red fabric for hardanger bag Part 2

It seems amazing that it was only yesterday that I was lamenting the fact that I have no more red chiffon…

Since then, a lot has changed! After I wrote yesterday’s blog post, I had a wonderful brainwave. Here in Sydney we have a suburb called Cabramatta. The shops there are predominantly Vietnamese, which means fabulous food. But it also means that there are about 5 wonderful JAM-PACKED fabric shops. I figured that if anyone would have the red-black chiffon, then I would find it in Cabramatta.

I convinced my sister to come with me (it didn’t take much arm-twisting at all!) and we set out for a fabric shop crawl in Cabramatta. The first shop we went into was closing down – very sad. It also didn’t have much stock left, so I didn’t find what I was after there.

The next shop was one of the really jam-packed shops that are not suitable for the more traditionally built (with thanks to Alexander McCall Smith for that evocative phrase!). When you have only about a 30cm/1 foot gap to walk through, you can’t get a stroller (pusher/push chair) down there. My sister had her young child with her, so we arranged that one of us would stand outside with child and stroller. I went in first, and hit the jackpot straight away. I showed the sample of fabric that I still had left to the shop assistant and she took me straight to the same fabric. I took a whole roll. I also ended up with a good quantity of three other lovely fabrics for other projects.

I came out after *quite* some time, very triumphant. My sister had figured things were going well, due to my prolonged absence! Then she disappeared into the shop and returned quite some time later also very happy with her purchases of fabric for some clothing for her kids.

We browsed the other fabric shops then had some delicious food for lunch. My niece fell asleep in the car on the way home, without any screaming, and we arrived back home in time for me to pick up my children from school/preschool. A wonderfully successful day!

This weekend I will be working out costings for the kit for the red bag. Stay tuned…