Despite my astonishingly fecund stash of fabric, I seem to have terrible accidents in fabric shops on a not irregular basis. Awful. Unintentional purchases.
Yesterday I called in to Rathdowne Remnants seeking some of Moggy’s silk twill. It was all gone, unsurpisingly, but the bins of remnants were freshly filled… and filled with lovely, lovely pieces of vintage fabric. I asked at the counter where they all came from and apparently it was one woman’s stash. She was probably a dressmaker and hoarded a riot of colour and pattern from the 50s, 60s and 70s.
L-R: 2.9 m of silk twill, 2.4 m of silk in the palest finest pink stripe, 2 m of very fine polished cotton
L-R: 3 m silk twill, two splendid squares of floral gorgeousness, one rayon (I think), the other silk.
Amazing brocade and a pleasingly contrasting lining. Destined to be a macaw-like wiggle dress!
Hyacinth Macaw
And while I was putting this all away, I remembered another terrible drive-by accident in recent weeks – a Japanese import place was clearing out its kimono fabric, selling whole rolls rather than by the metre.
Left is a crepe that looks like the night sky on one side and sandpaper on the other, right is a silk print that made me think of SEM images of neurons in the brain, which was irresistably nerdy.
See what I mean? Uncanny.
Have you had any similar terrible accidents lately?
Make it 'til you fake it 
Oh, but you had to buy it! One, because they are all so pretty, and two because you actually make stuff out of your stash. Can’t wait to see the nerve cells as a frock!
Thanks for the back-up. I feel much better about my carelessness now!
I hope that one day in the far off future my unused stash will be sold to someone who will put it to good use too! I’ve been bugging my husband to take a quick trip to Melbourne for a weekend, but I haven’t told him that it’s purely to visit this mythical and magical Rathsdowne Remnants. I’ll be twisting his arm a little further now after seeing your haul!
Oooh! Melbourne trip! If you visit, I’ll show you all the good spots…