Fabric Library is committed to ‘green’ living.

Many of the latest collections from SA fabric powerhouse Fabric Library proudly bear the Eco Friendly icon. This symbol represents the company’s commitment to the sourcing of eco-friendly products from suppliers who take ethical and environmental principles seriously. This is why you’ll find that many of these fabrics carry Oeko-Tex® Standard 100 certification marking them as environmentally safe and not harmful to human health.

Don’t pay showroom prices! Get these and other Fabric Library textiles from Fabric and Textile Warehouse for less. Give us a call on our Golden Number (0861 322 839 | 0861 FAB TEX) for more info. 

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You had me at hello. Embroidering you own greeting cards.

And you thought embroidery was restricted to fabrics.

You will need:
• stiff, brightly coloured paper
• envelopes
• craft knife, cutting mat and metal ruler
• pencil and eraser
• pictures of animals, flowers or whatever
• embroidery needle
• contrasting coloured embroidery thread

To make:

1.       Use a craft knife and metal ruler to cut the paper to the correct size and fold it in half to form the cards. We used scrapbooking paper – it’s available in pretty colours and is thicker than ordinary paper, making it ideal for the cards.

2.       Photocopy the animal/flower pictures, cut them out and trace the outside lines with pencil onto the front of the cards.

3.       Use a contrasting coloured thread and a simple running stitch to embroider along the pencil lines of the animal shapes.

4.       Place each card in an attractive envelope.

For this and other crafty ideas visit Ideas.

Looking for something specific for your next fabric project? Give us a call on our Golden Number (0861 322 839 | 0861 FAB TEX) and we’ll help you find what you need.

Get the best for less!

Designer Fabrics are beautiful and supremely desirable, but oh, the price! At Fabric and Textile Warehouse you get designer fabrics at wholesale prices. This means that you can get the best fabrics from SA’s top design houses for less. 

Just take a trip to the designer fabric showroom of your choice, and make your selection. Give us a call and We’ll give you a price – a great one, guaranteed!Design houses on our shelves include: Hertex Fabrics, Stuart Graham, Svenmill, Nettex, Home Fabrics, Fabric Library, U& G Fabrics. Find the showroom of the fabric you prefer (click on the names above to get the address) and visit them to browse the beautiful ranges available. Then give us a call, tell us what you’re looking for (and how much – discounts apply for bulk orders!) and we’ll quote you.

Don’t see your favourite on the list – give us a call on our Golden Number (0861 322 839 | 0861 FAB TEX) and we’ll see what we can do. 

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How to guide: making an upholstered screen

Separation anxiety? Women24’s Décor and DIY expert Janice Anderssen takes us behind the scenes and shows just how easy it is to make and upholstery a screen.

You will need:
3 pieces of 16mm BisonBord cut to 500 x 1800mm 
Thin, medium or thick batting
Fabric to cover
Scissors
Staple gun or hammer
Upholstery pins
Bias tape
Fabric glue
6 Hinges and screws
Drill/Driver and screw bits or screwdriver

Instructions:

1. Have the BisonBord* cut to size at your local Builders Warehouse. With all the cutting done, this project will be completed in an hour or two. *NOTE: Specify that you want BisonBord and not cheap chipboard. BisonBord is more compressed and stronger, and there is less chance of the hinges coming loose at a later stage. 

2. Cut 6 sheets of batting to the same size as the BisonBord panels. You can also cut the fabric, but this needs to be 4cm wider all round to allow for turning under.

3. Place a piece of fabric FACE down on a flat surface. Add the batting on top of this and finally position a panel over the batting and fabric. Gently fluff out the batting to cover the sharp edges of the board, wrapping the fabric up and over as you do. Work along one edge and tuck the fabric edge under before stapling to the edge of the board. 

4. Move to the opposite side and repeat this process, and then repeat again for the top and bottom. Pay particular attention to neat folded corners, as bulky corners will spoil the finish.

