2016 Sewing Budget: June

Hmmm, another pricey month.

The "more chambray" and the buttons were for my recent chambray midi skirt, and have since been consumed (3 buttons left!). The pleated chiffon was a complete impulse buy, and when you will see it (below) you will realise why. I have no need for it, but it fills my heart with such joy it was worth the expense. It will become a midi skirt once I source an affordable lining fabric that is not sweaty acetate. To justify the cost of shipping from Portugal, and because the more you order from the Sweet Mercerie, the less the shipping costs (nope, I don't get it either, but I'm enjoying it for now. I'm sure that will change once we are ex-EU), I bought more of the chambray that I used for my Scout dress. My plans for it are lightweight summer trousers (not that the weather indicates they will ever be worn) and shorts for either me (see previous parenthetical statement) or Small Boy, who just turned 6 and is still wearing shorts that are aged 3-4, poor neglected skinny soul. Summer hols means more casual clothes requirements.

Pleated chiffon of joy. IRL it's a glorious emerald green.

Given that I've been freaking out recently about the amount of stuff that has accumulated in our house (SO much crap excellent work home from school last week, plus everyone apart from me has had birthdays recently), I feel it's a bit rich to be buying more fabric, so I am back on the wagon. No more fabric until I've sewn up some  a good amount of what I have. Shall we say 4 items as a completely arbitrary target? Plus, as I'm also recording what I'm spending on RTW, I know I spent over £300 on clothes last month! Totally abnormal for me and actually very embarrassing, but that does include new prescription lenses for my sunnies, trainers, a new swimsuit, a rain coat and a denim jacket (#typicalscottishsummerwear). Oh, and my car is in for a service this week. I have no money to spend on fabric because I spent it all already!

Since I've been doing this for 6 months now, I thought I'd do a quick summary of the year so far.

So my average spend is the same as my rough budget, however given that in Jan I said I wasn't going to buy as much fabric as previously, I've failed pretty spectacularly, haven't I?! Time for those press ups.

I suspect that the only way I'm ever going to spend absolutely nothing is to remove myself from all social media and email lists. It wouldn't be enough to simply unfollow the fabric shops, as the inspiration from others is as much a trigger as anything else. But that simply isn't going to happen, because I love blogs and IG and the people too much. I have some firm plans in my head of what I want to sew, so I just need to ensure that I stick to them and don't get distracted. Easier said than done, I think!