So what's happening with the Website?

We've noticed a change in our relationships with our customers in the last year, and quite frankly, we like it.
Our customers are no longer just coming to us for fabric (although they are always welcome to do so), we are becoming more of a service than a vendor.  People come in for advice on projects and inspiration for things to make. We are embracing this whole heartily and so want our blog to not just have a few projects but to also let you know what we're up to, to treat you as part of our Fabric8 family and to keep you informed on what's happening at your shop. We don't want to just tell you about any changes we're making, we also want you to know WHY we are making them.

Some of you may have been along to our website and found it shut down. Fear not we're not shutting up shop, in fact quite the reverse.  We had an epiphany a few weeks ago.
Our Colchester branch of Fabric8 has had a bit of a re-arrange.  Our knitting section is now downstairs to help those with reduced mobility to carry on with a past time they love.  Whilst working out what changes we can make in store we decided to have a look at what improvements we needed in  our virtual store as well.

  We've been working very hard on our webshop but there were some things the software we were using just couldn't do.  These included:
Presenting all the linings on one page and having icons to pick out the colour you need.
Easily linking to complimentary fabrics
And the biggest change for me, hooking up the website to the tills so the website will not offer fabrics that we are out of stock of.

Luckily we have a solution to all these issues with our new website system. But here's the downside, we have to take our website off line for a few days. When we go live again the website will be better than ever complete with a few added touches such as being able to post to a news section as well as highlighting new stock.
Make sure to check back this time next week when we will have a new and improved website, and I'll show you the ropes. Until then, take care.

Bridal and other Wedding Sewing

I don't know if it's my imagination but we're getting a lot more bridal parties come into the shop to prepare for weddings. Sometimes they want something simple like dress net to make favour bags with, or ribbon for the cake.  Other brides (or their mums) are tackling the wedding dresses.

  I myself am about to get married (this coming Sunday in fact) and so I'm sewing for my wedding as well. Many people were expecting me to sew the wedding dress, however my bride has put her foot down on that matter. I'm not allowed to know anything about the dress and I can't very well sew whilst blindfolded. 

So have I made all of my (the groom's) outfit. Surprisingly not. I've been a busy boy with other aspects of work, however I did want to have some of my own creations in the wedding. This  was when I realised I could sew and save a fair bit of money.

I am guilty of having an "All or nothing" attitude at times. BUT I realized I don't have to make ALL of my outfit. I love making waistcoats and cravats so decided if I wear plain black trousers I only need a frock coat for the day it's self. Renting a wedding suit cots around £90 however BUYING a frock coat second hand on E-bay, £50. So by making a waistcoat and cravat I'm saving money and I get to have a frock coat to KEEP (and trust me I will get use out of it). There will be many pics of my creations for the day coming (and maybe another blog) until then I suggest you check out these past entries...

Learn from my wedding sewing mistakes.

How to make a petticoat

Retro Weddings 

The Tao of Fabric8

We have a new addition to our little Fabric8 Family. A strange but fantastic thing about getting a new member of staff is we end up seeing ourselves in a  new light, or examining everything we do in the shop as we explain the running of the shop to them. In the past we've picked up some very odd little quirks when our new member says "But why do you do it like that, it's so illogical?"  Sometimes we have to do things a certain way because of something else, but then when that "something else"  is removed we may still have a long winded or illogical system in place. Other times we hear some lovely things from our new staff members such as "This is the most friendly place I've worked in" or my personal  favourite from a new  member of the furnishing team "I just keep wanting to hug everyone here!"

  One observation really did start a long conversation. Our young acolyte said she was surprised at how much time we were willing to spend with customers who weren't spending much money. This came as a shock to a few of us you see we're not there to sell stuff, we're there to help people. This may sound cheesy and corny but our mission statement goes along the lines of " To inspire people to be creative" and not "To sell 5 meters of white velcro". As a result we're not fussed with how much people are intending to spend, we're more interested in helping them work out what they want to do, and then how to do it. It's a happier way of working as it's much more enjoyable to help someone on their journey through creativity than it is to try and get their cash. 

Some people have dismissed this idea of how we should work, but in the long term we think people enjoy coming into our shop because of the help they get, and because they know we wont try selling them things they don't need.  We have a few customers who are very talented fashion degree students who I remember helping with their GCSE projects. This firstly makes me feel quit old, but more importantly it shows that treating our customers with care and not pressuring  them makes for life long customers. 

