Pattern cutting course - update for this term at half way point; shirt construction project

I'm just back from my pattern cutting course and starting to draft this as I unwind before bed. I thought it was about time I updated on the course.

I say it's a pattern cutting course; in fact this is now combined with garment construction which I think is a good idea. It means, though, that there is less design and less draping than there might have been and more making up. This suits me, I confess, as my needs are more about developing the skills appropriate to make a wedding dress!

Next week is the mid term break so tonight we were handing in our portfolios to have them looked at to make sure we were going in the right direction.

So far, we have some  draping,  some TR pattern cutting and some flat pattern manipulation of bodices,  skirts and sleeves. We have also made up samples for gathering,  construction of inset corner (this being particularly useful for some potential wedding dress styles especially as also used in godet construction) and plackets. I have finally understood the difference between 'gathering' and 'easing'!

Tonight (Thursday 22 October), we started to make up a shirt/blouse. This would utilise skills in collar insertion,  placket making,  yoke insertion and of course ultimately button holes.

A preview! Front

We are using a size 12 (UK) standard block so of course the finished shirt wouldn't fit me in a month of Sundays!

In class, we managed to cut out the pattern and then the fabric. I inserted the darts and double folded over the front. Our tutor R didn't want us to try to finish the blouse at home but she wanted us to try to insert the yoke using the same clean insertion method she had and add the patch pocket.

R chose my pieces to demonstrate what we had to do with the yoke pieces. Unfortunately,  I had only cut one and so R borrowed one from Sarah.  Trouble is I had to give this back to Sarah and I hope that I can work out what to do - it seemed pretty complicated. R said she was using a standard shirt yoke construction method. I wonder, however,  if this is what some refer to as the 'burrito method' as we ended up with what looked like a burrito!

So after my bridge weekend away, which starts tomorrow,  I have 10 days or so to complete the blouse to the necessary stage and make some other replacement samples.

Up to date now

I drafted those earlier paragraphs a week ago. Today I did my homework for return to class next week, well at least part of my homework - I have quite a number of images to gather and some research to do.

I don't sleep well while I'm away from home. Instead of counting sheep, I've been going through the possible steps for the clean yoke insertion! I couldn't find it in my books, surprisingly but I did a bit of internet search and came up with a Craftsy post on  the 'clean yoke insertion'.  Later, they say this is also known by some as the burrito method, so my feeling was correct. My tutor is very traditional and working in the UK this probably isn't a term used while she was training. I didn't use the Craftsy method exactly as I remembered and had written down some of the details my tutor gave as she demonstrated.

Anyway, bear with me. I took photos of my process today and I'm going to post them here as part of my future portfolio and to  remind me of the process.

Clean finish method of yoke insertion:

I started with a back, two fronts and two yoke pieces - these are referred to as yoke and yoke facing.
I had originally forgotten to cut out the yoke facing; luckily, I had a piece of fabric big enough to allow me to do that now. My front pieces has the centre fronts turned in, pressed and pinned, though later I removed these pins for ease of manoeuvrability. I apologise in advance for white fabric against grey - though that was better than against the white of my sewing machine table where my camera completely refused to play ball!

1. Pin yoke to back of blouse along straight line, right sides together

2. Now pin yoke to front at shoulders. Again, right sides facing. 

3. Pin yoke facing to shoulders, sandwiching the shoulders and matching notches to yoke piece.The Craftsy post pinned together yoke at back straight seam here and left the shoulders until later. I found it easier to envisage  this way.

4. Same as above but opened out

5. The pieces are now sewn together using a 1 cm seam in this case

6. Looking at it from the outside, ie right side. I pressed the seam allowances towards the yoke before the next step.

7. Now the magic starts! I have carefully rolled up fronts towards yoke and back towards yoke.

8. The fronts and back are rolled up to yoke; yoke and yoke facing reach together over them and pinned

9. I then sewed the yoke to the yoke facing, right sides together, over the burrito filling of back and two fronts. I used the previous stitch line as a guide. It was important to ensure the burrito filling didn't catch in the stitching.

10. Stitched burrito

11. Start of trying to unravel everything! The fronts and then the back are drawn through the neckline gap seen in 10. above. This was more difficult than I thought - perhaps the way I rolled the fabric caused this.

12. Well, all out - terribly crushed. This is an inside view.

This is an attempt to show inside and outside at the same time. It's not yet pressed.

