Reviews

Fabric Friday Reviews: Stitch & Ink Fabrics

JessLeave a comment

Welcome back! Its been a hot minute eh? It’s been an absolutely crazy year with lots of change and upheaval and this blog series hasn’t been possible to maintain on a weekly basis.

Thinking about it, I’ve only actually reviewed one shop since we moved back in March because life has just been too busy. It takes time to settle into a new home even if you physically unpack quickly, mentally it takes time to settle. Then I had exams for my masters degree, then a period of incredible work stress at my previous job, then I got a new job which is my absolute dream job (yay!) and then just as I was starting to feel settled our landlords announced they will be selling our flat (boo!). I should say it has not been sold yet and we will of course be able to finish our tenancy but it felt like a shattering blow to that lovely feeling of settled domesticity we were just starting to achieve. 

So with one thing and another my sewing motivation and output dropped, my fabric stash started to build, the UFO pile has gained sentience, and basically I now don’t have the space to store any more fabric. Although, its worth noting that I almost definitely will buy more fabric because I want to make some more cosy loungewear and I’m sure I’ll have to make presents for some people. 

ANYWAY. One of the upshots of my sewing malaise has been that I have tried quite a few new fabric shops over the last six months and I finally have lots of wonderful shops to tell you about! In particular today we are talking about Stitch & Ink Fabrics. A new fabric shop and fabric subscription service run by the lovely Alisha, a fellow Scot living down in the south of England!

Before I go on to my usual more detailed discussion of the shop, I absolutely have to mention how fantastic the Stitch & Ink Instagram is. If you don’t follow them you absolutely should, beautiful fabrics, photo quality is amazing and Alisha really engages with the sewing community. 

Stitch & Ink 

  • Online Shop / Physical Shop / Both
  • Web Link: https://www.stitchandink.co.uk
  • Core Purpose: Dressmaking Fabrics, Haberdashery, Subscription Service & Gifts
  • Units of Sale for Fabric: 1/2 metre 

Stitch & Ink Fabrics is a new independent fabric shop offering dressmaking fabrics, notions, sewing gifts and a fabric subscription service. For a new business it is already well known in the community and its been a pleasure to see them grow so far. My first purchase with them took place in the August bank holiday sale where I bought some beautiful Art Gallery black cotton poplin, a couple of metres of white polka dot georgette, as well as some pale green floral viscose which will go on to become the lining of my Closet Core Jasika Blazer.

The range of fabrics is fairly good for a new shop with the standard cottons, viscoses and jerseys as well as some beautiful chiffon and georgette options and they have really focussed on engaging with popular statement fabrics. Having watched a number of fabric businesses start, finish and grow over the last year it always seems to me to be a wise strategy when first starting to engage with those popular fabrics and become ‘the shop that sells THAT fabric’ before then branching out, so that you really make a splash on entering the fabric market. In particular Stitch and Ink are stocking some fabulous bright coloured tartans at the moment, the red and pink one of which I am definitely lusting after for a fun fit n flare style dress for Burns Night/my birthday in January!

While their fabrics are not the most affordable on the market, they are a fair price for high quality organic cottons and well known fabric designers. Costs range from chiffon at £1.50 per half metre up to up to organic cottons for £7.25 per half metre so although its a small fabric range at the moment there is something for most price points. In terms of delivery, I paid a standard delivery fee of £3.50 and the dispatch and delivery were actually blisteringly fast especially considering it was a bank holiday! My order arrived in a cardboard box with branded sticker (you all know I much prefer a box to a plastic post bag) with my order beautifully wrapped inside and a small branded card. The presentation was excellent and made opening my fabric parcel feel special.

