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Quilting inspiration: Vintage floral fabric

wedding quilt by Tracey Laws vintage fabric florals cotton for quilting

Vintage fabric in a range of pretty floral prints is always a classic. Especially when they are printed on beautiful crisp cottons. From beginner sewists, to experienced dressmakers, quilters and interior designers, floral printed cottons are a go-to fabric. For me, it is the versatility of the fabric. Cotton is cool for the summer, easy…

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Celeste and her Vintage fabric collection

vintage fabrics from Italy floral paisley suiting cotton

I have a delightful collection of vintage fabrics to share with you. Mario and his wife Cat got in touch with me to say they had a box of vintage fabrics arrive from Italy and they didn’t want to throw them away. Bella (my little red car) and I turned up to collect the box…

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Sew Sustainable Fair

sew sustainable fair london

Summary of our first eco sewing event Saturday 22 April Thanks to everyone who came along to our fair on Saturday. I was nervous before it opened, ‘we will have too many people, not enough people?’ but all worked out in the end. It was lovely to see visitors I recognised from other sewing events…

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Bernat Klein: Design in Colour

At the National Museums of Scotland, Edinburgh Design means to enjoy the exploration of new possibilities. It means to take pleasure in finding new solutions to old problems; or to have fun juggling with a number of old solutions until they suddenly click and coalesce into one, beautiful, new solutionBernat Klein, 1976 I’ve been lucky…

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Sewing Gifts: The Subscription Pack

sewing gifts digital subscription pack discounts free patterns

Sewing gifts are a great idea for the person that sews in your life. Sewing is a very individual hobby and it can be difficult to decide what to buy. In a Haystack have solved this problem by offering a flexible sewing gift. I’m thrilled to be included in this December’s pack, and this is…

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How to sew narrow vintage fabrics

vintage fabric narrow fabric scrap busting knitting and stitching show-1

And using up those scrap pieces ‘Left over scrap fabric is a conundrum for every stitcher’ says the organisers of the Knitting and Stitching Show. They invited me to share my ideas on scrap busting at the Creative Living Theatre at the show in October 2022. I wanted my advice to be as practical as possible…

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History of Fashion in 100 Objects

Fashion Museum Bath history of fashion in 100 objects

A review of the Fashion Museum, Bath from 2017. Ahead of the closure on 30 October 2022 ready for the museum to move to new premises. The history of fashion always brings out the geek in me and the current exhibition at the Fashion Museum in Bath certainly had that effect. The current exhibition is…

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Korean Wave V&A Fashion Exhibition

Colour and print inspiration from Hallyu! The Korean Wave Exhibition at the V&A

Colour and print inspiration from Hallyu! The Korean Wave Exhibition at the V&A The rain was pouring down from a dark grey sky in London today, the only highlights being flashes of lightening breaking through the thunderous clouds. In a complete contrast, I spent the afternoon immersed in colour and print at the new cultural…

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How to shop for fabric in charity shops

how to shop for fabric in charity shops

Before September passes us by I wanted to mention the Oxfam charity shops campaign ‘Second Hand September’. The charity launched the campaign back in 2019 to encourage people to buy only second hand for 30 days. Their website states ‘not only are you reducing the harmful effects of fast fashion and refreshing your wardrobe without…

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Sewing Inspiration: How to use up scrap fabric

vintage fabric narrow fabric scrap busting knitting and stitching show-1

‘Left over scrap fabric is a conundrum for every stitcher’ says the organisers of the Knitting and Stitching Show. I’ve taken on the challenging of sharing my tips on how to use up scrap fabric left over from dressmaking at the show. Find me at the Knitting and Stitching Show on Thursday 6th October at…

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