A weekend round up: cards, cloths and vintage buttons

Hello,

I've been a little quiet on the old posting front, not because I've not been creating, just nothing has seemed worthy of a whole post to itself. I've been painting my furniture to brighten up my living room (duck egg blue if you're wondering). I've sewn a table cloth (you can see it in the background of these snaps), but that's not terribly exciting to blog about, is it. I've also finished my second Rooibos, but I still need to decide about which (if any) buttons/embellishments are going on the front before I post it here.

I mentioned in my last post that I was creating a silly, googly-eyed valentine's day card for Matt - well he obviously had a similar idea because this morning he presented me with a handmade card too. We don't traditionally celebrate, so this was a nice surprise. Perhaps he'd been noseying on my blog and saw I was making him one! Here are some snaps:

two exciting looking envelopes!

who's that peeking with the googly eyes?

it's a chimp!

my hilarious card from Matt - inside it has a lovely pic of me haha

We did quite a bit of vintage browsing this weekend too - firstly at the North London Vintage Market in Crouch End where I picked up these buttons:  

It seems a shame to take them off the card somehow, but it'd also be a shame not to use them! Does anyone else have this dilemma?! I also picked up this sequinned appliqué piece that I'm thinking of making into a headband:

I can't quite work out what it's meant to be (floral? I think it may be upside down in this pic) - answers on a postcard! This was the first North London Vintage Market, but hopefully it won't be the last - there was tons of interesting stuff, a lot of which was vintage fabric, lace, buttons and other sewing bits and bobs. I could have spent a fortune, luckily I'd only taken a limited amount of cash with me. 

We also went to The Old Cinema in Chiswick for more browsing (no buying unfortunately, all far too expensive). It's such a fantastic shop though, I'd definitely recommend it. They obviously take a lot of care with the displays and the way the stuff is laid out. We came across this delightful pair:

It's a set of 50s night lights - I don't know about you but I'd have been scared stiff if this was my night light - creepy! I also rather liked this scientific equipment, I'm not sure why. I was picturing it filled with fabric remnants and buttons! Sadly its £150 price tag meant it stayed on the shelf (much to Matt's relief - he prefers a minimalist approach to décor whereas I'm a junk shop hoarder).

I'll be back in a few days with my latest Rooibos, and potentially another dress too - I have some lovely red fabric (courtesy of Seamstar, whose speedy service impressed me greatly) that is crying out to be sewn up. I have Butterick 5305 in mind - a simple dress that I think will look good in a block colour but could also look amazing with bolder fabric choices. Now I'm off to Google Reader to see what you lot  have been up to over the weekend.

Cxx

Best online fabric shops (unofficial!)

When I posted asking for recommendations for online fabric shops based in UK, a few of you commented that you'd be checking back to see the suggestions. As I am an uber-helpful little soul, I thought I'd do a special post on the subject, listing all the recommendations I received and adding a few of my own. The following are from Tilly, Stevie, Karen and Jane, so a big thank you to them. You can see who recommended what on my original post.

Stone Fabrics

Volksfaden

Ditto Fabrics

Cloth Mill

Sewbox

M is for Make

Seamstar

Fabric Rehab

Fancy Moon

Ray Stitch

Saints and Pinners

I will be browsing this lot thoroughly in my lunch hour...

I have not yet bought fabric online - I don't feel confident enough yet in my fabric knowledge to be sure I am buying the right thing. Plus I work right opposite the Oxford Street John Lewis (and 5 mins from Liberty) so I'm rather fortunate in my fabric-buying options. However over the past few months I have stumbled across some fabric sites that have had me drooling. I'll share them here, but I can't personally vouch for their quality/service! They are:

• Gaga fabrics - they have some really fun, retro inspired fabrics, I love browsing their site.
• The Cotton Spool - recommended to me as a local (North London) company. I've fallen in love with this duck print!
• Fabric Inspirations - they have a big selection of retro inspired fabrics, fun to browse.
• Spinster's Emporium - I've only recently discovered this site but they have a lovely selection of fabrics, buttons and trims.
• Vintage Pretty - this ebay shop has an eclectic selection - some very odd fabrics, for example this scary kitten one! Might be useful if you're looking for something unusual.
• The Vintage Fabric Market - they don't have a massive selection but worth keeping an eye on for vintage buttons and fabrics.

Now, someone hide my wallet.....

What fabric shops do you have bookmarked? Am I missing any gems? Leave me a comment and I'll add your suggestion to this post.

Lovely stuff...(and a birthday treat)

Hello, happy Friday everyone! It's been a cracking week in the blogosphere, with lots of lovely stuff being posted. Here are some of the best things I've bookmarked this week:

This sewing box from Cath Kidston is just adorable. I do hope my own sewing box doesn't meet with any unfortunate accidents anytime soon....*whistles* *looks shifty*

image courtesy of Cath Kidston 

Talking of sewing boxes - check out what Nette's doing! She's only making her own Cath Kidston inspired one! Truly inspiring.

Tilly and Karen write two of my favourite blogs - they've had a sewing Q&A, read it here. My favourite thing about this post is getting to have a nosey around someone else's sewing space (part of the job description when you become a librarian is to be a bit of a nosey parker - I prefer to call it 'curiosity'). While we're on the subject of sewing spaces, Tilly and Jane have both given us a peek into theirs this week too. Lovely stuff!

How fantastic are these fabric flowers? Jessica at How About Orange has posted a fab tutorial - I can't wait to try it. They'd look fantastic as embellishments for a dress/brooch/headpiece/shoe clip/other...

image courtesy of How About Orange

Jacki at Modern Twist posted this fantastic piece on the vintage details that can really make your creations stand out from the crowd. The pictures she's used are really inspirational and I've bookmarked them for future reference. I can't wait to become competent enough that I can adapt or even create my own patterns. (I came across this via someone else's blog, but I've forgotten whose - if it was you let me know and I'll credit you)

Kate and Wills plates:

image courtesy of Domestic Sluttery

This wedding memorabilia from KK Outlet made me laugh. I wouldn't mind Oxfordshire. Or perhaps a small island. (via Domestic Sluttery)

Have a fantastic weekend everyone - I know I will as it's my 29th birthday on Saturday and my lovely boyfriend has apparently planned a day of surprises! I can't wait! My wonderful colleagues have already spoiled me with lots of cake, HOT SAUCE (in-joke) and a terrorist tea pot (I'm Northern Irish). What a lucky lady I am!

Cx