One of my ultimate bugbears with fabric shops and something that will make me stop shopping somewhere on principle is poor website design and functionality. I am delighted to say in this case that Stitch and Ink’s website is fantastic. I love the branding, I love the filtering, the homepage is solid and all the sub menus actually work and make sense. I’ve browsed on my phone and my laptop and have found the cross device functionality to be excellent and I love the filtering on each fabric page for price and order. Its a simple thing but its the little things that improve user experience. I think where Alisha has really excelled her is that she has a website that is simple and functional. You would never know this is a new business. It’s slick, its professional and it’s user friendly. I only have two tiny recommendations or updates I would suggest. Firstly I would add a little more about each fabric in the description to give you a better sense of what it could be used for. Whether that is specific pattern examples or event just a note saying ‘would work well for structured trousers’ or ‘ideal for blouses’. That might just be me, but its a little touch that can be extremely helpful when you can’t physically feel the fabric yourself. My only other minuscule note would be that when I went to pay the mailing list option was pre-clicked which it shouldn’t be as GDPR regulations mean it should be an opt-in not an opt-out. I know its a little thing and I’m not nit-picking I promise, its just a bugbear of mine and I do pull everyone up on it.

The other large facet of Stitch and Ink is the subscription service which, from a recent instagram Q&A, it appears was in fact always meant to be a subscription box service first and foremost. However of course you can’t really run a subscription service unless you already have fabric so the fabric shop side of things came first. Now you all know I’m not much a subscription box person as I like to choose my own fabrics and patterns however if I was going to buy into one sewing scheme it would probably be Stitch and Ink. The respect for size inclusivity in pattern selection as well as the literal monetary value of the fabric and patterns is wonderful to see. The subscription boxes range from £30 – £50 per month. The Classic Box offers 2.5m fabric, matching thread, four fat quarters, and a sewing gift. The Ultimate Box offers 3.5m fabric, an indie pattern, five fat quarters, matching thread, and a sewing gift. If you are somebody who likes a subscription box style service then I encourage you to check them out.

So on to my rating system which is of course very scientific

Rating

  • Range of Fabrics – 5/10
  • Cost – 6/10
  • Delivery (Speed / Cost) – 9/10
  • Ease of Use – 8/10
  • Ease of Payment – 8/10

Overall Average Score: 7.2 / 10

Overall Stitch and Ink is one of those fabric shops that I am excited about. I am really enjoying watching the business grow, I like to see somebody passionate about what they do and I look forward to shopping with them plenty in the future.

Fabric Friday Reviews: Sew Much Moor

JessLeave a comment

Welcome back to Fabric Friday! The more astute among you will realise that it is not a Friday however I’m going with it. I’ve decided that this feature is going to be monthly as I have a huge fabric backlog to work through at the moment. I was on a fabric ban for the whole of March as we were moving house but now that we’ve settled into the new place, I’ve started looking to craft my spring wardrobe and try some new fabric shops. Top of my list was Sew Much Moor, a fabric shop and haberdashery very recently started and based in Tavistock, Devon. Not only did the branding and fabric choices instantly attract me, I also like supporting fellow sewing instagrammers!

Sew Much Moor 

  • Online Shop / Physical Shop / Both
  • Web Link: https://www.sewmuchmoor.co.uk
  • Core Purpose: Dressmaking Fabrics, Patterns & Haberdashery
  • Units of Sale for Fabric: 1/2 metre 

Sew Much Moor is a new fabric shop and haberdashery that sells fabric as well as independent patterns and haberdashery. The shop was started last month by Jess from the instagram handle @SewMuchMoor and for the moment the shop is online only. Now I’ll be honest I was nervous because brand new sewing shops are often limited on choice and I wanted to be able to write a good review and I am overjoyed to say that Sew Much Moor surpassed my expectations!

Although a small fabric selection, there is a nice range of stretch and woven and the fabrics are already categorised by types. Something that will stand the shop in good stead for when the fabric range expands. The fabric types currently on offer are Needlecord, Jersey, Sweatshirting, Viscose, Crepe and Polyester which when I first looked seemed to be a bit restrictive but when I went looking through I found that I could make most of a winter/spring (and British summer) wardrobe with those fabric categories. Furthermore the fabrics chosen are a lovely mix of bright patterns and a good variety of feature fabrics suitable for a range of projects.

Fabrics are sold by the half meter with a price range of £2.50 – £7 per half metre. I really like the fact that all the fabric weights are listed, one thing that would be really helpful to add would be the type and amount of stretch on the jersey. For my first purchase I chose the white abstract polyester, which is going to become a pair of M7131 Culottes, and a pink, blue and white striped rib jersey, which I have been lusting after since Sew Much Moor first launched. No idea what my striped jersey is going to become but I’m exceptionally excited to sew for it!

