We have a new Website

After a long time in development we are very proud to unveil out new Website.  If you pop  along to http://www.fabric8online.co.uk  You will find what we believe is a clear and easy to follow web-shop. I thought I'd give you  a brief tour here.

Along the top are the basic categories , So if you want fabric for dressmaking the just click Fashion Fabrics , for quilt making  and other crafts then click the Craft Fabrics section and so on. There are also sections with free patterns and a Clearance section where you can pick up a bargain. All this is pretty much self explanatory, However, if for an example you were to click on Fashion Fabrics you will find we have made it easier to find the fabrics you want. Clicking on Fashion Fabrics brings up a list of all the different groups of Dress Making fabrics we have.

Cotton,  Dress Linings and Nets, Fleece and Furs,
Jersey , Lace & Tulle , Linen , Organza & Chiffon
Polycotton,  Sequin and Lamé,  Silks and Satins, Velours and Lycras,   Wool as well as a section for special events labeled  Celebration Fabric a section for those fabrics that never quite fit in, Other and  Sew Magazine Features for fabrics that have made it into this fine magazine.

Let us assume you have decided you want to make a wonderful creation in Cotton. On clicking Cotton you find your final options.Here you can quickly narrow down your browsing to Plain Cottons, Patterned Cottons, Canvas, and Seersucker & Lawn. There are of course search boxes through out the site should you know exactly what you want. However we like the site also to be set up so you can browse through our stock in a quick and logical way. Please have fun on our website and let us know how you find it. Happy Sewing!

Why I love to sew

Most of the blogs on this site tend to be rather factual in nature. They may be a simple "how to" tutorial, or ideas of how you can use your sewing skills in new and interesting ways. I tend not to talk too much about myself, and anyone who's met me at the shop will tell you that's quite out of character :) This blog is slightly more personal in nature, but I hope you find it useful. In past blogs I may have hinted at an interest in performing magic as well as a few physical difficulties which I face. This blog is about the latter. I'm lucky, I'm disabled but managed to land a job (with a great boss and great co-workers who help adapt things to my needs). I'm also lucky in that I sew.

  Sewing for me is incredibly therapeutic. On days when my back is good I can sit by my sewing machine and spend a day happily being creative. On other days when I'm not so well I can  lay back in a support chair and hand sew, or design new creations. Then on days when even that is too much I can read books on fashion as well as books on sewing techniques and patter drafting. Finally when I'm feeling so bad that I can not even hold a book I can look at my collection of hand crafted waistcoats and feel a sense of pride and knowledge that even if I feel bad on this one day, there are other days I can make beautiful things. The sense of achievement when finishing a garment is something I think we all can  share. However to a disabled person that sense of achievement can be tenfold.

An example of this was yesterday. I really wanted to be productive, however my back didn't want me to move much. So I picked up some medieval trousers I happened to have hanging around that needed altering. They were completely  closed at the front. I have to put a front opening and fly in, because some of the stitching as on show and this  is a medieval re-enactment garment I had to do some hand sewing.  And thus a day where I would normally have accomplished  little actually became I day when I did a fiddly little job i'd been putting off for a while.   So if you or your friends have any sort of injury or disability  have a long think. With jut a little help and adaptation you can get them involved  in our wonderfully creative craft.

Please use the comment if You can think of other ways we can help people to sew, knit or craft

The Retromancers

Craft and sewing tins and cases 

Retro is huge. Ironically retro has been huge all through history. We've often looked back to the past for inspiration and sometimes accidentally (or not so accidentally) re-write it to give us a specific emotion, be it a sense of happy nostalgia, pride or hope. In the last century and a bit we saw this stepped up by the Victorian antiquarians. This group of middle classed gentlemen  would to to rekindle costumes and traditions from the past, for example Christmas day. Many of the traditions we hold dear to  for Christmas were actual re-inventions of Tudor and dark age traditions, given a Victorian twist. These enterprising gents also re-invented the role of Town Crier. When making a costume for a Town Crier I was told to remember this isn't a medieval costume, it's a Victorians idea of a medieval costume.

