The Queen is a bit of an unsung fashion hero. Not only does she make recycling outfits look cool (making it perfectly acceptable for us commoners to do so as well), but she was a forerunner on the colour blocking trend. If you’d like a fully matching outfit, like her, why not pop into the store. Many of our suppliers offer a range of fabrics in the same colours. Perfect if you’d like to try colour blocking, or if you’d like different weights of fabric for one dress.

Thank you to Dear Green Place for posting this photo to our Facebook page!

The Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics in London seem to have made the world a bit Union Jack crazy. Of course, Mandors have lots of Union Jack fabric, including this rather lovely fleece at £8.99/m.

We’ve got a wide range of flag print fabrics, or just plain poly cottons. Perfect for making your own bunting. We’ve even got some precut bunting packs, making it even easier for you to decorate for the occasion. You could even go the whole hog, and make yourself a lovely Union Jack dress in the style of Geri from the Spice Girls…. There is a 90s revival going on….

We’ve also got some beautiful craft cottons to mark the occasion.

There are all manner of products jumping onto the red, white, and blue bandwagon. How about a Union Jack sewing machine? Bet you’ve always wanted one of those?

Or if you would like something a little classier to mark the occasion, there is a beautiful scarf from Liberty, which just happens to be one of my favourite shops.

There has been a huge trend for Union Jacks in the homewares market for a few years now, and we’ve just seen it cross over into curtain fabrics over the past few months. I posted this photo to our Facebook page a wee while ago, but I’m going to put it up again. It’s from the new range called Checks, dogs, and rock and roll. I love it! It is available to order.

We’ve also got this super cute range by PT, including a lovely bright jewel coloured PVC tablecovering.

So, whether you’d like to make some bunting, cover your table, wrap yourself up in fleece, or even make yourself a wee crown to watch the special day, why not pop into Mandors?

x

P.S. Apologies if you have tried to comment on the blog and it hasn’t shown up, I get unimaginable amounts of spam comments, so sometimes real ones get lost in there

Mary outside Frasers yesterday

I explained to her that sales in the shop weren’t as good as the previous years, and that footfall is way down.  She asked where the shop was, and I told her it was on Sauchiehall Street.  When I was growing up, I remember Sauchiehall Street being full of fancy furniture shops, at the end where all the bars and clubs are now. There was a huge big furniture shop selling Versace furniture, and a few interior design shops. One by one, they all closed down.

The pedestrian end of Sauchiehall Street used to be a busy shopping street. Every unit was full, and you could hardly walk down the street, as it was so busy. Last week, I walked down Sauchiehall Street towards Buchanan Galleries.  What a sad sight, HMV has closed down, and is empty, Virgin Media is empty, Jack Jones is empty. I think I counted six big vacant units along the street. Our poor high street. No wonder footfall is down in our shop, there isn’t much of a reason to walk up Sauchiehall Street anymore. Unless you’d like to visit one of the three Greggs along the way…

I was thinking today about Mary’s call to save our high street, and also to bring manufacturing back to the UK. We need to find a way to boost the economy here, and making stuff in Britain is a great idea. Let’s stop importing rubbish clothes from the Far East, and start wearing stuff made in our own country.

Last night, I got chatting to a few of the designers who come into the shop.  One girl, the lovely Bonnie Bling http://www.bonniebling.co.uk/ has suddenly experienced a huge increase in demand, since her rings were featured on the X Factor. Great, but she can’t keep up with the demand, and she can’t afford the laser cutting machine, which would help her to do so. She is currently trying to raise the money for the machine here http://www.bloomvc.com/project/Big-up-our-Bling

I was thinking today, that as Scots, we should be supporting our amazing local talent. I’ve seen some truly spectacular designs recently. These are garments that are made in Scotland. I asked for some feedback on Facebook and was blown away by some of the suggestions.

"Death Valley" Brawlgown SS12 by Obscure Couture

If you are interested, why not have a peek for yourself? I’ll put the links at the end of the post.

