Tips & Tricks:
Start your own haberdashery collection
Haberdasheries are always needed!
When you start as a seamstress, you often run into the problem that you think that a sewing machine, sewingpatterns and a piece of fabric are enoguh to do the job, but then you find out that you need much more. You need a zipper, buttons, interfacings, a hook and eye closure or perhaps bias-tape. For Chanel-Style jackets you would like trims, fringes or beautiful edges. All in all, it is often small items but large expenses. What can you do to be better prepared, have a nice stock in your house, and not have to keep looking searching and searching for these small items?
Don't throw away anything! You do NOT have to bring old, worn, or inappropriate clothing NOW to the recycling-center. The thrift and second-hand shops are completely full because many people did a big clean-up during the Corona crisis. Maybe a better idea to wait a while and inspect the clothes anyway.
Take a close look:
When you start as a seamstress, you often run into the problem that you think that a sewing machine, sewingpatterns and a piece of fabric are enoguh to do the job, but then you find out that you need much more. You need a zipper, buttons, interfacings, a hook and eye closure or perhaps bias-tape. For Chanel-Style jackets you would like trims, fringes or beautiful edges. All in all, it is often small items but large expenses. What can you do to be better prepared, have a nice stock in your house, and not have to keep looking searching and searching for these small items?
Don't throw away anything! You do NOT have to bring old, worn, or inappropriate clothing NOW to the recycling-center. The thrift and second-hand shops are completely full because many people did a big clean-up during the Corona crisis. Maybe a better idea to wait a while and inspect the clothes anyway.
Take a close look:
- is there still a good zipper?
- are the buttons worth taking off and keeping?
- can you still use parts of the fabric for later?
- take a look at the collar, cuffs and edges? Are they worth taking off?
- and finally: the pockets. Not worn out yet? Get them off!
Buying clothes because of the parts:
Conversely, you can also look around in thriftstores to see if there is something you are looking for. Does a jacket have special buttons? Chances are that the jacket is cheaper than if you have to buy the buttons separately (IF you are able to find them at all!)
Do you see a beautiful blouse hanging with special cuffs or collar? Buy the blouse and take them off. As soon as you put it on another blouse, you have a good chance: the blouse suddenly looks something very special!
And this also applies to zippers, sometimes a skirt bought for a few euros is cheaper than if you have to buy the zipper separately, espcially the larger onces. It may not be completely new, but zippers and buttons can last for years.
Cosplay, costumes and Chanel-Style jackets:
Step one is already a collection of a lot of parts that you can use creatively. Collars, cuffs, buttons, zippers, fringes, edges, ties, closures etc. etc. As soon as you start sewing clothes for which there is no fixed description or perhaps a pattern, you can discover your creativity by combining all kinds of necessities. Plus, you may need fabric that you can't even buy.
A grass green or egg yellow border around a Cosplay cape? How lucky that you have just got a piece of fabric in that color ...!
And Chanel-Style jackets are famous for their trims & fringes. Combine and see how, for example, Claire Schaeffer made an art of combining edges and making her own in her famous book: "Making Designer trims".
Pay special attention to buttons! Buttons make or break a Chanel-style jacket.
Everything about buttons: Chanel and Chanel-Style Buttons
Conversely, you can also look around in thriftstores to see if there is something you are looking for. Does a jacket have special buttons? Chances are that the jacket is cheaper than if you have to buy the buttons separately (IF you are able to find them at all!)
Do you see a beautiful blouse hanging with special cuffs or collar? Buy the blouse and take them off. As soon as you put it on another blouse, you have a good chance: the blouse suddenly looks something very special!
And this also applies to zippers, sometimes a skirt bought for a few euros is cheaper than if you have to buy the zipper separately, espcially the larger onces. It may not be completely new, but zippers and buttons can last for years.
Cosplay, costumes and Chanel-Style jackets:
Step one is already a collection of a lot of parts that you can use creatively. Collars, cuffs, buttons, zippers, fringes, edges, ties, closures etc. etc. As soon as you start sewing clothes for which there is no fixed description or perhaps a pattern, you can discover your creativity by combining all kinds of necessities. Plus, you may need fabric that you can't even buy.
A grass green or egg yellow border around a Cosplay cape? How lucky that you have just got a piece of fabric in that color ...!
And Chanel-Style jackets are famous for their trims & fringes. Combine and see how, for example, Claire Schaeffer made an art of combining edges and making her own in her famous book: "Making Designer trims".
Pay special attention to buttons! Buttons make or break a Chanel-style jacket.
Everything about buttons: Chanel and Chanel-Style Buttons
Start your own haberdashery collection!
A little bit of collecting rage doesn't hurt. It is not only cost effective but also a huge incentive to start another sewing project.
Haberdashery is often the finishing touch and styling of home-made clothing. This is especially true if you like to sew things like:
Ask others to help you!
I once started it myself: I asked others to NEVER just throw anything away. Since then I often get pieces of fabric that are 'left over', clothes that are just too good to throw away and where I am happy to take away precious parts. There is a good chance that you will also get a lot of junk, but there is a solution for this: still in the dustbin or to the clothing collections.
Result after a few years: a large stock of usable ropes, boxes full of buttons, with some 'treasures', a large stock of scraps of fabric, which always come in handy. Yarn, needles, edges, wool, fringes etc.
How to keep it organized?
Of course you don't want to go through life as a 'hoarder'. Many a seamstress is a little bit, but often knows how to hide it well. As long as you store everything systematically, no one will be bothered by your collection of fabrics, haberdashery and sewing supplies.
A little bit of collecting rage doesn't hurt. It is not only cost effective but also a huge incentive to start another sewing project.
Haberdashery is often the finishing touch and styling of home-made clothing. This is especially true if you like to sew things like:
- Chanel-Style jackets
- Haute couture
- Cosplay clothes
- Costumes: historical or by theme
- Bridal wear
- Free fantasy clothing for photo shoots or events
- Bags, hats, decorative projects
Ask others to help you!
I once started it myself: I asked others to NEVER just throw anything away. Since then I often get pieces of fabric that are 'left over', clothes that are just too good to throw away and where I am happy to take away precious parts. There is a good chance that you will also get a lot of junk, but there is a solution for this: still in the dustbin or to the clothing collections.
Result after a few years: a large stock of usable ropes, boxes full of buttons, with some 'treasures', a large stock of scraps of fabric, which always come in handy. Yarn, needles, edges, wool, fringes etc.
How to keep it organized?
Of course you don't want to go through life as a 'hoarder'. Many a seamstress is a little bit, but often knows how to hide it well. As long as you store everything systematically, no one will be bothered by your collection of fabrics, haberdashery and sewing supplies.
- There are plenty of good systems to be found, especially on tutorials on You-tube.
- Plastic stackable boxes are perhaps the most efficient. You can immediately see what is inside and it is neatly placed in a cupboard or on a shelf.
- Fabrics are best folded in the same length and sorted by color or texture.
- Buttons: by color and material
- Zippers, in a long length box
- You can wrap trims, fringes, bands on a cardboard or hang them on a hanger. Then they stay beautiful longer and you do not have an annoying 'fold' in the tires.
- Many systems can be found for storing sewing patterns. Make your own choice.