Retro and Modern fabrics

  Ok maybe it's time to quite the waffle and talk about WHY i'm talking about this. In recent time we've had a lot more retro. I've already blogged about polka dot weddings,  Cos play of 80's and earlier sci fi and have been to my fair share of ballroom parties where the theme was World War 2. We've selling a lot more retro fabric in the shop and have just  received some retro sewing tins. Colchester just hosted a wonderful Retro Fair . And I think I finally understand the spiritual appeal of these things. The aesthetic appeal was obvious, they're pretty! But there's a deeper meaning. The Victorians looked back because they felt a sense of achievement, proud of how far they had come with their industrial age.  We are looking back at trying times, such as the blitz and the years following the war when basic necessities were hard to time. We're not looking back at the times of excess when there were bountiful resources. In these tough days of economic gloom we're reminding ourselves, we have been through a lot worse as a country,a nd indeed as a species. We've been through hard-ship before, and yet we triumphed.

Ok you want Butterflies.

My family has a saying. "Only a fool learns from his mistakes, a wise man learns from someone else's". I'm giving you all a chance to learn from my mistake, and it was a biggy.

  A friend rung me up asking for a simple dress with fabric with butterflies on. I will be honest, I left starting a little late. I popped into the shop to grab some butterfly fabric and I was in for a little bit of a shock. You see I didn't realize  how MUCH butterfly fabric we have. I didn't know where to begin, and with such a varied choice, all of them so different I just knew there was a chance I could pick the wrong one! Let me show you some examples.

To begin with there are just the light weight cotton Butterflies.

These fabrics are almost identical, they have a lovely butterfly motive s well as a few other things such as presents bows and fans (and chickens). They are just in different colours, or as well call them Colour-ways. At 140 cm wide and £9.00 per meter a simple dress would have been within my  budget. and perfect for a summer dress. Then I realised something. I forgot to ask WHERE the dress would be worn. Just because the weather was nice she may not want a summer dress she may want something more formal. SO I thought I'd take another wander through the shop.

 

Another stroll through the shop lead me to the brocades. I love brocades, they're a lovely weight, easy to work with and always look stunning. It's my fabric of choice for  waistcoats. 

 Both of our Chinese styled butterfly brocades came with a red background. The first comes in at £7.70 per meter, the second at £9.90. So both again within my allotted price range. These would be perfect for a structured dress or a simple, but less flowing dress. SO again I realized I had made a grave error. The term "Simple Dress" means different things to different people. To some it's a classic shift Dress, to others it could be the classic "Little Black Dress".  I had filed to gather enough information before starting the project.

  Thinking that these fabrics may be slightly too structured I went hunting again.

 These two fabrics come in at £12.75 per meter and 110 cm wide. They don't look it at first but they are the same pattern "Butterfly Carnival" just two  different colour-ways. The orange colour-way was looking like a good choice to me as it would work both in a formal dress, a maxi dress and a summer dress.

Finally though I came across THESE 

The young lady in question is a free spirit. I know she enjoys bright colours. I had to just bite the bullet and ring her and admit I had not started her dress yet. It wasn't paid work, and I had been busy I was a  fool for worrying, she understood entirely. She opted for this lovely rainbow  and butterfly fabric.  So what am I trying to say here? When taking on a project for Solomon else start  early. Even if you wont be able to get around to to sewing at least get the fabric, or indeed  get some samples to show the client. And get as full a brief as possible. One persons simple is someone else's rustic or even someone else's formal.  Try to get a grip on the personality of the person in question, and then find out if the outfit is for a certain event.

With this  information you'll be able to make a better choice of fabric and pattern. Don't accept a vague term like "butterfly". Not only are there lots of colour-ways to choose from but so many different styles. Some of these are carefree, others are modern, others are classic. Some can be abstract. There is also the idea of texture, some of these fabrics here are smooth and shiny, others slightly fuzzy.In the words of Sherlock Homes "Data Data Data, I can not make bricks without clay". Even if you are not a professional tailor and dressmaker you have the right (and responsibility) to interrogate who ever you are making the costume for.

|IT can help to try and think of your project as a professional one even if it is for a friend and unpaid. Then you will feel more able to ask the 'client' questions about their needs and ensure you can just relax and most importantly of all ENJOY YOUR SEWING

How to make a Kindle cover (or Kindle Case)