The other day, The Life Craft posted that another wee vintage shop is closing in Glasgow.  It makes me sad to hear of independent shops struggling and closing.  I’ll miss The Life Craft (and all who sailed in her). I know that sometimes it can be easy to go to a big chain of shops, but spare a thought for us poor independents.  Mandors is a small, family run business.  We have two branches.  We’d love to be able to provide you all with mail order, but we just don’t have the infrastructure.  When we buy our stock, we buy as little as we can, of as many different things as possible.  We want you to have a huge choice of awesome fabrics.

Sometimes, we may be more expensive than Hobbycraft, or other chain stores. But we just don’t have the purchasing power.  We’d love to be able to be cheaper than our competitors, but we’d rather give you a wider range of exciting fabrics.

Next time you are thinking of buying something, no matter how big or small, please spare a thought for your independent retailers, for the high street instead of shopping centres, and for things that are made in Britain, or even better, made in Scotland!

Taps Aff knuckle dusters from Bonnie Bling

http://www.joey-d.co.uk/

http://www.ten30.co.uk/

http://www.obscure-couture.com/

https://www.facebook.com/LilBubbaThings

https://www.facebook.com/mad.clothinguk

http://www.chouchoucouture.com/

http://www.annawhyte.com/

http://www.rebeccatorres.co.uk/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Betty-Spoke/119276501455502

http://www.jennieloof.com/main/Welcome.html

https://www.facebook.com/pages/HandmadeInPartick/151011188297850

http://www.crikeyaphrodite.com/

www.skullsandcross-stitches.co.uk

http://www.bluebellgray.co.uk/

Summer is supposed to be here, and after a lovely sunny few weeks, the snow hit again today. Hopefully this is just a minor blip.

We’ve got new summer fabrics arriving into the shop daily, and I’ve been doing my best to take photos as they arrive. You’ll find the photos on our Facebook page, as it it the easiest to update. And with so many fabrics, I need the quickest way to share photos possible.

I thought I’d give you a wee roundup of some of the new patterns out there. As it is coming into summer, I thought I’d focus on dresses, as they make the best use of all of our pretty prints!

I’ll start with this one. I tried to buy it yesterday, but it was sold out, which means one of our customers bought it in the past few days! I’ve picked out a beautiful digitally printed cotton to make it in, and I’ll be bugging the rest of the staff for help over the next few weeks. It’s a Simplicity pattern, so that means it is half price at the moment.

I really like this one as well

We’ve got loads of beautiful brocades in stock at the moment, and I’ve been searching for a nice pattern that isn’t too old fashioned.  I think this one fits the bill perfectly…

One of the girls from the dress department made this beautiful new Vogue pattern the other week. She used the fantastic newspaper print canvas. It’s a really unusual dress, as you actually pull it over your head, and wrap it round like an apron. I’ll try to convince her to let me take some photos of it and share it, but in the mean time, here is the pattern

On the subject of vintage Vogue patterns, here’s another new addition to the pattern book. Perfect for all of our pretty vintage inspired prints.

This one is super cute, and would make a great addition to any summer wardrobe. It looks nice and swishy to keep you cool for our sweltering climate

Not all the new patterns look this good, there are a few that have really made me giggle. I’m not sure who comes up with them! I’m sure that they aren’t actually THAT bad, but the choice of fabric leaves a lot to be desired.

Don’t forget about our wee competition for Mandors vouchers. Just send a photo of something that you’ve made from Mandors’ fabric. You’ve got until Monday at 9 am, and then I’ll post the photos into an album and people can vote for their favourite. Just email your entries to Denise@mandors.co.uk.

Happy sewing!

x

I thought I’d share some of the new dress fabrics that we’ve got in store now. I promise to also do an update of our new craft and curtains fabrics to keep everyone happy.

We will start off with some fabrics that are exclusive to Mandors. These are digitally printed nylons for swimwear, and cottons. They are beautiful, and really different.

Here’s a wee photo of one of the displays in store with some of the fabric

We’ve been searching high and low for some really different an unusual fabrics for you guys. As it’s Spring (look, there’s sunshine outside), we have just taken delivery of some beautiful cottons and poly cottons.

