The Sewing Place

Birmingham Rag Market Meets #1 #2 and #3

Emma2109

Re: Birmingham Rag Market Meets #1 #2 and #3
« Reply #45 on: May 18, 2017, 09:07:04 AM »
Absolutely love the rag market (Brummie born and raised...been down south for 25 years now after marrying a Londoner....).

I still have family in and around Birmingham and 'pop' into the market when I go home (when I say 'pop'...what I actually mean is 'spend at least 2 hours meandering'..)...

Let me know of the next visit/tour as would love to tag along...new to sewing and usually spend my time in the market staring in awe at all the delights on offer (that and the fact I am usually accompanied by my sister who can't for the life of her understand why I love fabric and is useless at discussing drape and patterns!)....
xxx

DementedFairy

Re: Birmingham Rag Market Meets #1 #2 and #3
« Reply #46 on: May 18, 2017, 17:53:26 PM »
I usually do them in school breaks so I can go on a Tuesday and snag bargains from the Jersey Lady.

Whitsun is coming up...then I will be off work for most of July, so more than happy to meet up then, as long as my marking is on schedule!
C'est moi!

Vegegrow

Re: Birmingham Rag Market Meets #1 #2 and #3
« Reply #47 on: May 19, 2017, 19:40:47 PM »
Back this evening... Had a good time ... will post pics tomorrow  :loveit: 0_0 :* :loveit: 0_0 :*
"The only place where housework comes before needlework is in the dictionary." ~Mary Kurtz

Vegegrow

Re: Birmingham Rag Market Meets #1 #2 and #3
« Reply #48 on: May 20, 2017, 09:08:30 AM »
Well the jersey lady may not be there on a Friday but Jersey is what I bought
Top left turquoise embroidered £1 a metre Barry's.. pink and rust 1/2 metres  £3 and £3.50 to trim existing stash Barry's
Bottom left Turquoise £1m Market
Middle Top Row Teal Liberty£5 a metre
 overlocker threads 75p each
Mid Bottom Row blue Floral Liberty £5 metre 
Right top red Floral (is this the same as your "libertyesque" print DF?)£3 a metre  ( also saw it on a new stall that just sold Liberty fabrics so I think its Liberty)
Middle Small floral Liberty£5 a metre
On the Liberty stall we bought 2.75 metre of for a dress for my Mum http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LIBERTY-100-SILK-CREPE-DE-CHINE-EMERALD-BAY-A-/172603875588 ( this is his ebay shop we paid £22 on the stall)
and as it was his first silk sale on the stall (2nd day there) when I asked if he had any 'queue for the Zoo' he gave me this fat Quarter which was all he had (bottom right on fabric picture)

Had a lovely time
« Last Edit: May 20, 2017, 09:37:09 AM by Vegegrow »
"The only place where housework comes before needlework is in the dictionary." ~Mary Kurtz

fajita

Re: Birmingham Rag Market Meets #1 #2 and #3
« Reply #49 on: May 20, 2017, 09:14:33 AM »
Very nice haul. Is that a Liberty print down there on the bottom right?

DementedFairy

Re: Birmingham Rag Market Meets #1 #2 and #3
« Reply #50 on: May 20, 2017, 09:19:34 AM »
Lol you got some of my lovely red and black jersey there missus, I know which stalls you've visited lol.

Lots of the traders sell jerseys but the Jersey Lady sells loads of odd pieces, and it's a lovely jumble sale of bargains!

The Liberty-look is probably [I suspect] from the guy outside [The Row market] who usually has about a dozen bolts at any time.

Nice selection!
This was my red/grey floral dress, did you see it?
C'est moi!

Tamnymore

Re: Birmingham Rag Market Meets #1 #2 and #3
« Reply #51 on: May 20, 2017, 09:49:51 AM »
Wow. Great haul.
'One should either be a work of art, or wear a work of art.' Oscar Wilde

Vegegrow

Re: Birmingham Rag Market Meets #1 #2 and #3
« Reply #52 on: May 20, 2017, 10:06:54 AM »
Very nice haul. Is that a Liberty print down there on the bottom right?

That's my Queue for the zoo Fat Quarter ... I asked about fabric as DD would like a shirt in it and he gave me this which was nice of him  :)
« Last Edit: May 20, 2017, 10:15:43 AM by Vegegrow »
"The only place where housework comes before needlework is in the dictionary." ~Mary Kurtz

Vegegrow

Re: Birmingham Rag Market Meets #1 #2 and #3
« Reply #53 on: May 20, 2017, 10:13:53 AM »
Lol you got some of my lovely red and black jersey there missus, I know which stalls you've visited lol.

