A couple of weeks ago I was back in Barcelona after two year’s absence….I love to go back from time to time, walk around the city (especially now that I live in a small town) and visit friends.

Having already visited the major attractions before, I concentrated on visiting the extras, spend time in a cafe’ people gazing, eating great food… and I even managed to finally go to the movies to see the latest Woody Allen film To Rome with Love (did you see it? Did you like it?), the New York Times photo exhibition and the one about three-star Michelin chef Ferrán Adriá

….and this time I also added a bit of sewing to the route…

 

Sightseeing

 

Sewing meet-up

The highlight from my trip was definitely the sewing part…not because I didn’t enjoy sightseeing…don’t get me wrong, I loved it…but because I got to meet two fantastic people: Designer Paco Peralta and fellow seamstress/blogger Mari-Cruz from Dedal, Aguja e Hilo

I spent a fantastic afternoon with them. First I got some invaluable sewing tips from Paco and then we headed for a coffee. There we spent the rest of the afternoon just chatting away and flicking through Sarai’s and Gertie’s books. On the way back Mari-Cruz showed us a great bargain fabric place nearby…which I hope to visit again next time…if I manage to find it back. They are two wonderful persons really. And I am really thankful for spending some time with me.

My timing for the visit couldn’t have been more spot on…Paco has just released two new patterns that he kindly gifted me. The Treky top/dress and the Apron skirt. I can’t wait to make them both!

On Ruth’s blog you can already see her two beautiful versions and find her step by step instructions.

I couldn’t leave Barcelona without a trip to the fabric store… I headed to Ribes y Casals (Funny enough….I just discovered this very second now has an online store…just when my partner left the house saying ‘don’t buy anything while I am gone’ 😉
Once there I discovered the shop moved moved one street up to an even larger store… with such a great bargain area that I couldn’t resist. From there I got some voile for a summer dress, cotton fabric for pajama pants and some grey fabric will soon become a pair of trousers.

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Next door to Ribes y Casals there’s another smaller store called Donna. Of course, I popped in for a visit. Their selection is also great but I thought there were less bargains…but it’s certainly worth a visit!

A place I didn’t manage to visit was Costura which seems to be a lovely sewing shop that organizes workshops too. A good excuse for another trip to Barcelona.

This was my first ever meet-up…what about you?