There are many things that take me away from sewing.

Despite the fact that I love it, I often find it immensely easy not to do it.

Like most people, I have a backlog of “stuff that needs doing” – cleaning, sorting out, washing, tidying up, all the usual rubbish that clutters up the days when at home. I constantly feel that I should be doing more of this “stuff that needs doing”, rather than sewing.

Sometimes I actually do some of the “stuff”. But more often than not, I waste time when I could be sewing instead just fretting about not doing the other “stuff” – because I don’t know where to start, there is so much of it to do.

Then there are the practicalities of my sewing set-up. Our house is a slightly shabby Victorian semi. It is cold all year round, apart from the kitchen, in which we I had the gloriously genius idea of installing underfloor heating when it was done up a few years back.

This means that in spring, autumn and winter I spend 99% of my time in the kitchen, because it is cheaper than heating the whole house just for me – and I hate being cold.

This in turn means that I have to tidy away most of my sewing paraphernalia when it gets to time to eat. There is not room on the table to both eat and sew. (And I don’t want myself or my messy boys spraying food on my creations either.)

Most of these problems are of my own making and could be easily overcome with a bit of bootstrap-pulling and setting-to. I could get on with things. I could move my sewing operations. I could buy a heater. I could, but I don’t.

But then there are the unavoidable things that get in the way of sewing. Like running out of supplies.

Most of what I use for my sewing is vintage. I have, over the years, built up a quite considerable stash of materials, including beads, sequins, threads, interfacing, stuffing and trims, as well as fabric. So normally whenever I need supplies, they are just there.

But sometimes, things run out. Or occasionally they decide to relocate themselves, somewhere in the mire of my disorganised stores, never to reemerge.

This is a problem. Because when vintage stuff runs out, you can’t usually just pop out and buy more of the same, because it’s in short supply.

It is partly this that makes me constantly on the lookout for bits and bobs, because there’s nothing more frustrating than not having the bit or bob you need when you need it and having no idea where to source said bit or bob from.

This is the position in which I found myself the other morning.

I’m making fairies, amongst other things, for Christmas. I have long since used up the supplies I utilised in my original prototype fairy and her immediate successors, although I did manage to replenish some of them last year via ebay.

However, being a seasonal item, I haven’t actually thought about fairy hair, or fairy frocks since last winter. And now that the festive season is getting closer, I have discovered that the fairy store cupboard is somewhat bare.

I have so far spent two whole days bobbing about looking for things with which to make fairies, with limited success.

After scouring every charity shop, haberdashers and crochet shop in town looking for lurex threads, I eventually had to go out to a suburban outpost where I vaguely remembered having seen some last year. Thankfully, on my third or fourth tour of the shop, they came up trumps and I am now all lurexed-up for the foreseeable future.

Next I needed lace. My original stash came from my favourite dodgy charity shop, which alas closed down earlier this year. Luckily my lovely vintage seller friend Maria of Sunshine has a selection of lace in her outlet at Hopkinson, which is where I went to replenish my supplies.

But I am still in short supply and could do with more…

Finally, I realised that my stash of tulle net, kindly donated by another friend last year, has diminished to the point of non-existence. So off I popped into town again, assuming that such stuff would be relatively easy to come by.

After another tour around Nottingham’s limited yet far-flung selection of haberdashery emporia, I was footsore, fed up, and still netless. It seems that net, like my luck, was yet another thing in short supply…

My final stop was Sharma’s market stall in the shopping centre, where a shock awaited me – the usual gaggle of elderly ladies with their elbows out were a bit more feverish than normal and I soon found out the cause of their agitation: Sharma’s is closing down.

That stall has been around seemingly forever. It is an institution. Unreliable in terms of continuity (heaven help you if you ever tried to buy the same fabric twice, though they always promised they would have more “next week”) and employing some of the sulkiest, least smiley staff I ever had the experience of being served by. But an institution nonetheless. The business (actually a fabric wholesaler) has been sold, and the stall won’t be there much longer.

I bought an extra couple of metres of net to keep me going, and left with a heavy heart.

I’m as big a fan of internet shopping as anyone (most of the contents of our house were bought on eBay.) But when it comes to sewing supplies, I do like the chance to fondle the goods before parting with my money. I also begrudge the postage costs and numerous experiences of things arriving damaged in transit (bent needles anyone?) so I treasure my local suppliers and try to use them whenever I can.

But it seems I am one of a dying breed. Despite the apparent resurgence of sewing and dressmaking, it is rare to find a bricks-and-mortar shop selling all the stuff required to undertake it.

So if anyone does fancy setting up a comprehensive yet reasonably priced fabric and haberdashery shop in Nottingham, you have a customer-in-waiting right here.

After all, one thing that I always welcome is an excuse to get out of the kitchen.

Even though those are never really in short supply.  ♥

P.S. Christmas fairies are available here, made-to-order from my Etsy shop.