20 February 2011

Walthamstow Fabric-Shopping-Blogger-Meet-Up Frenzy!



Yesterday morning I traversed the entire length of the Victoria tube line to make the pilgrimage to Walthamstow for the fabric shopping blogger meet up organised by Karen of Did You Make That? fame. Twelve keen seamstresses from London, Kent, even as far as Bath, made the journey, undeterred by the grizzly weather, so strong was the pull of rock bottom prices!


The market did not disappoint. If anything, it sent me into a brief panic at how exciting it was. Everything was basically either £1 or £2/metre, unless it was real wool (supposedly end-of-the-line Hobbs), in which case it was £5/metre.


Karen did a marvellous job of organising the event. Oh yes, it really was an event! The day began with a speech outlining the itinerary, before we were issued with hand-drawn maps and branded badges. She'd even pre-arranged discounts with some of the vendors! I love that lady :)


It was great to meet some other bloggers too - a lovely bunch of people. The outing ended with fish and chips in the pub (because that's what British people do) and, of course, a debrief and nosey about each other's purchases. There were quite a few purchase overlaps so we'll be comparing notes on potential projects. This is what I bought...


Chocolate brown, silky-light fabric of some kind, plus some vintage-looking buttons - a Sencha button-back dress, perhaps...


Some kind of cotton blend with a nice drape, for a tea dress or maybe the Swing dress...


A soft poly wool blend for my first proper attempt at trousers (more on that in a later post!), plus some red buttons for something or other...


Not quite sure what this fabric is - maybe a stretch cotton sateen? Whatever it is, it'll make a lovely cheongsam (I love The Sew Convert's).

All in all, a lovely day and a pretty good haul!