We’ve got some really cool cotton prints for kids, or just the young at heart…

Jersey is going to be huge this season. We’ve been working up to it for the past few seasons, but prints have gone even bolder!

We’ve got some awesome bargains in store too. These prints are just £3.99/m. Get them before they sell out!

We’ve got some really special new evening wear fabrics in too. Like these pastel sequins, and chiffon with feathers.

The display team have been busy making the dummies look pretty, and making garments for our new window display.

And finally, we’ve got a few Union Jack themed fabrics in store. Even though we are proud to be Scottish

Here’s one of my favourites.

More photos to follow from other departments….

What is your favourite so far?

x

I spent two years living in Scotland and one of the hard things about leaving my little corner of the world in Oz was farewelling my sewing machine for two years. My dear dear sewing machine that had served me well for as long as I can remember. Without my sewing machine in Scotland I sought solace amongst the bolts of fabrics at Mandors. I visited often and always left with fabric that would some how have to make it back to Oz eventually, no matter what!

On one of my trips to Mandors I was instantly struck by a gorgeous floral cotton that I had to have. What I would make of said fabric hadn’t even entered my thought process yet (Yes, I admit, I am a fabricholic). After making a swift purchase I was on the computer and on the search for inspiration on what to sew with it.

My best friend was getting married shortly and I knew a dress for the wedding would be the perfect choice, and I am always a complete sucker for a vintage 1950’s dress. So now I had the plan!

A search through the New Look catalogue led me to purchase pattern 6048. I loved the sweetheart neckline, the full skirt and the fitted bodice. It ticked all the boxes of a vintage inspired pattern. I have always enjoyed sewing New Look patterns as I seem to need to make very little alterations to their size 10 and I find the instructions always straight forward.

I managed to complete the dress over a wet weekend and in time for the wedding. The pattern was very easy to follow and the only alteration I made was adding two inches to the hem to allow for the tulle underneath and I always prefer dresses to fall just underneath the knee.

I bought a crisp white cotton to use as a contrasting fabric along the top of the bodice which proved easier to sew than I had initially thought. I opted to use an invisible zipper at the back because…well…quite frankly once you start sewing invisible zippers, you never go back!

I decided to add layers of tulle under the skirt to give it more fullness. I did this by lining the skirt with cotton voile which I cut at half the length of the skirt. On the lining hem I added two rows of tulle in an apricot colour that matched the flowers of the fabric.

Overall I was super happy with how the dress turned out and would thoroughly recommend giving this pattern a go. It is great for the advanced beginner and is a flattering style for many figures.

I had back to Scotland for a visit in June and what am I excited to visit…Mandors!

Bec xx

PS – Pictures below

The finished result

My Mandors fabric stash – slowly making my way through it!

Guest blog by Bec

Last weekend, I made a special purchase in the Edinburgh branch of Mandors – 20m of green, yellow and red tartan ribbon…

I have now sent off the ribbon to a women’s co-operative called “Groupement Takku Liggey” in the rural village of Keur Momar Sarr, Senegal.  Groupement will use the ribbon as part of their grassroots project.  The women turn beautiful West African fabrics into bags, aprons and tablecloths, to sell to customers in Scotland and beyond.

The women will cut the tartan ribbon into individual rectangles and attach one folded rectangle to the side of each unique Senegalese product.  The ribbon is green, yellow and red to represent the colours of Senegal and the tartan design represents the links with Scotland.

Groupement will then send a package of colourful wares back to Scotland, which is enough to brighten even the most dreich of Scottish days.  The bags, aprons and tablecloths then wing their way to community markets and events to be sold to happy customers.  100% of the proceeds are returned to the 23 members of the co-operative.  This benefits the women and their families and injects much-needed cash into the wider village.  Most recently, Groupement bought two cows with their profits, which the whole community is delighted with.

The wee tartan label has featured on our products since we set up the project in September 2009.  As our Project grows, we hope that recognition of our wee tartan label will grow too.

