Homespun Stitchworks..... For the love of vintage: The wonderful Vintage Bazzar !

The Vintage Bazaar in Devizes.

What a fabulous day out.....

Well I made it, all wrapped up and determined to go we set off to Devizes, which is about and hour and a half away from us. It was a cold but bright day and along the way all the daffodils and snowdrops lined the roads. When we arrived my husband dropped me right to the door and I walked in.

I have to say that this particular event is a firm favourite of mine lots of work goes on to bring these wonderful vintage events to us so that it seems so easy and homely when you walk in but the months of planning and leaflet dropping and advertising that go into these events is outstanding.

It started at 9.30 and we arrived at around 10.15 and already it was buzzing with excited shoppers. All of the stall holders were set up and it all looked inviting and pretty, along with some music of the 1940/50 playing in the background.

There is a large entrance when you walk in which has stallholders in and then you walk through to a large hall which again is full of stall holders as well. Always at these events there are people who always come and are all dressed in 1940's clothes. As I said before it is their lifestyle choice not just for these events and they look amazing. Beautiful hats, gloves and handbags all matching and the Gents look so smart ... to me there is something so glamorous and chic about how they look ... This is not just what you may think of as the older generation, there are young women and men too and some only teenagers....

The first person that I came across as I walked in was the lovely Liz of the Washerwoman fame (who is one of the organisers of the V B) Her large stall had scrumptious French fabrics, cottons, hats, buttons and all sorts of wonders to set the true vintage hunters hearts fluttering. This lady is always smiling and happy and that sets the mood of these wonderful VB events.

As I walked through to the large hall there was Jane who owns Kiss the Book. This lady simply adores books and rescues and takes care of some beauties. For books that just can not possibly be restored and are literally falling apart, Jane makes up craft packs of different pages of different books, pieces of old maps, bird feathers, ribbons from books and music pages to name but a few. Jane will put bits together with a slight theme as well and I had contacted her previously and made an order from her and I was there to catch up with this lovely interesting lady and collect my order. I had three packs and as always I was thrilled with what she had put together for me. I just say the kind of theme or thing I am looking for and

Jane has a real eye for these things, it is like she knows exactly what I am looking for and there they are waiting for me ......

Opposite Jane was the lovely Donna Flower and her very beautiful and tempting stall. I always know there will be paisley there somewhere and some beautiful buttons and other goodies to tempt me, and today was no exception it was like walking into an Aladdin's cave of vintage wonders and I have to say I bought some lovely things ( there will be a show and tell later in the week when I have photographed it all for you to see) It was lovely to catch up with Donna and I am lucky enough to be able to call her a friend and so we caught up. Donna has been very busy over the last few months and as you all know she has a shop in Barnstaple in Devon and along side that she has a website and attends vintage fairs throughout the year as well. I have been to her shop and could happily live in there. The vintage fairs that she attends are an extension of this lady's talent.

Looking around there were some lovely familiar faces and some new people and businesses that I had never seen before so It was such a lovely exciting day. Then I saw Laura and Phil who have The Savoy Art Deco Collectables. Their stall is so beautiful and I have a few things from them at past shows. I do not know if any of you remember the mother of pearl compact that I bought from them that goes in my evening bags when I go out.

I was so silly as I saw a beautiful picture frame and got talking and it was then gone I believe but I must get some from them as I love that period for picture frames, especially the glass ones and also some of their cocktail bits they have occasionally because my husband loves cocktails and I know he would love some vintage bits to go with his collection.... That is Christmas on my mind now ( don't frown I know we haven't had our Spring and Summer yet but these things have to be bought when seen so I am on the look out)

Then I spotted this beautiful Stall called The Doll Maker. Oh my they were beautiful and had such wonderful pretty faces with incredible eyes. They are made from doll clay and are hand painted. Caroline makes their clothes from vintage fabrics. The clay that Caroline uses is polymer and each one of the dolls is hand painted with watercolours. The hair on each doll is mohair and each doll is unique to reflect her personality and each one has their own story that comes with them. Caroline loves her work and takes her inspiration from quirky fairy tales amongst other things. All the clothes they are dressed in are handmade from vintage fabrics, lace and buttons. Caroline is on facebook and has a web page www.thedollmaker.co.uk and it is worth taking a look at her beautiful creations. I would like one of these dolls but I did not get one as I had a big purchase in mind and that is what I had brought my money for. Just so people reading this are aware some stall holders do have card machines but the connection sometimes just can not work so it is advisable to have cash with you. Most only take cash so I am going to either have to see Caroline again at a fair or order online.

