Fabulous Fabrics

Greetings, oodlers.  Hope this week has been good to you so far; mine has been pretty good and to top it off, I’m away for a long weekend on Friday.

I took a trip, with my good friend, Lesley, through to Mandors on Sunday.  Mandors is a fantastic fabric shop in Glasgow -  those of you who know me in person, know I’m not much of a shopper, but I could seriously spend all day in there.  I was lucky enough to have an itison voucher, which saved me some money but still spent a fair bit (and could have spent way, way more!).

Would you like to see what I got?  If not, please look away now, because I’m going to show you anyway.

First I got this gorgeous (and very expensive) wool crepe.

The photo doesn’t really do it justice.  The feel of it is amazing and I can’t wait to make my 1950s stole from Decades of Style using it.

I also got this fabulous tulle with large velvet spots and some nude lining:

This is going to end up as a party skirt (my favourite item of clothing).

What do you think of this atlas oilcloth?

I think it will make a great weekend bag.  I’ll be using the weekend bag pattern from The Bag Making Bible by Lisa Lam.

Finally, some fabric for cushions:

I’m hoping these will be perfect with our sofa – they certainly seem to go well together in the photo.

So, my wallet may be lighter, but I’m really looking forward to using these fabrics to make (hopefully) wonderful creations.  The reason I am so keen to learn dressmaking is to have really well cut clothes in beautiful fabrics, not to save money.  I really want to move away from quantity and end up with a few really good quality pieces.

What skill do you want to learn in 2012, and why?

Lisa xoxo

A Bit of Burlesque

It’s been an eventful few days here in Oblibbyland – I now understand how my parents felt when they used to tell me time flies by as you get older.  Of course, when I was 7 or 8 I didn’t believe them, but these days I seem to blink and it’s 4 days later, and weekends just seem to be the shortest 2 days of the week.

On Thursday, Sigrid, Lesley and I started a Burlesque for Beginners class, taught by the inspiring, talented and fabulously funny Gypsy Charms from www.burlesqueandcabaret.com.  It was at our local town hall and I have to say, I’m well impressed with Falkirk Council for putting this on.  My only disappointment is that the classes only run for 5 weeks.

I was back at the town hall on Saturday with Fee, after popping into Sumo for some pre-theatre sushi…

…this time to see Circus of Horrors.  We had heard about their Fringe shows, so were excited to discover they were coming to town.  We must have managed to get virtually the last 2 tickets, which just happened to be in the front row.  The show was great, a bit like Cirque de Soleil meets Rocky Horror, but obviously on a smaller scale.

On Sunday, we did a craft fair as Ootemiso, our banner name.  It went okay, but I think in future we’ll stick to doing the Tryst Craft Fairs ones, as their timings suit us better and we liked that they have lots of variety, yet everything is hand-made.  I did however get a chance to try out my  new display idea, which I think looks really good .

’til next time…

Time for tea

I thought I’d show you this gorgeous vintage china cake stand my lovely friend, Jo, gave me for Christmas.  She made it herself and it’s so fabulous it makes me want to bake loads of cakes and scones.  In fact, I may just have to get some jam and clotted cream at the weekend and have a cream tea, using some of my loose leaf teas from Eteaket (my favourite tea shop).

On the craft front, I’m just beginning to get my motivation back after feeling poorly.  We have a craft fair on Sunday and I don’t have as much stock as I’d like, but I’m sure between Lesley, Sigrid and I, we’ll have enough stuff.  Progress with my Belle Ruffle wristwarmers has been slow – it’s definitely showing that it has been a long time since I knitted on 5 needles (I think I was 7 or 8 the one and only time I did it, and even then it may only have been 4 needles).  I’m now on “take 3″:

It was also my first time knitting on a circular needle, which took a little getting used to.  I’m now at the stage where I’m ready to transfer to my 4 needles.

On the fashion front, last week joined Polyvore – OMG what a time sapper that is, but so much fun; I am so looking forward to making new boards, hopefully with some clothes I actually own (and maybe even ones I make, once I learn how to photograph them properly for this).  I must limit my time there though, as I am looking forward to making lots of things in the next wee while.  I’m off fabric shopping next weekend, so will make something from my Sew What! Skirts book.

I’m looking forward to hearing about everyone’s crafty makes and bakes.

Speak soon

Lisa xoxo

p.s. thought I’d better put a little disclaimer here, after finding out about affiliate links.  I don’t use these – any things or places I link to are places I use, love and want to share with you all