The Purple Stitcher

A sewing blog

Archive for the ‘Fabric Shops’ Category

Lilac Unicorn Jersey – Adam Ross Blogger Network

Lilac Unicorn Laundry Day Tee

 

Those who follow me on Instagram will have seen my announcement a while ago that I have joined the Adam Ross Blogger Network and this is my first post for them. Adam Ross Fabrics are a UK based fabric company with a wide range of fabrics at great prices. They’ve recently launched a new brand: Pound Fabrics with loads of great bargains. They very kindly sent me some free fabric of my choosing, in exchange for this blog post. However, all of the opinions in this post are my own honest opinions. The lilac unicorn jersey I chose is unfortunately not available on the new website but there are a lot of other bargains available at https://poundfabrics.co.uk/

Adam Ross Lilac Unicorn Jersey Fabric

 

As I have to look smart for work, I therefore love wearing fun non-work suitable clothes at the weekend. I’m naturally a jeans and t-shirt girl, so have been making a lot of the Love Notions Laundry Day Tee recently (a blog post on that will follow) and as soon as I saw this unicorn jersey on the Adam Ross website knew I had to have it! As you can tell from the name of the blog, purple is my favourite colour and I love unicorns, they’re so cute and fun and yes, I am a big kid! The fabric is really soft with a good stretch and it washed really well, so I took advantage of the beautiful weather we had over the summer to dry it outside.

Adam Ross Lilac Unicorn Jersey Fabric Drying

 

The pattern sews together really quickly and the fabric was very easy to sew with and pressed nicely, especially at the neckband and hem. I stitched the tee completely on my overlocker and just finished it off by hemming it on the cover stitch.

Leaning Lilac Unicorn Laundry Day Tee Neckline

Back View Lilac Unicorn Laundry Day Tee Neckline

 

I decided not to topstitch the neckline this time as I’d like to keep it simple and have no distractions from the fabulous unicorn fabric. I’ve always top stitched it before, so we’ll see how it holds up to washing and wearing.

Lilac Unicorn Laundry Day Tee Neckline

 

I also decided to make a slight change to the pattern by adding a small hi-lo hem, as I recently did this for the dress for my 40th birthday party and really liked it, so thought I’d see how it translates to a top. Let me know what you think in the comments below.

Lilac Unicorn Laundry Day Tee

Sitting Lilac Unicorn Laundry Day Tee
Coco & The Lilac Unicorn Laundry Day Tee Neckline

Coco wanted in on the action!


Abakhan Clearance Liberty Sorbetto Top

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Abakhan Fabrics have recently had 22,000 meters of LIBERTY fabrics delivered! The tana lawns are now available to buy online as well as in-store, with 50 fabulous designs to choose from. This Liberty clearance range is just £11.24 per meter, a lot cheaper than the usual selling of £22.50pm, which therefore often makes them unaffordable for dressmakers like me who need a decent length of fabric to work with. The Twills, Cords, Jerseys and Lifestyle Craft Cottons will be available to purchase from Abakhan soon.

Abakhan Liberty Clearance Fabrics

A selection Abakhan's Liberty clearance fabrics

A selection Abakhan’s Liberty clearance fabrics

Liberty Art Fabrics

Liberty is a well-known brand name and many sewers and crafters use and love their fabrics. Tana Lawn is one of Liberty’s most well known and loved fabrics, with the name originating from Lake Tana in East Africa, where the original cotton grew.  Made from specially selected ultra-fine long staple cotton and finished without the use of crease-resisting chemicals or irritating allergens, the result is a famous masterpiece of fabric technology: fine, cool, comfortable and durable, with brilliant reproduction of colours and prints.

 

Those who know me well know that I am not really into floral prints, unless abstract, however Liberty offer a wide varity of prints, including a number of unusual and distrintive designs and I love the Dragonista design that Abakhan currently have available in the tana lawn in three different colourways:

Liberty Dragonista in Blue, Aqua & Terracotta

Liberty Dragonista in Blue, Aqua & Terracotta

 

Liberty provide some great info on their website regarding their designs:

Dragonista: An archival design chosen by the antiques guru Martin Miller; the name behind the famous ‘Miller’s Antiques Price Guides’, and creator of the fabulous ‘Miller’s Residence’, ‘Glencot House’ and ‘Martin Miller’s Gin!’.He is also a poet, writer and artist with an infectious love of antiques.

Martin added a Miller twist to the design ‘Dragonista’, incorporating antiques of his own into the Liberty design, which was originally a ‘Chinoiserie’ style design for a Liberty scarf dating back to the early 1990s.

