SAS Fabric store trip!

Forgot to take pic of outside, duh, thanks to quiltville for theirs.

I guess the world belongs to the easily amused (THAT'S ME!) because I've never had so much fun for so little money as I do going to my favorite fabric store in town.  The place is called SAS and I'm not sure if that stands for "Save and Sew" or "Sew and Save" but either way, it's basically a Disneyland for anyone who sews or crafts, and you are always sure to walk out of there with a bag of goodies you didn't think you needed.  (At rock bottom prices.)  Google "SAS Fabric" to see if one comes up for where you live.  Ok, and now without further ado, like the Christiane Amanpour of the crafting world, my photojournalistic journey of my day at SAS.

So I tried my best to get two panoramic shots so you could see how massive this store is.  I would say that the store is about 2/3 of the size of a standard Joann's Fabric.  Though, it is all fabric, notions and sewing accessories.  Try to have a solid breakfast and bring a snack to power up, you will be here a while.

 

don't be afraid to spend some time spelunking through mountains of fabric!

My first stop was in the novelty nylons, charmeuse and satins.  These giant bolts with the starburst print caught my eye!  I got a half of a yard of two colors, the sea foam and silver to make scarves with.

Most of the prices in SAS are super budget friendly, I paid $3.00 total for 2 scarves, that even though I will have to sew a rolled hem around, would have cost me much more to buy.  Besides, who couldn't use more practice doing rolled hems.

What all can you make with Charmeuse?  I have a love hate relationship with it.  It shows needle marks, need to use fine pins, its slick, but HELL AT A $1 A YARD i'm making all my pj's with it for the summer!

But my favorite bolts of cloth are the organzas (followed up by a close second is the novelty cotton prints.)  This wall of organzas is heaven.  Prom gowns, bridesmaids dresses, fancy house coats, summer evening dresses.  Organza is so lovely.

But nothing is more fun than digging through a 6 foot pile of remnants.  I love going through the upholstery remnants as I always find some vintage looking novelty fabric that almost always brings a project to mind that I could use it for.  Recovering chairs, or making pillows for the outside patio furniture...these two patterns were calling my name!

Canvas has a multitude of uses, aside from making your own canvasses for paintings, what can you use it for?

wall of canvas bolts, every weight, size, and sizing

Or if recovering all of your davenports in velvet is your thing, it's a bargain at $2.99 a yard!  They had a beautiful avocado velvet that I wanted to buy, but alas I don't have any furniture to re-upholster and I have put a moratorium on buying project fabric unless I actually have a project in mind for it.  I don't want to end up the crazy fabric hoarder lady! (wait, yes I do!)

Plastic sheeting for table cloths, to cover the

nice table cloth underneath, like grandma used
to do!  Or you can cover your davenport in
plastic, just in case, you know, if you ever have
disaster pants at home... hey, ruin your undies
but save those couch cushions!

(no actual Pimps were used in the production of this blog post)

I would love to make myself a fake white mink coat, but we only have one technical week of winter here in Tucson, and we are in the middle of it, so maybe another year.  But yes, I could use a few yards of that big bird yellow fur, to uh.. make a giant nest out of in the middle of my room.

Note to the wise however, the fake minks in piles are weighed, not measured by the yard, and even though you can make yourself a pimp jacket for under $20 this is one of the big ticket items that will add up if you aren't careful.  I had to put back my white pile of goodness because the piece I wanted weighed in at $18 for the one piece. (It was large, but it was outside of my $20 budget for the day.)

I think my favorite thing about SAS aside from finding every imaginable color, texture, pattern, of fabric that exists, (and of course the prices) is the fact that I can buy huge oversized pieces of fabric, I'm talking about flannel or fleece in folded bolts that are big enough for king sized blankets (without cutting or sewing.)  If i had the energy to blanket stitch a million inches of fleece, I would have gotten a big gigantic piece of fleece to use as a winter bedspread.  Also, i probably would have spent more on embroidery floss trying to do a nice blanket stitch than the actual cut of fleece itself.  Hmm.. I may go back and get it though.

The fleece at the very bottom of this pile  (and the brown plaid in the middle) is calling my name. Would do a turquoise blanket stitch and turn into a bedspread.

Enjoy this picspam of the bolts of naugahydes, felts and other stuffs that caught my eye.

Holy sweet and sour Naugahyde Batman!

I'm feeling these felts.  Walked away with $5.30 cents worth of felt squares! I would love to make a felt coat one day!

Tulle and ribbon by the yard!

A wall of buttons, some were older than I am! Great for fixing those vintage outfits that are missing a button. 

Ribbons as far as the eye could see. And this was only half of them! 

 These clips come in handy for making pins, brooches, hair clips, etc.  The lady gave them to me for 5 cents a piece.

I didn't know I needed grosgrain skull ribbon, but eh, I think I do!

zippers in every size, flavor, color, and material.  99 cents! (or less) 

even the hubby got in on finding some cool buttons for his shirts!

Those aren't tribbles in the back, they are curtain or upholstery swag..?

OH Novelty cottons, I never tire of you!!

when your novelty cotton needs to make a statement!

One of my favorite sections.  The fabric suiting! How many Chanel suit knockoffs can you make? Oh, dozens...

So all in all I walked out the door under $20 not including tax. It wasn't a big shopping day for me since I really need to complete some projects before I start up new ones.  I already have a dozen dresses in queue that I need to complete for the summer before I dare buy another bolt of novelty cotton.  Although, i was quite tempted to make a summer dress from the "Lady of Guadalupe" novelty cotton!  (Was vetoed so it was a no-go.) :(

I did end up buying some silver sharkskin fabric to make a pencil skirt and a clutch for a show I am going to a week from today, as well as some bows, buttons, pins and clips to complete some hair accessory projects I have in mind.  As far as all that felt goes, I'm getting into making felt brooches. Pinterest sort of sucked me in ... and now I am down deep in the rabbit hole of making all the things with felt!

I hope you enjoyed my pictorial journey through one of the treasures that Tucson has to offer, and if you are ever in town it's one place you have to visit if you are an avid crafter or sewer (sewist?)

What projects are you all making??

Love,

Desi