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Sew Inspiring!
Listed under: Retail Clinic
Published: Thursday, April 22, 2010
As consumers across the country continue rejecting the clothing on the high street in favour of hand-crafted, authentic designs they have created at home, Craft Business speaks to one of the industry's best-loved bloggers, Florence Knapp of flossieteacakes.blogspot.com, about the rise of all things sewing-related, and the areas retailers should be focusing on over the next year
What are the most popular projects crafters are currently working on?
Many more sewers seem to be dipping their toes into the dressmaking arena and this is the area I presently receive the most enthusiastic feedback on from my blog. Some fantastic books have been published recently about designing dress patterns to your unique measurements entirely from scratch, and the design freedom it allows is exciting for any guerrilla seamstress!
Additionally, quilt making seems to be undergoing a resurgence in popularity – something which has been reflected in the V&A museum's decision to choose it as a focus for its exhibition this year.
What do you think are the biggest factors driving these trends?
Both of these areas are ones where sewers have the freedom to let their own creativity shine – dress patterns can be tweaked or designed from scratch to create completely unique garments; and the myriad of shapes that go into forming a quilt allow huge scope for individuality, which
can be accentuated again by colour choice.
What do you think is going to be the next big thing?
Until recently, the big name designers produced ranges of fabric printed on quilting-weight cotton and occasionally decor-weight cotton. This year, Anna Maria Horner launched a range of light-weight voiles, perfect for dressmaking, and the slight sheen they possess provides
greater interest when used for quilting. Later this year, other Westminster designers will also be launching new fabric lines printed on voile. I am hugely excited by this and think it will change the
look and feel of what’s being made by home sewers.
Many more sewers seem to be dipping their toes into the dressmaking arena and this is the area I presently receive the most enthusiastic feedback on from my blog. Some fantastic books have been published recently about designing dress patterns to your unique measurements entirely from scratch, and the design freedom it allows is exciting for any guerrilla seamstress!
Additionally, quilt making seems to be undergoing a resurgence in popularity – something which has been reflected in the V&A museum's decision to choose it as a focus for its exhibition this year.
What do you think are the biggest factors driving these trends?
Both of these areas are ones where sewers have the freedom to let their own creativity shine – dress patterns can be tweaked or designed from scratch to create completely unique garments; and the myriad of shapes that go into forming a quilt allow huge scope for individuality, which
can be accentuated again by colour choice.
What do you think is going to be the next big thing?
Until recently, the big name designers produced ranges of fabric printed on quilting-weight cotton and occasionally decor-weight cotton. This year, Anna Maria Horner launched a range of light-weight voiles, perfect for dressmaking, and the slight sheen they possess provides
greater interest when used for quilting. Later this year, other Westminster designers will also be launching new fabric lines printed on voile. I am hugely excited by this and think it will change the
look and feel of what’s being made by home sewers.