I love my kindle. I got mine to save me money as I love very old books that are out of copyright. However as much of a convenient money saver that they are the cases available do cost a pretty penny. Reading lights also cost too much for me to afford. So after a request from a fellow Kindle user I made up this very simple case to keep  the screen clean and scratch free as well as keeping all of my 'Kindle Bits' in one place. This design uses only simple stitches and should be easily followed by a relative newcomer to sewing.This basic method could be adapted for many other things including notebook, net-book, tablet PC's. The design makes a long padded lined strip of fabric. This is then folded over the length of the Kindle and top stitched down the sides. IT d is only folded over the length  of the kindle and not in half. the excess length can then be folded over to form a flap. This wont need any stitching in place, just  some Velcro.

You will need.

Outer fabric (I have used some brocade)  20cm X 55cm
Wadding  20cm X 55cm
Lining (something soft. I have used soft cotton velvet, but fleece would also work well) 22 X 55cm + 12cm X 12cm for internal pocket.
Cotton fabric (to use as a backing for the wadding.20cm X 55 cm
Scissors 
Chalk
Pins
Needle & Thread

Optional extra.
Grosgrain Ribbon (a small off cut would do)
"D"ring

Step 1. Pin the wadding to the WRONG side of the outer fabric  and to the Cotton Backing, efectivly sandwiching it between the cotton and outer fabric. Baste (straight stitch) with a seam allowable of 1-4 inch

This gives you a nice padded case however you could run Diagonal lines of top stitching over your strip or quilted fabric to give it some texture. I sewed around the repeating pattern of my brocade to give my  case a classic almost upholstery look

Now to the lining. If you decide to have a small pocket to put cables and a light in it is best to have that on the back, and placed before attaching the lining to the outer.

Hemm the fabric for the pocket on all sides by folding along the length but 5 mm, and then folding it again before stitching along the fold.

Decide where to place the pocket (I placed the bottom edge of my pocket 30 cm from the top of the strip of fabric) and top stitch in place.

Now RIGHT SIDES TOGETHER pin and sew the outer and the lining together along the long sides,
Press and then sew along the top short side. This is because the lining should be slightly wider than the outer fabric. turn the pouch right side out and lightly press again before folding the open raw edge of the bottom in on itself and top stitching it in place.
Now place your kindle on top of the soft lining and fold the bottom of the strip of fabric up until it meets the top of the Kindle. Mark on the lining were the top of the kindle and the bottom of the kindle is.
You know know where you need to fold your strip to form the case. AND you know where the top flap will reach when you fold it over. Top stitch a large piece of the soft side of Velcro onto the outer layer where the top of the kindle will be (remove Kindle first obviously) now add a smaller piece of the rough side of Velcro on top the lining side of what will become the flap of your case.

If you like use  some grosgrain ribbon to attache a "D-ring" onto the back of the pouch in between the top of the inner pocket and the fold for the flap.

Now we're almost done. Fold the bottom of the strip up to the place marked. You should have a few mm of lining showing on either side. Top stitch down each side where the lining meats the outer fabric. This gives a nice 'Pipped' look. And there you have it. your Kindle Cover!.

A few notes. Why did I use a smaller patch of Velcro for the lid. The rough Velcro can chew up many fabrics so you want it to hit the soft Velcro and NOT the fabric of your kindle cover. So we give it a bigger 'Target' by using a small section of rough and large section of Smooth.

We could have sewn the Velcro for the flap on the lining before attaching the lining to the outer to avoid any top stitching showing on the top. This however would not have been very strong and secure, so just make sure you are very neat when sewing the Velcro on the flap.

You could buy fabric for this project. However it's an example of the benefits of storing off cuts in a suitable container as you may well be able to make this out of any old bits laying around your sewing/project room

Plastic bag holder.

We're often told it isn't easy being green. Since my childhood though we've moved on a lot environmentally speaking/ We now don't use CFC's our cars are a lot more efficient   and we have curbside recycling (Yes I Rosebery when it all went into one big bag). So let us not be too hard on ourselves. Take a step back and give yourself a pat on the back for coming this  far. That said this year we will see a new environmental rule pass.  In Wales all shops must charge at least 5p for "single use carrier bags". This is to encourage people to use harder wearing bags or baskets. This rule will be spreading to the rest of the UK soon and so we thought we'd help you get ready for it. A simple plastic carrier bag holder can go a long way to saving you from buying new bags. You can store some of the lighter re-usable bags OR keep regular carrier bags in it ready to reuse a few more times (or to use to line a small bin in your study or bathroom).