For more information about the Project, please contact us through Facebook: “Groupement Takku Liggey”.

Thank you Mandors for stocking the Groupement ribbon!

Joanne Glover,

On behalf of Groupement Takku Liggey, Keur Momar Sarr, Senegal

I have no idea where I first heard about Kanzashi I just knew it was something I had to attempt as I have fallen in love with some amazing Kanzashi pieces on Etsy.

Kanzashi is the Japanese art of folding small fabric (traditionally silk) squares into petals to form a flower. These flowers are used to adorn the hair of geisha’s and are symbol of her status.

If you want to know more about Kanzashi and its origins click ***here*** http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanzashi

Here are some examples of beautiful Kanzashi:

(Amazing Kanzashi by Atelier Kanawa on etsy)

When looking for tutorials on how to make Kanzashi I found this one http://www.mookychick.co.uk/how-to/diy-arts-and-crafts/kanzashi_tutorial.php really clear and helpful.

After figuring out how to do the basic rounded petal technique it I happily skipped to my local fabric shop and got LOTS of lovely fabrics:

And this is my first attempt….I was not too happy with this one but my mum liked it so I made it into a brooch for her

Second attempt (the small one) a hair clip and third attempt I put on a hairband and wear all the time

And this is my latest one I made at the weekend. I love it but its massive and doesn’t quite look right on any of the hairbands I have.

I just got this book from Amazon and cant wait to learn more Kanzashi techniques

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kanzashi-Bloom-Fold-Sew-Projects/dp/0823084817

£10.09 from amazon

Are any of you fans of Kanzashi? Do you get crafty on a regular basis?

Marina
xo

Guest blog by Marina http://www.forevertheuglyduckling.com

My mum wearing the coat in 1985

In this blog post I’m going to show you how to replace the sleeves of a fur with faux leather sleeves. My favourite fur coat, that my mother bought when she was pregnant with me, has since had it’s fair share of nights out, and is now falling apart along the underarm seams, and on the sleeves. Instead of chucking it (which my mum really would prefer that I did!) I have decided to modernise it by replacing the sleeves with faux leather.

Some of the damage to the sleeves. I have repaired this ad nauseam, however I think it’s time to accept defeat!
I’m choosing to replace the sleeves, but the same idea could be applied to replacing the bodice, collar, or any other part that is damaged. In this blog post I will talk you step-by-step how to replace sleeves on a fur jacket (or any jacket for that matter) with leather sleeves.

I bought my faux leather from Mandors. You can buy real leather in full skins online, however it is fairly pricey, and the best faux leather I found was only 8.99 at Mandors, and for this project, you only need half a metre! Bargain!

First of all, carefully unpick the sleeves from the main body of the jacket.

Once you have removed them, take the measurements of the front and back of the scye (armhole) of the jacket and add them together to give you the length that the top of your sleeve pattern will need to match.

Place the sleeve that has come of the jacket onto some pattern paper (a sheet of broadsheet newspaper will do if you don’t have pattern paper) and trace round it. Make sure that the measurement at the top matches the measurement you took from the scye (armhole) of the jacket. If your sleeve is too damaged to use to trace round, or you would like a different style of sleeve, you can buy a ready made jacket pattern from the Pattern Bar at Mandors.

I slimmed the sleeve slightly on my pattern to give a nice fitted look. Once you are happy with the shape of your sleeve, add a 1cm seam allowance to your paper pattern. Cut it out and place it on your faux leather, with right sides together, so you will cut two mirror image pattern pieces simultaneously.

Chalk round your pattern and cut out the sleeves. You will now have to mirror image pattern pieces. Mark which one is the left and which is the right on the wrong side of the material so you don’t get confused later on!

Using a COOL IRON, on the WRONG SIDE of the leather, and using a towel, steam out any creases  from your sleeve pieces. Its very important not to melt all your hard work, which will happen if your iron is too hot!

Sew up the sleeves….

….and finish the raw edge at the cuff. If you are feeling particularly crafty, you can repeat this process with a lining material.

Press open your seams, again using a cool iron and a towel between the leather and the iron.

