Fabric shopping: Curtain fabric

Great news - I've found curtain fabric for my bedroom curtains! After over 9 months of trawling the far corners of the internet and a silly number of central-London fabric shops, I've finally found something that I really like.

Liberty samples - none of these made the cut
Top row: Liberty ianthe velvet (green), Liberty Jeffrey Rose Tree (golden), Linwood Fable (green)
Middle: Libert Capello Shell (dew drops & spade), Liberty Rose May (jade), Libert Riley (Jade), Linwood Sakura Damask (pampas, stone,  dove grey)
Bottom: Lelievre Nami (opaline, vermeil), Lelievre Metali (glacier, cuivre), Linwood Hudson Bay (goose grey)

I spent over a month um-ing and ah-ing because this stuff is from my second favourite fabric shop in the whole world, Liberty (First place goes to Mood Fabric in NYC, in case you were wondering) and, thus, stupidly expensive. BUT, in the end, I just couldn't resist and it's bonus time, which is always a good time to spend silly amount of money on fabric, right?

Liberty fabric samples
At least I avoided the pricetag of the gorgeous velvet on the RHS

The fabric is called Wallace Secret Garden in Green Gauze and it's a gorgeously textured linen. In case you're wondering it also comes in beautiful blue and a lovely grey, which I was very tempted by. I bought the ridiculous amount of 6.5m, which should give me a little spare for some cushions. Can't wait to show you my new curtains!

Wallace Secret Garden by Liberty
Beautifully packaged in tissue paper as always

Significantly less exciting: blackout fabric from John Lewis
On the plus side: about a tenth of the price

Fabric looty love,
me xox

A visit to the Aladdin's cave of fabric - Pt 2

Having emerged from the shiny but suspiciously small cavern that is Mood Fabric's furnishing fabrics section clutching my loot I was at a bit of a loss because I couldn't figure out where the entrance to the real Mood Fabrics was. It didn't help that it was absolutely chucking it down and by this point I'd completely ruined my not-very-sensible ballerinas.

Luckily I spotted people carrying some likely-looking Mood bags ducking out what looked weirdly like the entry to some random offices and into a taxi. Lo and behold, on the 2nd floor of this seemingly random building I finally found myself in a shiny, sparkly, interestingly textured treasure trove. Note to self: they make you check your bags in the world's most insecure bag check. Furthermore, expect typical New York levels of grumpy "service". No friendly corner shop sewing chats and advice here. But it's all worth it given the amount of choice. Check out one of the plain silks aisles here:

The plain silks aisle

I spent over an hour in the silk section alone having promised myself one pretty patterned new silk shirt. Unfortunately I found myself completely unable to decide and "had" to take these three home with me. At one point I had a about 15 fabrics that were in the "I cannot live without this" pile. It was traumatic to say the least.

Silk:
The final selection/ haul of shiny loot

Now if only I could get around to actually making the aforementioned shirts with this beautiful fabric. I think my main issue is that it's so pretty that I'm a bit afraid to cut into it and not do it justice (although, to be fair, I'm still on the hunt for the "right" blouse pattern, which, as it turns out, is really bloody difficult).

I was actually after some mustard yellow suiting to make a winter skirt but despite this ridiculously large "Wool Suiting" section I couldn't find anything that suited me (harhar). I'm sure that the perfect mustard yellow wool is hiding somewhere in there but I really could have used some help to move bolts around. 

The wool suiting aisle:
Turns out those bolts are really heavy

I concluded my explorations with a little wander through the ridiculously shiny and sparkly embellished designer fabrics section, lamenting the fact that I had run out of time and had a train to catch. Next time I'm packing my tiny mummy in my case and taking her with me. This could be dangerous though as she might have a heart attack when she gets in here.

Finally, let me leave you with this statue commemorating the New York Garment District, where clothes are still handsewn for various designer (and not-so-designer) brands.

Sewing love,
me x

A visit to the Aladdin's Cave of fabric

About a year ago I found myself in New York for work and a wedding and took myself off to Mood Fabrics for an afternoon of bliss on a miserably rainy day. I could have spent all day in there but, unfortunately, I had places to go and things to do so I only had about 4 hours to trawl through this treasure trove. My feet hurt by the end of it but I really didn't want to leave!

I was a bit confused at first because, while the entrance to the main sewing Aladdin's cave that is Mood Fabrics isn't immediately obvious, they have a really lovely upholstery and furnishings fabric section that is at street level. 

Mood Fabrics upholstery section

I had a great time in there and picked up 6 m of cream sheer curtain fabric for my (at this point completely hypothetical but now not so much) new flat. Excitingly, I am now the proud owner of said hypothetical flat and the plan for this week is to make some curtains for my bedroom with the below. I'm still struggling with what to do about opaque curtains to go with these but one step at a time, right?

Gorgeous new curtain fabric

I also finally found some beautiful fabric for my dressing table chair. I've had this chair for at least 10 years and have been meaning to re-upholster it from the day I bought it. In completed projects to add to 2017: 1 re-covered dressing table chair - finally! 

Re-covered chair - love this fabric

Now that I've moved into the new flat I'm seriously regretting not buying more of this one - it would have been perfect as curtains in my bedroom and I'm really struggling to find something I like despite several trips to Liberty over the past few months.

Next: In which I finally discover the "real" Mood Fabrics and am in danger of never emerging again

Upholstery love,
me x

Fabric shopping

I am currently in Philadelphia visiting my friend Z. Apart from being my best friend in whole wide world, Z also moonlights as my post room for anything that can't be posted to places outside the USA. I pay her in boost bars and assorted ridiculous things in the post. 

When I turned up in Philadelphia last week Z had a frankly embarrassing horde of boxes for me to open. Among other things, this included some fabrics that I couldn't wait to get my hands on.

1. Silks

In Britain, fabric shopping is a very expensive pastime. To be honest, if you, like me, refuse to use synthetic fabrics and much prefer wools and silks, making a piece of clothing yourself is often significantly more expensive than buying it on the high street. Fabric is much more affordable in the USA and with the Mecca that is Mood Fabrics now selling online there is also significantly more choice. I ordered five different silks and silk blends to make blouses for work and perhaps a pretty summer dress. Here they are: 

Left to right: 
infinity silk crepe de chine, 
grey mini diamond stretch charmeuse, 
Anna Sui sapphire silk jacquard

Black paisley crepe de chine, 
 Italian cherry blossom cotton-silk voile

2. Quilting cottons

I also ordered some pretty quilting cottons, which I plan to use to make this stunning quilt from this great new book, Classic Modern Quilts. 

Top to bottom: Salt Air - Sea Garden (coral), La Belle Fleur - French General, Nature's Christmas (berry), Chateau Rouge - French General, Christmas Countdown (tonal red), Blitzen - Grunge Solid (red). All by MODA.

Chez Moi - Mimi - Prism Floral (aqua, MODA)

3. Ralph Lauren Los Cabos sheets

I also got this Ralph Lauren sheet set (king sized flat and fitted sheets and two pillowcases). The pattern is called Los Cabos and I. Real life it is a much richer shade of blue. I used this to back Samuel's quilt (check it out here) and love how soft and silky it is. I find it very difficult to find wide backing fabrics that I like and using pretty patterned queen or king sized sheets makes things much easier. I'm planning to use the pillow cases to make some pretty pillow case dresses for my friend C's little girls. 

Ralph Lauren Los Cabos

I am very excited about my stack of fabric loot and can't wait to get started. I've promised myself that I will finish both the hidden stars quilt and the quilt I'm making for C's older daughter before I start anything new though. 

Love,

Me x