eloise

I recently made a trip to my favourite fabric shop in town, a real treasure trove that isn't a million miles away from me and thankfully doesn't involve a congestion charge to get there. The clue's in the title really. Do you know that typically English village fete game when you guess the number of sweeties in the jar? Well, if you were to do that with the number of fabric bolts stacked in high piles here, you would undoubtedly be a million miles off, for it's a testament to their organisational skills that they can fit it all in, plentiful as it is. The prices are reasonable too.

The last time I went, I warned them I'd put an hour and a half in the parking meter outside and, despite the fact they probably thought I was nuts, I still had to run at breakneck speed before a warden beat me to it! Many moons ago I had a flat pretty much on their doorstep and never went in the shop, such was my interest in sewing then ... good grief it's just as well I don't live there now, can you imagine how fatal that would be on the wallet? They don't sell online, which is a shame, but it's well worth a detour if you're ever in the area.

Whilst there, I was lucky enough to grab the last couple of metres of Liberty's 'eloise', perfect for doing a spot of dressing up on my seven year old doll!! This is 'lantana', 80% cotton, 20% wool, which feels luxuriously soft and so very cosy. I lined the dress, just like the previous one, only with the most sumptuous of berry-colours that I spied sitting under the counter. These colours shout out loud and clear that it's autumn now and that little bit of added weight from the lining adds heaps to the overall snuggliness, I think.

The pattern comes from my latest Japanese acquisition, yet another goodie for the collection. It's a lovely, straightforward, dress to make up - actually it's really a tunic but I added length to the hem and sleeves as per madamoiselle's requirements. Two mop buttons finish the look at the back and honestly, I could just jump into this right now and snuggle up for evermore.

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Wishing you a wonderful weekend x