13. Yoke has now been pressed.

View of front of blouse.

What did I learn?

1. Firstly, this wasn't nearly as bad as I'd feared.
2. Secondly, the stitching is trying to come away at the edges. I used a big stitch length for ease of unpicking if needed. There is a lot of pressure on these edge stitches while turning through, so I should have reinforced the ends or finished off better.
3. My turning out might have been easier if I'd  rolled the fabric differently
4. To be careful with which side of yoke facing is stitched - I found it counter-intuitive when I was going to attach along back edge (wrong side to right side there) but easier to envisage on the shoulders as the seam lay in an easier direction.
5. I don't think the cutting in class was as careful as it could have been. It's important to cut out carefully, mark all notches and match these while sewing.

Patch pocket

I'm not doing a step by step photo journal here - to be honest, I didn't even think of it at the time!!

Method:

The patch pocket was cut out in class using a paper pattern we had cut from the cardboard templates (not blocks as these had seam allowances on them). 1 cm turnovers again. I cm at the top and then 2 cm. The position of the second turn was marked by snipping.

I chose to make a cardboard template with the seam allowances removed as that allowed me to fold the edges over the cardboard and press.

Excuse the distortion of perspective! The sides are actually parallel. I couldn't get a better photo tonight but will do better for my portfolio

Scanned from an old pattern instruction sheet

10. Press under 1cm on upper edge of pocket.

Turn upper edge to OUTSIDE along fold line, forming facing. Stitch along seam line on raw edges as far as the main pocket. Trim seam allowance in the facing area to 6 mm

11.Turn corners RIGHT side out, turning facing to the WRONG side; press, pressing under raw edges along template edge.

Stitch facing close to inner edge.

12. On OUTSIDE, pin pocket to left front. I didn't have markings on the blouse front so used the front edges to ensure my pocket was straight and guesstimated from pictures of shirts blouses. Personally I wouldn't put on a pocket for me - disastrous in this position!! Stitch close to side and lower edges.

I tried the shirt to this point on Missy, my small model.

Front view - the side seams are not stitched

View f yoke - the side seams are not stitched 

Pocket close up.

 I haven't to carry on at this stage as we will be doing collar, cuff and sleeve placket in class next week and apparently the sleeve placket is inserted while the sleeve is flat.

Model renovation and correct sizing

On another note, my little model is falling apart and I need to modify to use for Helen as I don't want to spend a lot buying a new one. I think this one should do as although Helen is 6' tall, her length is largely in her legs, which are endless! I've lengthened the model as much as possible - the overall height is tiny but the body is not too bad, I hope at least.. My tutor said then to pad the model out to Helen's sizes, using a toile I've already fitted. I have a few problems with this. Sure, although I expanded to the correct size, the proportions are not the same so I will shrink down again. I need to fill in the gaps where the adjustment mechanism is. Missy's cover is tatty and I bought a new one but can't yet get it on! Missy's shoulders are rather large, I think. David thought it might be a good idea to build up with mouldable high density foam. Anyone have any experience of this?

I'm planning to start some sewing that's not course related tomorrow. I'm looking forward to that.

Anne

Lancashire this time; suggestions for best pattern to use for fabric, please

I had a lovely time playing bridge and socialising in Lancashire,  in a part that until recently was actually Yorkshire. I was there from Friday to Monday, so it was a lovely long weekend.

I debated visiting the rhs garden at Harlow Carr near Harrogate on the way home as it was a nice day but in the end decided to go home via the M6 - longer but fewer roadworks.

I decided after all to visit Abakhan in Preston, Lancashire as I chose a route that went nearby. I found the staff very friendly and helpful. I didn't buy the cuddle fleece I really coveted as I wasn't sure what to do with it,  other than cuddle it! I loved the pattern on it. I bought some horsehair braid and an owl appliqué which I plan to put on a bag as a Christmas present. I also bought a couple of patterns in McCall's half price sale, for garments for Helen. Even better as I got a student 10% reduction too. A lot of their fabric, including the fleece, was sold by weight but they said they were happy to give you an approximate price per metre.

I had to go to the nearby shopping centre for a comfort stop before travelling on and found a charity shop with a specialist wedding section. I bought a couple of dresses for me. Not very inexpensive but nice fabrics, good fit - neither for my MOB outfit! One is more like a dressy summer dress and the other is a black and beaded evening dress. Black isn't my colour but the dress fitted very nicely and comes with a wrap.

