Melbourne Fabric Finds! @ Clegs and Rathdowne Fabrics

Well I did have great plans of doing some street photography and maybe a review or two of some of my favourite Melbourne fabric stores but instead I just hung out with my daughter and enjoyed her company for most of the time I was in Melbourne!

I did get one day to myself as my daughter had to work :( ... but ... that meant I got to my favourite fabric stores and a new one too - just didn't take any photos of the store - to be honest I was pretty exhausted the whole time I was over there - I think my body is still not quite 100% - that infection really knocked me about!

So I went to Rathdowne Fabric & Remnants and I have to say that the staff were extremely friendly - they felt like old friends, the service is wonderful! If I lived in Melbourne they would be old friends as I would be there ALL the time! But, yes there's a but ... I didn't think there were any great bargains or any especially interesting/different fabrics to what I can get at my local Textiles Traders just down the road. When I am in Melbourne I will definitely visit the store again if I have free time but I wouldn't go to Melbourne just to visit the store and buy fabric! That said I did find and buy some fabric for my upcoming Chanel Jacket project.


Its a piece from a Carla Zampatti collection - a polyester blend with a feel like wool, open weave, soft, lovely feel. It has a foil print over the loose weave fabric which should help to keep the edges from fraying so much when I work with it. The foil print gives it a silvery sheen on a black and with weave - I really like it! 

Up close ...

And the trim I bought to go with it ($1/m - absolute bargain!) I will use a a white or silver grosgrain ribbon underneath it.

The fabric was $20/m and is 150cm wide - I bought 1.6m - I hope its enough, I think I should have bought 2m but I was worried about fitting it in my carry on bag - I didn't want to deal with luggage on the plane unless I found something so irresistible I just had to have it - which I didn't!

I did visit Tessuti - love that store - didn't buy anything as I thought (wrestling with check in lines and luggage at the airport on my mind) anything I like I can buy online and have it posted. I did like a lot of fabric at Tesuti but nothing that stood out as a must have - not forgetting I am 'trying' to save for a trip to Paris in July (flights and accommodation booked and paid for) where there will be much fabric shopping!

I then moved on to Clegs - I love, love, love this store - Australia's oldest fabric store - I would fly to Melbourne just to visit this store - and they have beautiful wool and knitting patterns too! They did have some particularly gorgeous and seriously large ply wool I would love to have bought and crocheted a 1950s cardigan from - but that 'luggage wrestle' was in the fore-front of my mind the whole time! However there was a fabric I couldn't resist and because Clegs online store isn't that great (if you know what's in store and call them they will send you whatever you want - they're great like that) but online purchases not so great!

This mechanical stretch was just too beautiful to not buy - I'm thinking a wiggle dress (summer or winter I'm not sure - leave me a comment with what you think).

   

the print is quite big - but not overpowering

The colours!

And the flowers - love! Its a laser print on cotton stretch 150cm wide - I bought 2m @ $19.95 (a beautiful, one of a kind, perfectly fitting couture dress for 40bux - can't beat that, right?)

So leave me a comment - winter or summer wiggle ... I wonder does anyone read this blog or am I writing to myself???