Wednesday 11 January 2012

A very restrained Goldhawk Rd shopping experience


 Gail, Jane, Alana, Me - Happy sew-ers in their element!

Reporting back from my trip to Goldhawk Road last week. I had the best morning meeting up with fellow sewing bloggers Alana (from Lazy Stitching), Jane (from Handmade Jane) and Gail (from My Fabrication) and perusing the endless line of fabric shops - absolute Heaven!!!

I wasn't armed with a shopping list so I approached each shop with an open mind, willing inspiration to hit me. It was great having Jane and Alana there, as they knew the shops well and were able to point me in the direction of fabrics which might tempt me...and tempt me they did!

Here are the fabrics that I happily brought home with me:


1m of the finest, softest cotton silk in a lovely shade of pink (not as neon or as bright as this picture suggests). At £4/m perhaps I should have bought more, but without knowing what I wanted to make, I thought I shouldn't go too crazy. At the moment I plan this to be a summer top of some sort.


2m. Also cotton silk. This is pure white with a shiny spot on it. I plan on making gorgeously luxurious pj bottoms with this. Also £4/m


Oh my GOD, I nearly DIED when I spotted this fabric!! I have been coveting this exact Liberty Silk (yes, Liberty Silk!!!) on-line for at least half a year, but at £15/m plus postage to N.I. I had never brought myself to buy it. When I saw the exact same fabric, for £12/m I snapped up a meter tout suite!! The plan is to make a cowl neck top based on one I have in my wardrobe...but I think it will be awhile before I cut into this beautiful fabric!


I spotted Alana buying this satin fabric in a lovely muted blue shade and when she told me it was for a Ruby slip I was inspired and also bought 2m, except in a very dramatic fuchsia pink (again, it's not nearly as gaudy or neon as the photo suggests). I think this was a whopping £1.99/m....or £2.99. Either way, dirt cheap!


Another Liberty print, this time a soft, buttery cotton. I fell in love with this print and colour way as soon as I saw it, and at £9.99/m I had to have it. 1m became mine super fast. This is also going to be a summery top.


And this was a sneaky buy. Or should I say, I was again inspired by Alana's purchasing. She bought this lovely gingham (it has a really interesting texture on the white squares) (it's navy and white by the way - sorry the photos are so deceptive!) in one of the shops we were at, and on my way to the tube after I had said my goodbyes, I saw it peaking at me through the window and decided to run in and get myself some as well! This will hopefully turn into a summery dress. I got 2.5m at £3/m.

So I was quite restrained with my fabric shopping - I even had space left over in my hand luggage (so no need for the turban unfortunately!)! But time was limited. I think if I had of had the whole day to dedicate to Goldhawk Rd I would have come away with a lot more. Perhaps the fact that I discovered on Thursday (the day before my trip) that my local fabric shop was having a crazy sale, and I bought up half the shop, might have made me spend a little less than usual - it is January after all...and it's a looooong time until payday! I'll share my haul from that shopping trip next.

I have to say, probably one of the nicest things about meeting up with these three lovely ladies was the opportunity to sit and natter on about sewing. I don't have any 'real life'  friends who have any interest in crafty things so it was just so nice to actually be able to talk about my hobby with people who share the same interest. Thanks so much to Jane, Alana and Gail for meeting with me.

And I shall leave you with a little present that I bought for myself in Whitstable:
I couldn't resist!
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