Discovery Trekking Fabrics - Review of Four Fabrics

Okay, okay, are you as excited as I am about the Discovery Trekking Fabric?? I have four different types and it's SO HARD to buy activewear fabric online, I figured this might be helpful for you!
Here's their main fabric website. I reviewing four of the fabrics from the Activewear category.

	Light Scuba - Print	Midweight Scuba	Stretch Yoga	Stretch Solar
Content and Weight	78% Poly 22% Elastane, 62" wide, 6.14 oz/sq yd	80% Nylon 20% Elastane 53" wide 9.49 oz/sq yd	SOLIDS - 88% Nylon, 12% spandex, 64" wide HEATHER - 48% Nylon, 45% Poly, 7% Spandex 9.92 oz/sq yard.	85% Poly,15% Spandex, 60" wide, 8.61 oz/sq yard.
Stretch	80% selvage to selvage 50% along selvage	50% selvage to selvage 80% along selvage (most stretch goes ALONG selvage)	60% selvage to selvage 70% along selvage	70% selvage to selvage 70% along selvage
Possible Uses	Lightweight bottoms, thin top.	Leggings, running skirts, thin jacket, thicker running top. This almost as thick as a ponte.	Leggings, running skirts, thin jacket, thicker running top, athleisure wear like a sporty dress, this sweatshirt.	Leggings, running skirts, thin jacket, running top, athleisure wear like a sporty dress, thin sweatshirt.
Tips for Sewing	Works well with 70 stretch needle. Cool iron (I used Poly - Level 3)		Edges tend to curl.
Misc.	Cold to the touch, thin but not at all see through, a bit of a sheen to it but not shiny, starts to lose print and turn white when stretched along the selvage. Does not curl along the edges.	A bit of a shine to the fabric. Seems stiff before you wash it. Very slippery. Edges do not curl. Imagine a thick Nylon swimsuit fabric. Because of the direction of most stretch, you may want to put pattern pieces perpendicular to pattern lay-out.	Warm to the touch. Squishy, matte fabric. More of a cotton-y feel to the fabric. Edges will curl  badly if you stretch fabric aggressively.	Cool to the touch, totally matte finish, cottony feel. No show-through even when stretched.

I also made a little video review on YouTube about the four different types of fabric.

August Burda Challenge (SO LATE! I KNOW!!)

So I’m super late for my Burda Challenge. I know! I’m the leader, the rally-er, the damn html button-maker! Ugh, well, anyway, two weeks ago today, I was rear-ended by someone going 40-50 mph while I was stopped with my blinker on waiting to cross traffic. She never even touched the brakes. I was the third car in line and I got hit and then hit the car in front of me. My car was so mashed up I couldn’t get my door open to get out. It was a Dawn sandwich and not in a good way. Ugh. Well, anyway, I’m lucky to walk away. No one was injured in this accident (can you say TEXTING WHILE DRIVING!!!). I did my first session of PT today and traction feels soooooo good. The machine is scary but wow. Since the accident, I’ve had some tingling and numbness in my right arm and hand and a lot of tightness and stiffness in my upper back and neck. Like I said, I’m lucky to walk away. The woman that hit me (in her brand new 2015 Mercedes)?? Oh, she flew out of the car screaming that the three of us “slammed on our brakes” and she “didn’t have time to stop.” Bitch, please. There were three of us stopped, waiting to cross traffic. Anyway, that’s why the long radio silence and the much-belated Burda Challenge. My car is totaled but I walked away and thankfully there were no kids in the car. Shake it off, right?

 

This dress looks better in person. And wow, I did a crappy job ironing it! The hem doesn’t look nearly this bad in real life. The dress is a tall sizes pattern. The smallest size was the 72 so I graded down to the 68. Tall dresses fit me well in the torso. I’m a tall woman trapped in an average-woman’s-height-body.

 

I may still peg the hem a little bit.

 

 

 

The one thing I have noticed quite a bit with the tall patterns is that the armhole seems larger or lower. I may have to go in and see if I can retro-actively make the armhole higher.