“In effect, it’s like taking a static work of art into a form that gives it movement and vitality. The iconic brand of Liberty is renowned for blending the classic with the modern which both complements and appeals to my style, and I am excited to be part of this wearable, living collection.” Martin Miller.

 

I chose to work with the Dragonista in blue, as I love bold and bright colours. This can be purchased from Abakhan’s website.

I wanted to make a top and in order to show off the beautiful fabric wanted to pattern that had simple clean lines without too much fuss. Therefore I decided on the Colette Sorbetto pattern. However as I don’t suit loose sleeveless tops at all I chose to add the Sorbetto sleeve pattern by Sew Incidentally.

I did have to do some pattern moderation, which is pretty standard for myself, as being extremely pear shaped I had to add a few inches to the waist & hips measurements as the pattern wasn’t large enough and grade from the size 16 bust to these new waist & hip measurements. Also being rather tall (5ft 9in) and long bodied I decided to add 2 inches to the length of the pattern. Still, even with all those additions I do love the Sorbetto as its pretty quick & easy to make (although I just can’t get on well with making my own bias binding!)

I took a few photos whilst working on my top. If you want to see in-progress photos and info of my projects then feel free to follow me on Twitter and Instagram:

Cutting out my top

Cutting out my top

The front of my Sorbetto top

The sewn front of my Sorbetto top

Sewing the sleeves on

Sewing the sleeves on

 

The tana lawn was so lovely to work with and drapes really well, I can definitely recommend it for clothing and the Sorbetto top. I am very pleased how my top turned out and I reckon it’ll look great for both work with smart trousers and a jacket, or with jeans and a cardy for the weekend.

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Neckline & pleat detail

Neckline & pleat detail

Shoulder & sleeve detail

Shoulder & sleeve detail

See, I told you it's work suitable!

See, I told you it’s work suitable!

 

Abakhan have loads of other tana lawns available, these are some of my other favourites:

Some of my other favourite Liberty fabrics

 

Why not go have a look at the range and let me know which are your favourites!

 

NB: I received this fabric free of charge to try out from Abakhan. All opinions about it however are fully my own.


Abakhan Secret Sale – 18th July 2015

Me, Susan, Nele and Eleanor with out golden ticket!

Me, Susan, Nele and Eleanor with our golden ticket!

I was lucky enough to receive 2 Golden VIP tickets to Abakhan’s Secret Sale last Saturday, the 18th July at their Mostyn branch and was able to take 3 of my friends from Liverpool Sewing Club. We had a great day, buying lots of bargains in the secret sale, shopping in the rest of the large Abakhan store, sitting in the sun eating, drinking and having a great day all round.

As I blogged about a while back I went to Abakhan’s first secret sale on the 28th March. This was a ‘Warehouse Style’ Sale with discounts of up to 85% off normal retail prices and held in one of their stock warehouses. This caused a few issues with long queues due to the size of the warehouse and therefore the related number of customers that could be in at any one time for health and safety reason. I’m happy to say that Abakhan learnt from this and at the most recent sale used a much larger warehouse, with well organised tills inside and an orderly queuing space, with a marquee providing shelter, in case of rain! Therefore queuing time was much reduced at this second secret sale as 150 were allowed inside at once, as in opposed to 40 last time! Also there was much more fabric was available for us to browse through, which made me very happy!

Golden ticket secret Sale time

Golden ticket secret Sale time

On arrival with our golden tickets we were signed in and given exclusive 15% off discount vouchers and then we were allowed early access to the sale, an hour before the general public, so there was lots of time to browse and of course rummage! The warehouse was very well laid out with the different options very clear and well organised and the walls were lined with rolls and rolls of fabrics. I also loved the fill a bag for £10 section and of course had to have a proper rummage, as you can see!

Gotta have a proper rummage!

Gotta have a proper rummage!

The £10 fill a bag haul!

The £10 fill a bag haul! All of this plus another 3m of polyester that’s already been used!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was also a good opportunity to meet members of the sewing community that I chat to on line but only get to actually see occasionally, – Rachel from House of Pinheiro, Celia from Sew Fundamental, Michele from Swiss Army Wife and Paul Clarke who appeared on Great British Sewing Bee and of course – Will Abakhan!