Lots of the traders sell jerseys but the Jersey Lady sells loads of odd pieces, and it's a lovely jumble sale of bargains!

The Liberty-look is probably [I suspect] from the guy outside [The Row market] who usually has about a dozen bolts at any time.

Nice selection!
This was my red/grey floral dress, did you see it?


Yep recognised it straight away ... think I might make a tunic top with long sleeves and cowl neck ( very rarely wear dresses) all the liberty jerseys were from a stall inside the St Martins bit... Saw the chap outside but didn't buy...
sat in the car on the way home and had regrets about not buying several things.. but current stash is huge so was well behaved  :fabric: :fabric: :fabric:
"The only place where housework comes before needlework is in the dictionary." ~Mary Kurtz

DementedFairy

Re: Birmingham Rag Market Meets #1 #2 and #3
« Reply #54 on: May 20, 2017, 10:18:09 AM »
It's so hard to stay strong there isn't it?  I'm so short of cash right now, I'm trying to stick to stash only- it's also huge, so should keep me going for quite some time!
I only saw the one posh jersey inside, but that stall is very small, and very crowded, not surprised it's easy to miss!  Enjoy your haul
C'est moi!

Acorn

Re: Birmingham Rag Market Meets #1 #2 and #3
« Reply #55 on: May 20, 2017, 16:00:24 PM »
Wow... so jealous...  :P
I might look as though I'm talking to you, but inside my head I'm sewing.

sewingj

Re: Birmingham Rag Market Meets #1 #2 and #3
« Reply #56 on: May 20, 2017, 18:37:05 PM »
.
« Last Edit: September 21, 2021, 19:00:01 PM by sewingj »

DementedFairy

Re: Birmingham Rag Market Meets #1 #2 and #3
« Reply #57 on: May 20, 2017, 18:48:04 PM »
Not a daft question at all.  For most of my many years of sewing, I would always head to shops or market clutching my latest  pattern, and buy pretty much exactly what it said.
You still end up with plenty leftover, as pattern layouts are never very economical.

Fast forward MANY years, and I found The Sewing Forum[precursor of this site].  There I learned about stash, about buying on impulse for the hell of it, and only matching patterns and fabric by chance.

Naughty TSF!

Basically, as so many answers, 'it depends'

It depends on your size, your skill in eking something out of nothing, fabric width,  and on your favoured styles and shapes of garments.  If in doubt, hunt something out on t'net and look at yardages.

I tend to buy 2 or 3m depending on intention, price, and impulse.  Some of my historical makes demand greater yardages, but for 'normal' clothes that's ample.  For simple tops or shortish skirts, you can get away with just 1m.

A while back someone produced a guide to 'how much fabric to buy' I bet if you google you'll find it
C'est moi!

Vegegrow

Re: Birmingham Rag Market Meets #1 #2 and #3
« Reply #58 on: May 20, 2017, 19:11:36 PM »
I worked in a fabric shop for a lot of years so I have a basic theory of twice the length of the planned garment plus your sleeves for a 45"/ 115cm wide fabric  and I work on twice your length for a 150cm/60".........
but
and its a big BUT
it depends on your size.. and practice cutting out
I bought mostly 1.5 to 2m (jerseys are 150cm wide) most of these fabrics will be tunic tops .. I'm a good 16/18 I don't like fitted and most of these are darker winter shades I allowed 75cm each length  thinking I will get a front or back and a sleeve on each 75 cm length 2m lengths will have a fold over cowl collar... I haven't added facings as there won't be any....

It may well be worth having a note somewhere of a few favourite patterns a shirt a simple dress a pair of trousers  I always reckon patterns overestimate so if you've made something you like and have a chunk of fabric left ... lay out your pieces on a piece of stash and see how many metres you need...but remember if your fabric has a  check/ stripe or big pattern you might need to do some pattern matching


« Last Edit: May 21, 2017, 08:23:51 AM by Vegegrow »
"The only place where housework comes before needlework is in the dictionary." ~Mary Kurtz

UttaRetch

Re: Birmingham Rag Market Meets #1 #2 and #3
« Reply #59 on: May 20, 2017, 22:35:30 PM »
I always used to buy five metres of 150cm wide fabric and rarely went above £5 per metre.  I made a lot of fit and flare clothes and the skirts were voluminous.  I never bothered with the suggested layouts and used to waste a lot of fabric when I cut, which is why I didn't go beyond £5 per metre.  0_0