Are you passionate about sewing? Will you go out of your way to visit a sewing store or buy fabric from somewhere you were told was a great place to shop? I sure know how I would answer these questions!
I recently went to London to visit my family and decided that I really wanted to visit areas of London which are known as places to see if you sew or are interested in buying fabric and sewing supplies. I did my research ahead of time (I follow several good UK sewing blogs and websites & quickly got the scoop of where to look at fabric in London). So I made my list: The Berwick Street area of Soho, the Goldhawk Road and a certain street market in Walhamstow High Street (right out on the end of one of the London tube lines) with one particular stall called The Man outside Sainsburys (TMOS). Karen of “Did you make that? “ blog speaks often about TMOS and how she buys great fabric from him at excellent pricing. I found this to be true……
The Man outside Sainsburys where I purchased several lovely pieces of fabric: scuba and more. Despite very inclement weather that day, I persevered and shopped for fabric while the water dripped down the back of my neck!
More fabric choices from TMOS
After this little shopping expedition, my hubby and grandson were dragged along to my next stop: I left them warm and dry inside a MacDonalds and walked over 2km (more than got my steps in that day?!) to a store called Sew Over It that I had heard about. It is a Janome store as well as offering fabric, sewing supplies, sewing lessons and the book and sewing patterns under the Sew Over it label. I bought some lovely fabric here, some of which I have already made into a fabulous infinity scarf….which sure beats the usual boring vacation souvenirs in my opinion……Pics in a later post on Infinity scarves.
Sew Over It has a few stores – this was one of them tucked in a part of London I had never seen before. All I had was the GPS on my phone and …….the power of determination. Some will think me quite mad…… but I had a blast. Gotta be passionate about something to go to these lengths!
Lisa Comfort of Sew Over It store and book fame.
Janome UK machine model that was being used in the Sew Over It classroom where a class was taking place while I visited. I asked permission to take pics of the store which was graciously given.
Some of the lovely goodies on display at Sew Over it.
I could have spent much more money but the exchange rate and space in my suitcase prevented me from doing so.
On another, less rainy day, we got our steps in walking up & down the Goldhawk Road and the Berwick Street area – both areas are very different in types of stores and price of fabrics. I found a lovely piece of scuba print…..not sure yet what I will make with it. So the fun part of choosing a pattern, cutting out the fabric and sewing up new garments awaits me.
What do you do for fun during your vacation? Are you passionate and determined to achieve what you set out to do? Mmmmm……this time I got it right!
Janome Life 