So now comes to my big purchase because who should be next to Caroline but the lovely Nicki who owns Quilterdown! yes she makes quilts from .... vintage fabrics and oh my, oh my, there it was the

quilt of my dreams and it was being wrapped because there was no hesitation in me. Nicki had set out such a beautiful display and this particular quilt was like she had made it just for me. There is a beauty and skill in her work, which is all hand stitched. She prefers that to machine quilting and finishing so the hours in the work are incredible. I will take a photo of my quilt for you in all in its utter beauty but for now look at her awesome work....

Can you guess which one came home with me at all???

I have to say we spent quiet a while talking and we laughed an awful lot ... It was good for the soul and I enjoyed my catch up in person with this great lady and I came home with a quilt that will be treasured and used. All made with no holes or wear marks but still vintage ....... and the back of the quilt has some surprises too so watch this space for the show and tell!!

Still laughing and happy with my purchase that Nicki kept for me while I wandered around looking,

taking photos and chatting I found the lovely Jenny of Tilly-D fame. Jenny and I do not live that far away from each other at the moment so we do meet up for coffee and a catch up but I had not seen her for a while because I had been so poorly. It was so lovely to see her and she had some amazing fabrics and textiles as always. Jenny has the most lovely of smiles and is one of the nicest people you could ever wish to meet. When we move I will be looking to see what she has for curtain and blind making as I have ideas in my head for house that we have not found yet!!! Jenny has a way of dressing her stall that always looks beautiful and inviting. Floral fabric draped easily over displays of beautiful china and fabric bundles tied and buttons to look through. This time she also had a dear little pair of red ballet shoes that a lady was talking to her about. (you can just see them in the picture .. bottom right)

Next to Jenny was the Suitably Vintage stall and a lovely husband and wife team own this. I see them a lot at different fairs and we always catch up. There were some amazing little bits of fabrics and I had to come home with some ... one is very old and is in blue and white ( it will be in the show and tell)

There was a beautiful box of buttons to truffle through and ribbons and fabrics. I can happily mooch and rummage on this stall and look at all the vintage goodies on offer. The items and the eye catching way they are presented make people stop and browse a while and they always buy something.

I then found Clare of Daisy Darling fame who is the co organiser of the Vintage Bazaar events along with Liz's husband Jack and Clare's husband Mike and their two beautiful girls who help too.

Clare is a very talented lady and not only sews but is a milliner and makes the most beautiful hats. You may remember she made me a hat last Winter and I do wear it. It has its own hat box and is treasured but worn on cold days.

You will find hand made hats, fabrics, and hand made items on this stall and I actually do have one of Clare's pieces at home in my stitching room. I love to collect from other makers and feel that I have a little piece of their talent with me at all times which gives me inspiration and of course beautiful things to stare at when I am thinking in my work room.

There is always something stunning to see and purchase.

I then finally spied Elaine of Ted and Bunny and

I had been in touch with Elaine over some paisley that she was going to have on her stall that day. So I quickly went over and there it was seven pieces of paisley more than I had dared hope for ,... no hesitation here either all seven pieces came home with me. I could not leave such amazing fabric there. Elaine runs a few fairs herself called the Vintage at the Village Hall events. She organises one at Pamphill in Wimborne in February and the up and coming event is at the Corn Exchange in Blandford Forum on Monday 14th March and I will be attending that one too. Have a look at my events blog a few weeks ago for all the details on this fabulous event. Blandford is a lovely town and the Corn Exchange is a great venue right in the centre. Whilst clutching my paisley's I spied a pair of vintage pillow cases with a little embroidery on them so they have come home with me too.