In terms of the website, I am a big fan of the clear cut and concise navigation menus. Good use of drop down sub-menus and I like the categorisation of fabrics, lovely clear ‘About’ section and I am a big fan of the FAQs which are well thought through. Paying was very easy and simple with a good and very speedy interface, I particularly liked the way the checkout process told me exactly when to put in the discount code(I used the special bank holiday 10% off advertised on instagram). The delivery process was astoundingly speedy, I ordered it on the bank holiday weekend and it arrived on the Wednesday which is pretty impressive! The packaging was lovely and neat in crepe paper and I got a lovely hand-written note – which you guys know I love.

Rating

  • Range of Fabrics – 5/10
  • Cost – 7/10
  • Delivery (Speed / Cost) – 8/10
  • Ease of Use – 8/10
  • Ease of Payment – 8/10

Overall Score: 7.6/10

Overall I’m really impressed by Sew Much Moor. You genuinely wouldn’t know that the shop had only been open for just over a month. The website is really slick, the branding is great, absolutely love the fabric selection, although it understandably quite small at the moment, and the pattern collection is growing day by day so definitely check them out as well. It would be great to see some more information added to the descriptions, in particular information on jersey and sweatshirting stretch, and it would be great to see some cottons/cotton poplins on there for beginner sewists and anyone who hasn’t braved sewing with stretch just yet. Looking forward to seeing Sew Much Moor grow over the year and I will definitely be shopping again!

Fabric Friday Reviews: Fabric Godmother

JessLeave a comment

Here we are again, its fabric friday and this week I’m excited to tell you all about a decadent purchase I made for my birthday from a shop I’ve wanted to try for ages but my wallet has not allowed…I am of course talking about the wonderful Fabric Godmother. With stunning, high-quality, fabrics and a great social media presence, Fabric Godmother has been on my to-buy-from list almost since I started sewing.

Fabric Godmother

Fabric Godmother is run by the lovely Josie, based in Hove, and it is truly the answer to all of my fairytale sewing dreams. Nothing makes me want to buy fabric more than watching Josie go through a new drop on their instagram account! The range of fabrics is fantastic with everything from sportswear technical through to floaty cottons and viscose. One of the things I found most impressive about Fabric Godmother alongside the range and quality of the fabrics is the number of different independent pattern brands they stock. I was blown away by the amount of different patterns they stock and they will definitely be my port of call next time I’m looking to buy a pattern online.

Rating

  • Range of Fabrics – 9/10
  • Cost – 6/10
  • Delivery (Speed / Cost) – 9/10
  • Ease of Use – 7/10
  • Ease of Payment – 7/10

Overall Score: 7.6/10

Although my order didn’t have the personal touch I love, I was so impressed with the quality of the fabric and the speed of delivery. I can only say that I am sad I’ve not been able to sew with the fabric yet as I’m waiting for my overlocker to arrive still!

Fabric Friday Review: Hey Sew Sister

JessLeave a comment

Hello everyone and welcome back to Fabric Friday! This week we are talking about a wonderful new start-up that I’ve wanted to visit for ages, Hey Sew Sister. As part of my birthday celebrations I did a fabric haul and tried to purchase from a few indie shops on my wish-list of which Hey Sew Sister is one. Firstly can I just say that I love the name, I love a sewing pun and I really like what they’ve done with it the branding. The pink and green creates a distinctive brand with a pleasing degree of subtlety and although the range of fabrics is understandably limited, I was really impressed by their stock and particularly the quality and sustainability of the fabrics.

Hey Sew Sister

  • Online Shop / Physical Shop / Both
  • Web Link: https://heysewsister.co.uk
  • Core Purpose: Dressmaking Fabrics
  • Units of Sale for Fabric: 1/2 metre 

