Birmingham Meet up

Well, I had a busy weekend that was spent north of Oxford in Birmingham and then Sheffield. You'll only want to know about the Birmingham part I'm sure, as I went on my first ever blogger meet up. If you have been thinking about joining one, go - it was so much fun!

We all gathered at Birmingham New Street Station and were presented with a rosette, hand crafted of course! It was such a nice start to the day. 

First stop was Barry's Fabric Superstore. It was a little overwhelming at first as there are fabrics everywhere you look. I didn't get any photos but if you pop across to Marie's post you can see what I mean. I was reasonably restrained here, buying fabric for a lining replacement, a new ironing board cover (above) and a top. 

Lunch at Cafe Soya was delicious and much needed. As we left Barry's for the short walk to the restaurant the heavens opened and we got completely soaked. It rained so hard that I thought it was hailing at one point! I enjoyed chatting away over lunch about all things sewing and slowly drying out. Before I knew it, the swap was upon us. Wow, there was a lot to choose from! I took a couple of pieces of fabric and a couple of patterns and swapped them for two smaller pieces of fabric. 

Time for more shopping! We had an hour in the rag market and I wasn't so restrained. I found suiting fabric for £2.50-£3 per metre and snaffled them up in a variety of colours. The green will become shorts and the others could be trousers, skirts or jackets. I love having the freedom to choose! 

I also picked up this beautiful eyelet which I'll pair up with a deep purple silk habotai to make a dress, possibly a ceylon. What do you think?

Nearly all of my new buys have been washed and I'll have to add them to my newly organised stash - which has grown rather a lot more than I anticipated! I also have new blogs to explore and will be adding them to my reader shortly. Thanks again to Kat, Marie and Claire for organising such a fantastic day. I'll definitely be signing up for other meets.