Berlin Baumwolle - Frau Tulpe

Okay, so now on to the serious business of fabric shopping in Berlin …

Frau Tulpe, Veteranenstr. 19









Look how tempting that window is … shall we take a peek inside??








There is a really great choice here … another tardis of a shop … Now, with the Euro so absolutely pants for the British pound I wasn’t really expecting anything to be affordable, but in fact it was about £1 less a metre than buying online.  But oh, so much more fun chooosing!







Frau Tulpe don’t only sell fabric and notions, they sell ready made bags and mini pouches and handbag fixings and tons of other such vital stuff.



They also stock a lot of Echino … cue warm glow/hot flush from being able to stroke it all … oh, and you can bet I did … I think the next photo’s out of focus cos my hands were shaking with anticipation of the furtive fondle.








They also had some wonderful nylon Echino, for making roll-up-into-nothing eco shopping bags.  Most excellent.  You can get hold of it in their online store (which is also pretty bloomin wonderful) along with some fantastic Echino bag patterns.








The ladies who work there are young and vital, extremely helpful and speak perfect English.  They also take non-Europified debit cards … uh-oh.





So, I bought this little stack of fillers … super quality …







… and this yummy stack of Echino linen prints along with one of their wonderful plains, in lime.








and then these amazing tiny iron-ons, which I’ve never seen anywhere before, and which may or may not appear in a little giveaway soon :







Oh yes.  I had a very good time. 
A very good time indeed. 



It was a lovely extra treat after having had such a great walk there.  




These are some of the things I passed on the way, from Hackescher Markt to Veteranenstr.

(click on any of the pics to go to my Berlin flickr collection)

Birds nest in Hackescher Hof -  Memorial at Jewish cemetery Grosse Hamburgerstr.  - Apples 
Wonderful fabric in vintage shop - Great graffiti of the TV Tower - Tree in cemetery -
Camelias in Rosenthaler Hof - Fab mosaic on Grosse Hamburgerstr. - Bakery window

The only thing left to do was to sit in the glorious sunshine and enjoy the most fantastic raspberry tart & a triple shot latte at the Forum Cafe on Fehrbelliner Straße, 57 …







and take the odd sneaky peek at my purchases, natch ...







… tomorrow we might take in a bit of culture … what do you think?

Berlin - My own special Flea Market fancy

I was going to walk you round the fabrics at Frau Tulpe today, but I thought I’d just squeeze in this post about my best fleamarket find evah.



I must fess up first though. 
The lovely Julia from little girl quilts had invited me to the Berlin Modern Quilt Guild Meeting (how cool is that logo?!) but my plane was delayed, and it was a long long long way from where I was staying, and I was a little shy about barging in, if truth be told.  So I didn’t go.


Julia also recommended a ton of things for me to see and do, most of which I did, and you’ll see pics of later, so really, thank you, Julia, so so much!





On my way from Berlin airport into the city (train wasn’t busy, as you can see!)  I spied a little fleamarket at one of the stations … Ostbahnhof …


So, I thought, “What the hell?  I’ve got a train ticket that lets me get on and off … I’ll get off.”  And reader, I did.


It was a beautifully warm and sunny day, I think the temperature hit about 25 degrees that Sunday … a freak Spring Day just for me … yay! 


The market was great - the quality good - and although there were proper dealers there, they weren’t in rip-off mode.  I walked past stall upon stall of beautiful porcelain - Meissen and the rest, as well as a lot (and I mean a lot) of wooden pipe racks and fake East German stuff, as well as sheafs of sheet music and records - the Berliners love their vinyl  …

A couple of young kids were busking Bach on violins.  The smell of grilled bratwurst filled the air.  There was colour everywhere.

I spent a long time deliberating over that little blue tin in the first picture …




I must have gone back to that stall again and again, but then something caught my eye over on the other side …. 


… a lovely lady stall holder was waving me over!  How did she know? 

10 metres for just 10 Euros !!

snippity snip!

It’s a kind of fingernail-snaggy acetate-y faux slub silk lightweight curtain fabric (1970s I’m guessing). 


Now, when I say lightweight, obviously that doesn’t apply to 10 metres of the stuff.  My dilemma was that I was going to have to fit it into my bag (hand luggage) on the way home … it might seriously limit any further shopping!


At this point I had no inkling of the “you can’t get any cash with that card” thang


Not much of a dilemma really.  This was my first hour in Berlin.  I was high on fresh bratwurst filled air, sunshine and wildly overpriced bottled water.  Deal. Done.


What could I possibly use this for? I hear you ask.


Hah!  

Well, howzabout this chair for starters?  It’s a mid-1900s number that folds out into a daybed and I’ve never progressed further than the calico covers on the three seat pads.  Looks pretty perfect to me?


And, get this … I just got a little quarter of Tamari Garden Sashi Blue this morning from Sew Mama Sew … how psychic was this pairing ?






