest uncatalogued pile…

Fabricholic Heaven

At least the moths and I have something in common: An obsession with fabrics. I’ll probably come back in the next life as a moth for all the moths I’ve just killed.

And when I get swatted, please send me to this heaven, with all expenses paid & unlimited fabric budget of course!


Fabric Heaven…B&J Fabrics in NYC
(where all my hard-earned cash goes to rest)

0 comments on “Fabricholic Hell & Fabricholic Heaven

  1. My heart beat a little faster, both in a good and a bad way, while reading this post. My personal nemesis is flying termite kamikaze, especially with the rainy/hurricane season. I love cotton and linen…and so do they!!!!

    And that fabric store…

    (I’ve given up on organizing for now)

    • Hope you’re putting your time into better use & sewing up a storm! I find after organising everything I have little energy left for sewing. Totally not the point! Or is it? 😉

      Flying terminites sounds horrible. Are there any solutions? I read online extreme temperatures & dry cleaning are the only way to get rid of moths. Hope there’s something that’ll do the trick for ridding your cotton & linen bandits.

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