Haberdashery from REAL shops!

I thought it was a good time to sing the praises of some of the vanishing haberdashery stores that still survive, despite the onslaught of the internet.

Don’t get me wrong, the internet is a great thing and makes the world just round the corner, but it has also stolen foot-fall trade away from some of the smaller retailers that stock some of the more unusual and diverse items.

Haberdashery has in recent years been doubly hit. As we have progressively moved away from a society that at the least would mend-and-make-do, and at best sew their own clothes from patterns to a world where clothing designer labels rule and throwing away when things go slightly out of fashion, the call and need for stores that sell a wide ranges of fabrics has become redundant.

Despite this, there is a thriving range of independent haberdashery stores out there - if you know where to look.

No steampunk here - this is the real thing!

Just before I embark on making the next coat, I thought I'd share with you the sewing machines I work on.

When I was young my Mother had an old hand-crank Singer sewing machine which had been passed down to her from my Father's Grand-Mother. I would watch in awe as she would use it to make various cushion covers, bed spreads etc, wondering how this machine could make such neat, tight stitching.

It wasn't too long (aged about 10 or 12) that I got to use it myself so I could make my own Muppets (I had become a fan of the tv series at the time).

I soon became proficient at using it and have always used one ever since. I just cannot imagine using an electric machine. I prefer the connection I feel when using a hand-crank machine. You turn the handle a quarter turn, and the needle drops just enough to lock with the thread below. I am always worried the slightest touch of an electric machine and it would run away from me, powering though fabric I was not ready to sew.