I then travelled on to Lancaster and visited Fabrix, as recommended by RuthieK. I didn't pick up any further wedding fabrics for practice but enjoyed looking around. The proprietor showed me a book of specialist wedding fabrics but I preferred the fabrics I saw in Harrogate. I bought a sample of a satin backed faux suede. One of the patterns I bought in Harrogate would look great with this type of fabric.

I also bought 3 metres of patterned viscose, no stretch. The colour here is as close as I could get it - grey and lilac.

I'm considering a shirt dress or similar, perhaps a wrap. I suit these,  or at least used to! It would also fit in with making the shirt for my course. Though I have a couple of actual shirt patterns.

I have a number of possible patterns but would be keen to have any recommendations. I don't plan to buy another pattern (eg Cashmerette’s Appleton dress) as surely I have one that will do! Here are my possible choices: Please chip in with any thoughts!!

This dress Butterick 5918 has no reviews at all on PR. The version I like has sleeves, no hip wrap and a slim skirt.

I like version C without the wrap at the upper hip - I don't need that!

McCall's (Palmer Pletsch) 5847. More of a shirtdress. Would this work in my print?

A wrap dress. DH doesn't think that my print would work for this one.

This is an old Vogue pattern 1424 dated 1994. Would this be better in a solid though? I'm thinking a slightly shorter version C.
I  love the look of this pattern. I'd have to size up a bit as the skirt part is probably 2 sizes too small..

I'd really appreciate some input, helping me decide if one of the above would work in my print - or making an alternative suggestion.

I'm getting back to actual sewing soon (after I complete my college homework assignment!)

Thank you!

Anne

Fabric and button shopping in Harrogate

First of all, I didn't get back to the YSL exhibition on Thursday - I'm afraid I ended up in the dentist's  chair. I've had a lot of problems with jaw pain on eating especially (unfortunately not leading to weight loss!). When it first happened my GP suspected temporal arteritis but a quick referral to hospital excluded that. I was given a diagnosis ultimately of 'TMJ syndrome' which,  as far as I'm concerned, it's just saying 'you get jaw pain!' There are a number of contributory factors. One of these was the tooth I had work on today. I've had problems with it but got an urgent appointment because a lump appeared and I  was worried. My dentist started root canal treatment as the nerve was dead but was unable to complete as I have narrow,  twisty  canals so I'm going to a specialist practitioner after the October holiday. I'm praying my jaw pain will subside. Anyway, that's why I missed my second dose of YSL.

Admittedly, I had also had too much travel and yet another day's traveling didn't appeal too much. Preferable to the dentist any day though! And I missed lunch and company. I gather the exhibition run has been extended so I need to consider whether to go again;  some of the others in my college course haven't been yet.

I met up with my friend Anne briefly on Sunday and we had planned to meet again, to continue our interrupted conversation on my way to the bridge weekend on Friday. Unfortunately she was called in to work. She suggested I travel on the Thursday night,  go to her house in the Lake District  for dinner and stay overnight and then continue my journey. This would have been nice but my course is on a Thursday evening;  it wasn't meant to be.

As I was no longer meeting Anne, I decided to cut down the travelling and miss out trips to fabric shops on the M6 route, which is a good bit longer than the A1 route to my destination. Also, I did not get good recommendations for the shop I had considered. I did get a recommendation for Fabrix in Lancaster but decided it wasn't worth taking the M6 on this occasion. Something to look forward to in the future!

Instead,  I decided I would go on with my plan to visit Duttons for Buttons in Harrogate and a couples of others that had been recommended. I have to cut off the A1 and bypass Harrogate to reach my destination so this didn't take me much or of my way, though the traffic in Harrogate is a bit of a nightmare.

So my plan, as I  write this on Thursday night, is Harrogate for lunch on Friday and some button and fabric fondling then down to my destination later in the afternoon at a leisurely pace. I'm an rhs member but won't have time to visit Harlow Carr. Maybe on the way back. And a visit to Betty's. There is a branch in Harlow Carr.

It's now Friday night and I've been to Harrogate, had dinner and played bridge this evening.

