The forecast
1 March 2010, 14:03On Saturday I took a trip out to Goldhawk Road with neighbour Helen with a strict list on my iPhone and an even stricter budget! My brain and eyes start to glaze over whenever I enter a fabric store so I have to come prepared with a list now to keep myself focused.
My list was mostly pretty boring – lots of linings (I got a few metres of a silk/cotton woven mix in both black and white for underlining some thin dress fabrics, and finally got some stretchy nylon tricot to line my Vogue sheath and test it for bridesmaid dress lining suitability) plus very cheap but very drapey viscose knit for birthday and bridesmaids dress muslins. The only real fun on my list was some luscious silk jersey for my birthday dress and a nice knit to make James’s sister a dress, and well, both ended up being silk jersey!
As they were cutting my dark turquoise silk jersey, the lady at Classic Textiles warned me their silk jersey will be going up in price to £18/m (once the current £16/m bolts are gone). And Fabric World across the street have black silk jersey (only black) for £10/m as a one-off right now, too. Consider yourself warned, Londoners!
So since I’ve already got the fabrics and the patterns paired, here they are for your visualisation (though they’re not quite the next things in my queue, I’ve got to juggle some muslins and draping in there first) –
Pattern bonanza!
When it rains, it pours! Within a few days of each other, I suddenly went from new pattern famine to feast! With my Burda subscription turning up early combined with a Vogue sale good enough to pay international shipping for, plus a co-worker hitting up the Swedish newsagents, it was all too good, frankly!
These include:
- March Burda WOF (love the strapless cover dress but YAWN on the rest)
- Vogue 1020 knit wardrobe pattern (the gathered side top and flounced skirt look particularly useful)
- Vogue 1117 Michael Kors sheath dress (nearly bought some green wool/cashmere suiting for this but didn’t want the entire 3.9m left on the bolt!)
- Vogue 2973 Montana biker jacket (on Clearance for $5 but my god it looks tough! The jacket alone has 24 pattern pieces!)
- Butterick 5243 Maggy London knit dress (So cute and also on Clearance! I can’t believe this is going out of print so soon, it’s the first Butterick I’ve actually liked in about 4 years!)
- And not pictured, Patrones 288, which turned out to be a Ninos. Oh well, there’s some cute kids shorts and tops in it and I’m sure it’ll get used eventually
And in other news, I finished the nude sheath dress this morning! I was handstitching the lining to the seam allowances and zipper tape in hospital waiting rooms this morning and got all sorts of smiles from people. Sewing in public just makes people feel good I swear! I picked up some taupe upholstery thread for the topstitching while at Goldhawk Road (the shop that stocks the haberdashery has moved it upstairs and expanded! woo!) and I love the look!
I can’t wait to show this dress to you, it fits like a glove and I’m just so proud of it!
And your uplifting thought for the day – neighbour Helen hadn’t been back to Goldhawk Road since her fashion school days and was amazed at how the area has grown! She said that 15 years ago, there were really only two shops, as compared to the ten or so there today, so it’s fantastic to see these shops doing well and branching out into ethnic fabrics (Helen said there weren’t anywhere near as many batiks, African embroidered fabrics, laces, etc back then)! It’s not all doom and gloom for sewing shops!
Tags: city-guides, shopping, silk, vogue
Ha! I too have to make lists due to my tendency to go into store trance.
I’m glad to hear the cotton/silk voile is still around, but too bad about the silk jersey! I still have some of the cheap stuff in my stash though.
— Susannah Mar 1, 02:27 PM #
Oh you’re making me jealous. I lived in Shepherd’s Bush when I was a student and never appreciated the fabric shops because I wasn’t sewing then. Next time I’m in London I’d like to go and stock up. I haven’t found any good fabric shops near me but that’s probably just as well considering how slowly my sewing is progressing.
— Rachel Mar 1, 02:58 PM #
Thank you for alerting me that you can find out what patterns are going to be discontinued by checking the website clearance section. I never even thought of that!
— lsaspacey Mar 1, 04:38 PM #
I am visiting my daughter at the end of the month and if I get time I will visit Goldhawk Rd. I think every dressmaker gets that ‘trance’ state in fabric shops. You just have to hope you escape before it becomes too expensive!
Looking forward to seeing the nude dress – it must be good for you to flag it up so well. I am sure it is awesome.
Have fun with your fabrics.
— Kim Hood Mar 1, 05:03 PM #
I can’t wait to see the sheath! Nude color seems to be everywhere this spring. And looks like successful shopping day.
— Cindy Mar 1, 05:53 PM #
I have that Montana jacket in my near-future queue. I have the fabric purchased, read & re-read the instructions and I looked at the sizing on the pattern pieces and determined that the 14 will be fine (it looks to have plenty of ease)… and I am still a tad too intimidated to think of cutting it yet. 24 freakin pieces! Let us know when you get around to that one so I can lend/borrow moral support!
— Grace Mar 1, 06:56 PM #
What a very beautiful silk jersey, and so nice for the dresses you picked. You are so lucky to have so many fine fabric shops in Londen, all in one area. I’m living in Haarlem, a city with about 120.000 residents, but there are only two fabricshops. You made me looking forward to the nude dress…
— Teddie Mar 1, 07:05 PM #
I too love Goldhawk Road, although I’ve only been a couple of times (and I only found it through reading this blog). I’ve not seen haberdashery or notions in any of the shops (maybe because I didn’t look hard enough; but I did go upstairs in a number of the shops). Would you mind telling me which shop has a haberdashery section? I’d be very grateful because, appart from John Lewis, I can’t seem to find a good source of these items,
— Meg Mar 2, 09:21 AM #
Meg –
The shop with the haberdashery is A-One Fabrics (the same side of the road as Classic Textiles, on the left). it used to have the Gutermann thread, zippers, and buttons near the counter, but it’s now moved upstairs and expanded with a ton of Gutermann Creativ beads and some laces and embroidery flosses, too.
John Lewis is pretty dire for habby, you poor thing! If you’re there, the best option is to go across Oxford Street to a little side street called Dering Street and hit up MacCulloch & Wallis, who are AMAZING. Fabric is on the ground floor but eye-wateringly expensive, so best head straight up to the first floor to the haberdashery, which is reasonably priced and they have absolutely everything you could possibly imagine. Seriously.
Also good is Kleins, off Berwick Street in Soho, but they’re only open M-F 9-5.
I’ve got all these in a little Google Map over here
— melissa Mar 2, 02:51 PM #
You totally called me out and I feel justly ashamed! :-) I know I shouldn’t complain about John Lewis when if I lived somewhere other than London I might not even have that… It’s just that it SEEMS to have gone down-hill compared to a few years ago. MacCulloch and Wallis sounds like a treat though, especially when I’m looking for something out of the ordianary.
Thanks for the name of the shop and for the other tips. I’m going to check them out soon.
— Meg Mar 3, 11:36 AM #
I’ve made that Montana jacket and actually really enjoyed the process, it’s so satisfying when all those little pieces come together to a great shaped jacket. It’s not that hard you can totally make it, I reviewed it on PR and it’s on my blog too somewhere in the distant archives. Go for it!
— allisonC Mar 5, 10:28 AM #
Hi there! Just discovered your blog whilst trying to find out if aforementioned fabric places on the Goldhawk Road are open on Sundays… and hadn’t realised before now that the chap from Goodbye Lenin! was the one in Inglorious Basterds too. Double win!
Look forward to mooching through your blog archives with tea this afternoon…
Carina, advancing beginner in NW5
— Carina Mar 7, 12:03 PM #