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I’ve been bad…
I accidentally went fabric shopping yesterday:
No…
…actually that is a shameless lie…
I went out at lunchtime yesterday specifically to check out Arthur Toye‘s 50% off everything (EVERYTHING!) fabric sale and spent a bit more than I intended to.
I would have spent even more if it weren’t for the fact that I only get 30 minutes for lunch.
But aren’t they so pretty?!
Still, when they halve the total at the checkout you can’t complain right?
Accidental Fabric Shopping Wednesday
I had a headache all day at work yesterday, you know the kind that continues to over stay its welcome even after your second set of panadol for the morning? Yeah, one of those. So by lunchtime I was dying to get out for some fresh air and Wellington put on a beautiful day hinting at an amazing soon-to-arrive summer.
There are two things I absolutely love about the lead up to summer in Wellington. Firstly we get days like yesterday, secondly (and most importantly) all the winter fabric goes on special 
So I only intended to wander down to the end of Lambton Quay and back but before I knew it I was standing outside Arthur Toye and their ‘5 – 50% off sale’ sign.
Well, when you’ve made it that far you may as well go the rest of the distance and here’s what I took back to the office.
Oops
This wool stripe (80% wool/20% polyester) is warm but light weight and will be perfect for another Esther or similar to see me to the end of spring.
I’ve been thinking of making another JJ blouse and this 100% cotton will be perfect, blue and pink is such a sweet colour combination!
Curious Husband recently suggested that I take a good look at the items I’ve made that I love to wear often and recreate new versions of those. I hardly ever make more than one of any pattern, JJ, Kasia and Jenny are probably the only exceptions, yet I often think after finishing a successful item that I would like to re-make it. Sometimes you don’t know until you’ve had to live with it for a few months, do you?
So if I had to pick a top 3, items that I LOVE and wear over and over they would be:
- My JJ – both of them actually, the fit of this pattern is amazing and with or without the ruffles it’s a great blouse pattern…and it’s free, go get it!
- My Jenny skirt – this one usually, this one less often, I think because the first one is more neutral and goes with everything, it also fits really well and I think it’s quite flattering.
- My Stitches Asymmetrical Folds Skirt always attracts a compliment and the a-line shape makes it comfy to sit in all day long. I can wear it with boots and tights or heeled sandals in warmer weather.
So that’s a pretty good list to start with and these items that I am familiar with and can probably make pretty quickly while tackling the longer term projects.
So curious readers, tell me, what are your top three patterns that you make over and over again, why do you like them so much?
There will be a post involving sewing this weekend, promise…
Craving Coffee & Fabric
I have some more fabric shops to share with you that I didn’t get a chance to visit before I got impatient and published my draft of the first three, I didn’t want you guys to think I’d forgotten about you
A few more days after my last fabric shopping trip I headed up to Palmerston North to visit my Dad and help him with his tux selection. Of course a google search turned up another Morelands store and I figure if I’m going to be driving for 1.5 hours I may as well indulge myself and see how this shop stacked up against their Lower Hutt outlet before the return trip back to ‘Welly’. Most Kiwis might consider a day trip to ‘Palmy’ North a tad too far but having lived in WA for so long (where everything is a minimum 30 minute drive away) it’s really quite a short trip for me. It’s interesting how your perceptions can change no? Palmerston North is a short deviation off SH1 via SH57, you can drop by on your way north for a lunch break and quick fabric fix.
Morelands Fabric Outlet Palmerston North
517A Main Street
Palmerston North 4410
Well I was a bit disappointed to find a note on the door announcing that the shop wouldn’t be open until 1:30pm that day since this store is twice the size of their Upper Hutt version. I couldn’t hang around until then but that didn’t stop me fogging up the glass as I gazed through the windows. I’d like to go back but I probably won’t get the chance this trip. The selection looked very good and the half-price sale signs called to me but I really had to get back to Wellington and lodge our “Intention of Marriage” form.
With two weeks to go until the big day the nerves were building and I was seriously craving a good Wellington coffee…oh and some more fabric 
With a bit if spare time after visiting the florist in the city I popped by another store I was already familiar with. They have relocated since my visit here last year and there was a small moment of panic as I walked up to their very empty old tenancy but a relocation sign sent me a bit further down Willis street and into their new larger shop:
Arthur Toye
The Grand Arcade
16 Willis Street
Wellington
04 473 6942
Mon – Thurs 9am – 5.30pm, Fri 9am – 7pm, Sat 10am – 5pm
http://www.arthurtoyefabrics.co.nz/
My previous experiences at Arthur Toye have been a bit hit and miss but their new store is absolutely brimming with fabric and another 50% off all stock sale! Their selection was huge and interesting, well laid out and well labelled.
A quick duck into the BNZ Centre (famous for being Wellington’s ugliest building) for some lunch and I stumbled upon Sherazad.
Sherazad
BNZ Centre
B1 No. 1 Willis Street
Wellington
0508 333 333 (toll free)
www.sherazad.co.nz
Map (ignore the photo on the google map, that’s the Old Bank Arcade, not the BNZ Centre)
What a find! Specialising in all kinds of silks from bridal to the exotic this store is amazing. Prices varied but the quality was excellent. There were a few cottons and other blends but mostly you’ll have your breath taken away by the absolute beauty of the fabrics and whether you can afford them or not it’s worth a visit.