 

 

Look at all these corners. In a knit!

 

The back. They recommend a zipper. I left it off. There is some shaping in the pieces though so I didn’t just cut it on the fold.

 

The inside is not beautiful with all the interfacing. You need it for all the corners!

 

This uses a facing. I tacked it down on all the seams. You can see below what I did.

 

Isn’t this fabric lush? It’s wicking merino wool. I may put some on Etsy for you guys. Or I might not. Mwaaa haaaa haaaaa. We’ll see if traction makes me feel nice. *evil grin*

 

I’m in the Fabric Mart contest right now and I DID submit my entry for the first challenge. That was a load off my mind. It’s due tomorrow evening . . . More on that later. Remember my pirate shirt? It’s dead now.

 

And holy cow, the PatternReview contest is crazy hard this year!! A fitted shirt and THEN a fabric manipulation challenge??!?! They are hard core!

A little fabric porn . . .

Are you jealous? You should be. This is about 40 yards of fabric. Isn’t it pretty? Don’t you want to touch it all?


I love, love, love this bottom orange print. It coordinates really well with a few of the other cotton knits. These have kid pajamas written all over them. And dresses for me.


I love how graphic all the prints are this time. These are super soft beautiful cotton knits too. Usually there isn’t much in the way of cotton at the Swap Meet. This time though, I hit the jackpot of awesome, bright, tribal fabrics. You know you ARE jealous. Almost all the cuts here are two-yard chunks.


I don’t know this manufacturer, but this is who made all the cotton knits. They are just beautiful and soft. They aren’t transparent at all. 


Yes, *hangs head*, I did get more animal prints. I couldn’t help it. These fabrics were too fun to resist.


This is one of my favorites. The girls are going to love sweatshirts out of this sweatshirt fleece.


This is from a regular ol’ brick and mortar store. No screamin’ good deals, but much better than Alaska. I chose wisely, so they all coordinate.


Especially how much fun is this green fabric? I love stuff like this for accents on gymnastics leotards.



And how about six yards of doubleknit for $12.00??!? This is really nice thick stuff. I love the graphic black and white. You know you want to hit me now. I’m not sure what I’ll use the stretch vinyl for, but I thought it would be fun too.



If you are ever near here, you should make a pit stop and go fabric shopping. I’m not affiliated at all, but I do recommend them!!! One of the PatternReview.com meet ups should be in San Diego, and you can stop by National City. And make it for when I’m in town . . . .

And I’m back from my cruise. I’ll show you some fun pictures this week. :)

I just put a few fabrics on Etsy.

Just letting you guys know I put some things on Etsy.

I put on some of the Nike Dri-Fit in Navy Blue.

 

I put some Nike Dri-Fit in Black.

 

I put on some of the Polartec Powerstrech in the Electric Blue.

 

There is still a little bit of the merino wool knit in brown.

 

And a little bit in the greenish color.

 

There is also some green stripey fabric.

Yummy Merino Wool! Again!

I found more of this fabric. Many of you guys wanted the brown color and I got some more!!!! I have the same two colors as last time so I’m using the same post and pictures. You’ll probably remember it from earlier this year in January. This stuff sold out in less than 24 hours. You fabric-hoarders, you.

 

This is from the January post:

I put that fabric on Etsy. I have that Merino Wool (from the Jalie tunic) in two colors. I love the dark brown and the soft green colors.

This is Wool Plaited Polartec Powderdry. It’s a two-faced fabric (do I need to make the joke again?). One face is 100% merino wool and the back face is 100% hi-wick antimicrobial polyester. This fabric is designed to be used in athletic, sports, and outdoor wear. It is 60" wide. There is no visible shrinkage when washed in warm water and dried in a warm dryer. There is 40% stretch across the grain and 30% stretch lengthwise.

I am selling it on Etsy in 2-yard increments. If you want more or less, I can do that too. :) Isn’t it lush?

