Just a couple of the bags made by students last week. Another really talented group. This purple bag was made by someone who had never done ANY sewing before. I was hugely impressed by the way she worked so hard to get it absolutely right and made a lovely bag.

I’ve spent the last 24 hours in some kind of fabric buying panic. I need to get small amounts of fabric (well, 10 metres or so of each colour) for my new autumn ranges for the trade show next week and Origin. I had chosen the colours I wanted, but the wholesalers I went to yesterday don’t have what I want. I tracked down some hemp/silk which I want to use for one of the colourways (they only have one of my preferred colours) but they have none in stock! I need to use fabrics that I can easily buy large stocks of, as I need to be taking orders. And I need it to be as cheap as possible without compromising my requirements or quality. It’s being a whole lot harder than I thought and I wish I had started buying fabric when I chose the colours weeks ago. I am also working on Spring / Summer colours, as I need the samples for them for the trade show too. I think I have just about sorted it, but I haven’t got to the ideal solution, just one that will do for now. It’s all a learning process, but it’s a stressful process I could do without right now!
I am however, getting excited about all the miles of fabric arriving next week and getting on with sewing up new stuff!

For the trade show I am presenting four cushions: Garrick, Mantua Frill, Doublet and Constellations. These three scarves: Mantua Frill, Polonaise and Dragon. These three bags: Fat Dragon, Dragon and Jacob.
Most of these come in 4 colourways for Autumn/ Winter and 3-4 colourways for Spring / Summer. It adds up to an awful lot of fabric!

Origin is a bit easier in some ways. I am showing Garrick Cushion, Fat Dragon Bag, Mantua Frill Scarf and Neckpiece.
One of yesterday’s successes was finding a source of coloured silk organza, so now I can make the neckpieces in a range of colours to match my Autumn / Winter colours.

Oh – the colours are for the silk ranges:
Silver / Grey
Chocolate brown
Aubergine
Peacock Blue

The Constellations Cushion has year-round colours of:
Lime and Cerise
Red and White
Blue and Cream
Rust and Pink.

Jacob bag comes in Natural Brown and Natural Cream and the Dragon bag comes in whatever nice vintage fabric we like this week!

Phew. You can see why this makes my head hurt just keeping track of it all!