Sunday Stash #256 – MAD

Madrid was the last stop on our recent European tour. It was also a whirlwind of wine, tapas, friends and frivolity. I honestly think I could have a Madrid do-over as some parts are still a bit blurry! What’s not at all hazy are the two fabric shops that were literally across the road from my hotel. Uh yeah! That was certainly not intentional, but it made for some sexy window shopping every time I went for a stroll for patisserie. And we all know my lips (and hips) don’t lie about such important matters!

Now I didn’t end up really buying all that much at either of these places, although Tejidos Paredes had the most selection. I can hear you saying “What the bedazzle?!” But it’s true, my fabric friends. True to the hottest kettle of truth tea! You see, I was at that moment in the holiday where my eyes, my belly and my wallet were overly saturated—or rather depleted as the latter proved to be. I picked a bunch of bolts as I normally do, and then ended up only buying a metre of one the fabrics. The rest would have been fillers, and I have enough of those in my face!

How ga-ga-gorgeous is this print though? If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it 69 times, I don’t care for florals all that much. Then to add to that muchness, we have a large-scale floral to boot. But the colours have got me all bright eyes, rosy cheeks, and blue eyeliner. I feel like this is one of those prints that just needs to be chopped up into squares with some Essex Linen and see what happens. Put it on the list!

While these beautiful shops tantalised from across the street, I did accidentally bump into a gorgeous la tienda de telas (fabric shop) while Mr. Sparkles and I were out on one of our many exploratory walks. Julian Lopez is apparently quite the fame whore, flashing stacked bolts of Liberty in their front window. (I’ll let you in on a secret though, the bolts in the window display are fake!) Once you get inside, you’ll find the real deal.

Go right up the grand staircase and you’ll find a wall of cotton staples ripe for the picking. Again, these were a bit filler for my taste buds at the time. There are only so many checks, circles, and stripes this one diva can take! Then I pushed past the older ladies speaking all their fancy Spanish words, and I do declare! The cart of Liber-tay!

I didn’t expect to find such a selection of Liberty in Madrid, but here it was: two hundred or so bolts of it for the taking. Mr. Sparkles found himself a boyfriend chair over on the other side of the store and let me get to work. Now we all know that Liberty is more on the high end of things. (e.g. She’s an escort rather than a hooker.) So when I was sorting through the pieces I wanted, I knew I had to reign in my selections due to the previously mentioned wallet issues.

I bought 25cm of four prints, and the gentleman in a suit cutting my fabric gave me 30 cms as a little upgrade. It’s amazing what an innocent wink and smile can do! (Glitterati, I am not above such things!) I tend to go for the brighter, more joyful prints, and all of these really hit the mark.

I enjoyed this cloud and stars prints so much, I bought it in both colour ways. There was even a third colour way but I thought that might be pushing my budget boundaries. Would you believe though, when I got to the cash register downstairs the price was about 25% cheaper than the prices marked on the bolts! I was in such shock that I didn’t even realise it had happened until we were walking out the door. Man, that wink and smile really did go a long way!

I was tempted to go right back upstairs and get down on my knees. Then start searching for more bolts of Liberty fabrics that I perhaps missed on the bottom shelf. Aye, instead, I considered it all a good omen to move along and relish what I had found. When I get back to Madrid though, Mr. Julian Lopez, you look out out, because Molli will be coming for ya!