The joy of fabric

Jacque Shaw

As often happens, S and I met for coffee in the weekend then found ourselves drawn like lemmings to The Fabric Warehouse.
I did a double take when one of the young assistants walked towards us in a dress made from the same fabric as one of S's dresses. S wore it in BA, and the fabric holds happy associations for me. But even without those, this dress and its wearer - Jacque Shaw - would have given me pleasure. Let me count the ways.
1. She looked gorgeous in it, and is a lovely young woman.
2. She made it herself - it was imaginatively conceived and so nicely sewn.
3. I love people who know what they're talking about, and those who employ them - Jacque is highly knowledgable, and helpful.
Which isn't surprising, since she's in the final year of BDes (Hons) in fashion at Massey University. You can see some of her work here.
S bought beautiful silk, printed as though hand-painted in watercolours, in deliciously translucent shades of dove gray, mauve-y pink and green, along with some perfectly matched pinwhale corduroy for a jacket.
I bought a length of green boiled wool boucle, enough for a high-waisted, below-the-knee pencil skirt. Its colour is what I think of as "Esprit green".
I don't care for Esprit at all as a label (too little-girly/sporty/tatty), but a long time ago - last century, in fact - I bought an Esprit tee-shirt because it was a wonderful shade of singing green. And I've been hooked on the colour ever since.

All that remains is to sew it up. Or will I find mere possession of the fabric enough?