First stop in Harrogate was Duttons for Buttons. Lots of buttons! Other haberdashery too. I wanted to buy a particular type of metal button, if it's a button,  not sure, to cover a hole in a knit top. I'd only had it on once! I have quite a stash of buttons at home from a factory closure and have two that are ideal, except they don't quite match in tone. I didn't manage to find anything. They were very helpful and do mail order,  sending samples.

Next stop was Fine Fabrics of Harrogate. I liked this shop, beautiful fabrics and the proprietor was very helpful. I explained that I wanted some wedding type materials to practice on. We had a discussion and she advised me against using silk for the dresses,  feeling that the satin polyesters are excellent.

I must admit the fabrics she showed me were beautiful. I bought some white crepe backed satin and some duchesse satin (and I learned it's pronounced dutch-ess rather than doo-shess!). I also managed to buy some nice proper silk organza.

This is a proper fabric shop,  outside my experience. Following our discussion, I was recommended a couple of fabrics,  a faille and a stretch and it was amazing to have these shown to me in the sample books. I remember when I was young, we used to choose wallpaper from books like these. What's great is that these are reliable and repeatable fabrics.

Before I left, I had to buy some recently discontinued patterns at a great price....

I then visited both the Remnant Warehouse and White Rose Fabrics but came away empty handed. Really, I had already got what I wanted.

I may be back in Harrogate next month for the Knitting and Stitching Show. Fine Fabrics won't be there but the shop will be open and I may be ready by then,  having tested the fabrics I bought today, to return.

The Future is Here!

Now, I'm not a huge film buff but I really enjoyed the Back to the Future trilogy.

Even those who are not interested in films will be aware that today is 'Back to the Future' day - the day that Marty McFly travelled to 30 years into the future, a future as yet unwritten but where he had to travel to protect his as yet unborn children.

Today on the media there has been a great deal of speculation about what things had been anticipated 30 years ago and were now common place (quiet cars, for example), which things had been imagined but had never appeared (flying cars, for example) and which things had arrived without any pre-invention so to speak (smart and not-so-smart phones).

There are two things which have not arrived that I wish we had:

1. Marty has a jacket which regulates his temperature. Oh joy! I want one! I struggle with temperature regulation. Synthetic fabrics make this worse. Natural fabrics crush so easily. As we don't have Marty's jacket, I think that perhaps my only way forward is to use natural fabrics, appropriately underlined etc to reduce creasing. Or do you have a better way?
2. Doc uses a face mask which is brilliant and totally changes his face and complexion. I'd like one of these too! One that would get rid of all my wrinkles - and would actually do it unlike so many products which promise but don't produce.

Oh well, I can dream, can't I?

Poppies: Weeping Window and Wave

The day dawned bright and clear - a good day for visiting the Poppies: Weeping Window (and Wave) installation at Woodhorn Museum in Ashington just half an hour from our home. It closes on November 1st and I didn't want to miss it.

Weeping Window and Wave are from the installation Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red by Paul Cummins, Artist and Tom Piper, Designer and part of the 14-18-NOW WW1 Centenary Art Commissions.

Weeping Window is a cascade  is made up of 5200 individual ceramic poppies cascading 55 feet from the winding wheel of the No 1 Heapstead (built in 1897) to the ground below. ‘The Heapstead is an immediately recognisable symbol of the industrial heritage of the region and provides a dramatic new backdrop and context to the sculpture’ (source and reference - exhibition leaflet). Wave is a sweeping arch of bright red poppy heads suspended on towering stalks on the ground below.

The two sculptures mark the centenary of the outbreak of war and are now touring the country as part of the 14-18-NOW programme designed to prompt a new, nationwide dialogue around the legacy of the First World War. The original installation was considered temporary but have now been secured for posterity and will be displayed in the IWM North and IWM London in autumn 2018, after being on view at selected locations throughout the United Kingdom.

Originally I tried to buy a poppy when they were available prior to the main exhibition at the Tower of London in 2014  but I was too late. I did get to see the full installation there and it was terrific. Originally, these two sculptures were surrounded or came to be surrounded by a vast field of ceramic poppies, each one planted in memory of a British and Colonial soldier lost during the First World War. I was one of over 5 million visitors to the installation! Today I was able to be considerably closer to the poppies.

The original Weeping Window at the Tower of London

Of of the volunteer guides gave is that info and explained each of them had been allowed to plant a poppy. He offered us a pound of we could guess which one!