Heathered Brown

 

Heathered Soft Green on Etsy

Spring Fever

I think I might be suffering from spring fever a bit. When I sat down at my computer, I saw an email from Fabric.com* and then I found myself drooling over really over-the-top springy prints. I don’t even usually like florals . . .

 

But really, how fun are these?

Amy Butler Love Tumble Roses Pink

 

 

Liberty Of London Dufour Jersey Knit Gleeson Orange/Blue

 

 

Amy Butler Hapi Trapeze Charcoal

 

 

Anna Maria Horner Field Study Raindrops Poppies Teal/Candy

 

 

Anna Maria Horner LouLouThi Summer Totem Grapefruit

 

 

Anna Maria Horner Hand Drawn Garden Centerpiece Evening

 

 

Anna Maria Horner Dowry Dresden Bulbs Sunset

 

*They are not my favorite company anymore. They have free shipping for everyone else, but not Alaskans. Oh no, we don’t really count. Screw you Fabric.com! They are also a sponsor, how weird is it that I’m bashing my sponsor?

More fabric! Another wool knit and a microfleece!

Another wool knit, but it’s slightly different than the other two from the other day. And may I stop for a moment to say you people are animals? I was sold out of the fabric by the afternoon and I posted it the evening before. Good job people, fabric hoarders!

Anyway. This is a soft blue wool knit. 100% wool on one side and 100% hi-wick polyester on the other side. Hmmm, these pictures are coming off a little gray, but I swear it’s more blue than gray. It’s pretty. This one has a diamond pattern that you can really see from the back. Not so much on the front. This one is stretchier widthwise, 80% and not as stretchy lengthwise, about 25%. Blue Knit on Etsy.

 

This, you guys have seen a hundred times but in another colorway. I bought two bolts a couple years ago and I’ve used us the pink one. This green version I just never used much. It was a roll-end from Patagonia and it’s high-quality stuff. I’ve made a billion pink pajamas with the other fabric. It doesn’t pill and it hold up to anything. And you can iron it (pressing cloth though, people!!!!!!). I always have to add bling to the girls’ jammies! Green MicroFleece on Etsy.

 

Remember these?

 

Or these?

Another Swap Meet!

Eek! Can I just say that my ratio of yards sewn to yards bought is getting precariously low. One of my favorite places to go when we are in San Diego is the National City Swap Meet. Hello fabric! Hello trimmings!

I ended up with almost 40 yards of fabric and 30 yards of trim. All that for under $100. Um, yea. I’ll probably have to go on a fabric diet soon. Or, I just need to sew my tookus off. Everything I bought was knit. I bought several cotton blends and lots of stripes because I’m a stripe addict.

Hi, my name is Dawn and I’m addicted to sewing striped fabric. Hi is where y’all say, “Hi Dawn.”

 

I also bought an oodle of fun ITY knits. I just can’t say no! I feel several wrap dresses in my future. I love those and they are so versatile (and classic)! Look at these fun border prints. I seemed to buy quite a bit of coral and turquoise too. I tried to stay away from purple and gray on purpose. Maybe I’m finally out of that phase for a while? 

 

Here’s what a typical vendor looks like at the swap meet. The remnants are on tarps on the ground in piles. My favorite vendors organize the piles by fabric content. Of course, as the day goes by, the piles get mixed up. This guy is my favorite vendor. His remnants are $1 or $2 per yard and his rolls of fabric (you can see them at the other end of the market) are $2 to $4 per yard. He gives you generous yards too.

 

All of this ITY fabric is from this vendor.

 

Smaller vendors are like this. This person only sold fabric as remnants in two or three yard chunks.

 

I bought lots of elastic too. Some of this is FOE (blue and black/silver), some is decorative elastic, some is just plain old black elastic and clear elastic. I think I bought 10 yards of clear elastic for $2. 

 

Of course, be sure to feel the fabric and look it over for holes, stains, off-grain printing, etc. I have passed up lots of fabric in the years I have been going to this swap meet. Knowing how to speak a little Spanish would help out too. I know very little and I am able to fumble through.

Hopefully you guys will actually get to see a little sewing before I leave again next week!