Weekend Sewing Blogger Adventures - Fabric Fair in Island Bay

Last weekend I got up early (well early for me on a Saturday) to head out to Island Bay to check out a fabric fair at one of the local churches.

Island Bay is one of my favourite suburbs of Wellington (hello sea creatures!) and it turned out I was the only non-Island Bay person to go to the fair. I didn't realise so many WSBN people lived in Island Bay.

The church was located near the shops, which meant it was easy to find and by some kind of miracle I was actually the first person to arrive! That NEVER HAPPENS.....

The fair was very much a jumble sale, some things had prices and some did not so you had to find someone to price certain things for you. One of the church ladies told me she was happy to haggle the price over things with me - but if you know me at all, you will know I hate haggling! I just want to know the price already.

The market was kind of divided into two halves - one half being a stall for the church and the other half being the local arts and crafts society. However, there was no sign to tell us this! So things did get a little confusing.

Despite the general confusion, it was a great little fabric fair. It obviously wasn't as well organised or as coherent as something like fabric-a-brac, but it was a lot of fun and there were a lot of treasures to look through.

So what was the best part of the day (apart from hanging out with my WSBN friends of course) - it was the part of the day where I found this incredible 90s computer themed fabric for $5.

Seriously, how good is this fabric? The lady I bought it from said she had originally used it to make her son's bedspread with (she told me he's 26 now). I'm both excited and torn by this fabric - there's enough for a dress - but would that be too FULL ON even for me? Would a skirt be better? First world problems.

It's hard to believe, but I  also picked up some other pretty fantastic fabrics at the fair - I got around 2 metres each of these fabrics.

I also got around a metre of this really cute cat fabric, I think I will make a top from it. To be honest it cost more than I would normally pay for fabric at a fair/second hand. But it was just too cute to leave behind.

Even the selvedge is pretty adorable - tiny cats!

This little fair was a good place to pick up notions and all the other bits and pieces you always end up needing when your are sewing/crafting. Here's what I bought - embroidery floss, vintage look buttons, pins, some red thread and I actually think that little dude may be a coaster! I'm going to use him as a patch.

Finally a close up of that packet of pins - because its kind of incredible. I wonder how long they were sitting around unused in someones cupboard.

First Day of Summer!

I've been a little quiet lately - there seems to be so much happening and I've been a little bit tired as well. I had some kind of virus that just wouldn't go away that left me exhausted. But I am starting to feel a bit better and more importantly I've been getting out and enjoying the sunshine as it is now officially summer!

Sunday was the first officially day of summer and I had plans to hang out with my friend Matt to meet for brunch and then head to the Thorndon Fair.

We had brunch at Picnic in the botanical gardens, I think it was the first time I had eaten there and it was pretty delicious. But let's face it - they could have fed us any old crap and we would still have been happy sitting in these gardens.

Before we left we stopped off at the Lady Norwood Begonia House as Matt wanted to see the Lotus flowers - they were really pretty.

Then it was time to hit up the fair - this was only the second time I've been to the Thorndon Fair and I had forgotten just how huge it was. As it was such a hot day I decided to start things off with a slushee drink - you could choose your own flavours.

That's right they had "Tigers Blood" and also Godzilla and Slime - my favourite was marshmallow!

I didn't take many photos of the fair as there were so many people! But how adorable is that cake stall? I took Rich home a "mancake" as he wasn't feeling so well. 

The Prime Ministers house is in Thorndon and part of the front gardens were open to the public for the fair - there were some kiddies rides set up in the garden. So Matt and I went to have look, its not every day you get to visit the Prime Ministers garden right?

We even had a cheeky peek at the Prime Ministers house - because we live in New Zealand the only thing that was blocking us from going any further was a lone road cone and a single police car!

Before we left for the day Matt wanted to show me a street that had a whole bunch of fancy old houses, as he knows how I love fancy old houses. He told me one of the houses has a ballroom in it and they sometimes have plays and other events there. Fancy Thorndon!

Unfortunately I forgot how hot the summer sun was and the only thing I took home from the fair for myself was sunburn. Note to self - wear sunscreen! I hope you are all having a great start to the week.