My first purchase from Hey Sew Sister comprised a metre and a half of black floral cotton, the design and colour way was so gorgeous I just couldn’t resist! Also the cotton is OEKO-TEX standard and GOTS certified which I thought was excellent. The fabric descriptions are excellent if a little short but I really like how they provide suggestions for the sorts of garments that would work well with the fabric. The selection of fabrics on offer is small but well curated to offer a wide range of fabric types from basic cottons up to sports/technical fabric with a nice range of woven and stretch fabrics with a few well-known statement fabrics. I really like the range of patterns and I think its great how many of the fabrics are sustainably sourced even if this does add to the price. Hey Sew Sister is mid-range in terms of cost but still accessible to beginners if you are looking for more simple fabrics. The cotton I bought was £6 per half-metre which is about average for the shop as a whole. There are some stunning gingham fabrics that are cheaper and the technical fabrics are of course a little more expensive. I would really recommend their gingham selection if you’re looking to make something floaty for the summer. Personally I’ve got my eye on the mustard yellow double gauze with birds on it as I love yellow and I’m looking to make a yellow Lotta for Endometriosis Awareness Month in March.

In terms of ease of purchase and delivery, my customer journey was easy and stress-free. I found payment and ordering very easy. Delivery cost £3.10 which is about standard, particularly at the moment, and it was shipped very soon after I placed my order. One thing that really endeared me to Hey Sew Sister was the packing on delivery. I loved the little hand-written note on their card, I absolutely loved the woven brand badge and the fabric swatches and the packaging was made of recycled paper. As I had bought it as a birthday present to myself I was very impressed with how like a present it felt when I opened it.

The website is very simple and looks very chic, my only issue is the lack of sub menus and ability to filter by fabric type. When you enter the ‘Shop’ section of the website you are provided a simple menu which is great as it allows you to choose remnants or patterns etc but I would really like to be able to filter by fabric type or even just a stretch / woven division. I understand that these issues, particularly sub-menu differentiation, will most likely be solved as the business grows but as someone who browses a lot of fabrics on my phone and looks for specific fabric types I found it frustrating having to scroll through one big catalogue page with no ability to reorder or filter.

Rating

  • Range of Fabrics – 7/10
  • Cost – 6/10
  • Delivery (Speed / Cost) – 9/10
  • Ease of Use – 6/10
  • Ease of Payment – 8/10

Overall Score: 7.2/10

Despite some small frustrations on the website I was really impressed with the quality of my fabric, the speed of delivery and the personal touch. I enjoyed my experience with Hey Sew Sister and will definitely be shopping with them in future. I’m looking forward to seeing how they grow and develop this year!

Fabric Friday Reviews: My Sewing Box

JessLeave a comment

Hello Everybody and welcome back to Fabric Friday! This week’s fabric purveyor is My Sewing Box, a wonderful independent fabric shop and haberdashery run by a mother daughter team, Amy & Angela. I particularly enjoy their instagram where they do long stories on the different equipment, fabric and notions they sell and what you should use it for; making My Sewing Box an extremely beginner friendly store.

My Sewing Box

  • Online Shop / Physical Shop / Both
  • Web Link: https://www.mysewingbox.co.uk
  • Core Purpose: Dressmaking Fabrics
  • Units of Sale for Fabric: 1/4 metre 

I have followed My Sewing Box for quite some time, as I’ve mentioned I love their instagram account and the way they relate to and understand their customer base. Their website is excellent and although I found the main menu a little overwhelming when I first looked, the main body of the website is simple, user friendly and well designed. Equally the payment process was simple and delivery was affordable and exceptionally quick even during an extremely busy Christmas period. They apologised on their IG for slow delivery but honestly they were quicker than most companies normal delivery! Delivery is free over £45 and standard delivery I paid is £4.50, again a little steeper than other suppliers but very speedy and very reliable so again, good value for money.

One thing that put me off to begin with was that fabric is priced and bought by quarter meter. Something you guys know I find a little frustrating! However the choice of fabrics available does make up for it. They stock a fantastic range of fabrics, haberdashery and notions for all skill levels and projects. I finally took the plunge after seeing their range of Christmas French Terry and I bought two types in their Black Friday sale to make myself a very cosy Christmas Jumper! My Sewing Box is a little pricier than other stores but I would say excellent value for money. I love how they have diversified and stock sewing gifts and books. They also offer a monthly subscription box which I am tempted by, I am actually going to look into whether I can buy one box as a one off to try it out first.

