As part of our large range of haberdashery we stock a range of different fastening types to suit all different types of making requirements.
SNAP FASTENERS-
We stock these in a range of different sizes, 18mm, 13mm, 9mm, 7mm in both black and nickel. These packets are all priced at £1.80 each. These can have a range of different uses, fastenings at the back and front of garments, fastening of duvets covers and craft projects.
HOOK AND EYES-
We have two different types of kook and eyes small metal ones and bigger coated ones, each has a different purpose.
The small metal hook and eyes come in both nickel and black, and we also 
stock a range of different sizes. These are priced at £1.95 per packet. These are mainly used for dressmaking purposes, for skirts and dresses but could also be used for bow ties and cravats.
Fur Hook and eyes are used when you need a bigger more substantial fastening, for example on fur jackets and coats. These come in packets of two pairs and are priced at £1.75 per pack. We sell these in two different colour brown and beige.
FROGS-
Frogs are fastenings that are more decorative, the other fastenings are sewn into the 
garment so they are not visual frogs are designed to show. We stock these in a variety of different colours and designs. These are sold in pairs and are priced at £1.15 per pair.
All of these fastening are sold in our shop in Bridport Dorset.
We have a fun designs which sit very nicely with our regular plain fleeces. This sheep cuddle fleece is 150cm/ 59″ wide and is priced at £8.30 per metre. This would make a really fun dressing gown!
ave a look at this beautifully soft teddy bear cuddle fleece. This is also 150cm/ 59″ wide and is also priced at 8.30 per metre. Its a neutral design so would suit a boy or a girl and would fit right into any nursery.
In store we also have this design in a standard non cuddle fleece.
Did you know that we stock Wool Baize at Livingstone Textiles? If you are a player of Bridge you will probably enjoy your game on a proper card table covered in traditional green baize. After many years of card games, your table could start to show signs of wear and tear and as they are a costly, often unusual item of furniture to replace, you may want to consider re-covering it yourself. We have in stock, in our Bridport shop and also now available online, this hard to come by fabric and if you don’t fancy doing the job yourself, we can get our upholsterer to do it for you, just ring the shop for details on 01308 456844. This lovely soft, green, wool-rich fabric is also ideal for lining jewellery or cutlery boxes, recovering writing slopes and desk inlays.
With Christmas around the corner and the prospect of excited young (and old!) people at home together for a few days, why not stock up on felt supplies and get them crafting? Felt is a great material for making into stocking fillers and decorations and it requires no hemming at all. Our felts are available in both acrylic and a wool/acrylic mix that you can easily cut and sew together or even glue. Try cutting out tree shapes, sew them together leaving a small gap and fill with a little toy stuffing. You can then sew tiny beads on the front and glue on thin strips of glitter ribbon to make mini Christmas trees. Stitch up the stuffing hole and sew a loop of ribbon to the top and its all ready to hang. You can make mini stockings for little chocolates as well, or how about a mini felt Christmas pudding decoration? All you need for this is one square of brown felt and one square of yellow. Cut two 3″ circles from the brown felt and two 3″ circles from the yellow. Cut away half of the yellow circles in a wiggly line to represent custard and glue these to top halves of the brown circles. Now stitch the two brown circles together with a small gap near the bottom. Lightly stuff the pudding, sew up the gap and add a ribbon loop for hanging. You could add a couple of red beads to the top of the ‘custard’ and a tiny green piece of ribbon or felt to represent holly. Happy Crafting!
New in our shop in Bridport Dorset is a new massive range of winter fabrics, from wool mixes, warm cotton flannel fabrics and thick stretchy jerseys. One of our favorites is this beautiful felted look on a velour background. This fabric is beautifully thick and would keep you warm on those up coming cold days. This fabric would work beautifully as a winter coat or jumper. It is priced at £14.00 per metre and is 138cm/54″ wide. The fabric is made from polyester. If you would like to see our full range of winter fabrics pop into our shop in Bridport Dorset and have a look.
Now that winter’s here, why not have a look at some lovely warm 100% cotton winceyette/ flannel fabric. This fabric is a cotton fabric that has been brushed to give it a lovely soft feel. Made with 100% cotton it will not only keep you warm but will breath and help you hold your temperature. We stock this fabric in 5 plain colou
rs white, baby blue,baby pink, yellow and red. All are 100% cotton, 105cm/41″ wide.
The leaf design though is slightly wider at 112cm/44″ and priced at £7.00 per metre.
Our customers make the most wonderful things and it really makes our day when they bring them in to show us. This beautiful bag was made by one of our customers from an old pair of jeans, we think its fabulous. 
She has used a heavy duty patterned canvas for the lining, but the rest of the bag is up-cycled. We love the effect this bag gives and think it looks great with the belt around.
On Thursday 15th October 2015, we ran Learn to love your sewing machine part 1, which is a sewing a class for anyone who wants to learn the basics of using their sewing machine. This class is very popular and its a sewing class that we have been running for a couple of years. This class is about people getting to know their sewing machines and what their machines are capable of so the class is taught on each individuals personal machines.
