Category Archives: Exhibition

Fabric shopping & Me-mades in Mexico

Mexico sewing stuff

Yup, it’s time for another instalment of my increasingly random global fabric shopping guides – this time in Mexico City and Oaxaca, where we’ve just got back from. (See also in this series: Ecuador, Tel Aviv, NYC.) Given its rich weaving and embroidering heritage, Mexico is a feast for pretty textiles so there was plenty to see, both to buy in the shops/markets and to admire in museums. I was also really pleased to find I rather effortlessly packed and wore probably about 80% me-mades on this trip, so thought I’d share a few photos of all those things.

Mexico sewing stuff

Mexico City was admittedly not brilliant for fabric shopping, either modern stuff or more local and traditional woven cloths. I didn’t buy anything until we moved on to Oaxaca. The main modern fabric shops are all part of a chain called La Parisina, branches of which can be found just south of the Zocalo in the historic centre, and a couple more slightly north from there at Lagunilla (which is an utterly bizarre area full of tacky bridal shops, though apparently hosts a good flea market on Sundays).

Mexico sewing stuff
Mexico sewing stuff

I don’t know if was because it was October specifically, but all the shops had large, prominent displays of fun and festive Day of the Dead/Hallowe’en themed fabrics. Pretty cute, but I’m not sure how I’d use them!

Mexico sewing stuff
Mexico sewing stuff
Mexico sewing stuff

Other than that, all the Parisina branches had similar stuff and prices. There’s a large contingent of gaudy novelty fleeces, lots of very bright poly prints, some more tasteful plaids, and often a smaller selection of wool and cashmere suiting and coating along with a large range of solid coloured poplins, lycras etc. Prices generally range from $20-80 MXN per metre, which is a cheapy cheap £1-4.

Mexico sewing stuff

These super cheerful florals reminded me of Rachel! They felt rather like a starchy waxed cotton, I bet they’d soften up nicely in the wash but too bright for me.

Mexico sewing stuff

Oaxaca also had two Parisina branches a couple of blocks south of the Zolaco. One of them – on the north corner of Aldama and Flores Magon streets – was pretty great; I’m not sure if it actually had nicer stuff or was laid out a bit better or I was just feeling spendy, but I bought a few bits here: some autumnal plaids and a wool mix trousering.

Mexico sewing stuff

There’s also another fabric shop right on Oaxaca’s Zocalo called El Palacio de las Telas, which is set behind a restaurant called El Importador (or they have the same name? it was a bit confusing).

Mexico sewing stuff
Mexico sewing stuff
Mexico sewing stuff
Mexico sewing stuff

This one had classier stuff: a whole wall of cashmere suitings behind the counter, some very pretty floral chambrays and lawns, and lots of dress weight prints. I think some of the fabrics are Japanese imports, like the intricate black/grey prints and Liberty style florals. They also had a wall of laces including some very pricey guipure lace behind glass at nearly $800/m. Prices were a little higher overall, starting at around $85 and up, but I think it was much nicer quality than Parisina. I bought some silk-mix dress prints and some gorgeous floral chambray.

Mexico sewing stuff
Mexico sewing stuff

Another place worth a mention is the town of Tlacolula, about a 30-minute drive from Oaxaca city. It has a massive – I mean MASSIVE – market every Sunday, when people from all the nearby towns descend to trade, shop and socialise. It was a highlight of the trip, though slightly crazy and disorientating at the same time! A few of the thousands of market stalls sold haberdashery, lace trimmings, and the checked cotton used to make the traditional Zapotec embroidered aprons that the ladies wear to run errands and cook in. (I brought a ready-made one home, you can see it below). I really should have stocked up on lace and zips as they were ridiculously cheap. There was also, bizarrely, a regular little grocery corner shop that we popped into for bottled water which had several bolts of fabric at the back. Take note Waitrose.

Mexico sewing stuff

Onto museums. First and most obviously the Textile Museum in Oaxaca, which is a lovely free little museum housing Irmgard Weitlaner-Johnson’s collection of rare and precious handwoven historical textiles. She spent most of her life travelling to villages in Oaxaca state, collecting and cataloguing a vast variety of indigenous textiles.

Mexico sewing stuff
Mexico sewing stuff
Mexico sewing stuff
Mexico sewing stuff

I especially loved how most exhibits had a typed description of the techniques used and often even a diagram and instructions. You can buy mostly readymade garments and smallish shawls in the attached shop.

Mexico sewing stuff
Mexico sewing stuff
Mexico sewing stuff

The Museo de Arte Popular near the Zocalo in DF is a sweet folk art museum housed in a gorgeous whitewashed art deco townhouse. There were some charming embroideries and more examples of richly textural traditional clothing amongst the exhibits.

Mexico sewing stuff

All the huipils reminded me of Marilla’s Maya top pattern!

