Category: Fabrics, Textiles, Haberdashery

1. Trend Alert! Step out with confidence in cosy boiled wool

   Posted on 12:00pm Tuesday 25th Sep 2018

   Boiled wool is our favourite trend for Autumn! The amazing thing about this fabric is you can cut and leave the edge and it won't fray.  We've used it here to make our easy to sew Coatigan for our new workshop.  This is a throw-it-over-anything garment that's so versatile to wear, you'll want to live in it all season!  

   

   We've tried and tested this wonderful, warm and luxurious 100% pure boiled wool knit.  It's available online from Stitch Fabrics in a variety of colours - navy / rose pink / lime, grey marl / tan & other colours! £20/m. 

    

   View fabric info for this workshop

    

   View/book our Sew a Coatigan in a day workshop

    

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   We also love this on-trend animal print wool mix coating fabric, from local fabric superstars Fabric Godmother which you can also leave raw-edged for a coatigan.  Perfect for sassy winter warmth! £24/m

    

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   Alternative Fabric: Sweatshirting

    

   This is another super trendy & cosy fabric option for making a coatigan.  These are our favourite!...

   
   1) On a Budget  Fluffy fleecy backed sweatshirting (100% polyester) from Fabric Land in Brighton.  A great way to test out this project on a budget before remaking in a more expensive cloth. £5.69/m
   
   2) Winter Luxury  Fur plush back sweatshirting online from London based Ray-Stitch.  SIB owner Kat REALLY wants to make a coatigan in this stunning fabric! £20/m
   
   3) Go Green  Organic cotton fleece back sweatshirting from Organic Textile Company's online shop.  It comes in a variety of colours and is VERY wide, meaning it will cost you less in fabric to make a garment from it. From £10/m
   

    

   

    

   View/book our Sew a Coatigan in a day workshop

2. Sussex Fabric Shop focus: The Fabric Shop, Worthing & Burgess Hill

   Posted on 2:12pm Sunday 21st Feb 2016

   This week we've recieved some super cute swatches from The Fabric Shop, which has branches in  Burgess Hill and Worthing. Jenni who is wearing the gold skirt in the attached pic has just completed our Fashion Design & Pattern Cutting course and bought all her fabrics from there - they were gorgeous.

   It's a large shop with a huge range - I've attached my favourites here - cute rabbit print poly/linen £14.99 a metre, plus 2 gorgeous hard wearing cotton backed oil cloths at £12.99 a metre.

   The Fabric Shop also sell Husqvana Viking sewing machines from £150, plus made to measure curtains, haberdashery and hand knitting paraphernalia!

     

   

   
   Jenni's skirt made from a fab remnant from The Fabric Shop, Worthing   

   The Fabric Shop Ltd
   The Show Rooms 55 Chapel Road Worthing BN11 1EF

   The Fabric Shop Ltd
   36 The Martlets Burgess Hill        RH15 9NN

   http://www.thefabricshops.co.uk/fabrics

3. Tips for choosing Tailored Jacket fabrics - an interview with Dragonfly Fabrics and our Jacket course tutor Jo Bunner

   Posted on 11:08am Wednesday 16th Dec 2015

   With our upcoming Jacket making course in mind, here we interview Katie and Dorte at Dragonfly Fabrics in Sussex and our jacket course tutor Jo Bunner about the best choice for jacket fabrics 

   
   What's the easiest fabric for a novice jacket maker to use? 
   The easiest fabric to use would be a wool fabric, like an 100% Italian wool as these are firm. We are have a new range of herringbone tweed that would be suitable also. These fabrics are not too thick so they drape well and they are easy to sew with. Although pure wool fabric is more expensive, we think you will get more from your finished garment. The quality is important to think about, especially when taking the time to make something tailored, quality fabrics will make sewing easier and the jacket durable. 

    

4. Why you need a favourite stretchy dress!

   Posted on 11:10am Wednesday 21st Oct 2015

   Everyone needs a fab pull on dress - I wear mine over jeans (which I also make btw, with minimal waistband bulk for just this purpose!). 

   We've run our stretch dress course quite a few times now and it's always gratifying to see my students enjoying creating multiple dresses after the course! Plus people have used the pattern to make tops too, and we can help adapt it into different styles if they want.

   See images below of regular student (who started as absolute beginner not long ago!) Rebecca in her various incarnations of the dress. 

