Happy New Year!

Well, it didn't meet the birthday or Christmas present deadline, but I managed to finish it before the end of the year - just!!! ;)

Wishing you all a very Happy New Year x

Recent Top Secret Projects

Well, all my recent sewing projects, can now be revealed!  

Sorry, they were Top Secret until Christmas Day & I then I missed the opportunity to photograph them being modelled!!

So firstly, there was the purse clutch, in my new favourite Tula Pink fabric - flowers & tigers, what more can you ask for!

Then, Christmas Pj's in Michael Miller's Mid Century Christmas.

The lovely Comax trunks pattern from threadtheory.ca came together so easily & are most comfortable I'm told!

More Tula Pink, in a lined make up bag, with a matching lace zip!

And finally some free motion embroidery on the gorgeous field mouse print, from Inprint at Makower

Well, I think it's time to get back to improving my wardrobe...!

Happy Sewing x

Have a break from Christmas!

We've some new cotton poplin prints in store! Not remotely Christmassy!!

They're 112 cms wide & £6 per m.

Time to start thinking of those new year projects!! 

Late Night Christmas Shopping

Our window is almost ready for the Carols on the Green & Late Night Shopping event this Friday 4th December!

Come & join us for some mulled wine & a mince pie ;)

Cosy, cosy cotton jersey

Yay, it's back in & in more colours! Another sweatshirt in the making! 150 cms wide & £14.50 per m

I've also finally tracked down the aptly named Wonder Tape! Double sided adhesive tape, that can be stitched through and then washes out! Perfect for tricky hems!

More & More Fabric!

When these cotton jersey fabrics arrived today, I'd completely forgotten I'd ordered them! It was a few weeks ago, at a show in London, but I still love them!  They are so soft and are perfect to mix & match. 150 cms wide and £12 per m.  I'd just found homes for them, when these 12 rolls arrived!

This is a mixture of chiffons, Ponte Roma, woollens, lawn, wool blends, viscose & ripstop! Prices range from £5 to £15 per m and they're all 150 cms wide.

There's still more on the way...!

Halloween Calico

Our calico is back & it ain't afraid of no ghosts!!

Cheering up a Dreary Day

We've had more deliveries!  Fabric, patterns, ribbons & lace zips. So much colour for a dreary day :)

No-sew Magnetic Bag Fasteners

New Antique Brass & Shiny Nickel, no-sew magnetic fasteners in stock now. They're 18mm diameter & £1 per set.

Time to start purse & bag making :)

More Lounge Wear!

My wardrobe is having some comfy additions!  Last time, it was the cosy Linden Sweatshirt, from Grainline Studios & this week, the Hudson Pants from True Bias patterns. 

I love the low, wide waist, nicely edged pockets & a slim fit lower leg, the rest is pure comfort!

These are made up in our amazingly wide, grey marl jersey - 175 cms wide!!!  Which is great, as they only took a metre (£9.50) & left enough for a scarf ;)

New favourite sweatshirt!

Now this is a wonderful quick make, with a perfect fit!

Grainline Studio's Linden sweatshirt pattern comes with 2 versions - long sleeved with cuffs & bottom band or short sleeved & hemmed. There's also the option of using ribbing or fabric for the bands.  I went for the fabric option, as there was no ribbing to hand!  It comes together so quickly, I just added some top stitching for extra hard wearing.

Sadly, I used the last of our navy Cosy Cotton, with the red & cream flecks ( don't worry there's more on order in 3 colours!). The back of the fabric lives up to it's cosy name, so so soft & warm.  But I will give it another test tonight, running around the flood lit tennis court ;)

New Stock :)

Lots of new things have been arriving this week!  Autumn fabrics for these cold mornings, haberdashery to finish those projects & (sorry to say so early) Christmas ribbons!

There are more deliveries on the way!

New Indie Patterns

We're adding to our stable of Independent pattern designers!

The new additions are Victory Patterns from Canada, with a sweater dress Lola & a full skirt, with optional braces, Madeleine. 

Secondly, we have Grainline Studio from USA, whose patterns I have bought as PDFs - Moss is a great fitting skirt! They have a slim fit t-shirt Lark, classic raglan sweatshirt Linden and the gorgeous Morris Blazer (my new autumn jacket!).

I always source these patterns after hours of reading sewing blogs & reviews and pouring over web images - so you don't have to ;)

Oh & we have new colours in our lace zips!

The C Word

Sorry to use the C word, but Christmas fabrics have arrived!

New Fabrics in Store

Some of our new stock!

Some new landscape cotton prints.

An amazing quilted print, with lots of things to see!

Stretchy paisley jersey, what more could you want in a fabric!

Beautiful drapey viscose & you get to see how it makes up, in the producer's magazine!

We've more in store & more on the way!

Haberdashery Delivery!

Well, this should get you sewing!