Mexico sewing stuff
Mexico sewing stuff

Frida Kahlo’s old house Casa Azul in Coyoacan was another trip highlight. I was pleased to find that the Vogue-sponsored exhibition of her clothing (most of it unearthed from storage after the death of Diego Rivera) was still running, and provided a fascinating insight into the ways Kahlo portrayed her thoughts and feelings through clothing.

Mexico sewing stuff

Check that for embellishment…

Mexico sewing stuff

Finally, here are some me-mades that got an airing on the trip. I love taking dresses on holiday, they roll right down to nothing and work for both heat and cooler weather with leggings/tights. My patchwork dress unpacked admirably non-creasy considering it’s mostly linen, and was great for a hot day in Coyoacan.

Mexico sewing stuff

My Liberty zippy dress, which also packed very well..

Mexico sewing stuff
Mexico sewing stuff

…I wore it take a cooking class in the weaving town of Teotitlan, and the apron I bought.

Mexico sewing stuff

The recent wax Holly dress, worn to the ancient archaeological site at Monte Alban.

Mexico sewing stuff

This is as yet unblogged, it’s a Pattern Runway Gathered Sundress in a dreamy ikat from Cloth House that I made near the end of the summer. I’ll write it up if anyone wants more details on it? I really love it, especially the directional pattern placements.

Mexico sewing stuff

My swimsuit got a real outing in some water, yay! It held up totally great, dried out extremely well and felt great to swim in. (I’m still tinkering with the pattern and also attempted some multi-size grading to make one for my sister, which is proving challenging yet fun to mess around with.) I also wore my other Holly, shibori silk tee and new jeans – I’ve run out of photos though! Phew, back to your regular scheduled sewing soon, and my to-sew list is looking distinctly autumnal – coats, cardis and more jeans here we come.

The Knitting & Stitching Show

Knitting + Stitching show

I had a very nice day out today at the Knitting and Stitching show, held not too far from me in Alexandra Palace. Here are some of my highlights!

Knitting + Stitching show
Knitting + Stitching show

It was lovely to say hello to the Sew Over It gals who’d brought their range of sewing patterns. Have you heard they’re opening a new shop in Islington (a skip away from me)? Great news!

Knitting + Stitching show
Knitting + Stitching show
Knitting + Stitching show

A lot of my money went to The Eternal Maker, who have a superbly curated collection of the nicest quilting cottons around, along with lots of pettably soft flannels/knits and some dreamy Kaufman chambray and linen. Charming service too! I’ll be sure to order from their website more often.

Knitting + Stitching show
Knitting + Stitching show

It was nice to see Merchant & Mills there, who had brought a selection of cloths, notions and patterns.

Knitting + Stitching show

Shibori-dyed beautifulness from Changs, who were also selling fabric by the FQ and metre.

Knitting + Stitching show

I was rather tempted by these procion and indigo dye kits from Art Van Go – one to add to the Christmas list.

Knitting + Stitching show
Knitting + Stitching show

Liberty loveliness at Alice Caroline. My rummaging threw up a couple of scraps of the Graham Coxon print I’ve been after for ages! If you see yardage of this in the green or blue anywhere please let me know.

Knitting + Stitching show

M. Rosenberg / Stitch Fabrics (they have a shop in Wanstead, east London) have loads and loads of John Kaldor and ex-high street jersey knits – lovely stuff at £6-10 per metre, with friendly service.

Knitting + Stitching show

Here’s what came home with me: some John Kaldor knit from M. Rosenberg, The Merchant & Mills Dress Shirt pattern, Liberty scraps from Alice Caroline, FQ of shibori from Changs, Burmese trim, and some Cotton + Steel tiger print. Plus a couple more secret things for presents!

Knitting + Stitching show

It was a great day out, even though my bank balance is now wincing a bit. The Knitting & Stitching Show is on for the rest of the week until Sunday, so do pop up if you’re local.

I was given a complimentary press pass to the show.

Inspired by… A trip to Manchester

I had a lovely weekend just gone visiting my parents in (an unusually) sunny Manchester. We hit one of my favourite fabric shops, checked out the high street then popped to a fashion exhibition at the Art Gallery.

Abakhan, Manchester

Obviously the first port of call was a trip to remnant superstore Abakhan. It looks pretty unassuming from outside, but I think it’d be impossible to come away from here empty handed: a rummage always turns up some goodies. I think surprisingly it’s actually pretty much the only fabric store in central Manchester, so luckily it’s a goodun.

Abakhan, Manchester

In case you haven’t been, one half of the store has racks with fabrics organised by type. It’s especially good for craft cottons (with some especially brilliant/bananas Americana prints), soft spandex jersey prints, viscose dress prints, swim lycra, plain georgettes and coatings. The pieces are generally 1-3 metres, and the staff will usually cut them down for you if you want less. You pay by the weight, which range from £8-12 per kilo. That works out at roughly £2-5 a metre depending on the fabric type.

