You Guessed Correctly.... It Was Goldhawk Road!

Indeedy peops! I was in Goldhawk Road on Saturday, enjoying the sunshine and fair weather with the lovely Dibs of Dibs and The Machine and her friend who was visiting her for a few days :)

Dibs & I inside of 'Alanaka Textiles Ltd'

(Photo Source: Dibs!)

Check out Dibs's photos and post of our little excursion here.

I acquired a few bits of fabric:
• 4 metres of medium-weight, dark beige/light-khaki 100% cotton twill - from UK Textiles for £6.99/metre (for my Minoru Jacket).
The man in the shop said that Burberry had purchased the same stock (not from him of course - but from the same fabric wholesale source I guess?), not sure if that's strictly the truth, but hey what's good for Burberry is good enough for me LOL!
• 2 metres of a heavy-weight, lighter beige/khaki 100% cotton twill - kind of like a lighter weight denim feel to it. This came from A to Z Fabrics, £6/metre. (For a Beignet Skirt or an casual throw-it on type of skirt perhaps?). The guy in the shop gave me 2 metres for the price of 1½ as it was the end of the role (yay!).
• Also from from A to Z Fabrics, for £3/metre (although I think I got overcharged by £1 - not bothered though) I got 3 metres of a bright-white waffle-like textured (Piqué?) 100% cotton fabric. (For a top/blouse I think).
• 2 metres of black eyelet 100% cotton from Classic Textiles. (Again for a nice summer top/casual blouse I think.)

"The Haul" - Well swatches of it anyway, the real stuff is drying or in the wash!

I also got a couple of notions:
• 2 metres of plastic boning from A-One Fabrics. (For a sewing room/ tools project!)
• 10 metres (yes 10!) of nude/skintone single-fold polycotton bias binding. (I picked this up from a haberdashery stall in the middle of Shepherd's Bush Market.) I plan to use this to finish the inside edges of sleeveless light-weight white tops - so you don't get that extra-thick white effect when you have layer-upon-layer of white fabric (you know what I mean ladies - just think about when you wear a white bra under a thin white top, it really shows doesn't it LOL)

I've pre-washed the beiges, and the white fabrics so far, and they're drying on the rack indoors (the sunshine sadly did not last :( ) the black eyelet is next for a tumble in the washing machine.

Beiges + white fabrics, pre-washed, and now drying inside

In Classic Textiles, we spotted this amazing fabric. It came in a pink or chocolate brown background - and was covered in images of vintage/retro ladies - the kind you see on the envelopes of 1950's or 60's patterns. The lady at the shop counter said she had another customer come in to buy the fabric, which was then used to make a dress in one of the actual designs printed on it! V. cool :) I'd love to see that dress in person. Sadly, although this fabric was definitely eye-candy, at £18/metre (around $28 USD!) it's a little too extravagant for my purse.

I've done a spot of Googling, and it turns out that this printed 100% cotton fabric is by Melody Ross, from the 'Homespun Chic' range - made by 'Blend Fabrics'. There's plenty of online stores selling it (at less than £18/metre!) and places on Etsy have it too.


Halfway through our fabric-shopping outing the eagle-eyed Miss. Dibs spotted a gaggle of ladies across the road. Our keen observer concluded that this must be another group of sewing enthusiasts...

"What's that I see in the distance? Is it a bird, is it a plane? No! It's a gaggle of sewists!"

These ladies all meet via MeetUp, and they are part of The London Sewing and Craft Group. MeetUp is a new-to-me site for arranging get togethers with folks sharing hobbies and past times. We nabbed a quick pic with Marijke who blogs at My busy craft life.

Dibs, Marijke and lil 'ol Moi.

So, I've just joined MeetUp and hope to make even more new sewing friends!