The Italian Collection #2

Here's the Casentino wool again, along with several other pieces. Actually the very first piece I bought was a black wool end cut from Valentino.  Stephanie, who blogs over at "My Vintage Inspiration" has mentioned Salvatore Magherini's Tessuti store on Via Romana 1/R in Florence.  

My apartment was very near to Salvatore's store, so one afternoon I just popped in and asked if he remembered the "donna di Canada" and he did, of course.  We had a nice chat about his fabrics, which are mostly from a store in Bologna that went out of business.  At one point Salvatore was a sarto, a tailor, so he is quite the expert.  The black wool has a subtle pattern, almost like a plaid, created with yarns of a different thickness.  I'd love to find a Vintage Vogue Valentino skirt pattern, but the only one I've seen on eBay is a wrap style, and the fabric is too heavy for that.

The Italian Collection #1

I spent the month of October in Florence, Italy.  Here's a photo of me in the T.A.C.S. Casentino wool store at Borgo Santi Apostoli 43r, just off Via Tornabuoni.  One can order yardage in the colors shows on the chart, in any amount.  This traditional fabric has been made for over 500 years in the Tuscan countryside, and is commonly used for men's overcoats.  I ordered two meters of the reddish brown second from the left.  Here's what I got:

Brighter, and lighter than I expected, but it's a nice rust that will go well with black, brown, gray and ivory.  And, a close-up of the textured surface:

It's quite a thick, heavy fabric (as befitting overcoats), so I am going to look for a simple design.  I'm thinking maybe a cape??  Does anyone have a pattern suggestion?