Fabric Shopping In Seville, Spain

When I visit Seville I always drop by my favourite fabric shop - Zález.

It's too good to keep secret so about time I share it with you too!!!

Zález is a fashion and accessories brand owned by Núria González, a fashion designer originally from Barcelona.  Specialising in bags, rucksacks, purses, vanity cases, brooches and rings all pieces are handmade here in her Seville studio/store.

What draws me back, again and again, is the fabric - mainly Japanese  - Kokka/Echino and this time I pulled some English fabric too by dashwood studio.  You don't need me to tell you more here's some pics to tempt you.

 

 

 

 

 

On this visit I didn't have my Spanish dil, Ana, with me to act as a translator so, as always DH, Simon, was embarrassed, exasperated, amused at my attempts to communicate with anyone Spanish using English and a selection of elaborate hand gestures.  

When I'm travelling I can easily fashion a hand gesture for 'is it okay to take photos?' but I haven't come up with an appropriate one for 'do you mind if I blog about your store?'.  It seems I indicate some sort of circle around the room and then pretend to write, rather like the international hand gesture for 'can we have the bill?' at which point Simon usually huffs quite a bit and then shows them my blog via his phone.  This time, he sidled up to me in the store and whispered: "how do you think you're going to be able to tell Núria how much fabric you want cut?" I enjoyed pointing out to him that being English I actually know the European word for fabric measurements - "metres"!

Here's my restrained purchases - 5 x 1-metre cuts on the top row and 2 fat quarters on the bottom row -  the Kokka Scottie dogs were two fat quarters from my last visit but I thought I'd share them here too:

Top row left to right:

Petite Street by Wendy Kendall for dashwood studio

Flurry - dashwood studio

Garden by Ellen Luckett Baker for Kokka

atori echino Huedrawer collection by etsuko furuya - new to Kokka a cotton sateen, you can read about this new fabric line here on Kokka's blog

Tortoises by jodds for dashwood studio

Bottom row left to right:

Patchwork Cars - by Kokka

Owls - oxford by Kokka

Scotties - Trefle created by Kokka

Zález can be found right in the centre of Seville, if you're visiting the Cathedral and other major site seeing locations then you're right there already.

Don Alonso el Sabio, 6, Seville 41004.

Current opening hours are 10 am to 2 pm and 5.30 pm to 8.30 pm daily. 

You can follow here on Facebook too or visit the website.

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Núria gave me this sweet gift as I was leaving and that's exactly what my husband, Simon, thought it was - a sweet but take a closer look - it's a tape measure, how cute's that?!!!

For details of other fabric, yarn, trim and notion stores that I've visited around the world along with the NYC stores I love, exhibitions and events I've attended and wonderful people I've been lucky to meet click the links below or in my sidebar :D

Disclaimer: This post is for informational purposes only, no payment or commission is received on click-throughs and opinions are my own.

What's Your Hobby? - Fall Class In Manhattan

I'm just loving the fabric I've used for this sample cushion for my next class at The City Quilter in Manhattan - it's Trèfle Sewing Room by Kokka Japan.

I did fussy cut it quite a bit,

"What Is Your Hobby?"

A close up on the quilting

And this pic's so close you can see the stitch detail and all three colours of Aurifil 50/2 thread - #2850 Medium Juniper, #2450 Rose and #4140 Wedgewood.

My small label detail

and the hidden zipper with hidden text too "Sewing Machine".

The quilted front

and the fussy cut back.

The cushion is on display in store and here's full details of the two day workshop I'm teaching there.

Hidden Zippered Quilted Pillow - $85

2 Day Workshop, Chelsea, Manhattan:
Sunday, 14 & 28 September 2014 - 12 noon to 4.00 pm

No-one can have too many pillows and these quilted pillow

s with a decorative trim concealing the hidden zipper will give your sofa a new look or make a great gift for a friend.  Over 2 classes learn how to quilt a pillow top, make a pillow cover and insert a hidden zipper.

Open to anyone who knows how to use a rotary cutter and sewing machine and can sew a straight seam.

Email madebyChrissieD@hotmail.com for location and registration details.



Home for a month from uni my daughter, Flicky, has trialled my class pattern for me and gone cushion crazy making these three fab versions of the class cushion ready to move into her new home in St Andrews, Scotland in September - you might want to take a look at the 'castle' she lived in for the last year!

The class pattern is a modified quicker and easier version of the tute here on my blog, and Flicky's gone a step further customising the quilting on each cushion perfectly for her chosen fabrics - scrummy Kokka, Echino, Essex Linen and 3 fabrics from the new brand new Cotton + Steel collection.


Front: Cotton + Steel Hatbox 4000-002 cotton by Alexia Marcelle Abegg and Robert Kaufman  Essex Linen - Navy
Back Upper: Robert Kaufman Essex Linen - Navy
Back Lower: Cotton + Steel Hatbox 4001-052 cotton canvas by Alexia Marcelle Abegg


Front: Cotton/linen fabric, selvedge reads "made in Japan - Project: by Cotton"
Back Upper and Lower: Moda linen mochi dot by MoMo - Boysenberry and Teal


Front: Cotton + Steel Hatbox 4004-032 cotton canvas by Alexia Marcelle Abegg
Back Upper: Moda linen mochi dot by MoMo - Magenta
Back Lower: echino ni-co - scooter_b


If you're interested in seeing how my students went on in my class I've blogged about it here :D


If you live in the greater New York area or are making a quick visit to the Big Apple, why not join in one of my classes?
You can find details of all Fall classes I'm teaching via the 'My Classes' link in the side bar or by clicking the link button below:

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Making A Cover For Moriarty And Brightening My Daughter's Dark Side

HELP!!! My daughter has gone over to the dark side - she's bought herself a Mac.  Before she bought it, on an afternoon trip to Chelsea Market, she made a quick diversion and took me to their meeting place - I didn't want to be there, I begged to leave, "just look how beautiful they are" she said but I kept my sunglasses firmly in place, "touch one, pick it up, feel how light it is" - I took a step back towards the door.  Admittedly the air conditioning was icy cold and very welcome on one of the hottest days of the year but I wanted to get back to the warmth of the Manhattan streets.

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In need of a cup of tea we nipped into Think on 8th Ave, OMG they had me surrounded, at every table in the place there were people using Macs - not a single Windows laptop in sight.  "It's a cult" I heard myself saying "and you're joining them - you're going over to the dark side."

That night the deal was done, the die was cast.  'It' arrived and she was so thrilled I had to snap a pic of her opening the box.

She's called 'it' Moriarty and I love that she did - 'it' really is the arch-enemy of several people in her life including her Dad and me.  You see my husband and I are both ex-Digital Equipment Company (DEC) employees, Deccies through and through and when you've spent many years on that side of the great computer divide, it's very hard to migrate to the 'other'!

Let's not forget though that above all else I am Flicky's Mother so when she told me she needed a cover to protect Moriarty from scratches I couldn't help but oblige.  She had a rummage through my stash and chose Pink Echino Birds And Berries Cherry, Kaffe Fassett Oriental Trees and Bear Essentials by P&B Textiles alongside a lime green zipper.

And here's the result - a quilted, zipped cover for Moriarty the MacBook Air:

 

 

I'm still not a fan of Moriarty but even I have to admit that she's right he really does look quite beautiful in his new cover and the gorgeous Echino pink does at least help to brighten Flicky's dark side!!!


Disclaimer: This post is for informational purposes only, no payment or commission is received on click-throughs and opinions are my own.