Abakhan, Manchester
Abakhan, Manchester

The other half has fabrics by the roll – I usually only skim these, they aren’t that exciting – plus there’s an upstairs with notions/haberdashery. AND there are grab bags of zips, elastic and buttons for super cheap (25 zips for 2 quid), great for stash building. Heaven, in other words, and pretty much worth the trip to Mancs alone for the dedicated sewist. They do sell online as well, but not nearly as much range and you miss out on the joy of the rummage.

This time I was pretty focused in my buying (like with Shaukat, it’s good to go in with a plan) and I came away with a very cohesive little set of black/beige/brown prints. These are mostly nice drapey viscose prints with a couple of spandex blend knits. I’m going to have to be careful to not just make a billion camisoles which will only be seasonally appropriate for another month, so perhaps some sleeved tees and dresses are in order. I can’t wait to get sewing. Oh and my bill for this lot, about 8m of fabric – under 25 quid. My mum and my sister also bought fabrics for me to make things for them. Eek!

Afterwards, I was quite inspired by a nose in Urban Outfitters on Market Street. I hardly ever go into high street stores these days (though I still browse for sewspiration online) but it was nice to go and soak up some ideas for how to use my new fabrics. Here are some things that caught my eye.

uo1

I’m still into playsuits in a big way, and the neckline cut outs here remind me of the Deer and Doe Datura. *plots pattern mashup*

uo2

A slightly grungy button up skirt with lace trim. I did actually buy a dress with trim like this recently because I had some store credit, and I want to make a ton of copies. I think little details like buttons and lace trims help to make me-mades look a bit more rtw, and they don’t take long to do.

uo6

A few variations on the cami/babydoll dress. I’m going to self-draft my own dream version – so much scope for fun strap placements and skirt options.

uo7

Oversize roll-back sleeve Scout? Yup please.

Manchester art gallery

Finally, we popped to the Manchester Art Gallery, where coincidentally there was a temporary show called Cotton Couture, displaying a range of 1950s garments commissioned by the Cotton Board to promote the area’s cotton production and show its versatility as a fibre.

Manchester art gallery
Manchester art gallery
Manchester art gallery

The aim was to show that cotton can be used for everything from suits to ballgowns, not just the traditional workwear and undergarments. All these samples have an 18″ waist by the way, to fit the models of the time – JEEZ. All in all a lovely trip with plenty of sewing inspiration fuel.

Boro at Somerset House

Boro at Somerset House

Yesterday, a beautiful sunny spring day, Michelle and I went down to Somerset House to check out the Boro exhibition. To quote the website:

Translated to ‘rags’ in English, boro is the collective name for items – usually clothing and bed covers – made by the poor, rural population of Japan who could not afford to buy new when need required and had to literally make ends meet by piecing and patching discarded cotton onto existing sets, forming something slightly different each time they did so. Generations of Japanese families repaired and recycled fishermen’s jackets to futon covers, handing them down to the next and weaving their own sagas and stories through the threads.

Boro at Somerset House
Boro at Somerset House

Cotton was an expensive and sought-after material in rural Japan, so worn-out clothing was passed along and used as futon/bed coverings, the worn-out parts re-worked and replaced with new patches as necessary. The pieces are beautiful and mesmerising to look at, so have been appropriated as highly collectible artworks in Western countries. As a sewist, I was particularly fascinated to get up close and see the various woven patterns, fabric combinations, dyeing and embroidery techniques used to create such a richly textured surface.

Boro at Somerset House
Boro at Somerset House
Boro at Somerset House
Boro at Somerset House

Varying lengths and patterns of hand-stitches for decorative texture.

Boro at Somerset House
Boro at Somerset House
Boro at Somerset House

I love these dense rows of stitches: nothing is measured or straight, and it doesn’t matter. It seems to tie into the Japanese concept of wabi-sabi: imperfect beauty.

Boro at Somerset House
Boro at Somerset House
Boro at Somerset House
Boro at Somerset House

Some of these patch-pieced ones look like English fields seen from an aeroplane.

Boro at Somerset House
Boro at Somerset House
Boro at Somerset House
Boro at Somerset House
Boro at Somerset House
Boro at Somerset House
Boro at Somerset House

Look close and you’ll see layer upon layer of patterns and textures. Woven patterns remind me of ikat, one of my favourite types of fabric, and some pieces seemed to have had patterns created by resist-dyeing and shibori-stle knotting and folding techniques.

Boro at Somerset House

You can see why the pieces are compared to art works: some have the Cubist arrangement of a Picasso or Mondrian, where others seem freely expressive like a Pollock or late Matisse.

Boro at Somerset House

This was my favourite, the decorative embroidery looks like mystical cave symbols, and the tan corduroy with the shades of indigo is gorgeous. It was very inspiring to look at a different way of combining and manipulating materials, and really makes me want to create an abstract hand-pieced and -embroidered quilt. The free exhibition runs until 26th April, daily 10.00-18.00. I can’t recommend a visit highly enough.