So, once I’ve worked out how to cover the seat pads (they’re big!) with the minimum of fuss, I’ll then rustle up a little throw cushion in the Tamari Garden, methinks … 


Ta-Da!  A chair that will always remind me of my trip to Berlin, covered in my own, very special, Flea Market fancy.  Bliss.


Hoping your weekends are full of bliss too … tomorrow we’ll meander round Frau Tulpe, promise.

more pics here in my Berlin collection on flickr

Buttons in Berlin - Knopf Paul

 

Yay, I’m back! 

I had

the.

most.

fantastic.

time.

Today I thought I’d show you the tiniest TARDIS of a button shop you’ll ever see … 

Knopf (that’s German for Button) Paul

Zossener Str. 10 (U7 Gneisenaustrasse)

I set off on Monday morning after a hearty German breakfast of coffee,
rye bread, cheese and salami! 

The Kreuzberg district is about 10 stops on the U-Bahn … about 20 minutes journey, with a couple of changes.  I have to say the transport system in Berlin is heavenly. 

Everything is really easy to navigate and I had a 48 hour go-everywhere-ticket for 19 Euros - Perfect!

 

I should have read my own notes!   Closed on Mondays … grrr …  (at least it would be easy peasy to go back the next day, having done the journey once!)

	So, I wandered around this little haven of cafes, stationery shops and bohemian clothes shops that is Kreuzberg.
Ararat Bergmannstr. 39 fab stationery shop (expensive but magnificent!)

… before settling to have a coffee in the sunshine, and plan another little adventure …

The next day I went back … and … success!!

Open!

The owner, Paul, has been selling buttons since the 1970s.  There are, quite literally, millions and millions of buttons here!  

via

What’s really amazing is that the staff know exactly what’s where.  While I was there there must have been at least 8 customers with very specific requests and each one was served within the twinkling of an eye.  It’s clear that this is not just some little curiosity shop -  artists, dressmakers and theatrical costume designers all come here for advice and help.

If you click the picture above of Paul, it will take you to his website (which you can translate using Google Translate or use this link to the translated page) 

Anyway, let’s look at some buttons!  

Click on any pic to go the flickr set  -  going towards a larger Berlin collection, which will not be all sewingy stuff ... but a lot of funky photos nonetheless …  I took over 400 pics in 3 days LOL ... I'll do a few more blog posts of the really special stuff over the next few days …

Prices range from about 40c to over 20 Euros and they only take cash.

This is pretty normal in Berlin - only the big brand shops will take a card of any kind, but a problem for me, as I couldn’t get cash out of any of the machines with my debit card as apparently it was not Europe-ified !

So, as it was my last day and I was very low on cash, I only spent 4 Euros … on these little beauties … they’re acrylic with embedded wheat husks ... I took a while to choose this gradation ... 

So, that’s the end of our little trip to Knopf Paul … 

Tomorrow we’ll have a stroll around Frau Tulpe - a wonderful fabric shop! - so do come back …

I notice (with utterly squeaky delight) that I have 98 followers?!  So, once we hit 100, I think a little celebration with a giveaway is in order, don't you?

Spring Has Sprung! Fresh Sewing Day @ Lily’s Quilts

Happy 1st Blogaversary to Lynne over at Lily’s Quilts !!  I can’t believe the amount of fab work the lovely Lynne manages to create in the same time it takes me to make a rustle up a bit of toast and a cup of tea.


Anyway … to celebrate, Lynne has started a new monthly spot:  Fresh Sewing Day - share the blog love over at her fab linky thang - AND you get a chance to win a little something sponsored by Sew Fresh Fabrics … yay!  Go read and post your freshest (it doesn’t have to be a finished item, fabrics are ok too!)


So I’m having two pops with my link:


The first freshness is my Make Mine Modern Swap Handmade Item - All bound and ready to go … It’ll be in the post to far far away tomorrow!  Yay! I love Flickr swaps …

The binding is a lovely Riley Blake raindrop stripe from last year …

I really enjoy making binding now.

the back is this sweet leafy 30s print …

I won’t show you the other bits and bobs that have gone in the package until after my secret partner has received it … heh heh heh …



My second bit of freshness is at the other end of the spectrum - something un-started!

But there’s some inspiration in these fabrics I think … The background colours of the white spots are more greeny and muted, almost earthy (me? sheesh?!), and the colours in the multi-spot are delicately bright … the butterflies are a Michael Miller fabric that I really like - the quality is great - it feels more slubby, like a linen mix, although it’s just cotton  …



Anyway, I have no idea how they’ll be cut, but I think they’re going to make one of my quilts for Modern Relief Japan.  I’m taking a few swatches with me to Berlin, along with my notebook and some coloured pencils (yeah, like I’ll have time!) just in case the inspiration comes …


Only two more sleeps till Berlin … woohoo! … thank you for all your suggestions …



Now, go over and help Lynne celebrate!