Rating

  • Range of Fabrics – 7/10
  • Cost – 6/10
  • Delivery (Speed / Cost) – 8/10
  • Ease of Use – 8/10
  • Ease of Payment – 8/10

Overall Score: 7.4/10

Overall My Sewing Box is a wonderful independent fabric shop, ideal for beginners because of their helpfulness and knowledge of their stock. They are a little pricier but I would say fulfil value for money easily and offer a wonderful service – I will definitely be shopping here again!

Fabric Friday Review: MyFabrics.co.uk

JessLeave a comment

Happy New Year everyone and welcome back to my Fabric Friday review blog which this year will be bi-weekly. Today we are talking about MyFabrics.co.uk, a large-scale online fabric and craft emporium based in Germany that stocks a large range of materials for sewing, knitting, crochet and textile crafts. MyFabrics is one of the biggest fabric shops I’ve bought from online and it was a very different experience to the mostly independant small businesses I patronise.

MyFabrics.co.uk

  • Online Shop / Physical Shop / Both
  • Web Link: https://www.myfabrics.co.uk
  • Core Purpose: Dressmaking Fabrics, Haberdashery, Wool & Crochet Materials
  • Units of Sale for Fabric: 1/2 metre minimum

My exploration of the site began as I was in need of christmas themed quilting cotton for a fun Christmas stocking making project and let me start by saying there is a great range of fabrics and craft materials (festive and normal). All of the fabrics are categorised into types and My Fabrics stock upholstery and quilting fabrics alongside dressmaking fabrics. Due to the scale of the operation they have broken down all fabric types in a sub-menu for ease of selection. One thing I found immensely frustrating is that the fabrics do not show you that they are out of stock until you enter the individual listing. Equally the listings are somewhat impersonal although they do give you all of the necessary information they lack the personal touch. However with a company of this size you don’t expect the personal touch, in the same way that I don’t expect a note from hobbycraft whenever I buy elastic. What the size of the company does enable is for you to personalise your own order. My Fabrics have a very useful feature when purchasing fabric in that when you want a specific amount over half a metre you can select it, for example you can buy 0.7m of fabric if you want. A feature which would be helpful if you want to build in an insurance buffer on the amount of fabric for example an extra 10/20 cm, 1.6m or 1.7m, when you don’t want to go up to the 2 metres.

What really let My Fabrics down for me was the delivery. I got no notifications of despatch and delivery was exceptionally slow. So slow that I began to think I hadn’t ordered anything! While slow delivery is acceptable at Christmas, what isn’t acceptable is no delivery notification, once you know its been shipped you just wait, but not even knowing if its left the supplier is unnecessarily stressful. However, when I did get them my Christmas fabrics were good quality and sewed up beautifully into Christmas stockings! If you want to see more about my fabrics and how I used them, check out the vlog below where Adam and I make Christmas Stockings.

Rating

  • Range of Fabrics – 8/10
  • Cost – 8/10
  • Delivery (Speed / Cost) – 4/10
  • Ease of Use – 6/10
  • Ease of Payment – 6/10

Overall Score: 6.4/10

My Fabrics are a good choice if you are on a lower budget and very good for all round crafting, sewing and quilting however I wouldn’t call them a specialist dressmaking fabric shop. However they are great for basics and I really liked the Christmas fabrics I bought. My Fabrics are well priced and the purchasing process is easy and simple. Unfortunately, delivery was quite incredibly slow and I got absolutely no updates from them so they won’t be my first call for fabrics however I would definitely recommend them for beginners and anyone who is branching into dressmaking from knitting/crochet etc as you would be able to get multiple materials in one place.

Fabric Friday Reviews: The Sewist Fabric Shop

JessLeave a comment

Happy Friday everyone! What a week it has been; ups, downs and everything in between but here we are another friday and of course another Fabric Friday review. This week we are talking about The Sewist Fabric Shop a lovely little online fabric boutique with a gorgeous selection that I got the chance to explore this week. I was led here as part of my quest to find affordable McElroy fabrics and I was not disappointed in what I found!