By now I had a bag full of goodies and a quilt that was being looked after for me. I came across this talented lady and her beautiful stall that I had not seen before and her name is Sarah Benning. There was so much to look at. Things that she had made and other vintage goodies there to purchase. There were fabric bunnies and carrots all made of vintage fabrics along with books and china and a wonderful cat with button eyes. It was such a beautiful display and you had to really stay and look because each time your eyes passed over all the wonderful vintage goodies you saw something different.

Another business that I had not heard of before Saturday was Vintage on Sea and this was full of china, fabrics, housewares along with a sign to say that they offer a bespoke furniture painting service as well. They have a Etsy shop and they are also on facebook The shop on Etsy is called VintageatPolruan and is worth taking a look at so that you can see some tempting vintage goodies.

As you can see from the photo on the left it was a very pretty display of eclectic vintage heaven and there were some stunning pieces of china and glass ware to tempt all.

I have their card and I can not wait to see more. I was told that they do, as the name suggests, a lot of seaside items but thought as they were more inland that they would bring vintage goodies more along those lines but I would love to see more of the seaside things too so later I am going to pop over to their Etsy shop to take a browse.

Tucked neatly in the corner was one of my favourite stalls Vintage to Victorian and there was so

much to look at as Sue had a double pitch and it was full of some beautiful items which not only included fabrics and buttons but threads and hand print blocks with letters that Sue had polished up. I tried to find the letters to make HOME but couldn't but Sue told me she has more so I think I may have to message her later to see if she has those so that I can buy them. Not too disappointed though because not only did we have a great catch up but she had a antique mother of pearl button necklace that came home with me but a great little bundle of such beautiful carved mother of pearl buttons! Oh yes! There were embroidered clothes and French boxes, threads, pictures, lace, buttons, fabrics and so much more. It really was a wonderful display with so much to buy.

Then guess who I found Anne-Marie of Blue Sky, Those of you who are regular readers of my blog or who go to my facebook page regularly will know that this lady read about, and then went and purchased the multi pom pom maker! She has not stopped making wonderful pom pom garlands and has one hanging on her iron bed as well.

You can always find some great vintage things on this stall and is my "go to" for vintage enamel brooches. In the past I have bought a butterfly, dragon fly and a parrot as well. It was so lovely to see her and catch up and yes you guessed it ... talk pom poms!!! The new addiction in both our lives.

Behind Anne-Marie was a great stall called Ginger Rose it really was eye catching and so beautiful. There was all manner of antique/vintage items to look at. There were some beautiful butterfly brooches pinned to hand made fabric heart cushions, vintage jewellery, old postcards, dolls and so much more as you can see from the photo. I loved the name as well. I just about got some photos because there were lots of people trying to look at this wonderful stall..... At this point I was so busy trying to snap photos and get back for people to be able to browse and purchase that I did not, to my dismay, get a chance to do that myself but I will hopefully see Ginger Rose again at another fair soon.

And then finally for my photo taking I came across My Fairy Furniture this stall had lots of different vintage bits including china teacups and saucers and childs rabbit models to play with on offer plus this lady makes tiny bits of furniture and even dries tiny flowers and adds them to the hand made pieces with vintage laces and fabrics. I had just missed photographing some pieces that were under antique glass domes and a lady had come along and bought both of them. The work is so delicate and must take enormous patience and skill to work in such miniature forms.

What was strange but very lovely is the owner of my fairy furniture recognised me from my picture on this blog and said how she enjoyed reading it and that she was glad that I was feeling better. It is so strange to be out and someone says to you " Sarah Hawkings" ? and I say "yes"and then they say" Oh I read your blog daily I so enjoy it!" it is such a lovely feeling that you are doing something that people enjoy ... made the cherry on top of the cake for me!

There were other stalls there that I just ran out of time with and was unable to snap photos but would like to thank for being there and making up such a great vintage fair.

Lastly I would like to thank Liz, Jack, Clare, Mike and the girls for all their hard work in bringing together the first Vintage Bazaar of this season and I look forward to all the others that are already in my dairy!

I will leave you now with a wonderful photo taken by Liz van Hasselt that just simply shows you the atmosphere and the pleasure of the shoppers at this amazing fair .... Have a wonderful day and I hope you have enjoyed this tiny trip around the VB. Happy Stitching!