Thursday 15th we all so pleased with what they had learnt and were looking forward to part 2 the following week. The following class will go into more depth on what was already learnt, with pupils learning how to use their zipper foot and putting in a basic zip and doing some basic piping with their piping foot.
a traditional long shirt and denim jacket. The tartan she is wearing is only available to buy from our Bridport shop and it is not currently available online.
When a favourite garment gets a small tear, or an expensive item is damaged, you don’t always want to replace it. This is where our repair tape and patches can come in handy.
Repair tape is ironed onto the inside of a garment to support the damaged area. It is particularly suitable for tears where there is no fabric missing. It is 1″/2.5cm wide and comes in a wide range of colours to tone with the garment.
We have iron on repair patches for trousers and jeans in black and charcoal, dark and light denim. Again the repair patch irons on to the inside of the garment, and they are often used on the knees where most wear occurs. 
They can be used after the fabric has become thin, or as a preventative before this happens, or for larger tears which the repair tape cannot cover.
Elbow patches can also be used to cover wear or to prevent it causing damage to jackets. We have iron on suede finish patches (we recommend that these be sewn in addition to help them stay on the garment through cleaning) 
(we recommend that these be sewn in addition to help them stay on the garment through cleaning) and sew on leatherette patches with pre-punched holes to make the sewing easier.
When ironing is not possible, eg for tents, waterproof coats or nylon fabrics, we have some self-adhesive nylon patches. These will delay you having to replace these expensive items. They can be cut to the size or shape you need and applied on either the inside or outside of the item as needed. We also stock carpet tape, which can be used for emergency repairs.
Finally, if you want to make a statement out of your repair, how about using our bright pvc patches in the shape of flowers, hearts or fruit! 
New in this week is this lovely, warm, ponteroma jersey fabric. We are stocking this in our Bridport shop in Dorset. It is available in four colourways and will look great with our large range of patterned stretch jerseys.
amounts where you get to choose what classes you do.
w it worked or whether or not their sewing machine had a button hole foot. The sewing machine foot that most people had was the foot that can have a button inserted it the back to determined the right size of the button hole. 
which she has made into a lovely outfit. Her jacket is made from a beautiful bird and floral patterned stretch denim which is 142cm/56″ wide and is priced at £13.00 per metre. We think the fabric is beautiful and any garment made from it would look amazing.
A new fabric on to our web shop this week is this simple yet calming fabric design. This natural looking cloth is a polyester/ cotton blend but has a far more natural look. Its light colour platter helps give this design a calming feel.
It that time of year when we all start thinking about dressing up, with Halloween and Christmas just round the corner, so we have been looking t all our fancy dress fabrics. We have a massive range of fancy dress fabrics in our shop in Bridport Dorset, with one whole room dedicated to them. 
This fabric is £3.50 per metre and is 112cm/44″ wide.
Flame retardant fabrics are needed in public (non-domestic) buildings in the UK for curtains and blinds. However not all fabrics are available pre-treated to be flame retardant, and that is where this spray comes in handy. It is ideal for you to treat any fabric yourself to be flame retardant for domestic or contract use for curtains or blinds.
We thought you might like this customer make which Julia shared with us recently. She has used one of our cotton poplins to make the bricks of this lovely doll’s playhouse, and appliqued on lots of details and trims. The house is stiffened with plastic canvas and has a layer of wadding under the cotton to soften it. The elastic which holds the house closed was from hair bobbles to get the fun colour.
The house opens up and the inside of the flap turns into a garden. The inner floor has stiff plastic inside and is attached with velcro so it can be taken out. We think any youngster would have hours of fun with this, and it’s designed to be able to carry around as well. What a really personal present!
This is one of our new curtain fabrics for autumn, and what a stunning fabric it is. This is a linen mix fabric with an embroidered design of pomegranates and raised applique. We have this colourway in stock and other colourways can be obtained as seen in the picture to the right.
In this post you will learn to make a simple envelope cushion using piping to give a stunning finish. We will be using ready-covered piping cord, but if you are making your own piping you would need to make this first. These instructions are to make a cushion cover for an 18″/45cm square cushion pad, with half a metre of fabric. This project can be completed by an inexperienced sewer and can be done with a sewing machine or by hand sewing if you prefer.
When you reach the corner carefully pin in place, easing the fabric around the angle. You may make a single tiny cut into the flange of the piping exactly at the corner, carefully avoiding cutting the stitching or piping cord itself. This will allow a little ease, help the cord lay flat without wrinkling up and make sewing easier.
If using a sewing machine, start in the middle of one of the sides. Put the edge of the cushion in place under the zipper foot so that the needle is closest to the piping. Sew carefully, pressing the piping cord up against the side of the zipper foot so that a neat finished is obtained. Sew all the way around the square and overlap the stitching for 1” / 3cm. Tie off ends.
This wonderful fabric is a new arrival for autumn. It is a felted polyester fabric with a lovely texture and amazing detail. The pattern is a random square with purple, winter white and other colours on a black backgound. We think this fabric would be perfect for a coat (watch out for a staff make coming up), jacket or skirt. It would also make a stunning bag or cushion.