The Sewist Fabric Shop

The Sewist Fabric Shop is run by the lovely Han and demonstrates a small but wide ranging selection of high quality dressmaking fabrics. While choice is still slightly limited, effort has been put in to make sure there are still a range of woven and knit fabrics available and I like the way the colours have been chosen what feels like seasonally. The shop right now exhibits a beautiful autumn palette and going through the knit section just makes me want to buy sweatshirting and make something cosy! Most of the fabrics are plain which is quite refreshing to see as most shops focus on patterns but it would be nice to see one or two feature fabrics. That being said new fabrics are added regularly and the beautiful Lady McElroy fabric I bought is patterned so it may be the selection I’m looking at on the site currently is plainer. and the fabrics themselves are sold by the half metre, priced on the medium to high end of the scale with a minimum of £8 per metre up to £14/15 per metre.

Delivery was a little on the slow side however we are still in a pandemic so it doesn’t bother me too much. The packaging was lovely, my fabric came carefully folded in a large letter sized cardboard box, wrapped in tissue with a branded card. No handwritten note but a nice branded card with their shop and social media details and I do like that my fabric came with a label attached explaining the length and fabric qualities etc. The website is good, very user friendly and I love the ability to filter and reorder the fabrics on the subpages. Equally I like the presence of the fabric types underneath the woven/knit subdivision, its a nice piece of user-friendly design. The one thing that frustrated me somewhat as I speed bought my fabric on my phone is that I had to create an account rather than having the option to check out as a guest. That ia little thing but I don’t like having to create an account because its just another password to forget and reset however it didn’t mar my purchasing experience and its nice being able to look back on exactly what you ordered!

Rating

  • Range of Fabrics – 6/10
  • Cost – 7/10
  • Delivery (Speed / Cost) – 7/10
  • Ease of Use – 8/10
  • Ease of Payment – 6/10

Overall Score: 6.8/10

The Sewist Fabric Shop is a wonderful new discovery from me and honestly its earned a spot on my list just for having such good selection of high quality plain fabrics, something I often struggle to find! The purchasing experience was positive and I know Han is constantly making improvements and adjustments to the site which I love to see because it demonstrates a level of care and attention to the actual customer journey as well as the stock. I’m thoroughly looking forward to buying from here again, now to plan something cosy I can make with that sweatshirting…

Fabric Friday Reviews: Felicity Fabrics

Jess1 Comment

Hello everyone and apologies for another belated Friday blog! I wrote this last Friday but my laptop was being a little temperamental so here we are on a bright cold Monday afternoon and I’m going to tell you all about the wonderful Felicity Fabrics. Yet another recommendation from Tamlyn of Sewn on the Tyne, this shop is one I’ve followed since I first started my instagram. I have always liked Felicity Fabrics’ stock choices but found them a little out of my price range so they were very much on my wishlist! That is until they had a 24 hour sale on their brand new fabrics and I was able to FINALLY get hold of some of the ‘Dotty About Dots’ Lady McElroy Viscose in Bottle Green, a fabric I’ve been eyeing up for around 6 months now. My fabric is destined to become a TATB Lotta Dress so that will be very exciting when I have time to sew it up. Now, on to the review!

Felicity Fabrics

  • Online Shop / Physical Shop / Both
  • Web Link: https://felicityfabrics.co.uk
  • Core Purpose: Dressmaking Fabrics, Haberdashery and Patterns
  • Units of Sale for Fabric: 1/2 metre

Felicity Fabrics is run by a mother daughter duo with a family history of sewing and from the moment your parcel arrives you can tell that this enterprise is personal to them. The fabric is carefully wrapped in tissue paper and sent in a proper branded cardboard box and then there is also a little envelope inside with a fabric swatch with all the fabric details handwritten on the back as well as a handwritten note from Felicity Fabrics! Honestly I could not get over the delivery, which is why they have scored the first ever 10 in this area on the blog!

The fabrics themselves are all good quality and there is a nice range of patterned and plain fabrics. The fabric selection shows evidence of being curated, not necessarily to a colour palette, but to a similar mood which I like. Equally there is a small but good range of fabric types including some Ochre Waffle that I would love to get my hands on! There is also a good range of patterns and haberdashery available and a nice remnants section. The fabric is priced mid-range with a few more expensive pieces in the mix and their remnants section has good sized pieces.