Myself, Rachel & Paul

Myself, Rachel & Paul

Myself with Michele & Ceilia

Myself with Michele & Ceilia

Myself & Will

Myself & Will

There might be a slight chance I bought a wee bit too much fabric but the bargains available were amazing. Dress and house fabric rolls and bolts started at just 50p a meter and could only be bought in full rolls, so the price depended on the amount of fabric left on the roll! To be honest there were a lot more rolls and bolts of fabrics that I almost bought but I didn’t want to scare the bank manager too much! I love wearing jersey, so tending to sew a lot with it, therefore that was what I was mainly on the lookout for but some other fabrics just jumped out at me and had to be purchased! My secret sale purchases were as follows:

Some great knit fabrics

Some great knit fabrics

2 great rolls of fleece & a lightweight double sized faux fur

2 great rolls of fleece & a lightweight double sized faux fur

Lots of other fabrics

Lots of other fabrics – purple voile, household Clarke & Clarke polka dot, great loose weave, mid weight grey & lightweight abstract florals.

Not bad for just £65 in total!

A very kind member of staff helped us get the cage to the car!

A very kind member of staff helped us get the cage to the car!

 

All the staff were encountered in the warehouse, were very friendly and helpful. Myself and Nele bought that much fabric that we had to use a cage to take it all out to the car!

 

I was also very glad that I swapped my little Ka for my dad’s much larger Meriva for the weekend! Made packing the car a lot easier, although we still managed to fill the boot that much that extra purchases had to be put on the back seat!

 

 

 

By this point we were very grateful of our free breakfast bap in the onsite Abakhan Cafe, as it had been a very early start of 7am to ensure we got there in time to use our golden ticket early access opportunity and maximise our bargain hunting!

Breakfast time!

Breakfast time!

I’ve been to the large Abakhan Mostyn branch before but Susan (being originally from America) had never been before and this is much larger than the Birkenhead and Liverpool stores we’re all used to, so with our 15% discount vouchers we headed off into the main store for some more fabric based retail therapy. The store was busy but there were ample friendly and helpful staff available to help us and we had great fun exploring the rolls and remnants available, with all of us making more purchases and again more bargains were to be had – Susan even managed to get some Hello Kitty rip stop, of which I’m very jealous! The liberty lawns available were beautiful and I spent a while admiring them.

Abakahn Mostyn

Abakhan Mostyn

Lots of Liberty lawn

Lots of Liberty lawn

Lots of fun was had exploring the rolls and remnants both upstairs and downstairs in the main building with both myself and Nele making more purchases. The prices in Abakhan are great to start off but then with our special 15% discount vouchers we got even better bargains and therefore erm, seem to have purchased even more fabric, oops!

Main store purchases

Main store purchases

 

After all that shopping we needed another break and decided to have a light lunch in the Abakhan Café and as the sun was shining we took advantage of the outdoor seating to relax and then to enjoy our free golden ticket desserts – a delicious and well-presented summer fruits brulee with a handmade shortbread biscuit, a perfect summery desert to be enjoyed in the Welsh sunshine.

Desserts

Desserts

We all had a great day out at the Abakhan secret sale and got loads of great bargains, am already figuring out and planning what projects they’ll be used for. If you would like to find out when the next Secret Sale is then complete this form on Abakhan’s website (you might also spot a familiar face in the photos of the day).

 

Did you also visit the Abakhan Secret Sale? If so, why not leave a comment below telling me what you thought and what you bought?

 

 


Abakhan Secret Sale – 28th March 2015

Abakhan

Abakhan Mostyn

I was lucky enough to receive a Golden VIP ticket to Abakhan’s Secret Sale last Saturday and as I was allowed to take a friend, Nele from Liverpool Sewing Club joined me. We had a great day, shopping and having fun, although I’m not sure my bank manager would agree. However the bargains we received should make him happy!

Exclusive to their Mostyn Store & for one day only, Abakhan’s Secret Sale was a ‘Warehouse Style’ Sale with discounts of up to 85% off normal retail prices.

The VIP tickets had a number of advantages, which made the day even better. On arrival we signed in and were given exclusive 15% off discount vouchers and then received free sausage butties and coffee in their onsite cafe – setting us up well for the shopping to come.

