Shrewsbury again

Yesterday I had a day out in Shrewsbury, and while browsing in a fabric shop spotted this in a remnant bin.

Jaunty!

Now I like the colour yellow, but sadly it has never much liked me. I also seem to be getting (even) paler as I get older so things which I could wear before, like my Big Stitch dress, no longer work with my colouring. Which is a shame, because even I like to wear something other than shades of blue occasionally! But this is definitely at the warmer end of the yellow spectrum, so I wondered if it was something I could wear. I tried holding it up to my face and, even with the unforgiving lighting of the shop, I didn’t look as though I only had hours to live. So, despite my best attempts to not acquire more fabric, I promptly gave in and bought it.

Whoops

It's a viscose, but with more weight to it than the fabrics I used for my two New Look 6594 dresses. It didn't shed any dye when I pre-washed it, which is always a good start, and it drapes nicely.

Some body, but not too stiff

Shade-wise, it's quite similar to the yellow of Vogue 2787 (which also has a noticeable amount of red in the overall print). Depending on the light, the background colour can actually look more peach or orange than yellow. The selvedge printing shows just how many different colours there are in the print, and how they are all in the red/orange/brown family.

These are always so useful for matching colours

I also called in to Maggie Mae's Vintage. It's always lovely to see the ladies there and have a chat, and while the chances of my finding any vintage items which fit my short-waisted self are incredibly slim, they do have some haberdashery and of course jewellery to look through as well. I struck lucky - not only did they have some splendid yellow earrings, I also found a buckle in a very pale peach shade which exactly matches one of the colours in the fabric.

Perfect!

I'm not sure yet what I'll make, but it will probably be a 1950s dress with a full skirt to use up all the yardage and make the most of that swishy drape. For now, I'm just delighted to have found a yellow that I can wear.

None of this was the reason for the trip, however. My Dahlia shawl has finally reached the point where it is impossible to continue knitting it on straight needles, but the only circular needles I can get locally have metal ends and for this yarn I definitely prefer wood. So it was time to pay a first visit to Ewe and Ply in Shrewsbury, which turned out to be an absolute treasure trove of knitting wonders. They sorted me out with wood tips and a long cable, which have made things much easier.

All spread out

I can definitely see more visits to Shrewsbury in the future!