I’ve had this pattern hanging around for a while now, so when I wandered down Walthamstow market, I thought I’d keep an eye out for a suitable fabric to make the Cynthia Rowley 2472.
It took me a long time to decide if I was going to buy this silk. I walked away from the stall twice, but kept finding myself drawn back. Slowly, slowly, catchey monkey, the stallholder must have been thinking, watching my machinations.
Why was I hesitating? Well, I’m all for strong prints and bold colours (love ’em!) but this was a way strong print and an uber bold colour. Too much? In the end, I buckled and bought two and a half metres for £12. It should have been £12.50, but I haggled. Stop that laughing at the back! That 50p I saved could buy me a metre of knicker elastic! How very dare you suggest my haggling is dire. He threw in an extra quarter metre of the silk that had a chunk cut out of it. Great, I thought. What am I meant to do with that? Then I came across Colette Patterns’ very latest scarf post. Maybe…
The dress looks as simple to make as a sack, but reading reviews makes me think the fitting could be more of a challenge to my thunder thighs than a loose tunic at first suggests. I’m going to make a muslin toile. Yeah, get me and my careful makes!
As the blog title suggests, I also need to do some mending. I recently wore my Simplicity 2512 skirt to a meeting in Oxford. City of dreaming spires – and broken skirts, as it turns out. Right at the end of the day, as I was getting ready for bed, I climbed out of my clothes and let out a wail of despair:
Skirt, you let me down.
I truly love this skirt. What a shame the hem on the back panel had come loose, what with all that sitting down and standing up I do. It’s an easy enough repair job, but be warned out there! Make sure your skirt hems are indestructible, if following this pattern.
Finally, all Sewists need sustenance. Which meant I could barely contain myself when I spotted a new nan bakery had opened up on the market. Imagine the sights and smells of fresh nan bread on an extremely cold day:
They even let me duck under the counter and photograph the clay oven:
Yum!
Then they threw me out for getting in their way.
Yum! The bread does look tasty.
I think the silk you chose will look great made up as Simplicity 2472, and £12 is a bargain!
Right that’s it, I MUST come on a pilgrimage to E17!
I LOVE that fabric. I need to come fabric shopping on your side of the world – there is no way we would get 2.5m of silk for that price over here in Australia.
You are an intrepid market shopper indeed! I wouldn’t have dared ask to look inside the oven – but so glad you did because now I know what it looks like! Mmm I can almost smell that nan! And fab material too – get stitching, girl!
I’ve been thinking of buying that pattern, can’t wait to see how you get on.
What Tilly said! Seriously though, my friend Alysa and I are planning a visit to Walthamstow Market in January, with the hope of meeting your good self so I’ll be in touch anon to sort that out 🙂
Woah – Roisin and Tilly. We have to organise a meet up. Let me know what your plans are, Roisin, and we’ll take it from there.
That would be awesome, Karen. I’ll have a chat with Alysa and we’ll take it from there! x
Beautiful fabric for your new dress. So sorry to hear about your skirt. Did it mend ok?