Fabric8 in Felixstowe

Up until today I have found every blog a joy to post. I've covered some arcane facts of sewing and knitting as well as explaining terminology and providing many free tutorials for projects you can do at home.  The inspiration for many of these blogs came from working in one of the Fabric8 shops out there in the real world, in the Essex town of Colchester in fact. And some of you may be aware there are two shops in the Fabric8 family, one in Colchester and one in Felixstowe. The company has been in the same family for over 70 years since it started out in the stairwell and hallway of a flat in Felixstowe.

  Over this time shopping habits have changed a lot. What began as a stock of linen and antimacassars transformed many times over the years until it became 2 fabric shops and a website supplying dressmakers, tailors knitters and those with a love of crafts. However some changes have not been for the better. In recent years our Felixstowe branch has suffered from the failing economy and regrettably the decision has been made to close down Fabric8 in Felixstowe. As you can imagine this was a very difficult decision to come to as Fabric8, in all of it's incarnations has been a fixture of Felixstowe for so many decades. 

  Fortunately  Colchester has faired the economic storms better than many other towns and so our Colchester branch will be remaining open along with our website for many more years to come. All of our Felixstowe customers will find a warm welcome at our Colchester branch  where their loyalty cards will be honoured. Our website is expanding daily and we hope you will find all of your sewing, crochet and knitting needs met with only £3.50 delivery charge no matter how large your order. If there is some stock you miss from your local Fabric8 that you can't find on-line feel free to e-mail us at fabric8online@gmail.com  and we will do our best to get what you need available. 

We hope people will pop into the Felixstowe shop to say goodbye during our January sale and on our final day of trading in Felixstowe on January 31st.

On behalf of the Felixstowe staff we would like to thank everyone for visiting us over the years and on behalf of the Colchester and Web teams we look forward to meeting you and helping you achieve all you want in the fascinating world of stitch crafts. 

How to make a shrug or bolero top

In December Colchester is playing host to a Narnia themed party night that promises to be most enchanting. As with many themes nights there is a lose dress code of "Narnia character  or white". I decided to help out with this tutorial for a regal white queen shrug project which could be adapted for many other uses. This shrug was first taught to me by my fashion tutor Julie Stammers when I studied at adult community collage. She has very graciously allowed me to replicate it here for you all (she's lovely, trust me)

The initial shrug requires between half a metre and a metre of fabric depending on how long you want it and how big a collar you would like.

All you need are some 

Pins

Sewing Needle

Sewing Thread

Fabric   

Fleece would work very well with this shrug.

Step one

 Draw out the pattern.

I know this is an odd little pattern, the shrug is actually one single pattern piece.

As the diagram says the long rectangle in the middle is the measurement of wrist to wrist across the back with the arms fully extended plus 30 cm for ease. The bulbous bit in the middle is from armpit to armpit plus 20 cm for ease.  How high is the bulbous (or from this point on the back and collar) of the pattern? That's entirely up to you. In college we used a  far shorter back and collar, but I want this to have a regal quality so I went VERY large. Once you see how the shrug is sewn together you will understand how to alter the back and collar for different styles. 

Step two 

Cut out your fabric using the pattern and sew up the sleeves.

Right sides together fold the pattern piece in half along the length, Pin the sleeves section together and sew, stopping about 5 cm before the back/collar section. Pull the shrug right side out and check it out :)

Our beautiful model Jane showing off the new shrug.

Now hopefully you can see how the height of the collar and back effect the garment. This shrug covers the entire back and then has a large collar. If you have used a fabric that is fray proof and looks nice on both sides the behold you have a shrug! If your fabric looks nice on both sides but frays you could just hem the back and collar or bias bind them along with the cuffs. A warm snugly shrug made of fleece would be lovely by this point.

However the joy of this garment is you can adapt it and bend it to your evil will. I want a  shrug that's lined in white satin lining and even a little pipping. 

Lining and outer pinned together on the back and collar.

Step Three

 Cut out the lining and sew the arms up of the lining just as we did with the outer layer.

RIGHT SIDES TOGETHER pin the lining and outer together around the back and collar.

