We thought it might be useful for our customers to be able to see physical swatches of the fabrics that they'd like to buy before purchasing.

Select any FIVE of our fabrics. Choose from our range of carefully selected Organic Fabrics including Cotton Cross-weaves and Woven Ginghams, Japanese printed fabric by Nani Iro for Kokka, or Robert Kaufman Essex Linens, Chambrays & Denim.

Postage is free for this service and the cost of £2.00 is refundable against your first fabric order with us.

Hello there,

To celebrate World Book Day we thought we'd share with you our favourite sewing book of the moment. A gift from one of our lovely friends it's the "Stylish Dress Book Simple Smocks, Dresses and Tops" by Yoshiko Tsukiori.

This book features an A to Z of contemporary dresses, tops and tunics. Using simple shapes, but with lovely design details including pin-tucking, lace trims, soft gathers and ruffles, smocking and embroidery, this book shows you how to craft and create your own unique stylish wardrobe!

 Each design is beautifully styled and photographed as you can see below:

Suitable for those with some sewing experience, this book comes complete with full-scale patterns, however you will need to trace these off for each design, and for each style there are simple step-by-step instructions and diagrams.



With 26 different garments to choose from this book is fabulous value and will help you to re-invent your wardrobe. There are so many lovely styles the difficulty is deciding which one to make first!!

Whichever one you decide on, happy sewing!

Hello there,

It's hard to believe that we're already over half way through February!!

With that in mind, I thought it only right that we turn our attention to Mother's Day, which, for our UK friends, is now just over three weeks away, on Sunday 15th March. This is a really poignant time of year for me; like many of you, I first started learning to sew with my mum. I remember mum sitting patiently alongside me as I struggled to get to grips, first with a needle and thread, and then when I was older with the sewing machine! She was a great sewer and stitcher, and always amazingly patient, unlike myself as a young sewer!

For the perfect Mother's Day gift we've got lots of lovely sewing and stitch kits, which are suitable for both those who've never sewn before, and experienced sewists alike!

We've selected a few of our favourites here, such as the delightful Nancy Nicholson Embroidery Kits, below we've featured the Cat, but there are plenty of other lovely designs to choose from as well.

Or there's the lovely What Delilah Did cross stitch kits which contain everything you need to make your own cushion cover.

Alternatively, why not pick something from our gorgeous range of Merchant & Mills goodies? We have the Rapid Repair Sewing Kit or the Selected Notions Box Set featured below or, for a more personal gift, why not choose a selection of their notions, and package in either a gift box or a lovely glass jar, to create your own bespoke gift?

With so many lovely gift ideas, you're sure to find the perfect gift for your mum for Mother's Day!! Or perhaps even a treat for yourself?!

We're really pleased to have just taken delivery of our Tilly and the Buttons Sewing Patterns!

Designed by Tilly Walne, who appeared on the very first series of The Great British Sewing Bee, these patterns each come with a beautifully clear step-by-step guide featuring colour photographs. The patterns are clearly labelled to help take the guesswork out of sewing by showing you what the markings mean and which bits join together!

The Miette Skirt is the perfect first dressmaking project for beginners, this gently flared wraparound skirt ties at the front, so no zips or buttonholes to content with and it's easy to fit!!

Next we have Coco, above right, which is also easy to sew and easy fitting, again with no zips, buttons or other fiddly bits!!

 The Francoise is a chic and easy to wear mini dress inspired by sixties fashion yet always in style. The design features striking french darts and raglan seams. This dress does have a zip and so requires a little sewing experience.

Finally we have the Mathilde, this elegant blouse features tucks down the front bodice, flowing 3/4 length sleeves and a lovely button-back opening. Suitable for advanced beginners you'll learn to create all these features plus beautiful french seams so that you garment looks just as good on the inside!

We'd love to see your finished garments, send us a photo and we'll share them on Facebook!

I visited the Hobby, Craft & Stitch Trade Show at the Birmingham NEC in February 2015 on the lookout for exciting new products. Whilst there I  was lucky enough to hear May Martin talking about her sewing career and how she was selected to be a judge on The Great British Sewing Bee! In the audience with us were former contestants Lauren Guthrie, from Series 1, and founder of Guthrie and Ghani & Jenni Taylor from the 2015 show.

May learnt to sew at the age of 13; and it very quickly became her passion. At a time when most women were encouraged to pursue a career in either hairdressing, secretarial work or nursing, May bucked the trend by opting to study at St, Osyth’s College at Clacton-on-Sea, a teacher training college which specialises in needlework. She said the it was the hardest three years of her life, but that it stood her in good stead for the future.

She taught for several years at secondary schools and was Head of Department before deciding to go into adult education.

When the BBC researchers, for what was to become The Great British Sewing Bee, were looking for potential judges, they visited and interviewed lecturers from all the top fashion colleges including Central St Martins but were struggling to find the right person for the role.

Out of the blue, May received an email from the BBC saying that they’d like her to audition for the show! May, very nervously went along for the interview where she faced 90 minutes of questions whilst being filmed... once they’d finished she remembers saying to them that it'd had been great fun but they wouldn't use her, she felt they'd opt for someone from one of the elite fashion schools.

Shortly after, she did screen tests with Patrick Grant, who she was sure would get the job, but she wasn’t at all sure what they thought of her! We all know now, that they were very impressed with her calm, kind manner and extensive knowledge.

She kept the fact that she was filming the show a secret from all her students, and as you can imagine they were really surprised, and delighted, when GBSB first hit our screens. After that first show went out the producers asked her why she was so quiet, and she told them it was because she'd been petrified! After that first series May was offered some presentation training for when she's in front of the camera and hasn’t looked back since!

Although May Martin is no longer a judge on the show, we're really pleased that GBSB is finally back on our TV screens again! 

If watching GBSB has inspired you to take up sewing why not take a look at our thoughtfully curated range of Sewing Patterns and Fabrics.