Vintage fabric for sale in my Etsy online store

I have recently added a number of vintage fabric listings to my Etsy store.
Follow this link to grab yourself some fab retro textiles...

Retro, tablecloth, 1970s, Vintage, Flower Power, Jonelle, linen, Psychedelic, Daisy, Daisy Chain

Made in the 60s or 70s, it is covered in pretty daisy flowers - perfect for retro fans. It features a bold pattern in shades of pure white and zesty orange on a chocolate brown background. £15.50 plus p&p

Vintage 60s 70s flower power spring garden fabric in lilac, blue and olive green 85cm wide
It features a bold floral pattern in shades of lilac, pale blue, plum purple and olive green on a pure white background.
This fabric is in great condition, no fading, the colours really pop. £8.50 plus p&p

Vintage 60s 70s flower power fabric in mustard yellow and chocolate brown large piece
A beautiful vintage fabric featuring a bold floral pattern in shades of mustard yellow, zesty orange on a chocolate brown background.
No fading, the colours remain bright.
You will receive a large piece measuring 168cm long and 116cm wide - £16.50 plus p£p

Purple daisy floral vintage retro fabric in purple, lilac and pure white 88cm wide

This fabric features a floral pattern in shades of purple, lilac and pure white. It is in great condition, no fading, the colours really shine out at you.
This is a medium weight, cotton fabric. Perfect for all manner of sewing projects such as cushion covers, lampshades or clothing.
You will receive 1 piece of fabric measuring 88 centimetres wide by 100 centimetres long. £14.50 plus p&p

This is just a small selection of vintage fabric on offer. Head over to the Pouch Vintage online shop to see the full range plus fabric trims and handmade homewares. If you have any questions, please contact me, I'm always happy to help.

I would love to connect with you via my other social media channels, fine me here: Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest

My Pouch Vintage Etsy shop is now open for business

My Pouch Vintage Etsy shop has now reopened!
In my online shop, you will find handmade homewares, vintage fabric and trims
Pouch Vintage has temporarily been closed whilst I studied a supporting teaching college course.
I've always loved having an online shop and have been running my business on Etsy since 2007.
I also love making items for my shop, so I've started to stitch again.
There is a fresh batch of Lavender Rabbits and Lavender Owls now listed.

I have been making these little guys since 2009. They have always been one of my bests sellers.
I have sent them to new homes all around the United Kingdom...and across the globe to Australia, the USA and Japan, to name a few.
New vintage fabric colourways will be listed as and when I complete them.
Each owl and rabbit is handmade by me using vintage fabric and filled with dried lavender.

Alongside my handmade homewares, I sell a wide range of vintage trims.
Perfect for adding a retro twist to your next crafting project.
If you're looking for inspiration, then you might like to read my blog post: "15 creative ideas for using vintage trims, ribbons, fabric scraps and haberdashery items"

If you have any questions about the items in my online shop, please don't hesitate to contact me...I am always happy to help.

And finally, if you would like to follow me on Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram, I would love to connect with you there :)

Win a bundle of vintage trims in my instagram giveaway

*GIVEAWAY* to celebrate the reopening on my Etsy shop, I'm holding a vintage trim giveaway over on Instagram

To enter, please leave a comment & tag two people who you think might like to enter my giveaway...

The prize is a bundle of vintage fabric trim:
4 yards of scroll trim in mustard yellow
4 yards of ditsy floral trim in crimson
4 yards of woven trim in sage & scarlet

These trims are perfect for appliqué, collage, mixed-media artwork, scrapbooking and much, much more...

Head over to my Instagram feed to find out more...

You have until Wednesday evening (26/04/17) to take part

I will choose one winner on Thursday (27/04/17)
Open to international entries
Good luck!

Vintage Lifestyle: Bristol Textile Recyclers Kilo Sale

A few weeks back an email dropped into my inbox inviting me along to a vintage kilo sale hosted by Bristol Textile Recyclers. I have been buying vintage fabric and clothes for over fifteen years and attended all kinds of events...but never a kilo sale. I was intrigued and happily accepted BTR's invite, we headed up to Bristol for the November Fashion Salvage Kilo Sale.

If you've never heard of Bristol Textile Recyclers, I'll give you a bit of background info. They divert a staggering twenty tonnes of textiles from landfill daily. The majority of textiles thrown out by households end up in landfill, with Defra estimating that 1.5 million tonnes a year of unwanted clothing is eventually land filled. Textile recycling is a great way to save resources and if clothes can be reused rather than dumped in the ground, then it's better for the environment all round.

You can see the huge amounts of textiles BTR deal with as soon as you walk into their warehouse. All around the edges of the kilo sale space are bales of clothes stacked up from floor to ceiling. BTR hand sort all their clothes and have a dedicated team of over seventy staff carrying out this mammouth task.

I didn't know what to expect from a BTR kilo sale and have to admit, was slightly cynical about BTR's ability to sift through all those clothes and pull out genuine vintage items. I needn't have worried, the first crate I looked in turned up two beautiful skirts made by Jaeger and Eastex - and the finds just kept coming. I spotted lots of genuine vintage clothes and plenty of modern retro pieces from high street stores. The BTR team really do know their stuff and they must employ some eagle eyed staff.