Woodhorn Colliery was a working mine during the two world wars and right up to the 80s. It played a major part in the war effort both for coal production and for supplying skilled miners for the front, many of whom lost their lives. A lot of it was demolished after closure. The rest has become a museum and there is a new visitor centre.

Parts of the colliery's heritage

The architectural roof of the visitor centre

My husband and I both had grandfathers who were miners in different parts of Scotland. I didn't know my grandfather who left the pits in Lanarkshire because of conditions there, I think, to move to the steel industry, so I don't know what role he played. He died of oesophageal cancer in 1961, I believe - I remember the policeman who came to our door to tell us - no phones in those days! He was born in 1882. He didn't want his son to go down the pits. Neither the mines not the steel industry survive.

David's grandfather, whom I did know, was a shot firer and shift manager in the mines of Ayrshire. On one occasion he was seriously injured and off work for several months after rescuing some miners from a runaway and derailed cart. No sick pay of course - and when he returned he was demoted for not stopping the other miners who were riding illegally.

It was a hard life and this museum showed what it was like in this area. Unfortunately, all too similar and the mines have disappeared here too (and like my home area so has shipbuilding, steel working and most heavy industry).

I'm not going into the politics of the industry. I'm sorry if you’re disappointed about that but this could be a whole treatise on its own. We do have thoughts and today remembered quite a few issues directly affecting our families.

I still hope to visit the part of the exhibition showing at The Yorkshire Sculpture Park, which finishes in January. That has a broader sculptural appeal.

I believe David may have bought me a scarf and pendant for my Christmas from the museum shop today. These have a poppy design. Obviously I can't show them.

This post hasn't been about sewing but somehow I thought it was relevant and also made me think about sewing - perhaps some of the stories of the miners' families encouraged that. I also remembered the quilts my grandmother made.

I have some wool jersey with a floral motif bought in London's Goldhawk Road and I'm trying to decide between using that and the lovely jacquard I bought last week in Dewsbury. With that, I had considered perhaps a cardigan and skirt if there was enough but David likes the idea of a dress better. The fabric is more or less two sided and he suggested a panelled dress using the darker side at the sides. What do you think?

I still haven't decided whether it's worth visiting Abakhan in Preston or Bombay Fabrics in Bradford, though I think I've decided against Bradford. I'm calling in for lunch on the way down to Clitheroe with a friend who lives inn the Lake District - a longer journey but a less congested and road-worked road and I see my friend. Do you think a trip from there might be worthwhile? Is Abakhan in Preston worth visiting?? My route passes fairly near. I'd really appreciate your advice! I think I've been to a fabric shop, not Abakhan though, in Preston previously and thought it was good, with a helpful proprietor, but wouldn't want to go back there on this occasion.

Preston or Bradford? Or neither?

This is my first time posting from my phone so I hope this works. I accidentally left my tablet in my daughter's house yesterday. We were staying there after we three plus my middle daughter had been at my youngest daughter's engagement party in London on Friday. We had a good time and met some people who will be at the wedding for the first time and met quite a few of Helen's school friends again as most of them are in London, though one of her friends travelled back from Greece (where she works) to go to the party.

On Saturday, David had to rush back home on an early train to get to his photography course but didn't set his alarm properly and A's phone went flat. He woke up and realised it was only 20 mins to his 6.30am train time but somehow, unbelievably, made it with time to spare - A drove him to the station in her pyjamas. He had to change trains at Stevenage but his second train broke down and after transferring to another where he couldn't use his laptop to do some course work  he ended up 90 mins late for his course but it worked out okay.

I was babysitting for my two grandsons after David left as A had to work for a couple of hours. They'd been at a sleepover the night before and were probably a bit tired after a midnight feast! A's husband got back from New York not long before I was due to leave and things were a bit chaotic. The boys were so excited to see their dad, who'd been away on business since Monday. We'd managed to take down his birthday present which he'd left behind in our house last time, so he was pleased about that. I didn't manage to attend any of the Sew Saturday events.

My train journey was uneventful, though I'm very tired today. I fitted in my flu injection on Thursday and am not sure how much impact that has had! I felt it at my golf match on Thursday and later at my class!