      

   I've a fab beige/black spot jersey I can't wait to get started with - and the butterfly one below is one I made for the original course but for some reason never quite got round to hemming, so thats a job for this week! The blue one is the original sample you may have seen on our wall at the Sewing Lounge. The fabric is from Fabric Land - most unusal, always worth a look to see what they have in store - otherwise Ditto fabrics on Kensington Gardens in Brighton (or online) usually have some great upmarket plain and printed jerseys you could use.

        

   
   Make Your Own Stretch Dress in our weekly Stitch Classes
   More info and booking here
   

   Also check out my Pinterest board for inspiration on how to wear and which styles to make

   Follow Sew's board Simple stretch dress on Pinterest.

    

5. Closs & Hamblin (C&H) Brighton - Interview

   Posted on 3:23pm Friday 31st Jan 2014

   

    

   Interview With C&H Fabrics, Western Rd, Brighton

   C & H Fabrics Ltd was started on 1st April 1933 by C.W. Hamblin and Mr H. Closs, and has now grown into a huge store over several floors with a great selection of fabrics, wools, haberdashery products and many other household and gifts items. 

   We had the fantastic opportunity to interview Diana Hing and James Hamblin, the manager and Personnel of the store, to learn more about the store and the products it sells. 

   • What is the main audience of your business?

     Up to 5 years ago the main audience was aged 45 and over and predominantly female, but in the last few years this has lowered to age 35 and over. Also many more young people has been buying products for school projects,which is encouraged by the10% discount to products for school work. 

   • What do you think are the popular sewing products bought?

     On the whole the product sales are very even, although C&H do sells huge numbers of scissors, people really appreciate good fabric scissors. The most popular editions are the Fiskars scissors, these are very good quality and last up to 10years before needing to be replaced. They also sell a lot of velcro, Wundaweb, and fabric dyes. The increased sales in fabric dyes has been quite recent, and is probably related the rise in young people buying from the store, and also the recent tie dye trends. A greater number of dyes are sold in the Brighton store than other stores across the country, which Diana believes is due to the greater interest in crafts in Brighton, as well as the outlook of older people here is in general younger and funkier.

   • What are the different types of fabrics that you sell?

     Interestingly the customers often follow the advice and ideas of the staff, as opposed to having fixed ideas themselves. They also find that wool is very popular, which may be as it is a natural fabric and also very easy to work with, as therefore popular with less experienced stitchers. They have also seen a rise in crafts and with this a shift towards the use of fabrics for craft projects as opposed to dress making. People coming to C&H expect quality and something different rather than simply cheap and cheerful. 

   • Personally what have you sewn or made that you have been most proud of?

     James, the area manager of C&H, isn't a regular crafter and stitcher, but when training for his position he knitted a scarf with the help of other members of staff in the store. Whereas Diana sews a lot, creating a variety of clothing and pieces for the home. Her favourite creation was the silk curtains and matching silk roman blinds she made for own home, and feels very proud when seeing them within her home. She also makes a lot of clothing, particularly skirts, which she makes from scratch without any pattern! 

   • Sewing, knitting and crafts are very fashionable hobbies now, what do you think has sparked this?

     Crafts and sewing became fashionable when celebrities like Julia roberts and Gwyneth Paltrow started knitting 6 years ago. Kirsty Allsopp has also been a massive influence, especially following her an episode of 'Kirstys Homemade Home' in which she made pom poms, C&H sold out of pom pom kits. Also Gok Wan brought embellishing into fashion, helping to set trends, and also increase the sales of materials to embellish clothes from home. Usually as well as materials for dress making, C&H also sells a lot of fabric and wool for creating dog beds and coats, which mimics the trend of pet fashions and clothing.  

   • Do you think that the Great British Sewing Bee has had a big major affect on the sales of sewing and craft materials? And how?

     The Great British Sewing Bee has been a great influence on sales of fabrics and dress making materials. People nowadays want to be different and individual, especially with the increase in mass produced cheap fast fashion.  

   • How do you think that young people could become more excited about sewing and crafts?

     Diana believes that by getting young children to touch and feel fabrics, such as angora and velvet, they would become more interested in fabrics, craft and sewing from an early age. Also teaching people more about the background of fabrics and the technical aspects, for instance that silk draws up more colour, thereby looking more vibrant. We also need to raise awareness that young people can create something and get a result they are pleased with , they just need to go for it! People are put off be crafts and sewing as they see it as complicated, but Diana says people ought to “just get a lovely fabric and go for it!”. 

   https://www.candh.co.uk/map