Cutting mats, rulers, rotary cutters, tracing wheels, carbon paper, corner shapers & bobbins - no name but a few!!

Summer is still here - just!

Our latest delivery of cotton prints have a natural theme - seagulls, boats, field mice & floral.  All 112cm wide & £12 per m

Pom Pom Pom...!

Our new Pom Pom trim has arrived! 

£1 per m & more colours to follow

Tula Pink

At last, another part of the Tula Pink Elizabeth range - Chain Mail! Lovely colours, which link all of the other fabrics in the range.

100% Cotton, 112cms wide & £15.25 per m

A summer delivery!

We have a lovely group of new fabrics - cotton lawn, cotton poplin, cotton print, stretch cotton, viscose & a Ponte Roma!

The bird & egg prints are all named British birds!  The cotton lawns (2 on the left) only came in small amounts, from a trial print - so get them while you can!

The top 3, are a soft lilac Ponte Roma, a drapey viscose &  grey floral stretch cotton.

Pretty & practical!

So this is the pretty delivery, the start of the new trims & lace from Spain.

And this is the practical delivery, wonderful German Prym haberdashery!

Seed Heads have blown in...

It's funny how you forget what you've ordered! Mind you it was a few months ago and from a paper, not fabric sample!

But I'm pleased to say it's better than I remembered/imagined.  It's a small scale print, so has many dressmaking, patchwork & craft uses and comes in 2 gorgeous colour ways!  100% cotton, 112 cm wide & £12.00 per m.

New Window Display

It can take me days to decide what to put in the window! And then hours working out what style, to pin on the model.  This is my dream drapey viscose. An amazing digital print, with a border print on both selvedges.  I saw this on a catwalk at a textile show and just had to have it!!!  

100% Viscose, 156 cms wide & £30 per m

Seersucker Shirt

A perfect addition to your summer wardrobe!  Beautifully made by one of our lovely customers!

Kid's Club

This morning's Kids Club was fun filled as ever!  Today we created Picnic Napkins, that roll up with your cutlery in a pocket!

Obviously, a bit of decoration was involved! Today, it the took the form of embroidery.

Last minute decision!

Well, in my usual style, a wedding on Saturday & Thursday afternoon I decide I need a new dress to wear!

I've been drawn to the Date Night Dress by April Rhodes & those gorgeous flutter sleeves, for some time.   Luckily, we have the perfect fabric in store - a cotton/silk mix in a blue & grey paisley.

A simple rolled hem on my overlocker, turned into a late night trauma, as the thread didn't want to stay on the fabric!!!

During the night, I remembered the packets of water soluble stabiliser in the shop. What a life saver, you just sew over strips of the stabiliser & then rinse it out under a cold tap. 100% miracle, sanity saving product!

I think the photo shows the lovely results!

Luckily, a nude,bias cut slip from another dress fitted under it perfectly & along with my jeans belt - outfit sorted!

A wonderful afternoon/evening was had, followed by a night under canvas & back to the marquee for breakfast! 

Drapey Rayon

A new rayon in store!  This is a wonderfully soft and drapey fabric. It's 142 cms wide & £14.50 per m.  Perfect for these shorts, especially as they take less than 1/2 a metre!

Latest Cotton Prints

Another fabric delivery!!

Cotton prints this time, from Freespirit fabrics & designed by Tula Pink, Heather Bailey & Dena Designs. All 100% cotton, 112 cms wide & £15.25 per m

Can you spot the Bats in the Belfry?! One of my all time, Tula Pink favorites!

Cotton voiles

These new cotton voiles by Heather Bailey, for Freespirit fabrics are soooo smooth & light. I maybe stroking them for the rest of the day!!

New Jersey

A little taste of the new Jersey fabric, ordered this week.  This is what happens when a rep leaves you a sample piece to play with!!!

New Cottons 😍

A beautiful delivery from Art Gallery Fabrics, all Pima cotton prints.

And the most stunning border print from Cloud9 fabrics, 100% organic cotton.

All are up on the website, if you need any more details, pattern repeat etc.

Finally finished!

This lovely Sassy Librarian Blouse has been on my dress stand, without buttonholes or buttons, for a few weeks now. So a grey, showery Sunday was perfect timing to finish her off!  She's made up from a Christine Haynes PDF pattern from Craftsy - the online course site and sewn in Birch fabrics organic cotton.  I couldn't decide on buttons, so took the simple option of making covered buttons, in the blouse fabric.

Right one project down, I think the chevron leggings are next in the queue, to be assembled!!

More Customer Makes!

Firstly, the gorgeous Holly jumpsuit from byhandlondon.com, an independent pattern company. Made up in our Cloud9 organic cotton, with a contrast sleeve band in Art Gallery Fabrics Cleta range.

Then look what came through the door today!! An elephant cushion cover in our Free Spirit fabric by Jenean Morrison & Cloud9 fabric. Perfect fabric choice 😍