I still have quite a bit of travelling to do this coming week.
On Thursday I'm going back to the YSL exhibition at the Bowes with a group of ladies from sewing. It closes next weekend.
Friday to Monday I'm back in Yorkshire (I think it's Yorkshire -Clitheroe) for a bridge weekend.
My title -
I can travel to or from my venue via Harrogate so am likely to do that. Any Harrogate suggestions welcome. I'd like to visit Duttons for Buttons as I've never been there despite having visited Harrogate quite a few times.

At my destination, I'm not that far from either Preston (Abakhan) or Bradford (Bombay) though neither are on a direct route home. Would anyone recommend one over the other - I can't do both! Is it worth adding 30 mins to my journey time for Preston and more probably an hour for Bradford? David doesn't think so but I'm still looking for silks and satins and other bridal type fabrics at a good price for practice. I also need Illusion tulle and silk organza. Are either good for those types of things? I could of course do mail order! Or send Helen shopping in London.

Over the next few days I need to bring my course portfolio up to date and make a decent shirt sleeve placket sample (my first was rather poor) and a godet sample. Tonight, though, I am meeting an old friend who's passing through nearby.

Anyway - advice welcome!!

A Yorkshire Weekend

My plans for this weekend changed a bit.

My original plans were:

• Saturday - Travel on my own to Dewsbury (fabric shopping)
• Saturday afternoon - Visit Yorkshire Sculpture Park
• Book into guest house then go for dinner with fellow golfers at a different hotel
• Sunday - Next day travel to Oulton Hall for two day team fun golf event, staying overnight and having dinner there
• After golf, book back into guest house for two nights
• On Tuesday, go to tailoring exhibition in Leeds and meet friend for lunch and afternoon chatting and shopping
• On Wednesday, go to Northern AGM at Moortown GC; as secretary of our vets committee, I have a fair bit to take to this meeting
• Drive home on Wednesday after meeting

Initially, because of these plans, I travelled on my own rather than with a member of my team, who had offered me a lift. Then my other 3 team members decided not to travel down on the Saturday so I thought I was going to be on my own in the guest house;  we had a few teams though so I was going to go across to meet with the others for a meal on Saturday evening.

Unfortunately,  before I travelled, my friend cancelled our meeting. I had decided to stay on in order to meet her and also to visit the tailoring exhibition in Leeds. This was no longer attractive and I was able to cancel the extra hotel nights, so travelling home on Monday night; I had been offered a lift to the meeting on Wednesday, which I now accepted with gratitude. I could have changed to travelling on the Sunday with the others from my team but it was too late to cancel the guest house so I let it go.

Since then, though, the person who was giving me a lift has had a windscreen crack a foot long which won’t be repaired on time so I’m now driving back down to Leeds, tomorrow. At least I’m returning home on the same day. Also, I confess to being a poor passenger.

Saturday

I left home early, not to get to our golf destination and play a practice round as some of the others did,  but to get to Fabworks in Dewsbury which closes at 2pm  on a Saturday.

I drove through some pretty thick fog but the journey was okay, despite extensive roadworks.

Fabworks was great and I’ll return in the future.

I arrived in enough time to allow a good look around. I didn't get any silk organza or silk satin, as planned, as they only had silk chiffon (at a very good price but I didn't get any as it was all patterned). I did buy a lovely, fine dusky pink wool,  for a shirt dress, some printed ‘denim’ and a contrasting lighter piece of cotton, a sweater knit, fabric for a shirt and a bag of woollen fabric, paid for by weight. I haven't photographed the woollen fabrics - they're mainly grey and variants. I had said to one of my sewing buddies that I'd try to get some faux leather binding but I didn't see one that was suitable.. I could have bought a lot more but I did have to exercise some restraint! They're going to have a website soon so presumably it'll be possible to buy online. 

I then planned to 'pop' into Lucky Fashions and the market before going to visit Yorkshire Sculpture Park in the afternoon,  probably having a late lunch there. Quite an adventurous timetable. More so as I hadn't been able to find an actual address for Lucky Fashions but I did have the map provided by Ali of Thimberlina for a Yorkshire Spoolettes meetup, though the street wasn't named on the map. I’d also read the blog post by Love, Lucie, which included the map. Ali had also been kind enough to contact me when I said I might be going. She's also a golfer.

I got lost a bit on the way to the market area but then parked right outside a shop I'd heard about - £1 a Yard Fabrics.