Website is well branded if a bit slow but otherwise functionality is good. They’ve considered what people want and given it to them (the ideal website). The one thing I would highlight is that their phone interface is quite hard to order fabric on, I didn’t have the option to increase the the number of units I wanted on my phone I just had to keep adding 1 to my bag until I had enough. Not a huge problem but just little irritating. Felicity fabrics also have a wonderful blog full of guest bloggers, its such an inspiring space and I love looking through. The only thing I would like to see on the blog is blog headers showing the person in their garment, useful if you’re not familiar with the pattern in use.

Rating

  • Range of Fabrics – 8/10
  • Cost – 6/10
  • Delivery (Speed / Cost) – 10/10
  • Ease of Use – 7/10
  • Ease of Payment – 8/10

Overall Score: 7.8/10

Felicity Fabrics have got the little details down, Tamlyn described their fabric deliveries as like receiving a present and its true, the box, the little sealed envelope, the wrapping; it makes buying fabric feel like a real occasion. While my bank balance won’t allow me to shop there regularly Felicity Fabrics have earned a top spot on my favourite lists and I’m very very impressed and I will definitely be returning.

Fabric Friday Review: Sew Anonymous

JessLeave a comment

Good Morning Everybody! Welcome to a belated Fabric Friday, I didn’t have time to write this blog yesterday as my first MA Essay is due on Monday so my focus has been elsewhere. However! This week I wanted to focus on a brand new sewing shop that is only a month old and is taking the sewing community by storm. I am of course talking about the wonderful Sew Anonymous.

Sew Anonymous

  • Online Shop / Physical Shop / Both
  • Web Link: https://www.sewanonymous.co.uk
  • Core Purpose: Dressmaking Fabrics, Haberdashery and Patterns
  • Units of Sale for Fabric: 1/4 metre (prices per metre)

Sew Anonymous is run by a well known member of the sewing community and stocks fabric, patterns and haberdashery items. Although the selection of products is currently fairly small it is growing by the day. It has to be said that the initial selection wasn’t really my sort of fabric however then I discovered the simply glorious tab that displays fabrics available for pre-order! Let me start by saying that I love this option. Its a great way to help makers plan their future garments and the range of pre-order fabrics on offer from Sew Anonymous is excellent. I managed to get my hands on some Tilly And The Buttons Jumbo Polka Dot Black Jersey which I have wanted for ages and is normally sold out! I got my pre-order in on the opening weekend and now I am just deciding on the pattern. One aspect which i would like to see introduced in the future would be to add a fabric classification menu which I’m sure will become a necessity as their stock and range increases because I definitely shop by fabric type rather than by design. As I say, the range of fabrics is currently expanding at a rate of knots and every time I look there is something new and beautiful! I would say that their stock includes far more feature fabrics than basics but this is an understandable choice in a new supplier as the feature fabrics really draw people in.

In terms of cost I would say they are mid-range, slightly more expensive than the suppliers I normally use but the fabrics are good quality so I don’t mind. I used the discount code for the opening weekend because my fabric was £12 a metre. I know TATB is organic jersey so a justifiable cost but definitely not something I could afford normally so the discount code was much appreciated. Speaking of cost there is one strange aspect to their pricing vs buying quantities, although fabric is priced by the metre(yay!) it is sold by fat quarter. Now this could be because I’m not someone who uses fat quarters often but I found this confusing. Mind you its not extra effort for me to put multiples of 4 in the order box instead of 1 but it definitely took me a minute to figure out how much I needed to buy! It has to be said however the fact they show the prices in metres makes me extremely happy because I absolutely hate it when shops price in terms of fat quarters, its just so much extra maths. There is also a fab range of patterns, haberdashery items, sewing fits and threads. With the pattern in particular there is also a fab infographic that shows you how to find your body measurements and where to measure which I thought showed a really good sense of what their customers need from them. You all know there’s nothing I love more than a shop where I can get everything I need for a project at the same time! Delivery starts at £3 and was very speedy, I also really liked the spotty post bag my fabric arrived in, its a nice touch.

