Fortified with bacon sarnies, I had a great time at the Textile Fair. I got there for 10am and it wasn't too busy so I could have a good look at everything. The stalls with vintage clothes were amazing, christening gowns, tea dresses, cotton shifts and fab hats all in excellent condition. I've always wanted an old sampler but as they are about 500 quid I'll be wanting for a bit longer I think. There were quite a few stalls with old lace, ribbon and findings, stalls with old books about every sort of needlecraft you could think of and also some stalls with people selling items they had made from salvaged fabrics and quilts. If you get the chance to go I would really recommend it, the second one of the year will be in September.
Over the years I have bought some lovely quilts there, hand worked and well preserved but the prices for these have risen dramatically too. My favourite one is white, heavily quilted and came originally from the North East. I bought it about 10 years ago at the Textile Fair with some money I inherited when my Grandma died.
I managed to bring a few things home with me - mainly from the rummage boxes labelled ' everything £1'!
The best buy is not in the photo as it was in the washer, a halfmade patchwork quilt in shades of blue
I've used the embroidery threads already
I need to get some sewing done to use up at least some of the fabric I've bought recently!