Ask and You Shall Receive

On one of the days I’ve had to myself during the holidays, I decided to take a trip to another local market town. Retford is quite pretty, with a beautiful park and some fine old buildings. Like most places, the covering of snow that remained enhanced it’s charm.

Like Worksop, Retford has a good selection of charity shops, and visiting them was the purpose of my journey.

In the first two I visited, I asked the staff, doubtfully, whether they had any old sewing patterns. Both told me that whilst they did get them in, they had none at present. In the third, however, I struck gold. Or tissue paper, more accurately. From a dark cupboard, the lady brought out a pile of patterns. I was elated! I quickly flicked through, finding a range of styles, sizes and eras. Nothing too horrific and some which really appealed. A couple of Vogue that caught my eye. As they weren’t priced, I asked how much? £1.50. For ALL of them! I said that wasn’t enough, and left £3 as I skipped out the shop. On a high, I visited three more shops, two with nothing and one from which I picked up two slightly random patterns (20p each, left 50p) of an oversized, long sleeved 80s style blouse/shirt dress, along with a decorative turkey (no typo) that reminded me instantly of Thanksgiving, and Nat in Alabama.

Thirteen patterns for £3.50, none of which I would have found had I not bothered to ask. Has anyone else had luck like this in charity shops? Which do you like, and which do you think I should or could attempt first?