Chocolate for Breakfast!

One of the greatest perks of being an allotment gardener is that you really experience each season fully. You look forward to each part of the year knowing the rewards they bring to you. Working in a fabric shop is much the same. We get to experience each season a little longer than normal. We thrive on setting out Summer wedding fabrics and light cotton for dresses, heavy corduroy for trousers in Autumn as well as knitting wool, thick fleeces for winter and the bright pastels of spring. For many of us setting out the rolls of organza into nice seasonal colour schemes has become a form of relaxation therapy.

The timing of our seasonal changes however may seem a little odd. Many people like to think a season a head as they need time to design and make their creations. We intern need to be a little ahead of these people to supply their needs. And that is why even though we are still three weeks away from Halloween visitors to our Colchester branch will already see evidence of Christmas preparations.  We promise we wont make you sick of Christmas by playing Band Aid's "Do they know it's Christmas" on a loop and have our own festive decorations out before December. We're just giving you the chance to pop in and prepare for the season in your own time. We have a range of craft fabrics with Christmas patterns on display now as well as Christmas Stocking Kits and Advent Calendar Kits. A hand crafted quilted advent calendar is a great alternative to a disposable chocolate filled calendar. It comes with little pockets, one for each day of Advent which you can fill with a healthier treat of  your choice (or sweeties).

It is strange though that for 24 days of the year we tell our kids it's OK to have chocolate for breakfast.

One of my big guilty Christmas pleasures  is  visiting Harrods Christmas display. As you may expect from a shop renowned for excesses the  Christmas decorations are amazing. Many years ago I fell in love with their  traditional looking Christmas stockings and was pleasantly surprised at how affordable and easy they are to make.

We now have many different styles in the shop and they are all simple to make up. Over the years I've found them a great gift for people who are difficult to buy/make for. A home made stocking filled with nuts, dried fruit, mulled wine kits or something small and personal like packs of seeds or a small book really does give people the feeling that at you've gone the extra mile.

So please pop in and see what we can do to inspire you this festive season or visit us on-line at

http://www.fabric8online.co.uk