Purple Patch

The Facts

Fabric:  2 metres 100% purple cotton bought on the East Anglian Fabric Trail

Pattern:  New Look from stash (can’t remember the number but Judy has it on her blog at sewblessedmaw)

Year:  2011

Notions:  Thread and interfacing from stash, bought zip.

Time To Complete:  6 hours

Total Cost:  £11.40 including zip

First Worn:  In these photos.

Wear Again:  Yes, with all the patterned things I’ve made.

I’m a bit late with this because of all the Jubilee celebrations in the UK, as well as a bit of a crisis, involving me following an ambulance up the A1 – all is well now thank goodness. I really don’t ‘do’ driving, mainly limiting it to surrounding villages, so that was a bit of an ordeal for me.  Here I am serenely enjoying a very leisurely, English cup of tea.  I’m also having a little break from prints because I desperately need some plain things to match all the patterned stuff I’ve made.  This will go with at least two of the skirts I have, one of which I’m wearing and as well as being something I can use for casual wear on holiday, it should also look good for work.  Judy has a great red polka dotted version of this top on her blog at SewBlessedMaw.  Mine is in 100% plain cotton which should be nice and cool. Rather than any member of the Royal Family in particular, I was originally inspired by the regal colour of purple.  Though I’ve since found that Elizabeth I used the term ‘purple patch’ in print in 1598, to describe a particularly florid piece of prose.

I think I must have been admiring Frances’ outfit on our recent East Anglian Fabric trail with Charlotte.  She had made a lovely purple top and skirt (but I didn’t get to see the jacket which she left in the car because it was so hot).  Anyway, I found that I subconsciously came away with some purple fabric from King’s Lynn.  So thanks for the purple indoctrination Frances!  It was like a holiday when we all met on the fabric trail.  It was boiling hot  – we aren’t getting many of those days in the UK this year and it was lovely to just be out and about, escaping from the usual routine for the day to do something special and unique!

‘Purple patch’ can also mean, ‘a period of good fortune or creativity’, and in the 1960′s ‘Hendrix Purple’ began to be recognised as a shade of dye in the fashion industry.  I found all this information at www.phrases.org.uk.  I also have the book, ‘Mauveine’ by Simon Garfield, which delves into the history of how ‘purple’ was first discovered – entirely by accident – by William Henry Perkin, when he was looking for a malaria cure. In Victorian times, it was known as, ‘Perkin’s purple’. I saw a display about all this when I was last at Manchester Museum of Science and Industry.

It’s funny but I never used to be keen on purple as a colour, though it’s kind of grown on me and it is supposed to be one of ‘my’ colours.  I think I’ll keep it in my colour palette from now on …