Meandering around Melbourne

At the end of a far too busy period of work in November, I took myself off to Melbourne to visit BM who was there working.

I spent about a week there wandering around the city and soaking up the atmosphere and re-energising myself. I love the old villas.

One of my first stops was to Tessuti fabrics on Flinders Lane.

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The little gallery outside the door is a very charming addition!

Of course the fabrics are also a draw.

This stuff was scuba and knit in the same print.  I was rather tempted but managed to restrain myself!

The Melbourne Cup was coming up so there were a few hats on show.

The street art in Melbourne is funky and makes a city wander that much more interesting.

I spent quite a bit of time window shopping and snapping pictures as inspirations for future craft and sewing makes.

I'm keen to try my hand at a beaded necklace like this at some point.

And I entered stalking territory trying to capture the collar on this top.

Hair colour inspiration at the Victoria Market.

Getting the feel for Chinatown.

And living it up with BM at a nearby bar - some stunning non-alcoholic cocktails.

I managed to plan my time in Melbourne quite well and visited two different Meetup groups - Sew Melbourne and the Melbourne Alternative Crafters.

Sew Melbourne was a in a fantastic craft book shop called Can Do Books in Hawthorne.

I ended up taking this particular book home!  These guys are firmly on my 'to make' list.

I walked out to Hawthorne from our hotel in the city centre and stopped in random shops along the way.  I really like walking around a city to get a better feel for it.

The book shop has the most adorable dog.  Much cute.

I'll definitely have to visit when I go back to Melbourne!

I planned ahead and brought a small sewing project with me and rented their sewing machines.  I've yet to post about these bad boys but Wendy of Sew Biased strikes again and convinced me to give these a shot after my previous disasters with underwear.  Much comfort and easy to sew.

And as it turns out pretty portable too for sewing on the go!

Sew Melbourne has an older demographic than Fabric Hoarders and I was only one of two sewing clothes.  The rest of the sewists were quilters (and very serious about it too).  The demographic probably reflects the timing of this particular meet up - during the day on a weekday.  I've signed up for another meet up at the weekend for when I'm next in Melbourne (and working) so I wonder if the make up of the group and the projects will change much.  One of the downsides of so many quilters is a lack of help on clothes fitting and less feeding of my pattern buying (or is that an upside?).

On my walk back to the hotel, I visited Morris & Sons yarn shop in the city centre. A wonderful array of yarn but quite pricey.

I decided on my next crochet project for a special bundle arriving in early 2016.  I'm going to be an Auntie!!  Expect to see a lot more baby related makes on this blog in future!

I haven't managed to progress terribly far in this yet.  The pattern is the Nia Cardigan and its free on Ravelry.

I really enjoyed the quirky-ness of Melbourne.  Downstairs from the yarn shop was a public colouring in space.

Of course, some of the quirkyness made my skin crawl too - for some reason the wall coverings in this shop scream dust to me!

Some of the architecture in the city is great - there's the snot building...

And the gumnuts baby statute near the library.

I haven't a monkeys who they are but the WSBN were rather keen on the fabric last year or the year before so I had my first introduction to them then!

I managed to fit in Stitches and Craft show while in the city.  It turns out that they run one in Auckland too but I haven't been.  As BM was working, I had a lot of time to indulge my crafting interests and I doubt this would have been a joint destination.

The demographic was a bit older and the show was heavily focused on traditional crafting - apart from this wonderful addition (Phil Ferguson).  Who was kind enough to pose for a photograph.

Lots of cross stitch, embroidery and strange quilts.  As well as some really dodgy decoupage.

I purchased a few card packs and card sentiment stickers but there wasn't much there to interest me beyond that.  Though some of the cards were cute.

The upstairs space was a bit more interesting with a few guilds and projects.

Yes, that is a Victorian Egg Decorators Guild.  At first I thought it was associated with the historic period but then realised the area I was in (and with a shock that there must be more of them in the country too!).

I seriously realised I wasn't the target demographic when one of the workshops was 30+ ways of wearing a scarf.  Er, no, thanks...  back away slowly.

Though the ingenious of the cake displays were pretty cool.

Next stop ikea for some more modern inspiration (and I feel guilty saying that but the show was rather a disappointment).

Am I the only one who wants to move in?

I loved this lampshade - but it won't suit my house.

After walking around a tonne, I took the tram.  The app detailing how to use public transport to get from one location to another is rubbish.  There way finding algorithms need a serious update and they really don't allow for someone willing to walk bits of the way.  You may as well start walking rather than try to figure out how to choose between different (and often faster) services that arrive at a stop at a later time.

One my favourite sights in Fitzroy was this mobile launderette!

And being in Fitzroy I had to stop off at the Fabric Store too.

Bigger than the Wellington store but somehow not as enticing.

I visited a few markets (of course, at this stage I can't remember which ones ... oophs).

And then on to the museums and art galleries.  (yes, this is over a few days - but I'm definitely not able to tell which was when!)

A balloon mobile in the gift shop - $70 - yes, that is definitely can make yourself option.

So here's a few of the things that caught my eye at the National Gallery of Victoria (how can you be a national gallery of a state?)...

 

A visit to a rather cute haberdashery on the recommendation of Caroline (who's blog, annoyingly I can't find).

A rest stop in the divine Chokolait.

And off to see more art at ACCA.

Most of the pieces were in the dark so my photo skills are weak at best.

I loved how Federation Square has free classes.  Will have to check some of these out in future.

Gift shop near the Ian Potter Centre.

Random window displays and we're done!! 

That was a mammoth task!  In the unlikely event you've stuck with me, I hope something caught your eye!  Here's the fruits of my visit.  Rather restrained, no?