What you’re looking at, my friends, is some honest-to-goodness designer fabric I bought today at my local fabric store (a little bit of a splurge!  But I had a coupon).  Say hello to Miss Missoni, on the left, and Madame Prada, on the right.  These lovely ladies begged me to take them home, and I was more than happy to oblige.

The Missoni is a very loose knit fabric – the colored yarns are a loose ply, and a thin black yarn knit throughout gives the fabric some stability.  I have plans to make a cardigan out of this lovely, but I’m contemplating how to finish the neck and hem – self-fabric would be too much; I could do a contrast knit binding but it would have to be the right weight fabric.  I have some other ideas in my head, but let me know what ideas you have!

The Prada is the most deliciously soft wool I think I’ve ever felt before.  Earlier this week I was in and saw just a red wool, went home and thought about it, and then came back in today to buy it.  But hark!  There was a purple wool I never saw!  It was love at first sight.  I’m kind of over red right now, since it feels like I’ve been knitting and sewing a lot with it, and my thoughts are turning to spring now – this purple is perfect for early spring.  I’m planning on making this into a wool Charlotte skirt lined with acetate (there’s a wool/cashmere blend version I did that I need to post on here, coming soon), very chic.

I’ll disclose how much these were: $19.99/yd for the Missoni and $39.99/yd for the Prada.  Though it hurt a little at checkout, even with a 20% coupon, there’s no way I would ever walk out of Neiman’s with a $40 Missoni cardigan or a $40 Prada skirt.  The quality of these fabrics was well worth the price I paid, and I can’t wait to share what these fabrics turn into!