This weekend I visited Leon’s
Fabric Superstore (http://www.leonsfabrics.co.uk/)
on a recommendation from a woman at my evening class. Armed with my Google maps directions I set
off in the direction of Chorlton and found the store quite easily, only a short
distance out from Manchester City centre.
When I got inside I thought to myself what a true Aladdin’s cave it was...floor
to ceiling there is every type of fabric you could want! Despite the impressive range of carnival and
wool fabrics that were tempting me, I managed to stay on the straight and
narrow and look for what I went in for!
I had recently joined a trial
subscription of Sew Today magazine (http://sewtoday.co.uk/)
and fell in love with several of the patterns from February’s (2012) issue. The patterns are half price when you’re a
member so I went a bit mad and bought four.
When they arrived I was quite surprised they were the patterns I had
ordered as the pictures on the front of some of them look very old
fashioned!
 |
| This is the cover image on V8727 and opposite is how Sew Today showed the pattern in February's issue |
Nevertheless I found some lovely fabric at Leon’s for two of my dresses. The first is a lovely lace for McCalls M6505 and the second is a duchess satin for McCalls M6508. If you live in the Manchester area (Birmingham also has a Leon’s store) I would highly recommend a visit to Leon’s as they have a wider variety of fabrics than Abakhan and the staff are wonderfully helpful.
Next week I am taking a rest from
day to day goings on and venturing further north for a reunion with my
University house mates. I have been
looking forward to it for a few weeks now, not just to catch up with my friends
(it’s been 9 months since we all graduated from Lancaster University), but also
for the fabric shops!
Hidden away in a quiet part of
the City is a Liberty of London factory shop where they print the fabrics ready
for transporting to the capital. I
discovered the factory shop when my University time was drawing to a close but I never actually got to go in. From
memory this was due to the shop shutting quite early on the weekend so this
time I am prepared for the early morning spee!
I will be going armed with pattern V8727 (pictured above) to try and find
a printed silk charmeuse.
I also plan on visiting the
fabric shop where I bought the ‘English Rose’ dress fabric. No doubt there will be lots of other gorgeous
prints to tempt me.
There will be plenty of pictures
to follow of my Lancaster trip and the Liberty shop so watch this space!
I was just curious if you have completed the McCall's pattern M6508. I am currently working on this particular pattern and I am completely confused on the bodice part! I chose to do the gathered bodice with the short gathered skirt. I had no problem understanding the skirt, but the bodice part has completely confused me!
ReplyDeleteI am in a wedding in two weeks and this is the dress I chose. My fabric is simple, but I don't know that I can get anymore in time so messing up is not an option! If you have done this dress and could lend some help I'd gladly appreciate it!
Hi Samantha,
ReplyDeleteYes I have managed to complete it, you can see a pic on the post 'Duchess Part 2' from June. I like yourself had a strict deadline which is never good for the stress levels is it?!
I'm at work at the moment but I will have a look at the pattern tonight/tomorrow morning. I generally found the bodice section fine and just got confused with the way it tells you to line the gathered skirt. If you post which steps in particular you are struggling with I will do my best to help x