If your using piping with a flange just sandwich it between the outer and lining and sew together using a zipper foot.

Some people stress about where the lining joins the outer around the sleeves. Just take your time, pin everything in place and you'll see where you need to sew.

Pull the garment right side out through the sleeves. 

Pull the shrug into shape and hem the sleeves inner and outer together and you have a simply stunning regale shrug

Suitable for  any white or snow queen.

Thoughts.

The back and collar are easily adjusted. They don't have to be the same size so you could have a larger section UNDER the arms to form a long back and then less above the arms to form a smaller collar.

We HIGHLY recommend making a mock up first in a cheaper fabric such as lining or muslin first. Different people tend to need different amounts of  ease etc. 

This shrug is so quick and easy to make you could use different fabrics for different parties as well as day to day wear.

What is the difference between lining and interlining?

Often a blog is inspired by a project and tutorial, However this blog, much like my facing and interfacing blog last month was inspired by a question asked in the shop. A customer had heard of lining and interlining and wasn't sure which she needed. Fortunately she asked the right people, but for those of you unlucky enough not to live near an awesome fabric shop I present this brief summary.

Last month we looked at the differences between facing and interfacing.  Facings and interfacing are quit different, however lining and interlining have a lot more in common.

We find both lining and interlining in clothing and furniture like curtains.

In clothes a lining is simply a copy of the garment made in a lighter fabric. There are many good reasons to line a garment ;
Lining a garment reduces wear and tear
It can be a lot easier to put clothes on if they have a silky smooth lining
Lining looks neater and more professional
Lining hides a multitude of sins!

An interlining in clothing is a layer of often fluffy fabric like wadding to make the clothes warmer, think of the old parka coats. Interlining is more common in colder climates and in the UK you rarely come across it in clothing except in winter coats.

In curtain  making we find a few different sorts of lining and interning. Again we always recommend lining your curtains to make them last longer and to help them block out light and the cold.
Check out our blog "How to line your curtains" for details.

Interlining however is more of a personal preference. If you interline your curtains any pleats, tucks and folds become MUCH more pronounced. Curtains that have been interlined also tend to be far more insulating and have a much nicer draping quality.

So which to use? Well regular curtain  interlining works very well, however if you don't want to go through the bother of measuring and cutting out another lot of fabric for your curtains you can simply use bonded interlining, this is effectively a lining and interlining in one!

So there you have it, a quick run down of what the difference is between lining and interlining.

 Many readers of the blog may find all this elementary, but remember we were all beginners once and sometimes the smallest bit of knowledge can make the difference between success and failure of a project (or even worse, not starting a project).,

 I'll do a cool new tutorial next time, honest :)
Keep sewing, keep having fun!

Our Fabric Web Shop.

Disney Princess fabric from our website

We've been running this blog for a few years now, and much has changed in this time. Our shops have become more modern with knitting sections now included and sewing classes now being held.

Our website has also been through some changes. Our old site worked but it was held together with the coding equivalent of sticky tape and bubble gum. The new site is linked into our database in the shop so we can't accidentally offer a product that we've sold out of. However due to a few teething problems we were without a site for a few months, and so now we have to attract visitors and customers all over again.





The sagely Almond Rock suggested "bread Crumbs" this is a facility to allow people to see where the product they are viewing is in relation to other categories. We've just implemented this, but we are always looking for ideas to help serve our customers better. Take a quick look at our website and leave any comments about what YOU would like to see done there.

http://www.fabric8online.co.uk

What's the difference between facing and interfacing?

Our sewing classes in Colchester and Felixstowe  Fabric8 have been a  great success. We have covered all sorts of subjects such as patch working and how to follow a sewing pattern. I always find it fascinating to find what people struggle to follow. Paying attention to these things makes us  better teachers as well a guiding all our staff on how to help people new to sewing in our shops.

One such issue is that of interfacing and facings. Due to the similar names people seem to get the two mixed up, not helped by the fact that in many patterns ask you to interface the facings! So what are they?

Facings

What is a facing?

Here the facing extends a little into the garment
and ends with a  straight edge to make finishing easier. 

