Gorgeous Goodies Galore!

My original plan for todays post was to show you a skirt I've just finished making, however that will have to wait because instead I want to show you all the gorgeous goodies I've bought today!

Several weeks ago a friend and I bought tickets to go to the Spring Knitting and Stitching Show, at Olympia, London.  We were both very excited, but sadly my friend's dad is very poorly so she was unable to come. 

Undaunted, I set off alone this morning and was there 20 minutes before the doors opened.  Thankfully, they let us queue inside, as it was raining and very windy. 

I always like to get to shows like this (or just shopping centres) for when they open, as I know from past experience how crowded they can get.  And I HATE crowds.

It was bliss at the beginning, not many other visitors, so lots of space to browse and ponder.  In fact it felt very strange initially, as there were so few people about. 

I hadn't been there long when I spotted a fabric stall I'd bought from at the Bluewater show last year.    They have a shop in Wanstead, Stitch Fabrics.   I was on the look out for some fabric suitable for my Style Arc jacket, and I found some, but it's not what I was planning on getting.

I was planning on a stone coloured linen or similar, to go with a navy and stone patterned fabric. Instead I got this cotton/rayon:


It's slightly darker than the photo shows, but not much.  The colours are a lightish teal/blue, a light coral and a cream.   I got 2 and a half metres for £15.00.   Sadly, I'll now have to find new fabric for the dress to go with it!

I also bought a metre and a half of this pure silk.  It's a light stone background with very dark grey splodges, spaced in "stripes" so there are more and less densely splodged bands across the fabric.  I'm going to make a simple top of some sort.


I then moved through to the second (and larger) hall, where there was more of a mixture of knitting and sewing stalls.  The first hall had been mainly patchwork and fabrics.

It was already getting a little crowded, but before long I had spotted Jennie Atkinson's stall and was attracted by a lovely display of projects from her "A Handknit Romance" book.  I ended up buying a copy (which she dedicated to me) and a kit to make a little beaded knit purse, one of the projects in the book.


My other major purchase was this delicious skein of 100% silk fingering weight yarn, by Coolree


The photo really doesn't do justice to how beautiful this yarn is, the colours are very rich and they just glow.  I can't wait to find a really special project to use it on.

I bought a few other little bits and bobs, a Liberty print ruler and a snail tapemeasure,



and a few fat quarters of quilting fabric for my machine embroideries. 

By this time it was almost 12.00, I'd spent quite enough money and it was getting extremely crowded so I decided that it was time to head for home. 

I can't wait to start playing with my new goodies!


8 comments

  1. Lovely haul, you are so intrepid. The jacket fabric is beautiful, needed to be something special for that pattern :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you. I am a bit worried about the jacket fabric, as it's so different to what I was planning and what I normally would choose!

      Delete
  2. Lovely purchases! I really love both the fabrics you chose - looking forward to seeing them made up!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Gail. I can't wait to start working with them.

      Delete
  3. ooh! I love buying fabric and things for my sewing room - the snail tape measure is so cute and the fabric is lovely. Love that shade of blue.

    ReplyDelete
  4. What fun goodies!! The fabric is really pretty - please share how it is to work with silk. I haven't done that yet. The snail tape measure is so cute!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jenny, I have never sewn with silk before either. I'll definitely be doing some research before I cut and sew it, and I'm thinking of something really simple, possibly a shortened version of B5211 as a tunic top. Although I think I have enough to actually make a dress length one, I'll have to see what I fancy when the time comes!

      Delete
  5. I adore both of those fabrics - and can't wait to see what you do with them!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you so much for your comment, every one is read and appreciated. It means a lot to me that you take the time to read and comment on my posts.