5. After finishing one side, turn over and repeat steps 3 and 4.

6. For a professional finish, use fabric glue to fasten bias along the stapled edges and then finish off with upholstery pins for a decorative finish. It helps to use a ruler to equally distance the pins along the edge. 

7. Lay two panels face down and align the bottom edges. Attach a pair of hinges 40cm from the top and bottom of the panels. Butt the remaining panel against them and attach the remaining hinges.

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Curtain customisation

Need to improve the view, but a little strapped for cash? Here are a few quick and easy ways to revitalise your existing curtains.

Get swept off your feet with a romantic sheer overlay. 

Add your favourite fabric as a trim to the top or bottom of the curtain. 

Create a theme with fabric scraps, markers or paint. 

Get creative with buttons, ribbons and sequins. 

The Fabric and Textile Warehouse haberdashery is full of little bits and bobs to help you create a one-of-a-kind window treatment. We also offer great deals on off-cuts sold by weight. Give us a call on our Golden Number (0861 322 839 | 0861 FAB TEX) to find out more about what’s in store for you. 

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All covered up – how to create fabric buttons

This quick little project from Home-Dzine shows just how easy it is to make fabric covered buttons.

You will need:

Scrap of fabric*
Button with shank
Scissors
Thread
Fine needle
Ruler
Ballpoint pen
*You will only need a very small piece of fabric. If you are matching an existing project, try to find a wide seam where you can cut off a piece.

Instructions:

1.  With the button on the fabric and upside down, trace around the button to get the circumference of the piece of fabric needed to cover the button. Put the button aside and cut the circle.

2.      Using the needle and thread, stitch a running stitch along the edge of the fabric circle. Make sure to leave a tail of thread long enough to make a couple knots.

3.      Place the button upside down right in the middle of the stitched round piece of fabric. Pull both ends of thread until the fabric snuggles the button. Make a couple knots making sure the fabric is tight around the shank of the button. 

There should not be any fabric or thread blocking the button's shank so you can sew your button to your projects. 

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Visit the Valley of the Vines with Hertex Fabrics

Aloe Africana - Traditional

Hertex Fabrics director Coba Herrmann thinks Aloes are Awesome and we agree, especially upon seeing the company’s latest Stonehaus collection. Locally designed, printed and woven, Valley of the Vines is a range of floral prints and monochromatic designs that blend the traditionalism of Cape vineyards with cosmopolitan Africa. On her first excursion into the world of design, Coba Hermann has produced a beautiful and uniquely South African collection that is “Equally suited for a downtown loft in Johannesburg, a beach apartment in Clifton or a game lodge on the Crocodile River.”

Overgrown - Russo

All the Hertex collections are available from your nearest Fabric & Textile Warehouse at unbelievable wholesale prices. Call us on our golden number at 0861 322 839 (FAB TEX) for prices, availability and information.

Verres du Cap - Frizzante

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Getting your panels in a twist!

The Aussie blog Shocking Hocking offered up a twisted tutorial that we thought was too good not to share.

You will need:

·                     heavy duty interfacing (1 piece, 17.8cm x 30.5cm)

·                     ruler

·                     pencil

·                     main fabric

·                     colourful scraps of fabric for the twists at least 3.8cm wide and 12.7cm

NOTE: Starch your fabric - it helps when cutting and piecing

Instructions:

1.       Cut your main fabric into the following pieces:

·         5 pieces, 3.8cm x 12.7cm

·         4 pieces, 3.2cm x 12.7cm  (the spacers)

·         1 piece, 12.7cm x 8.9cm (this will be trimmed later)

·         1 piece, 12.7cm x 16.5cm (this will be trimmed later)

·         2 pieces, 6.4cm x 30.5cm (these will be trimmed later)

2.       Mark up the interfacing with your pencil and ruler:

·         Measure in 3.8cm from each long side and draw a line

·         Measure in 7.6cm from one short side and draw a line

·         From the  7.6cm line, measure and mark a further 4 lines, 2cm apart

·         Set aside for later

3.       Sew your twists:

·         Using all the fabric pieces sized  3.8cm x 12.7cm, sew each of the scrap pieces to a main Fabric piece down one long side and with a 0.6cm seam

