Gala Fabrics

A Fashion Fabric Store in Victoria

Summer Sale 2017

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Want to squeeze in some more summer sewing projects or start your fall wardrobe?  Whatever your plans, we have your back.  Our summer sale starts tomorrow, July 21, 2017.

25% off all regular priced fabric in store and on our web store.

(Sorry, kits and already-on-sale stuff are not discounted)

If you can drop by the store, check out our remnant rack which will be Buy One Get One Free (of equal or lesser value)  It’s a great place to find treasures you didn’t know you needed!

If you are shopping on our web store, just fill up your cart and use the coupon code JULY2017 when you check out.  The discount is automatically calculated.  Remember, if your purchase subtotal is over $200, we pick up the shipping costs!

Sale ends July 30,2017

British Columbia Row by Row Starts Today!

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This year’s theme is “On the Go”.

Patterns available from June 21 – Sept 5. Quilts can be submitted for a prize until October 31 2017.

Row by Row Experience™ is a shopping event where quilters collect row kits or free patterns from participating shops, then create a unique quilt using at least 8 different rows. Be the first to bring your completed quilt to a participating store and win a prize of 25 fat quarters! Bonus prize if your quilt contains the store’s own block. Only one winner per store.

This is a bricks & mortar event, so kits and free patterns must be picked up in person. Free patterns are limited to one per customer.

Quilt Eligibility:

  • Must contain at least 8 rows from participating stores (9th rows and Junior rows do not count*)
  • Edges must be bound
  • Must be quilted
  • Must be labelled

* we are NOT participating in the 9th row or Junior row. The 9th row is a block available for purchase at participating stores where the proceeds are donated to charity. Junior rows are available for youth aged 6-14 in participating stores (please visit http://www.rowbyrowexperience.com/junior.htm for more info)

Please visit the BC Row by Row official website for more details and FAQs: http://www.rowbyrowexperience.com/bc

Check the Row by Row Facebook page for photos of winning quilts and updated lists of store winners: https://www.facebook.com/BCRowbyRowExperience/ 

Quickie Project

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I don’t know where you are located, but in Victoria, BC, the weather feels like it has regressed to fall.  Or maybe we skipped summer altogether and are heading straight to fall.  Today is definitely not T-shirt and shorts kinda weather!

In fact, wrapping up with a blanket sounds pretty good right now.  But if you are heading out to see the latest movie (Wonder Woman in this case) maybe a blanket is not ideal.  Here is a 1 hour sewing project for a cape/wrap/shawl that you can quickly whip up for an evening out and it might be more stylish than carrying your favorite blankie.

Supplies:

  • 1.75m to 2m of fabric that is at least 140 wide. (for warmth, you could use wool, fleece, cotton flannel … Check your stash!)
  • a side plate (What?  You say.  Wait and see)
  • scissors
  • ruler
  • marking tool
  • pins
  • thread

Directions:

You need to find the mid-point of your fabric.  (Match your opposing selvages and fold along the length.  Next, fold the fabric so the opposing cut ends meet) Mark the folded meeting points with a pin.

From your mid point down to a cut edge, trace a 10cm wide rectangle.

Using your side plate, trace a curve around all the corners.  (inside neck, center front bottom edge, side edges)

Cut out your curved angle rectangle.

Finish all edges.

Enjoy your new cape/wrap/shawl and be the envy of your friends when you are on your front porch watching the sunset, at the hockey game, hanging around a beach fire or even on your sofa watching a movie!

June Events

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Our next sewing forum is 11:30am on June 4, 2017 at the store.  Come meet other sewing enthusiasts to discuss all things sewing!  Project successes, project failures, fabric finds from far away places ….
Free event!

 

We will also be in the market hall of the Association of NorthWest Weavers’ Guild Conference  held at the University of Victoria on June 30, July 1 and 2, 2017.
The conference theme this year is Treadle Lightly and is focused around exploring ways on how we can be more careful of our environment through the choices we make in our fibre activities. It is open to ANWG members and non-members.  Click here for more information regarding this show.

Pretty in Pink

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Happy days are when we receive a shipment of new fabric.  Ripping open the boxes, pulling out the fabric to fondle, drool over and envision.  Our latest treasure discovery involved some border printed cottons.  I know some people have problems knowing what to do with border prints, but I like the challenge of finding THE pattern for the fabric.

Here is a montage of the 45″ wide cotton prints in question. (They are available in our webstore if you are inspired!)

 

 

The print I chose to challenge myself with was the pale pink with dark grey flower basket and garland print.  It’s a very soft and girly print so I thought a bath robe or dressing gown (depending on what you call it).  Next, scrolling through the great pattern book in the sky – Google – I found this website by Sewbon with a free PDF pattern. (scroll past all the pictures to the end of the article or click here.)

PDF patterns are fun because you can print them off at home and get started.  No waiting for the print shop to open!  But it is like tiling a floor where you have to match the notches together and tape into place.  I find they work best for simple patterns where there is not a lot of pattern pieces.  The 28 pages that this pattern took, turns out like this.

Because I was going to ‘fussy cut‘ (a quilting term) the pattern, I decided more fabric is better, so I got a 3m piece.  Starting with the back piece, I decided to center a flower basket since it also gave the greatest amount of open pink space for the shoulders.  I didn’t want to have any of the opposite grey flower basket at the shoulders as I thought it would look like black hair dye had run!  I also shortened the hem by 1 1/2″ in order to avoid the print at the shoulders.

Repeat this step with the 2 front pieces.  Note the basket wasn’t centered on these pieces since my primary concern was getting the open pink space at the shoulders.

Next, the sleeves which came out of the pink sections of the fabric.

