Aloha friends! I survived our great European adventure. Now I shall taunt you with some of the spoils of my travels. For all cotton fabric lovers out there, you need hear only one word…Liberty.
You don’t have to hang out long in the fabric-obsessed world to hear about Tana Lawn fabrics from Liberty of London. The finest cotton I’ve ever laid my hands upon, it is somewhat rare and always expensive in the US. The prints are iconic in the UK, classic and beloved.
When planning our European trip that included London, you KNOW that a long stop at Liberty was on my must-do list. Right up there with Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey.
Oops! Off on a tangent. Anyhoo…we found the Liberty store, and a special feeling came over me. A feeling like I had returned to my homeland. Thankfully, they had wifi, so the Mr. plopped into the comfy husband chair and I meandered. I touched every piece of fabric in their incredible fabric and haberdashery department.
And then I bought some fabric. This is going to make an amazing dress. By now I had also gained a co-conspirator, Koh Chow. We meandered together. Koh Chow would take each fabric, lay it out on the cutting table, and fold it in an origami-type fashion to visualize the type of garment I wanted to make. My new BFF.
Then I bought some more fabric. You know that if you have 3 meters of fabric you can make anything. AND have pieces left over for quilting. Just sayin.’
Koh Chow folded this into a blouse. I don’t usually go for delicate, but holy cow this is pretty!
I wanted to make sure the haberdashery department got a fair shake. So I bought some pre-made bias tape, a little bag kit, a fabric roll…
Fabric for another dress, charm squares…
They even have pretty shopping bags. I was in heaven. The Mr. was on the internet. Koh Chow had a good sales day. All was right with the world.
We got into London on the morning that the new little Royal was born. While we were at Buckingham Palace, they put up the birth announcement.
We were among the first to see it, and it was only up for about 3-4 hours. It was so cool to be there for a historical event! And I’m an Anglophile, so anything Britishy or Royally is right up my alley.
I also managed to buy some smaller pieces of Liberty fabrics at a few other little shops into which I wandered in Ireland.
It’s nice to be back, I hope some of you missed me. My sewing room beckons, as does a new little friend in my life…
handmade by Carole Carr 