·         Press open the seams (this makes it easier to get a good edge), then finger press the twists closed along the seam line, wrong sides together and press again

·         Trim the twists so they are 2.5cm wide and 12.7cm long

4.       Piece the panel:

·         Lay the 12.7cm x 8.9cm on top of the interfacing, right side uppermost and centred between the top and bottom lines, carefully matching the 7.6cm line and edge stitch to hold

·         Lay your first twist along this line, carefully matching the long raw edges and edge stitch to hold

·         Lay one 3.2cm x 12.7cm spacer on top of the twist, matching raw edges and sew through all thicknesses with a 0.6cm seam where you just edge stitched

·         Turn main fabric over to the right and press (the long edge of the folded out spacer should be aligned with the next 2cm line drawn on the interfacing)

·         Edge stitch the raw edge

·         Continue adding the twists in this manner until you have stitched down the last one. 

·         You will not have any spacers left, but that's ok, because now you'll use the 12.7cm x 16.5cm piece to complete the width of the panel

5.       Create the twist:

·         From the back of the piece, sew along one of the 3.8cm lines to hold your twists in place

·         Fold the other end of each twist to the opposite side and pin to hold

·         Stay stitch along the 3.8cm line at the bottom to hold

6.       Complete the panel:

·         Sew the remaining main fabric pieces (30.5cm x 5.1cm) to the top and bottom of the panel and press open

·         Trim the panel and use as you please.

Get everything you need for this project and more at your local Fabric and Textile Warehouse. We also offer great deals on offcuts sold by weight. Give us a call on our Golden Number (0861 322 839 | 0861 FAB TEX) and we’ll let you know what’s in stock and on special. You can also ‘friend us’ on Facebook and ‘follow us’ on Twitter.

A pocket full of posies: how to create felt flowers.

Spring may not have sprung just yet, but there is no harm in being prepared. To get you ready for the change in seasons we’re bring you this collection of ‘how-to-make-felt-flowers’ from one of our favourite bloggers how Joyful. 

The Felt Daisy

You will need

·         The pattern 

·         Your colour choice of felt

·         Thread, needle, scissors

·         Pearls for the centre of your flower

Instructions

1.       Cut your felt into the necessary pieces:

·         For the centre: 2.5 cm circle

·         For the smaller petals: 30.5 cm long x 3.2 cm wide (See pattern)

·         For the outer petals: 7.6 cm long x 1.3 cm wide (See pattern)

2.     To create the centre of your flower stitch around the edge of the circle with the pearl inside.

3.     Roll the smaller petals around the centre piece and stitch it securely in place.

4.     As with the smaller petals above, roll the larger petals around the centre and secure in place with some stitching.

Tip: You can use a hot glue gun instead of a needle and thread to secure your felt in place.

The Felt Camellia

You will need:

·         The pattern

·         Your colour choice of felt

·         Thread, needle, scissors

·         Hot glue gun

·         Pearls for the centre of your flower

Instructions:

1.   Select the size flowers you want from the pattern, cut out and use it as your template. For a layered look, use templates of varying sizes.

2.    Stitch the centre of each petal closed (as seen in the image) to create a small fold. 

3.   You can now either choose to sew the centre of the flower closed or to leave it open. If you’ve decided to opt for a layered look then leave it open as it will make it easier to stick the pearl place. 

4.    Using the hot glue gun you can either secure your various layers together (one on top of the other) or you can add the final embellishment by sticking a pearl in the flower’s centre.

For tips on how to populate your fabric garden with felt roses and poppies visit the how Joyful website.

You’ll find everything you need for this and your other fabric projects at Fabric and Textile Warehouse. Give us a call on our Golden Number (0861 322 839 | 0861 FAB TEX) and we’ll let you know what’s in stock and on special. You can also ‘friend us’ on Facebook and ‘follow us’ on Twitter.