 

I bought some shower proof wool and fabric (some of it Burberry, not photographed) and some linings. I liked this shop a lot. Good prices - though only the lining was £1, though that’s far cheaper than I usually pay. The patterned fabric is one of the shower proof fabrics, with a matching plain fabric. I haven't photographed the waterproof wool or the other two lining materials I bought.

I bought in metres. I had thought it was ‘the law’ to sell goods in imperial quantities but he told me a story about that - were the local bobbies going to stop McDonald’s trading for selling a ‘quarter pounder’? The owner, who told me that Dewsbury is a dying town and so is very interested in any business going his way, indicated he's happy to deal by mail,  sending samples and popping orders in the post. One of the linings I got was a plaid so that I could practice with that. I will return some day.

I had a wander through the market. I saw a couple of fabrics I liked but when I asked the price,  the stall holder offered to make me a complete (Indian type) outfit for £15. Obviously,  I didn't have time for that  but didn't get a price just to buy the fabric;  I guess it would have been inexpensive. A lot of the stalls sold Asian fabrics. I wasn't sure which of the fabric stalls was owned by Lucky Fashions;  I was going to ask the way to the shop.

I knew that the shop was close to Wetherspoons - well I found that I was parked near that - consulted the map - and I found I was parked just a few yards from Lucky Fashions! No pictures, Im afraid. This shop is only open on market days,  Wednesday and Saturday. I'm glad I found it as this was my favourite and the owner was extremely helpful. Yes,  I bought a few pieces - it's just as well I had the car, even if that was full of golf clubs, trolley, cases etc. I bought an Asian silk and a lace overlay in deep fuchsia pink, combination practice and garment for me, a couple of stretch laces for practice, a jacquard fabric, and a couple of other pieces for trousers and a tunic top. The plain navy is not in photo.

The owner has a policy that she treats customers the way she'd like to be treated; she was extremely helpful,  often suggesting I needed less than I had planned to buy and checking what I would make with a particular fabric, and my skill level. She gave me her details in case I ran into any problems. These are the fabrics I'm most excited about sewing.

I've posted a couple of photos in case anyone is interested. I do need to find a foolproof way to catalogue and store my fabric. The only photo I took the whole weekend was of a wild flower at Oulton hall!

The weather was still bit misty and overcast on Saturday afternoon, with some ominous black clouds, (which didn't come to anything) and I decided against going on to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park to see the Poppies. So I had a late lunch in Wetherspoons, which was very reasonably priced. Dewsbury may be dying but I found everyone very friendly and helpful.

By this time, I decided to make my way to my guest house. The plan was that I was going to meet some of the others for dinner in their hotel. I thought I'd have time to change etc. Well, as I drove into the car park, I was suddenly surrounded by kent faces - one of our other teams (of 4) was staying in the same place. So we went out for a meal in a local pub (on foot) and I was able to have a glass of wine as I cancelled my proposed drive to the Premier Inn. So that worked out very well.

Sunday/Monday

It’s all about the golf - end of season team event. Northern (Northumberland, Cumbria, Yorkshire, Lancashire, Durham, Cheshire) county Vets - that is, ladies of 50+.

We were very lucky with the weather. No rain. some sunshine, though cold on Monday.

Nice course

Nice company

Great chat

Great evening get-together

Good room

Good breakfast

My team did well on the second day, enough to win our internal Northumberland second day sweep (we had 6 teams of 4 entered) but not enough to have an overall place in the competition, though we were top of the leaderboard right until the end. That doesn’t matter, though, as it was about social golf.

We were out early on Monday so finished reasonably early.

On the way home I popped into an outlet centre but only bought a coffee and cake and 4 chocolate skeletons for my grandsons.

I confess I did try on 3 items - a dress, a top and a tunic, but none of them worked.

Because of my stop, I ran into some rush hour traffic but this wasn’t a huge issue.

David didn’t go crazy about the amount of fabric I bought!  I do need to get sewing though, otherwise I have enough fabric to outlive me. I still want to buy some practice fabrics for the wedding and some Pont Roma. I didn’t make it to the Knitting and stitching show at Alexandra Palace which was on this past weekend but I’m still trying to decide whether to go to the Harrogate event.

Tuesday

Recovery day!

And getting stuff ready for AGM tomorrow. Of course, I have to drive now, which I do find rather exhausting so early to bed it is tonight! I'm giving someone else a lift so won't be going to the tailoring exhibition tomorrow - I may have to take a train trip down.