On to the website itself. Now there are a few things that really irritated me about the website however I’m not going to be too harsh because its only just been set-up and most websites take a couple of months to really bed in and settle. In terms of design, I LOVE the branding. It’s strong, recognisable and there has clearly been a great deal of thought put into the brand personality and how they will interact with their consumers. However the website itself has quite a slow loading speed, I’ve tested it on multiple browsers and networks to make sure it wasn’t my laptop. I think the issue is that the photo file sizes are too large so the data load time is quite long, particularly on a phone. It is improving as the website ages but I would recommend compressing the photos further as this will massively improve the load time on the landing pages regardless. My only other gripe with the website is that the main menu is arranged in a really strange order. The home option is in the middle and there are a lot of options on the menu making it a little visually confusing. This might just be me but its worth considering the order of necessity with the main menu to streamline it and make it a little more user friendly. Other than that the fabric photography is excellent, it would be nice to have bit of description with each fabric but its really the photography that is key and they do display a helpful little infographic to talk you through fabric weights which I found useful.

Rating

  • Range of Fabrics – 6/10
  • Cost – 7/10
  • Delivery (Speed / Cost) – 7/10
  • Ease of Use – 6/10
  • Ease of Payment – 8/10

Overall Score: 6.8/10

Sew Anonymous have certainly started with a bang! They’ve got a great instagram and do well to engage with other makers online. I’m excited to get sewing with my fabric and I’m sure I will be purchasing fabric and patterns from them in the future. Good luck with your journey Sew Anonymous, I can’t wait to see where you go!

Fabric Friday Reviews: Lamazi Fabrics

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Hi everyone, somehow its Friday already and here we are again with our Online Fabric Shop review. This week we are talking about Lamazi Fabrics! I had had my eye on Lamazi Fabrics for a while but they rose to the top of my list after a suggestion from Tamlyn @sewnonthetyne who is one of their bloggers as well as a friend through instagram. After watching Tamlyn’s fabric haul video and seeing the fabrics she bought I thought I would take a peak at the website and before you know it I’d bought a two metres of rib knit fabric for an unspecified project… however it does give me the chance to feature them on the blog! So on we go.

Lamazi Fabrics

  • Online Shop / Physical Shop / Both
  • Web Link: https://lamazifabrics.com
  • Core Purpose: Dressmaking Fabrics, Haberdashery and Patterns
  • Units of Sale for Fabric: 1/2 metre

Lamazi fabrics is an online sewing supplies boutique that stocks a fantastic range of fabrics, patterns and notions. The range of fabrics is impressive with a good mix of stretch and woven fabrics. If anything I find their dropdown tab for fabrics quite overwhelming, it may be best to list the brands second and lead with the fabric types. My first fabric purchase from them was the coral pink stretch knit in the picture above which is gorgeous quality and Im so excited to use it! I would say their fabrics are a little on the expensive side so I went shopping in the sale section which has got some great bargains in there. The owners have a passion for designers fabrics and this really comes across in their fabric choices.They wouldn’t be my default purely based on cost however I would say that Lamazi Fabrics is a great one-stop shop to get your fabric, pattern and notions in one go.

The website itself is well designed a little busy to the eye but easy to use and the purchasing journey was simple and efficient which is all you can ask really. I was so impressed with the speed of delivery and the fact that delivery is completely FREE! Incredible. The fabric arrives packaged carefully and mine arrived tied up in a black ribbon with the note enclosed which I thought was a nice little touch. As I mentioned, you do get a little personalised note which I thought was really sweet. I do keep all the personalised notes I receive from fabric suppliers as i think they are a lovely way to support the buyers sewing journey. Their social media engagement is excellent, plus they didn’t mind when I spaced them with fabric unboxing videos which I always put up on my story. I also really like their blog, its got posts from lots of fantastic makers and I find it a really inspiring space.

Rating

  • Range of Fabrics – 8/10
  • Cost – 6/10
  • Delivery (Speed / Cost) – 9/10
  • Ease of Use – 7/10
  • Ease of Payment – 8/10

Overall Score: 7.6/10

Lamazi Fabrics is a great one-stop shop to get your fabric, pattern and notions in one go. Their fabric is a little costly but the makers have a clear vision of what fabrics they want to stock and why. They have got some fab sustainable fabrics and I like the way they feature all of their products equally. It really feels like somewhere with principles and ideals where I am engaging with their vision when I buy from them. I’m excited to get started on my next make using their gorgeous fabric and I’m sure it won’t be long before I’m buying from them again!