Facings are not something you buy they are a feature of a garment. The facing of a garment is normally a piece of the outer fabric on the inside of the garment. Whilst a lining is effectively a duplicate of the garment the facing extends only a little inside the garment. Sometimes a garment only has a  facing, other times the facing the joins a traditional lining.

What is a facing for?

Here the facing joins the lining.

Often a facing is used for cosmetic reasons. By having some of the outer fabric on the inside of a garment people do not see flashes of the wrong side of the fabric or the lining on the opening of the garment or at the arm holes. A facing will sometimes be used to add stiffness to a garment if it  has been interfaced (more on that later) or to avoid raw seams or to prevent you having to use a fined seam on a tricky part of construction, such as on the arm holes. The facings themselves can be shaped so if they have to be finished neatly then the edge needing finishing will be straight and easy to hem.

Interfacing


What is interfacing?

Interfacing is normally a special fabric you can buy from your sewing shop, occasionally a pattern will show you how to make your own. It comes in 2 main sorts, "sew in interfacing" and "fusible or iron on interfacing".

What is interfacing for?

Interfacing is attached to the wrong side of the fashion fabric to add body and stiffness to the garment.

How do you use interfacing?

Your sewing pattern will tell you what shape to cut out, normally it's the same as one of the pattern pieces. To use sew in interfacing simply lay the interfacing on the wrong side of the fabric and press with an iron, lining up the edges. Then using a basting stitch (a long stitch) sew around the edges of the fabric and interfacing within the seam allowance.

To use fusible interfacing lay the side of the interfacing with the glue (the shiny side) onto the wrong side of the fabric and pop a damp cloth on top. Then press through the cloth with an iron set on setting 2 for 12 seconds or so. Start from the middle and work your way out to avoid creases.

When things can get confusing.

a contrasting facing used in a lapel 

Sometimes a facing is made from a different fabric than the outer fabric. In these cases they TEND to
be lapels of a jacket or something similar that are contrasting with the fashion fabric.

Sometimes the only part of a garment that gets interfaced is the facing, If the patterns says that don't worry you've not misunderstood, some garments are just like that.

Sometimes a facing IS a complete lining. This is rare and normally happens in children's' clothing where it's possible to cut out a lining from the left over fashion fabric. Again if the pattern says to do this don't panic, you haven't misunderstood.

And so there you have it, a brief guide to the difference of facing and interfacing and a little of the terminology used by patterns. If you ever find yourself struggling with a pattern just pop into your local Fabric8 shop or find us on twitter. We're always happy to help.

Robot toys and the Zeitgeist

A few years back I spoke about just how many butterfly fabrics we had in our shop.  I had in away touched on the concept of zeitgeist. Many people like to follow and be part of fashion. Other people like the idea of being in touch with society but treading their own sartorial path. Others of us just wear waistcoats. But even when we are forging our own fabric creations in the crucibles of our sewing rooms we can still show that we are wear of the word outside. And this is the zeitgeist.

 Zeitgeist is a German concept meaning "Spirit of the Age". In other words capturing the scene of the moment, that indefinable  thing that connects us all. Our staff are charged with the duty of working out what will be "In", what people will want, but also to ensure our customers can then take our fabrics and mold them to their will and to express their individuality whist;t also being fashion savvy.

I suppose right now themes around us include zombies and general retro mad science.
I was in a coffee shop reading a book about a scientist fellow of old with questionable sanity.

Vintage robot fabric

Whilst thinking of giant robots and death rays I spotted a young lady who was a shining example of what I mean.  She had a rather fetching bag in the shape of a fuzzy green monster whilst her sweater had a collection of vintage or retro robots! I just had to take a picture to show everyone in our shop around the corner. You see we'd just taken collection of a simaler pattern, but in a heavier cotton fabric.

Retro robot fabric

And so there you have it, how to be fashionable and yet also individual. 
There are plenty of other cool retro sci fi fabrics  out there, like this fantastic Rocket Capitan fabric.

Experiment, mix different fabrics and textures  go  forth and create, to infinity and beyond! (well to the sewing machine and beyond!)

