Good place online to Order Cheap (but groovy) Fabrics and easy Patterns?

Use only 100% cotton fabrics initially. Hem pants (and skirts) by hand with needle and thread and thimble. Machine hemming is inaccurate and looks odd.

The easiest garment for a beginner is a skirt with an elastic waist.

Google online garment fabrics. Lots of choices including organic and green cotton.

Thanks @gailcalled! I wondered about the fabric choice I should mostly look for, cotton sounds good! I prefer skirts most of the time anyway in the summer, so that’s awesome! Once I can make my own clothes I will be set! It is so hard to find anything that fits me right, I’m Odd Sized ( meaning, I’m short but not made like a 10 yr old, just shorter than one)

PS: I’m using a Baby Grace sewing Machine, if that helps at all ;)

One place I like for fun fabrics is here. This is mainly quilting fabric, though. Small craft projects are a lot easier to start with than clothes!

I’m guessing you’re in the States. (How us craft-mad expats envy that.)

There are some great tutorials at eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_2084944_hem-pants-that-long.html

Online Fabrics
www.joann.com
You can buy everything from curtain material to holiday/seasonal prints cheaply and by the yard. They even have a ‘clearance’ section if you want really cheap practice material.

ooo… just lost 20 minutes looking at fabric.

But there are all sorts of sewing tutorials online with video even. Congrats on the new sewing machine and have fun.

Here’s a site to drool over. It almost makes me want to start sewing again.

http://www.banksvilledesignerfabrics.com/pages/storephotosfall2010.htm

oooooo, Thanks guys! That is awesome!! I’m going to go get lost in fabric land now!! More the merrier if you come up with any others, I am all ears!!! Thanks again, you guys are the best!

For a super selection of cotton prints that all coordinate with each other and are color sorted into collections to make it easy, check here:
http://www.hancocks-paducah.com/
They are not cheap, but if you want, use them as a trim fabric and combine with another cheaper fabric to keep the cost down. The quality is worth it though.. They have a great catalog, which you will start recieving once you put in your first order.
Also they have matching thread which I love because sometimes it is so hard to find a good match and when the thread doesn’t match it looks horrible, especially on the topstitching.
I also like this site:
http://www.denverfabrics.com/pages/static/fabric.htm
They have some good deals.
I would say be careful about buying fabric online because sometimes it is hard to know what the weight and hand (feel and drapey quality) of the fabric is without touching it. If you aren’t all that knowledgable, familiarize yourself with fabric names and you will be able to judge better. For example cotton lawn is lighter and sheerer than batiste and batiste is lighter than broadcloth. Some sites like Fashion Fabrics Club will send swatches for a fee.
Check out ebay for cheap patterns (and laces too!) or buy when your local store has a sale. I get the cheapest patterns on closeout! I bought a lot when Rag Shop went out of business.
Hope this helps you. Happy sewing!

Also- many thrift stores have loads of patterns, usually for a quarter or less.