You will need
Fabric -non stretchy, any weight will do.  heavy furniture weight will stay upright more when empty but lighter fabrics work fine too- aprox 40cm-65cm  
Off cut of Ribbon

Scissors

Pins- 
 1/4 inch (aprox 7mm)  elastic 


To begin with cut your fabric into a rectangle about 65cm by 40 cm.
You could use a simple seam by sewing right sides together along the 65cm edge however this is a good opportunity to practise a French Seam. This seam encases the raw edges helping to reduce wear and tear. So fold the fabrics so the 65 cm edge rests against the other 65cm edge WRONG SIDES TOGETHER. 

Sew along the 65cm edge with a seam alowance of 1/4 inch. Press the seams and the roll the tube of fabric inside out. Now sew along the seam again with a 1/2 inch seam.  

You now have a wonderful French Seam which will protect the raw edges from wear and tear, also hand in unlined garments such as shirts.  

At each  end create a hem by folding the fabric over to the wrong side by 1 am, and rolling it again by 1 cm. sew, leaving a small gap at the bottom for threading elastic through.

 attach the elastic to a safty pin and thread it through the bottom hem pulling th elastic so the bottom cloases to about half of the original width wehn unstretched.

Loop a small amount of ribbon over and sew to the top of the container and there you have it. A custom made plastic bag holder.  

   This project encompass much that I love about sewing. It can be made with little odds and ends you may have in your sewing box/room. It's useful, decorative and unique. In fact I've often made up these handy bag holders out of scraps and sold them at festivals alongside other things I've made. It helps people be environmentally friendly whilst letting me experiment with new stitches and seams as well as embroidery. This is just a basic pattern and idea, take it and let your imagination go wild!

News.Letter

Welcome to the brand new update, Needles&Pins.
Each month we will keep you updated with the latest news from Fabric8 in Felixstowe and Colchester along with new products, special offers and how to's. We would like to invite your feedback on these updates, so if there's anything you want updating on please get in touch with us via facebook, email or mention it next time you are in store.

Until next time, keep creative!
The Fabric8 Team
www.fabric8online.co.uk
  Feeling patriotic this year? Bunting, table clothes, napkins...
With the Jubilee and Olympics not far away are you getting into the spirit of things yet? From cottons to fleece, we have it all when it comes to flying our flag this year!

Our stocks are limited, so make sure you order online or pop in to your nearest Fabric8 soon.

Jason Smith joins Fabric8 at Felixstowe
Having worked for major retail chain Paul Simon for over 14 years, Jason joins the Fabric8 team as Store Manager at our Felixstowe branch, offering a wealth of experience and enthusiasm! Preferring the traditional family-like business to that of the corporate world he’s been used to working in Jason commented, “I’ve been a customer at Fabric8 for years, I enjoy the products, advice and friendly service you get each and every time you visit one of the stores.”  He continued, “So when I was told of the vacancy for Store Manager at the Felixstowe branch I have to admit I was really excited.  I applied for and got the job and I’m loving every minute.”
Having introduced some changes in-store as well as new lines Jason feels he understand what customers want having been one himself, “We’ve made some general improvements and additions to the store but been careful not to ensure the place and products are still recognizable to the local community and other customers.”
 

White Angel Net Curtains now available at Felixstowe

Due to popular demand we are now stocking White Angel net curtains at Felixstowe, as well as Colchester.

This is a fabulous and affordable range of made to measure white and cream net curtains. There are 26 designs to choose from plain to pattern.

All you need to do is bring the drop measurement required and the  width of your window and our helpful team will work out the rest for you. It only takes around 2 weeks from ordering to receiving your wonderful fully finished and weighted nets.

Our Colchester branch currently has the Serena range (plain design) in stock available to buy by the metre. Please see Instore for details.

Clearance and special offers...

• New Look patterns only £2.95 until 17th March