My husband was in leather jacket heaven and tried on dozens. I would say there are less clothes for men in the crates, but there were still plenty of finds to be had if you are prepared to look for them. And that's the main thing about a kilo sale, you need to roll up your sleeves and get delving. I was cold when we arrived at the BTR warehouse, after about thirty minutes I had soon warmed up. I've always loved looking for vintage finds and don't mind getting stuck in when faced with a pile of textiles.

I had been unsure as to whether I should bring our seven year old daughter along to the sale. I wondered if it would be boring for her. Again I didn't need to worry, she was in her element. Every time I turned around she had a different hat on, or coat, or scarf. Watching her dig deep into each crate made me realise that a BTR kilo sale is like getting your hands on the biggest dressing up box you could imagine. All around me were groups of friends arm-deep in clothes, pulling out hats, tops and coats and having a great time trying them on. You never know what you're going to find and that's part of the attraction of a BTR kilo sale.

It costs just £1 to get in and they provide free tea and coffee in the staff room (which doubles as a changing room). The best thing to do is grab as many clothes as you can fit into the plastic sack BTR give you and then head off to the changing room. You can sift through your finds at a more leisurely pace in there, have a cuppa and try on anything you feel like purchasing. Again, the staff room was full of groups of people enjoying themselves, trying on quirky clothes and swapping their finds with other people if they didn't want them.

So, what did we find at the kilo sale? Here are some photos of our best finds.

A beautiful velvet Jaeger skirt featuring a stunning floral pattern, photos don't do it justice.

Another velvet skirt featuring a pattern of falling leaves, this time by Eastex.

This pretty skirt isn't vintage, but it has a definite retro vibe to it...

As I mentioned above, our daughter came away from the kilo sale with the most finds. Her dressing up box is currently over flowing...

She found this beautiful pale green faux fur stole and has worn it over the Disney princess dress she also bagged at the sale.

Also spotted by my daughter:
Fab vintage Junior Miss dress from St Michael
Gorgeous scarlet red velvet dress
Pale teal party dress with sequin detail
A cobalt blue ice skating dress
Beautiful handmade Arran knit cardigan
A selection of hats (not pictured) including a vintage Kangol number

I am over the moon with everything we managed to salvage. It feels great to think these clothes will have a new life with in our wardrobes and not end up in landfill. I would highly recommend going along to a BTR Fashion Salvage Kilo Sale, we will definitely be back. The next one is due to take place on Saturday 10th December 2016. The best way to keep up to date with BTR events is to head to their Facebook page.

Disclaimer: Bristol Textile Recyclers offered me entry and 5kg of textiles for free in return for a review of their kilo sales. All opinions and photos are my own and I will definitely be back as a paying customer in the future!

A family day out to Bristol Harbour and the M-shed

If you love nostalgia then you need to make a beeline for the M-shed in Bristol this Summer. They are hosting an exhibition entitled "The Story of Children’s Television From 1946 to Today" and it runs until 25th September 2016. As soon as I heard a host of beloved characters from my childhood would be on display, I knew we had to pay a visit.

Magoo had been asking if we could "go on a double decker bus" over the school holidays. Because we all like visiting Bristol and the bus stop is situated at the top of our road, we decided to jump on a double decker and head to the city. Like I say, I'd been itching to see the Story of Children's Television" exhibition for a while now. Because this temporary display covers Children's Televison from 1946 up to the present day, I knew Grandma, myself and Magoo would all find something to enjoy.

The M-Shed is situated right in the middle of Bristol Harbour, so there are plenty of boats to see. At the moment there is an impressive tall ship called the Kaskelot moored opposite the M-Shed. It was a truly magnificent sight and you can't help marvel at the size of it. If you look at the ship's website, you can see images of it at sea in full sail.

After admiring the Kaskelot we stopped off at Millenium Square to see the Official Team GB FanZone where live coverage of the Olympic Games from Rio is shown on a big screen. Grandma and I drank a cup of tea from the @Bristol Cafe and we all ate homemade cake watching the swimmers do their thing at the Olympic Games.

Once we'd finished our tea and cake, we headed across Pero's Bridge to reach the Queen Square side of the water. Whilst on the bridge, we stopped to look at the padlocks covering the sides. These 'love locks' are attached to the metal grids by couples as a romantic gesture and the amount of padlocks has steadily grown over the years. I was surprised at just how many locks are now on the bridge, they seem to have covered every available space.

The council don't like them and there were attempts to cut them off in 2015. Bristol citizens have a habit of not doing what is expected of them. It seems the council's dislike of the locks has prompted a whole sea of them to appear. I don't find them offensive and we all enjoyed looking at the names, inscriptions and different shaped locks.