Myself & Will Abakhan

Myself & Will Abakhan

Our golden tickets meant we could get into the warehouse for the secret sale between 10am and 11am, a full hour before the sale opened to the rest of the public. This gave us a nice browsing time and both being dressmakers we headed straight to the rolls of dress fabrics and had great fun sifting through them, choosing what we did and didn’t like. All fabrics were priced at 50p a meter and could only be bought in full rolls, so the price depended on the amount of fabric left on the roll. My purchases were:

Rolls of Fabric

The rolls of fabric:
0.5m of heavy weight purple patterned polycotton,
10m of black & white polka dot cotton seersucker,
4.5m of grey checked poly & spandex gabardine,
14m of blue lightweight cotton viscose jersey

3 Bolts of Fabric

These 3 bolts of fabric are:
15m of muted patterned print spandex, which is 95% poly & 5% PU. Has a slight wooly feel to it.
10m of charcoal jersey, with embroidered design and is and wool & viscose blend.
5m of patterned lilac polyester dress wear.

2 Bolts of Fabric

2 Bolts of Fabric:
12m of black towelling
13m of red wool coating, which is a wool & polyester mix.

Pale blue cuddle fleece

Pale blue cuddle fleece that myself & Nele shared

All the staff were encountered in the warehouse, were very friendly and helpful. Myself and Nele got that much fabric that the staff actually located a wheeled trolley to help us get it to my car. This was one of those occasions when I regret buying a tiny Ford Ka! LOL

 

I’ve been to the large Mostyn branch before but Nele (being originally from Belgium) had never been to Wales before, never mind Abakhan in Mostyn, so we decided to investigate the rest of the site, after a refreshing cuppa in the cafe of course!

The craft shop had some great polystyrene eggs for Nele’s family Easter crafting sessions and I got some great brushed cotton for baby blankets.

Brushed cotton

Beautiful baby themed design brushed cotton

By this time the sun was out and the main secret sale was under way with lots of people queuing to get in. Due to the size of the warehouse for health & safety reasons Abakhan staff could only let a limited number of people it at once and the event had turned out to be very popular. From what I could see the great British tradition of queuing was well under way and amicable.

The queue

Part of the queue!

Lots & lots of happy shoppers

Lots & lots of happy shoppers With Will supervising

 

 

Then off to the main store we went, after having a quick stop off at the waterwheel location and a quick history lesson regarding the building’s history.

info about the history of Abakhan's building

info about the history of Abakhan’s building

Me & Nele

Me & Nele

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lots of fun was had exploring the rolls and remnants both upstairs and downstairs in the main building with both myself and Nele making more purchases. The prices in Abakhan are great to start off but then with our special 15% discount vouchers we got even better bargains and therefore erm, seem to have purchased even more fabric, oops!

Fabrics by the meter

Purple cotton with white numbers,
Upholstery weight cotton with a bold & bright pattern,
White PVC with colourful butterflies,
White PVC with buttons,
Lightweight polycotton with tiny macaroons.

Jersey Remnants

Jersey Remnants:
Black with little grey bows,
Plain dark red,
Blue with large black polka dots

Lots of Lace

Lots of Stretch Lace:
Black & green,
Fusha & black,
Dark lilac
All just 35p a meter!

Haberdashery

Haberdashery:
Full roll of lilac bias binding (£1 for the roll),
Full roll of mint green bias binding (£1 for the roll).
Pins

As Abakhan was packed due to it being a Saturday and the secret sale there were lots of queues but everyone was friendly and chatting to each other, discussing their purchases and what they were going to make. As always the staff were friendly, helpful and efficient, processing orders quickly but without rushing us through like cattle. As were admiring the rolls of dress fabric we bumped into the lovely Deborah from Series 3 of the Great British Sewing Bee.

Nele & Deborah

Nele & Deborah

Myself & Deborah

Myself & Deborah

 

After all that shopping we needed another break and by this time the sausage butties were a distant memory, so time for lunch in the onsite Abakhan café followed by our delicious free VIP desserts

VIP Desserts

VIP Desserts!

 

Then came the fun of getting the rest of the stuff in the car! Thankfully I’m rather good at Tetris and we managed to get everything in my tiny Ka! If we’d had an accident I’m pretty sure me and Nele would have been safe with all that fabric padding, LOL.

Erm, the backseat of my tiny Ka is rather full!

Erm, the backseat of my tiny Ka is rather full!

And so is the boot!

And so is the boot!

 

Now I know that the car looks very full but somehow we managed to go to a pet shop on the way home and buy a cat carrier, then go to Costco and buy lots more stuff there! See, it’s amazing what you can fit in a tiny car if you put your mind to it!

We had a great day at the Abakhan secret sale, got loads and loads of bargains, which both myself and Nele already have plans for. I’m on the lookout for a pattern for a floor length coat with a fitted waist and fuller skirt to use for that large roll of red wool coating material, suggestions very welcome!

I’m already looking forward to the next Abakhan Secret Sale, just don’t tell my bank manager!