Finds & Fabric

Yesterday my friend and I took a trip to the west end of Glasgow to peruse some of their charity shops. It had been months since I last did that so I was looking forward to wandering about. Initially, the visit was really disappointing. All the shops we went to seemed a bit sanitised - everything arranged by colour, the stock mostly comprising Primark or other cheap high street items and even new things on sale. I ask you, who goes to a charity shop to buy new things?! Very uninspiring.

I know others share such views on charity shops, ( Lucy on her blog), and sadly these type of shops seem to be becoming more widespread. I think the real crux of the issue is that shops can only sell what they have been given, and due to the current fondness for cheap fashion they have to make the best of what they've got, which is a real shame. As much as I enjoy a trawl of charity shops and am happy to visit frequently and rake through the stock, these trips seem to yield less and less, making me wonder if I would be better to turn my attention to the more reasonably priced items in antique and curio shops, and to the Internet.

However the one beacon of decent second hand shopping is the fantastic Salvation Army shop on Dumbarton Road. I've bought a few things here over the years, including both our beloved sideboards. I had a great time rummaging through a big pile of bed linen and other fabrics and came away with 3 hand embroidered tablecloths, a 70s looking souvenir printed tablecloth from New Zealand, a woven linen cloth and a piece of scrap fabric in mustard/gold, all for £4!

Three hand embroidered tablecloths

Not only that, but I had a great chat with a couple of older ladies who were also rummaging through the pile, who were making suggestions of what I could do with the cloths, such as making a Swedish style blouse or some curtains!

After that, we headed to look at some of the small antiques shops on Byres Road, and I came away with a pair of 50s style soup bowls in a gorgeous teal blue;

The shop I found them in is a bit of a tip, with piles of dusty glassware, ceramics and trinkets everywhere. The bowls weren't labelled with a price and I made an attempt to barter with the shop owner but he wasn't having any of it and his manner made me feel rather embarrassed for having even tried it. If I hadn't liked the bowls so much I think I wouldn't have bought anything from him! Still £5 for the pair is pretty good I think.

After yesterday's shopping trip I will be spending today doing some sewing. My Croft Mill fabric arrived swiftly on Thursday, the day after my last post, and it has now been washed and ironed. The needlecord is even nicer than I hoped - really soft and fine.

I also purchased the fabric for my Advance 7968 dress;

It is a beautifully soft cotton shirting from Mandors in an off-white and navy stripe with lighter blue diamonds. I spotted it on my last visit and when I went in again I decided that I had to have it. Never mind that the colours are totally different from those on my palette for the Colette challenge, that I'm a little nervous about matching stripes or that I fear the stripes might look a bit dazzling, I decided to press on regardless. I think this dress is going to be quite slow to make so do bear with me, I will produce it eventually!

K x