Checking out Portland

One thing I love when I go on holiday is having a scout around local fabric shops. When we went on our roadtrip this year, I was hoping to stop by a few.

Portland was a fun place to do that. We were staying in the Alberta Arts district, which meant I was a short walk from both Bolt and Modern Domestic. If I was a local, I’d probably be spending quite a few dollars in each of these. There are fabrics galore, a good mix of patterns to choose from, and a bunch of fun notions as well.

Bolt had some stunning prints, but it was Modern Domestic where a bold check caught my eye. And, luckily enough, it was on sale for only $7/yd. Yeah!

I started by making this jacket one Saturday at the start of May in The Stitchery. I met with some other bloggers for a lovely and productive fun morning of creating, tea and chat. I started on a cardigan but when I hit a confusion spot with that, I had this Cynthia Rowley pattern (Simplicity 1688) to get cracking on as well.

This pattern is super quick and easy. I actually left the bottom and sleeve bands off, because I wanted a cropped version. But even with, I don’t think it would have taken too long. This is actually the wrong side of the fabric, which I think is equally pretty to the right. While I managed to get the jacket done quickly, I had fair bit left and wanted something matchy-matchy to go with it.

I decided to turn the fabric right-side out for that so that I had an interesting contrast. I just love the brightness of this colour. I might feel a little like an Irn-Bru can when I wear it, though.

The skirt is a super simple, pair of rectangles gathered together and a waistband. I wanted something easy, which would show off this great fabric.

Accidentally started falling over as the pic was taken and now look like I’m dancing

I made a little bow for my head as well.

I’ve already worn the jacket to work, and it makes me happy to wear this fabric and remember the fun we had on our trip.

While I liked Bolt and Modern Domestic, by far my favourite shop we visited was The Knittin’ Kitten. It’s a vintage crafts store, which we went to on our final day in Portland. It is packed, bursting with different little bits and bobs. There were a few rails of vintage fabric (I very carefully avoided buying a big bundle as I knew already how packed my suitcase was). There were bundles of lace, notions, crocheted little bits and pieces. But the real deal was the racks of patterns.

I was in heaven. Even more so that the owner came over as I was browsing and told me they had a heap more in the back, too. I managed to dissuade her from bringing out more because I was trying very hard to be good – I came away with only four which I think is pretty fair!

I can’t recommend this shop enough if you’re ever in the area. The only difficult part was leaving.

Portland was such a fun city to be in. The weather was suitably Glasgow-like, about nine degrees and drizzling. But while there and heading down the Oregon coast, we saw some great things so I thought I’d put in a few holiday snaps, too. Mostly featured are awesome pubs, eating like kings, Portland Art Museum and the incredibly stunning Oregon coastline. We stayed in Bandon, and caught the most beautiful sunset. I want to be back, like, now 🙂