When asked why I work  at the shop I responded simply with "I want to change the world". This elicited a bit of a giggle from the questioner but it is true. I personally feel the world would be a better place if people made things. We're forgetting the simple joy of achievement and of self expression.  Okay so maybe working in a fabric shop in Colchester only lets me help a small number of people, but it's a start. And it's through Fabric8 that I get to do these blogs with hints and tips and projects for people to try.  

So why am I writing this? Partly to share with you WHY we do what we do. However I also wonder if this is a normal way of running a shop. So the next time your'e in any shop try asking for help, even if you're not spending much money, they may just enjoy helping.

How to make a cushion or pillow case.

Last week's blog was "How to make a quilted panel"  to be part of a steampunk fabric  cushion. Top stitching this panel on to an existing  pillow case could prove difficult. If I simply stitched directly onto the case it would be very easy to stitch through both layers of the pillow case. I also didn't have pillow case at hand which I thought would fit well with the room.  With this in mind I thought I would make my own pillow case. This way I could top stitch the panel onto one side of the case before making the whole case up.  Making a pillow case or cushion cover is pretty simple, the only tricky thing is the  envelope opening at one end. This envelope style is useful as it doesn't require buttons, Velcro or zips which can be uncomfortable when you lay against them.

You will need:

Two strips of fabric one 3cm longer than your pillow and 6 cm wider.The second piece has to be 15cm longer again.
Pins
Needle
Chalk

Step one
Cut out the two rectangles of fabric. About the width of your pillow with 6cm added to width of both rectangles and 3cm longer than your pillow on one piece and 15cm longer on the other (this extra length will form your envelope). Hem one of the short sides of each rectangle. A trained kitten to hold the fabric in place is useful here. An untrained kitten on the other hand makes things a lot harder.  Check here to see how to hem .

Step two
If you're adding a panel to your cushion or pillow case then now is the best time to top stitch it in place. Decide which side of the pillow or cushion case you want your panel to be on. If it's on the shorter piece then place the panel in the middle. If you want it on the longer side remember it does not go in the middle, but 15cm to the side of the middle to allow for the envelop opening of the pillow case.

At times it can be tempting to try and hurry through stages like this. However it is often quicker to take your time. In this case I positioned the panel in the middle of pillow case panel and pinned it in place before carefully top stitching the middle section to the pillow case.  This secures the panel to allow you to then smooth out the fabric and pin and sew the outer edge of the panel to the pillow case panel.
Top stitch the out edge to the pillowcase.



Step three.
Place both panel pieces right sides together, lining up the NON-HEMMED short sides. One piece (in this case my red piece) will be longer than the other.

Fold the extra length of fabric over the shorter piece. Now pin and stitch the two sections together, leaving a 1cm seam.  Sew lone edges together (at the ends you will be sewing through 3 layers of fabric). Sew the un-hemmed short edges together as well.

Pull the pillowcase right side out, and hey presto you have a pillow case.  Once you have the hang of making pillow and cushion cases you will find you can run one up very quickly. These projects are perfect for using up any old odds and ends of fabric you may have at home. So get creative !

How to make a quilted panel for a cushion.

I have a chair I absolutely love. A leather captain;'s chair is a superb piece of Steampunk furniture. Whilst this creation of brass and oxblood leather may look superb it is not very well padded. I decided that  instead of just buying a cushion I would make a padded, quilted panel to adorn a pillow case to use as a cushion.

I scavenged my pile of remnants for some suitable steampunk fabrics. Check out this blog on tips for how to store fabrics.  A basic quilt can be made with small squares of fabric. I found a red fabric with a beautiful design about twice the size of my intended quilting squares. I decided this would become the central feature of my panel. 

Each square  of fabric would have a seam allowance of about 1cm. The central panel would have to be 1cm smaller on each side than TWO quilting  squares to make allowances for the fact  that it would not loose fabric to a seam allowance half way along it's length (as it was all in one piece)

The easiest way to sew lots of squares together is to sew them into strips and then to sew these strips together.

Right sides together  pin and sew one square to another, and repeat to make a strip of three squares.

Repeat this until you have 4 stripes of fabric. Press the seams open. 

Now line up one end of the strip to the central panel and right sides together sew along the length of the panel. This SHOULD leave one square not sewn to the central panel.

Now place the next strip along the other edge of the central panel, begin by sewing the end to the square of the first strip that is not sewn to the central panel. Now fold out and right sides together sew this strip to the edge of the panel. 

