As you will notice from reading my blogs I have a soft spot for vintage, upcycling, repurposing, reworks and the lot. Today was one of those days I decided to go vintage hunting. On route I was distracted by Traid; they are a charity shop passionate about reducing waste, carbon emissions and consumption.
Their highlight is, their aim to enhance working environments and systems in the textile industry. In addition, they educate the public on the knock-on effects of these industries on the environment. We all should play our part by making sustainable decisions.
But of course, I did not notice the huge sale signs on the windows. You know how it feels like when you get into a shop with sales and you can barely get to the clothes dues to the stampede of fellow customers? Thank God It was mid-week; imagine a relaxed shopping browse ooh yes. Whilst riffling through, just from the corner of my eye I spotted this luxurious purple velvet sticking out from the rail on my left.
Walked over to it, my heart racing, I pulled it out and noticed it was a pair of large gorgeous velvet curtain fabric; checked the price and couldn’t believe the bargain. Then I noticed more pieces on the rail; as we all do, I piled on a mound on my skinny arm hobbling to the counter, the chatty assistant looking amused and supportive folded the items neatly, tallied my receipt and I was out of there before I could change my mind.
Note that these fabrics go for 3 to 4 times the price per meter in the shops. I was super excited to get more than a meter for ¼ the price per meter. On route, in the train, on my way home mind was racing with ideas. As I was staring into empty space smiling I realised this guy staring at me assuming I was smiling and smitten by him or something. In my head I was thinking “no love, I have with me some lovely fabric that I cannot wait to sew”.
Time to get creative; looking forward to sharing with you some ‘Produit Fini’, and you can let me know what you think.
Also, just want to let you know that Traid as a charity- believe in Zero waste and their projects ensure just that. They have over 1500 charity clothes banks which they turn into beautiful sale items. They are in 191 boroughs and districts in the UK.
UPDATES:
Have a look at the designs I came up with for this fabric: – HERE