Initially it was meant to be a weekend away in London…but it turned out to be the best sewing weekend ever!

The weekend started in the best possible way…London welcomed me with a bright sunny day! Armed with Karen’s map to fabric shops, I headed to the  famous Walthamstow market to meet sweet Evie.  Though we never met before we discovered straight away we have one thing very important thing common: coffee!

We started chatting away and time started to fly by… Evie is really a charming person…and the smile you see on her blog and profile…it’s for real!

The fabric stores were nice in Walthamstow, fabric is nicely laid out in rolls so no need for rummaging. Despite the super low prices (we are talking less than a dollar/euro or .50p for a meter) we were both rather cautious with our purchases and believe it or not only walked out with 1 cut of fabric each…

Next stop…Goldhawk Road fabric market… I had been in touch with Rachel and told her we might join them for their fabulous meet-up. Little did I know we would bump into them while having another coffee at Costa’s. Picture this….I was talking to Evie and I suddenly see her turning her head towards the restroom…all I see is somebody wearing a flowery skirt walking in…and the red tiles…All I think is: well, maybe Evie was looking at the tiles!

Turns out Evie saw Karen walking in…we turn around and see a bunch of women with shopping bags and we think: they must be from Rachel’s meet up! We burst out laughing when poor Karen walks out of the restroom…she must have really taught we were rather odd!

Despite this funny introduction…Rachel still invited us to join them for lunch! Seamstresses are really the most welcoming people. The group was super large…nearly 50 women invaded the restaurant. Pity I didn’t get to talk to all of them! (Thanks Dibs for the friendly welcome).

After a day off from sewing…on Monday I was up early (ok…it was 8…but still) to head to Raystitch for a sewing class…Remember my fit issues? After having spent most of the winter perfecting my muslin and getting feedback from Lynda on Craftsy, I still felt not all my issues were solved. So I decided to sign up for a class with Alice Prier who is a trained theater designer and teaches regular bodice block classes there.

My expectations were high…though I was worried it could turn out as another failure if the instructor was not into fitting as much as I hoping for. Thankfully it turned out Alice is very kind and expert at fitting. She could see immediately what the remaining issues were (Like…as she put it…my C cup bum!).

She helped me out redrawing the new pattern and we even managed to sew a new bodice muslin to check the fit…For a moment I felt the same pressure Sewing Bee’s participants must have felt! Now I can’t wait to make a properly fitted shift dress!

With some great food in my belly I was ready for the next stop. Later in the afternoon…I headed to meet Melissa from Fehr Trade! How great it was to meet her too…I am really thankful she could squeeze me in her busy schedule! Which reminds me I still haven’t sent her the scans I promised (oops!)