We walked past the Arnolfini and across the swing bridge on Prince Street. Before we went into the M-Shed we took a moment to look at the sun shining on the water in Bristol Harbour and admire The Matthew. The "Modern Matthew' is a replica of the caravel ship sailed by John Cabot in 1497 from Bristol to North America.

It is a beautiful boat, run by volunteers and funded by charitable donations. Magoo was keen to climb down the wooden steps to see below deck. We found about eight small bunks crammed into a tight space. It's hard to imagine how the 1497 crew sailing to Newfoundland lived, ate and slept in such a small space. It must have been horrendous in severe storms and rolling waves.

After our tour of The Matthew we headed into the M-Shed. There is so much to see and lots to learn about Bristol life past, present and future. One of my favourite parts of the M-Shed are the perspex boxes cut into the wall looking out over the docks. There are quite a few of these 'windows' and each one is filled with intricate model boats. I love the juxtaposition of the tiny models against the impressive sight of a real tall ship outside.

The museum is divided up into three main areas, Bristol Places, Bristol People and Bristol Life. Each section spans past history and places through to modern day characters like Banksy. There's even a bright green, full-sized Bristol Bus from the 1960s for everyone to jump aboard. Magoo loved this part the best and she had the opportunity to sit on the top deck of a modern bus and an old fashioned one all in the same day.

Once we managed to coax Magoo off the bus we headed to the Children's Television Exhibition on the top floor. It was, as I had hoped, a complete nostalgia-fest! So many memories flooded back and I adored seeing Humpty from PlaySchool, Gordon the Gopher, puppets from Button Moon, DangerMouse and many, many more.

Magoo was also in her element as the exhibition features modern day TV programs from Cbeebies and CBBC. Having said that, she was glued to the compilations being shown on various televisions around the exhibition. The clip of Pogles' Wood which was made back in the late-1960s caught her attention and she particularly loved Roobarb and Custard. I know watching TV often gets a bad rap, but we all have shows we loved as kids and this exhibition celebrates that. Children's TV holds happy memories for lots of people and we all loved looking at the exhibits.

Once we'd had our fill of nostalgia we headed back out into the sunshine for an ice cream. As we looked out over the water I promised Magoo we would make a return visit to the M-Shed. We had barely scratched the surface of the vast array of items on display and we'll definitely be back...

This week I am linking up with:

"Country Kids" over on www.coombemill.com

Vintage embroidery transfers and my first piece of embroidery

I went up in the loft the other day looking for suitcases. As is often the way when venturing into our loft, I got sidetracked by boxes of nostalgia. Whilst rummaging through one craft box, I was bowled over to find my first ever piece of embroidery. I think it was stitched when I was about eight or nine. The white cotton hankie given to me by my Mum 'to practise on' was still in the embroidery hoop. Exactly as I left it over thirty years ago.

I must've tucked it away when I left home to go to university. It has followed me around several house moves and it was lovely to see it again. Alongside my childhood attempts at embroidery were the vintage transfer sheets I'd used. These were my Mum's from when she first started to sew, so they date from late 1950s to early 1960s. Most of them were free gifts inside magazines, which my Mum must've carefully saved.

I grew up watching my Mum sew and she always encouraged me to have a go. I remember her showing me the 'Mazurka' piece she had sewn as a young teenager. It combined embroidery stitches and applique, I thought it looked beautiful. She made the appliqued piece of linen into a cushion cover and it sat pride of place in my childhood bedroom for many years. I don't know what ever happened to it, which is a shame.

I was in awe of her sewing skills and I must've badgered her to let me have a go. She gave me free rein to search through her delicate embroidery transfers. I was drawn to the flower posy and she ironed the image onto a hankerchief for me. She also gave me the embroidery threads from her childhood, which in turn had belonged to my late-grandmother. I blogged about the tin here.

In hindsight I bit off more than I could chew for a first project and I must've lost interest after a while. It has remained unfinished for over thirty years. I wonder if I could attempt it again now? Even as an adult it looks a bit daunting. Even though it's not complete, I do remember enjoying sewing my wonky satin stitch. As a child I felt relaxed by the repetition of pushing the needle in and out of the fabric. I enjoyed seeing the colour build up on the fabric.

It's something I still enjoy to this day and I have my Mum and Grandmother to thank for instilling a love of sewing at such a young age. When sitting with some embroidery, my own daughter occasionally watches over my shoulder. She is starting to take an interest in sewing. She can even identify some stitches and comments on 'my lovely sewing'...which makes me smile. I hope she will be inspired to be creative with thread too...

I've linked up with July's Crafting is my Therapy with this post. I co-host #craftingismytherapy with Jennifer Jain. The focus of this linky is crafting for pleasure, basically taking some ‘me-time’ to unwind in our busy lives. It doesn’t have to be a finished project, we love seeing work in progress, planning posts or tutorials too.

This week I am linking up with these lovely blogs:

Craft Frenzy Friday over on craftdictator.com

Share The Joy over on thejoychaser.com and contentmum.com

HomeEtc over on mummyofboygirltwins.com

Pick 'n Mix over on www.acornishmum.com

Blogger Club UK over on www.cuddlefairy.com