Repeat for the remaining two strips. You should now have a square or diamond of patchwork. This by it'self can look very attractive, but I wanted to add an extra dimension.  To give the panel a padded effect cat out two pieces of fabric the same size as your patchwork and some nice thick wadding. Sandwich the wadding 

between the patchwork and one piece of the fabric WRONG SIDES together. Pin in place and starting from your central piece top stitch where one square of fabric meets another. 

You should now have a beautiful padded panel. to finish the work place the second fabric piece over your quilted project RIGHT sides together and sew along the edges, leaving a gap to let you turn everything right sides out. Slip stitch this gap shut and you now have a stunning padded panel.

By itself this padded patchwork makes a nice decorative cushion, however the next blog will show you how to make a matching cushion cover opr pillow case to stitch it onto.

Sewing without a pattern

I  love working in our fabric shop in Colchester in Essex. As I often say on these blogs one of the most rewarding aspects of the job is meeting interesting people and helping them out (mean and boring people don't sew or knit I've decided). Often I help people pick fabric or a pattern  or advice them on what sewing needles to use.  Sometimes I serve  someone who wants to make something very simple but is afraid of not having a pattern as they are unsure about how to construct their project. With this in mind I thought I'd show some of the basic sewing techniques that are useful when making a simple project. I picked a simple tunic for a child (one of the most common projects for school plays). I folded a piece of fabric (right sides together) and sketched a simple neckline, shoulders and arm holes (just measure  the child and add 5cm ease) the width of the fabric is half the chest plus 4cm seam allowances (2 on either side) and 5 cm ease.

Inside out, Right sides together.

If you read enough sewing patterns you'll see the words "with right sides together"  so often you'll start mumbling them in your sleep.  Traditionally when  we sew we make up a garment inside out, this means when we turn the garment right side out  the seam (or the narrow strip of fabric next to the where we've sewn) is on the inside.

How to get rid of "unfinished" edges.

An unfinished seam or edge of a garment is where the fabric is rough, and has just been cut. An exposed rough edge never looks nice and can fray very quickly ruining your work. There are a few classic ways of getting around this problem.

Line the Garment

Lining a garment involves making a second version of the garment (normally in a lighter weight fabric) and then sewing them together, right sides together (see there's that phrase again). This sounds like a lot of work but once you get the hang of it you'll see some advantages. Often for a simple outfit it's quicker to cut out to copies of your project and sew them together than to try fiddling with finishing off the edges. Also lined garments tend to last longer.  When lining remember that you're going to have to turn the garment right side out so you need to leave a small gap to pull the fabric through. For an idea of what you need to think about when making a lined garment check out - how to make a waistcoat 

Hem the edge

Hemming simply involves folding the edge of the fabric over by a small amount, pressing, and folding over again. Then stitch in place. Perfect for the hem of a dress, or trouser legs or a toga/tunic. However this can be tricky for a curved edge, such as a neckline, arm hole or circle skirt.  

Bias Binding

At first glance bias binding looks just like ribbon.However on it's under side you'll see the fabric is folded at each side, meeting in the middle.  Bias binding is made from a strip of fabric cut "on the bias" or at an angle. This means it can stretch and shrink on either side, letting you turn corners with it!

 Wrap the raw edge in the bias and top stitch into place. This is a very quick and easy way to finish off neck and arm holes and can look great whether on club gear or school play costumes. I like to use a contrasting colour bias when I make petticoats. 

Keep these simple points in mind and have a go at going freestyle on a simple project. you may surprise yourself! 

Low cost fabrics in our sale!

Everyone in our Colchester and Felixstowe Fabric8 stores have been very busy these last few weeks. Christmas is always a very busy time for us, not just because of the festive rush but also because we start thinking of what we will stock in the year to come. In years gone by we would  also be planing a new year sale. We haven't had one for a while and so we thought it was time to bring it back, with a twist.

In the past our sales were on a selection of fabrics, normally older stock. However these days stock doesn't tend to hang around for years on end. Thus we've decided ALL dressmaking fabric, quilting fabric and furnishing fabric are to be included in the sale.  This includes some very new stock, such as this beautiful "Vintage Balloons fabric". Ideal for curtains this fabric was £25.95 a metre but is now only £18.17.

This Moto Rally fabric was £14.00 but is now only £9.80.

So if you have a furnishing project or dressmaking project you've been putting off now may be an ideal time to look at it again..






It's not just fancy and flashing fabrics in the sale. Basic stock items such as dress lining, poly cotton and plain cottons are also in the sale.  Quite a few people have popped into the shop or placed web orders to stock up on the basic essentials that we all know we will need through the year.