Then the front band, loops and tie had to be cut.  I wanted the plain pink for the front band so ran the pattern piece along the selvage but this would also mean that some of the print would show on the underside of the band.  (Next time, I might use a light weight interfacing on this band to prevent the dark print from shadowing through to the front. Or I might play with narrowing the band.)  The ties came out of the remaining fabric.  The loops were just small pieces of plain pink.

You can find the sewing instructions here.  But I did change a couple things such as the front band application and hemming which is not mentioned.

My changes:

To add the front band, center the band onto the center back of the robe right sides together.  I cut these pieces as per the pattern piece which means they are slightly longer than your robe front.  (Remember, I shortened the body to fit the pattern pieces on the fabric.)  Stitch together.  Press the seam towards the band. Press a 1/2″ hem on the other long side of the front band.  Next, fold the right sides together of the band and even off the hem.  Stitch a 5/8″ hem along the bottom. Clip the corner to decrease bulk.

Turn right side out and press.  Press up 5/8″ hem along the bottom of the robe.

To hem, hand tuck the raw edges in as you sew.

Now, you can finish off the front band by slip stitching down or edge stitching on your machine.

Give it a final press, and you’re done!

Grocery Bag, Book Bag or All Round Tote Bag

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I don’t know about you, but I always love to check out the fabric stores and thrift shops of any city or town I happen to be visiting. Despite being surrounded by fabric every day – both at the store and at home – I always like to see what other stores have to offer. Two of my fabric searching passions are conversational cotton prints for fashion and crafting projects (I have churned out 6 variations of New Look 6407 in various quilting cotton prints and now I’m on a surgical cap kick for my sister the doctor and my dog’s vet) and slightly heavier fabric like printed canvas for tote bags.

Tote bags are great for both personal use and as gifts. Here in Victoria, all of the grocery stores are trying to encourage everyone to bring their own bag.  I just don’t like the non-plastic bags they have available to purchase!

Here are the instructions for the tote bag that I make (or have made something like 50!) in a vintage fabric I found at a thrift store.  I like the 60cm length of straps because I then have the option of carrying the bag or slinging it onto my shoulder.

Supplies

2 pieces of fabric measuring 50cm x 50cm square (for the bag)

2 pieces of fabric measuring 8cm x 60cm OR 2 pieces of 1″ webbing 60cm long (handles)

2 pieces of fusible interfacing measuring 8cm x 60cm long (if you use the fabric for the handles)

Sewing

  1. With right sides together, sew the 2 square pieces along 3 edges – 2 sides and the bottom. (I like to use my serger as it sews and finishes the seams all at once)
  2. Pinch the bottom corners and stitch across 6cm from the corner.  
  3. Press down 4cm hem along the top of the bag.
  4. Divide the front side and back side of the bag into thirds for your handle positions.
  5. For the handles, fuse the interfacing to both 8cm x 60cm pieces of fabric.  (If you are using webbing, skip to step 8)
  6. With right sides together, sew along the long sides of the straps.
  7. Turn both handles inside out and press.  Top stitch along the long edges if you wish.
  8. Tuck your finished handles under the top hem at your predetermined spots.  Make sure your handles are not twisted!    As you stitch, tuck under the raw edge of the hem.
  9. Flip the handles up and stitch in place.  I like to stitch a fancy “X” for extra strength.  
  10. Flip bag right side out and admire!

 

Oh Canada!

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With the upcoming celebration of Canada’s 150th anniversary (or sesquicentennial), a number of manufacturers have produced various lines of Canadiana prints.  This is not usual.  What is usually available is American prints – American flags, stars and stripes, etc because with the population of the USA being 10 times the amount of the Canadian population, there is just that much more demand for patriotic American prints.

This year is different.  Check out the cotton prints we just received that celebrates Canada!

Success!

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In a previous post, I talked about making a quilt using the store’s Northcott Sesquicentennial Challenge block.  The quilt was pieced, quilted and bound and then washed it to remove the water soluable marking pen.  But the red dye ran all over the cream fabrics 🙁

Luckily, I did not put in the dryer but hung it to dry.  (The heat from the dryer will set the colour and then you are really hooped!)  After an investigation on Google and talking with a local quilting teacher, I tried to remove the colour using the synthrapol method.

Well, I’m happy to report that the synthrapol method WORKED!  Hallelujah!

I ran the hottest water from the faucet until there was about 10cm or 4″ of water in the bathtub.  I stirred in 3 tablespoons of synthrapol as per instructions then immersed half the quilt.  I wanted to try half the quilt so I could display a before and after effect.  After a couple of hours soaking, I drained the tub of the resulting pink water and rinsed out the quilt.  Then I hung the quilt to dry.  Check out the before and after below!

(It is much more dramatic in person.)

Another product that I was told that works well is Breezy Colour Absorber sheets.  They are sheets that I could have added to the washing machine when removing the water soluable marks.  They sound handy to have when you wash your new pair or jeans!

So there you have it.  Lesson learned.  Have you had success in removing colour bleed?  What did you use?

BTW, both the synthapol and the Breezy sheets are available in the store or on our online store under the notions tab.

 

Spring Sale

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Our spring sale starts today!  25% all regular priced fabric.  Come down to the store or shop online.  If you shop on line, type in MARCH2017 into the discount section on the shopping cart and enjoy sale prices as if you were in the store.  Ends March 19th.  Happy shopping!

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Welcome to Gala Fabrics!

Gala Fabrics Image Gala Fabrics is a family-run business that has been passed down through three generations - we really love our fabrics! Our stores and online shop showcase beautiful fabrics from around the world - guaranteed to satisfy modern home sewers everywhere.