Fabrics Direct
97 Ghuznee Street
Wellington
04 385 6767
I’m afraid I can’t say much about this store as I only spotted it as I was heading home and went for a quick look but unfortunately they were closed. Google seems to think they are in Newtown so perhaps they have moved or have opened this CBD store aswell. I did peak in the window though and there seemed to be an interesting collection of fabric bolts, I will definitely have to go back for a better look. If anyone else has been in please let me know what you thought.
I have decided that not only does Wellington have great coffee, they have great fabric stores too! This is by no means a complete list of fabric shops in Wellington, there are also two quite good Spotlights and plenty of other smaller independent stores which I have yet to discover but based on the above I think Wellington sewers can count themselves very lucky.
Wonderfully Creative Wellington ♥
Tucked down in the bottom corner of the globe sit two islands inventively named ‘North’ and ‘South’ which make up New Zealand. Don’t let the simple names fool you, New Zealand is a country rich in culture, creativity and immense beauty.
I am biased of course. For those of you who are new around here I currently live in Perth, Western Australia but originally come from Wellington.
Wellington is the creative capital (and the actual capital) of New Zealand and I love my city. That’s where I am right now, organising the final preparations for my wedding and enjoying spending time with my family and friends. While I enjoy living in Perth it isn’t home and in the near future (we’re talking a couple of years away) I hope to return to New Zealand. I have mixed emotions about the shift, I know it’s going to be quite stressful and emotional and I’ve made so many wonderful friends in Perth. But home is where the heart is and my heart never really left Wellington. An added bonus (if I do end up in Wellington) is that there is not yet a Burda Style Sewing Club set up there and I am more than happy to put my effort into starting another one of those and slip right back into Wellington’s cultural heartbeat.
Righty oh, enough ‘ifs’ and ‘whens’, on to some sewing: After a busy first week I took a half day off as a reward and did a little recon of some fabric stores. Perth does OK in terms of fabric shopping* (they do pretty well actually, but you know, ‘the grass is always greener’ and all that) and I’ve done the Melbourne CBD rounds so I thought I’d see how Wellington stacks up in a little trans-Tasman Battle of the Fabric Stores.
(*I’ll do a post on Perth shops when I get back on 2011)
You might be surprised at how limited my Wellington fabric shopping knowledge is but I’ve been away for 6 years and previously I experienced the streets of Wellington as a poor design student so for this trip home I am enjoying looking through very different eyes.
In my crappy little Toyota Echo/Yaris hire car first up I gunned it out of Lower Hutt:
Morelands Fabric Outlet/Fabric Barn Lower Hutt
195 High Street,
Lower Hutt
I’ve never been to this shop ever, I don’t even know if it existed in my Wellington sewing days but it’s a nice sized shop with some interesting fabrics of reasonable quality although a bit lacking in the labelling department. Down the back I found discounted wools (some really nice weaves) and some cute printed flannelette, obviously winter stock they want to move on for Summer, but the entire store was also on sale with 50% off all fabrics and trims. Speaking of trims there was a nice little selection of them too. Don’t let my lack of purchase put you off, I am trying to keep a firm handle on my fabric shopping until I use up some of my stash in 2011. This shop is definitely worth a drive out to see with plenty of free 2 hour street parking (but please check the signs).
The Fabric Warehouse
25 Hutt Road
Pipitea 6035
Wellington
04 473 8150
Now I know this store has been around a while and I made a couple of purchases during my visit last year. If I return to Wellington this store will definitely be one of my regulars and a favourite along with Global Fabrics (see below). The parking is limited and getting back out onto the main road is a bit of a headache at the wrong time of day but their fabric selection is impressive, all well labelled and of excellent quality. When I was there last year they were having a secret 2 day only sale so I’ll have to work out how to get on that mailing list! I let my guard down and came away with a beautiful 100% printed silk, 2 meters will either make a nice dress or skirt and something else. There were plenty of other fabrics that I’d have happily splurged on (and may go back for) but I had one more stop in mind to finish off my afternoon.
Global Fabrics
15 Garrett Street
Te Aro 6011
Wellington
04 801 8887
Mon-Thurs 10am-5pm, Fri 10am-5:30pm, Sat & Sun 10am-4:30pm
http://www.globalfabrics.co.nz/
When I got back from my Melbourne trip and started writing a blog post about their shops I visited the Fabric Stores website and was really excited to see they had links to their NZ stores which are known as Global Fabrics. So this was my first visit to this store and on first impressions as I parked outside it didn’t look very big but inside the store is actually a ‘u’ shape which hugs a coffee shop that you can access from the fabric store. Wellingtonians love their coffee. This shop is on par and perhaps even slightly better than their Melbourne counterpart. With two whole tables devoted to NZ Merino wools and a small selection of beautifully printed swimsuit lycra the staff are friendly and knowledgable and all the fabrics (of which there are plenty) are well labelled and beautifully laid out. I accidentally bought 1.5m of a really cute lycra which was labelled as Zimmerman and a stripped knit just because…and another visit is probably on the cards aswell
Accidental fabric purchases: 100% silk, striped knit and 'Zimmerman' lycra
There are a couple of other stores I didn’t get to but I’ll be sure to catch those next time I am out and about and needing a fabric hit, keep your eyes open for another post.
UPDATE: Check out part two of this post here.
