Friday Frolics in Melbourne–15 April

 We woke up a little sluggish on the Friday morning but hauled ourselves out of bed for another excursion around Melbourne.  The architecture is so grand in Melbourne.  Our first stop was to 37 Swanston St to the Nicholas building. Some shops didn’t open til 10.00 am so we popped around the corner for a coffee.  Melbourne must truly be the home of the baristas.  Yummy coffee everywhere we went.(Joan’s Koala Coffee)

The Nicholas Building is such an antiquated building complete with old fashioned lift in which a man was stationed to open and close the doors and press the buttons for us.  Quaint.  Well……….. inside this labyrinth was a treasure trove indeed.

The wonderful L’ucello shop – a feast for the eyes and temptation abounding. (Hop onto their beautiful blog and check it out). Kim was very accommodating and chatted with us and told us all about her stock and a little on where she had sourced some of it.  Very interesting. This shop is a ‘must visit’ if ever you are in Melbourne.  Thank you to Teresa over at All Things Vintage for telling us about this beautiful shop.

Some purchases from L’ucello – barrette for Rebecca, Cards, trims and felt (gorgeous colours), Old spools and these ultra cool stamps from India.  You can see I have already put one to use. Close up of wonderful velvet trims and l’ucello’s cute packaging.
Also in the same building was Buttonmania which is the place you go if you are seeking that special button or buttons.  We also discovered next door, Kimono House where some damage to the wallet was done.  Beautiful fabrics, patterns, notions etc. 

Buttons from Buttonmania,     Fabric and gift from Kimono House
Down to Flinders lane for lunch at a French creperie with real French men serving us -  and enchanting us.
 After lunch,  we took a tram to Fitzroy and visited some lovely crafty shops.
We stopped first at Calico House looking for some muslin for Joan, but alas they didn’t have what she wanted.  We ventured upstairs to Precious Purl.  It was an Aladdin's cave with all sorts of textile stuff for sale.  I was very controlled.

Silk fibres and ric rac purchased from Precious Purl.
 A short walk away was  Jimmy Buttons – what can I say.  Holy Cow!  Don’t think Jimmy knows just what he has in the shop.  There was so much to see it all became a bit overwhelming.  Buttons, buttons everywhere.  Joan found some lovely big ones for her bags and I came away with a few little ones and some trims.  Talk about trims!  They were on rolls which were on rods and they went floor to ceiling.  An amazing shop, wish it was closer! We forgot to take a photo.
Trim and buttons from Jimmy’s.

After our excursion it was back to the hotel to rest up for our big night out at Her Majesty's Theatre to see Anthony Warlow in “Dr. Zhivago”- the musical.  The cast was incredible and the music just magical.   
Whew!
P>S>      Pre show meal at ‘”Stalactites”, (Lonsdale St)  THE BEST Greek Restaurant in Melbourne. IMHO.