Turku Medieval Market – Fabric shopping

Linens for 7.50€/meter at the second market stall selling fabrics.

In June and July 2017 I was in Finland again (along with a side-trip to Estonia!). One of the highlights of my trip was a visit to the Turku Medieval Market, (Keskiaikaiset markkinat) – apparently the largest medieval market in Finland.

With the encouragement of readers on my Facebook page, I decided to take one of my Viking Age costumes to go explore the market on it’s first day. Over the next few posts I’ll share some of the demonstrations and market stalls at the market. If you’re coming to my blog long after I’ve posted, you can see all of these posts by reading the Turku Medieval Market tag!

More fabric shopping…

… I just really need to find time to sew!

Lightweight white linen from https://www.fabric.com/

One of the online fabric stores I’ve used before sometimes has good prices on linen. I don’t often shop there if stuff is on regular price, but a while back I saw they had lightweight linen on for about $4/yard – they only had 19 yards, and I bought all 19 yards!

I think that this is the same lightweight linen I have used in the past to line my red and gold Italian gown, the black and gold brocade Italian overdress, lined the skirt to my green Italian petticoat, and made a navy Viking underdress with.  (Probably a few more things too). White linen will be even MORE versatile I bet – since I’ll be able to dye it too if I need a certain colour.

Grandmother’s fabric sale 2017

Close up of the 100% silk herringbone fabric from the Grandmother’s 2017 fabric sale.

It’s been a while, but it took me some time to get around to this – showing off my “haul” from the latest Grandmother’s Fabric Sale in Calgary.

My favourite score was this 100% silk herringbone fabric – enough to definitely make an apron dress… possibly enough to make an underdress or overgarment as well! I’ll need to plan that out to see.

Grandmother’s Fabric Sale- YEG & YYC

Just part of the line up to get into the 2015 Grandmother’s fabric sale

The Grandmother’s Fabric Sale is back again!

Below are photos from previous sales.

Fabrics

Fabrics from the grandmother’s fabric sale

Piles of yarn in one of the rooms

Fabric ‘haul’ from the Grandmother’s Fabric Sale 2014

The line up to get into the Grandmother’s Fabric Sale – Friday at 4:00 p.m.

The main area with tables of fabric – and a LOT of people!

Edmonton

For the Edmonton sale, visit the Strathearn United Church on April 1, 2017 to shop for fabrics, notions, yarn, and more. Click the link to learn more about the drop off times too.

Calgary

If you’re in Calgary, and have fabric, yarn, or sewing/quilting/etc accessories or notions, you can drop them off at the sale location:

• Wednesday, April 19, 2017 from 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM
• Thursday, April 20 from 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM

Then… when you’re ready to shop, the sale will be open to the public:

• Friday, April 21, 2017 from 3:00 to 7:30 PM
• Saturday, April 22 from 9:00 AM to 2:30 PM

The sale is really awesome – there are all sorts of different fabrics, at dirt-cheap fabrics so it’s easy to build a stash for costuming or crafting. If you look well, you can also find great fashion fabrics for costumes or clothing too.

Red Deer

I wasn’t able to find a date on their website at the time of writing this, but there’s a group in Red Deer too. Hopefully by the time this publishes, they’ll have their information up too. (In the past it has been in April though; I suspect it will be either the 8th or 15th)

Medicine Hat

Last year the sale was in mid-March.. but at the time of writing they didn’t have their 2017 dates listed. Check their Facebook page here to see if there are upcoming dates.

Click the “grandmothers” tag to read about some of the past sales.

Other Canadian sales

Other sales from grandmother groups in Canada were in the fall…. I posted in October about sales in Saskatoon and Lethbridge, and the sale in Nanaimo was in September. If these areas are more local to you.. bookmark their sites to check out for next year! Visit the Stephen Lewis website to find chapters near you… and then visit their sites to see when the fabric sale (if they host one) is coming to you!

Shortening a too-long zipper

 

steps on how to shorten a zipper. I will have a post about it on my blog in a week or so, stay tuned. URL is in my profile. . ✂👗📏 . #sewingTricks #homeMade #handmade #DIY #sewing #sewingTips #notions #costume #cosplay #Costuming #alterations

A post shared by Dawn (@sadinadawn) on Jan 23, 2017 at 9:38pm PST

A few weeks back I shared a post on Instagram about how to shorten a too-long zipper. This was for my German Renaissance costume (the zipper is hidden and stands in for period-appropriate hooks and eyes). Today I’ll show more than just a few photos… but also the instructions!