Making a Princess Bubblegum Cosplay Dress

I was around my friend Keely's  house when she started talking about a Fancy dress event called INVASION COLCHESTER! Her and her family were planning on going as characters from Adventure Time, a strange cartoon for children set in what appears to be a post apocalyptic nuclear wasteland. My friend was stressing about getting a dress to become "Princes Bubblegum". I asked why she didn't just make one. "It's okay for you with a full sewing room and hundreds of reference books, it's much harder  to make things up as you go along". Challenge accepted. Can I make an affordable costume (around £20) using a standard sewing gear and no fancy or difficult techniques.

Many of these ideas would work just as well for a Halloween costume. 

Step one - Reference

What does Prince Bubblegum look like?
The dress looks simple enough, puffy sleeves, tight bodice, long skirt section. Then a contrasting collar and belt.

Step two- Initial planning

I decided to make a pattern for a tight-ish bodice and a floor length circle skirt. These would be sewn together at the waist and the belt would hide the seam. The whole garment would be made of poly cotton and have a zip fastening at the back. Initially I was going to leave the seams untreated and the garment unlined, however my friend said she would like to be able to wear it a few times. As a result I quickly change my  plans to make the dress more durable.  The bodice section would be lined and all exposed seams would be bias bound. The hem of the circle dress would be bias bound as well.

Step three - Making a pattern

Normally in my studio I have proper pattern paper or brown paper. However these aren't essential. You can just tape newspaper sheets together. use MASKING tape however and not sellotape. If need be later on you can iron your pattern if you use masking tape but sellotape will melt everywhere. You can also draw on masking tape much easier than sellotape.


I didn't have access to my books and so I had to come up with a pattern off the top of my head.
I can not stress the following enough- There is no supbstitute for a good pattern or a pattern making book.
However here's what I did. I drew a rectangle that measured 2cm more than my friends' nape (bottom of neck) to waist measurement high. The width was half her bust plus 5cm. I worked the neck out by measuring her neck and adding some ease this is VERY unscientific. The waist darts are easier, just take the difference between the bust and the waist and half it (as the pattern makes half a garment). The amount left is the amount you have to dart into the waist.I guessed at what angle the should sloped at and then drew in the arm hole, going down as far as the bust line.

Once the pattern was drawn  I cut it out, and then cut up through the bust darts, the side dart and the back dart. This left me with 3 pattern pieces.

Step four - Cutting out fabric

The fabric was folded selvedges together and the centre bodice panel placed on the fold. The pattern has NO SEAM ALLOWANCE. At home I'd use a seam guide to ass a traditional 5'8 of an inch seam. However I was back to basics here and so I fashioned a guide out of a cereal packet.




Step five - Making up

Construction of the bodice was relatively simple.  Just sew the panels together, right  sides together. The sleeves were slightly trickier. Now  here I went totally off track. I knew the sleeves were going to be VERY puffy, this gave me a lot of wiggle  room in design. I just taped the pattern together  the shoulders to give me the outline of the arm hole. I drew this on to some newspaper and then stretched the design making it Twice as wide and nearly twice as high. I then added 15cm to the bottoms length for the actual sleeve.

I removed the seam allowances from the arm hole of the LINING and bias bound it. Each sleeve was sewn along it's length and then pleated into the armhole of the bodice.

A pattern for the collar was made the same was as the sleeves with it being cut at the back for the zip.


Before the collar and lining were attached to the bodice  the circle skirt had to be made and attached.
Check out our guide on " How to make a circle skirt ".

The seams of the circle skirt were pressed open and bias bound and the hem was bias bound.
The collar was basted with minimal seam allowance to the neckline and the circle skirt was sewn to the bodice. All that remained was sewing the lining around the neck hole and  then pulling the dress right side out and pressing it. I tacked the lining to the bodice around the shoulders and around the waist as well to give it stability.








Final Thoughts.

This post isn't one of my typical "how to make" posts. It's more a collection if ideas and concepts. If you are not sure how to make something just get some poly cotton and give it a go, fly hands free once in a while, you may surprise yourself by your own ingenuity.