As you read this I will be on my way to France for a spot of rest and relaxation – exciting!

But I didn’t want you to think that I’d forgotten my loyal blog readers. So I decided to set up a holiday project.

A series of posts that will run whilst I’m away.

Stash stories. Something for the lazy, sunny summer days.

A fabric a day from my stash, with it’s story. Some more interesting than others, depending on the fabric!

So here it is, the first of my stash stories. To start with, a bit of paisley perfection.

Appropriately enough, this fabric has been with me since the very start.

It is still just about recognisable as a dress with a ric rac trim, though it has had big chunks cut out of it.

The dress once belonged to my nanna. I still remember her wearing it.

Nanna lived with us, so she was a big presence in my childhood.

Nanna made the paisley dress herself, on her old Singer hand-crank machine.

She used to make mine and my sister’s dresses too, when we were little. I remember lots of gingham. And florals, of course. She made lots of dresses. One even had matching pants – which I liked to show people, as I was proud of them.

I think Nanna might’ve stopped making pants after that.

Nanna was the first person I ever saw sewing. She planted a seed in me that grew.

She died many years ago, having suffered dementia and forgotten who I was.

So this fabric is special to me.

I have used bits of it for buttons, and in my first patchwork quilt, but I think I will always keep a little of it in my stash.

Just as there will always be a little of Nanna with me. ♥