Sew What?! Our sewing top tips...
Is it just the ‘Great British Sewing Bee’ effect or are we in post lockdown mode and wanting to be more creative, either way sewing has never been so popular! In fact, we are in the process of making our small second studio a specific sewing studio ;-)
We get asked a lot of questions about buying resources as a beginner so we thought we’d share our top tips here for you -
(We’ve also made a Facebook video which can be viewed HERE)
Buying a Sewing Machine
At the studio we have several basic Janome 217 machines, we bought them from J&B on Sloper Road in Cardiff, they also have a bigger branch in Newport. Our other machines are actually all from Facebook Marketplace, we have got some brilliant deals on there, you can generally tell by the sellers description regarding genuine reasons for sale e.g. Bought a few years ago and never got around to using it etc… We are big believers in sewing machines retailing at around £100 are perfect for the majority of things the majority of people will want to make, I’ve been sewing for over 30 years and have never needed anything fancier. I also like that they are easy to fix and they do hold their value fairly well so if you did want to upgrade you should be able to sell it for about 50% of you purchase price.
Larger stockists -
John Lewis - John Lewis stock Janome machines and even better, they come in a range of cute colours!! What more could you want from your sewing machine eh. Check our their sewing section here
Argos stock a good value beginners Brother machine
Dunelm have a good range of machines and staff are usually helpful
Some things you might want to consider when choosing the right machine for you
Does it have a thread cutter - once in a while I’m surprised to find that the small blade for cutting threads isn’t standard on all machines, I think this is essential tool and hugely reduces the need to rethread the top thread as it is always cut long enough
A needle threader - these extras are attached to slightly higher priced machines and are invaluable to those who find threading their needle difficult
Do you find it hard to control the pressure you add with your foot pedal, or do you plan to use your machine with young children, if so you may want to buy a machine that includes a speed setter, a small dial on the front of the machine which means you have a set speed however hard you press down your foot
Do you want to do freehand embroidery? For this you need the machine bed to drop so the machines are usually the next level up from our 217 model
Sewing Supplies
As with any new hobby try to avoid buying absolutely everything straight away, start with some basics and see what you feel could be improved as you get to grips with sewing as there’s a huge range of sewing accessories out there.
Essentials we use everyday are a chalk markers, ruler, quick unpicker, good quality scissors, a basic pair of scissors (for non fabric items) good quality pins, a few spare bobbins (be sure to buy the right size for your machine), a few threads in your most likely to use colours (generally including black and white) , an iron and ironing board. If you have space a cutting mat, fabric weights and a roller cutter are a nice extra.
1. Crafty Sew & Sew, City Road - Whenever we get asked about where to buy sewing supplies, Gem's go to has always been Crafty Sew & So on City Road. They have every sewing supply you could possibly need from haberdashery to needles and if they don’t they’ll know where you can find it.
You can also get supplies at HobbyCraft and John Lewis or there’s often the basics in big stores like Tesco, Home Bargains and Dunelm.
Servicing
We’re yet to get our machines serviced locally but we’ve heard great things about Graham Hughes Sewing Machine Repairs - With 40 years experience under their belt, Graham Hughes is one of our top picks if you need your beloved machine serviced. They are based in Cardiff and you can find out more info here
Fabric
Cardiff is very limited for fabric but here’s where to try -
The Pumping Station, Penarth Rd - They have aquired a lot of surplus fabrics that they are selling at discunt rates
Just out of Cardiff there are some better options which are generally a bit cheaper too -
Hillside Fabrics, Llantwit Fadre - this is our fave supplier, note - it is only open Mon-Fri, but is well worth making the trip with most fabrics costing between £2.50-5 per metre, staff are super helpful too ;-)
AFS (Artificial Flower Supplies) Taffs Well Industrial Estate - Lots of fun polycottons for about £5 per mere and a good range of essential haberdashery supplies
Pink Scissors Fabric, Highwayman Business Park - regular new stock and sales mean that you might go more than once! Their website also looks good and can be found here
Bridgend Fabrics, Bridgend Industrial Estate - never a dull moment at this absolutely massive warehouse, mostly soft furnishing fabrics but also some cheap polycottons and nice cottons, it’s simply worth visiting for the experience of the rickety upstairs!
Foy & Co, Llandow Industrial Estate - pretty much all soft furnishing fabrics but I use them for bag & cushion making, the staff here are faband they have a twce yearly mega sale where loads of stuff is 50p-£5 a metre!
Online Fabric Shopping
Some shops we’d recommend are Emporia . Guthrie & Ghani and for a bargain visit Pound Fabrics
An account that always makes me smile with their top tip short videos is Guthrie Ghani - I also enjoy updates from Tilly & the Buttons, also our own fab visiting tutors Asmaa and Fauve have great sewing accounts.
Finally, fat quarters are a great way to make small colourful projects when starting out, they are also really easy to store if space is limited, they can occasionally be found in ALDI (check their website for the next craft delivery date) they can also be found in our Lark shop, Hobbycraft and Dunelm.
Hope this helps and do share your makes with us by using the hashtag ‘larkdesignmake’
Happy sewing!
Gemma