Now for the tricky bit, with the arm hole and the sleeve piece right sides together, sew up your armhole, pushing the fur inwards as you go, to ensure a nice neat look on the outside.

Use a small – medium stitch length, this is to ensure that you have a nice strong bond, without creating a risk that the skin of the fur will rip if the needle impressions are too close together. On my Elna 2600 I chose a stitch length of 2.5

Once you are half way round sewing the sleeve in, you will need to stop sewing, take it out, check that the sleeve is going to fit perfectly (if not you can adjust the side seam of the jacket, or the underseam of the sleeve at this point to ensure a perfect fit). Flip the jacket over to easily finish sewing the scye.

Enjoy your gorgeous new jacket!!

I’m so pleased with the outcome of this project, the jacket had been sitting in my wardrobe for ages!

The leather and the fur really compliment each other! Good luck with re-vamping your fur. And remember the same process can be done for any damaged part of a fur, and if you are feeling particularly creative, you could use the fur left over from the sleeves to make yourself some lovely other fur accessories!!

xxxxx
www.fabricatedalterations.

Guest blog by Andrina at Fabricated Alterations

I have had a great support network during my time of being pregnant, by ladies that are in our own forum DIN, we were discussing one day how lovely having a teddy made of our babies old sleepsuits would be, and agreeing, I decided I would go in search of a sewing machine….

I posted on my local freecycle site that I was seeking a sewing machine suitable for a beginner, as I had never done anything like this before, and to my shock, I was offered one within a couple of hours! The gentleman stressed it was an old model but still had a few years left in her… she is a singer 258 and what a beauty she is! (if a little retro…)

I set myself the task of learning how to sew… after a couple of hours watching varies youtube videos I set to work to make my very first ‘Memory Bear’ I did it… it took me around 12 hours but I did it! yay \o/

I showed it to my friends in DIN, they wanted me to make them one too and so began ‘Your Forever Memories’ I’m still a starting up, however orders are being placed daily, I have also made a taggy blankie and a normal taggy..

all self taught and although possibly still getting used to the sewing machine (it now takes only 5 hours to make a bear haha) I am addicted to sewing, and making!

I will hopefully only go back to work part time now or at least reduce my hours…. watch this space!

Guest blog by Your Forever Memories.

One of my earliest knitting memories is sitting with my Mum, aged about 9, making little garter stitch jumpers to the “Oxfam pattern” which were then packaged up and sent off to people in famine areas of Africa. Fast forward 30 years and knitters and crocheters around the world are still more than doing their bit to help others in need. Lots of us who can’t sit and watch telly in the evening without some sort of sewing or knitting quickly run out of recipients for knitted items and there is a limit to the amount of scarves, jumpers and hats that any one person can reasonable own. Knitting for charity allows you to knit or crochet all sorts of things that you wouldn’t ordinarily, and make a real difference to the lives of people who receive your donations.

One of the main destinations for knitted or crocheted items here in the UK is maternity hospitals. Mums who give birth very prematurely often have not had time to buy clothes before the baby arrives, and for very small babies, cardigans and hats can be hard to source. That’s where knitted donations come in. Here in Glasgow, I am part of a knitting group called Loving Hands and we regularly pack up bags full of tiny little clothes to go to Yorkhill, the Southern General and the Princess Royal hospitals.

Another project we have worked on recently was to supply warm winter clothing to the soup kitchen, looking after Glasgow’s homeless. Being out on the streets on a sub-zero winter night doesn’t bear thinking about, and although a warm scarf and a stripey, woolly hat doesn’t solve the root problem of homelessness, it goes a little way to making life more comfortable.

Further afield, knitters and crocheters are supporting causes such as Algerian Action with donations of children’s clothing, kitting out children in the slums of Nairobi with school jumpers and beanie hats and sending blankets out to Eastern Europe to keep pensioners warm through the harsh winters.

Let’s face it, most of us have a stash of odd balls of yarn which we bought for a project long since abandoned. Why not get your creative juices going and try to turn these odd balls into something which will make a real difference to someone?