When I was training to teach in schools, I very quickly realised that a major part of my job would be crowd control. As a short course tutor at Central Saint Martins however, my main challenge has been to find a way of teaching design and make skills from the absolute basic first steps to the highest possible standard, in an extremely short allocation of time. Add to this a unique concoction of would-be fashion students within a mixed ability group from all walks of life, aged from eighteen to the grave; with mixed expectations and a mixed command of the English language, you can easily see why I am always on the lookout and quick to develop foolproof, win-win teaching techniques that allow the faster sewers in a class of twelve to remain blissfully occupied, while the slower students catch up without pressure and fear of being left behind.

Good old fashioned gingham has always been my go-to fabric for teaching smocking; 1/4 inch squares to be precise. It’s an absolute delight to work with; cheap and easy to get hold of, or so I thought, and everybody’s favourite since time began. Typically still used for school uniform summer dresses, some of us will remember it from learning to make and embroider a school cookery apron in what used to be called a needlework class.

The embroidered hem of a child’s school cookery apron made from yarn dyed gingham.

Anyway, once I’d decided to take the bull by the horns and offer short courses online during lockdown, I figured making a smocked summer dress in quarter-scale would be a great way to start; not to overwhelming for beginners, no miniature zip required because the smocking stretches, and potential students would be able to buy their own gingham online. Well, here’s the deal! Buying gingham online has turned out to be a minefield of disappointments and misunderstandings and I’m now working on a list of links and swatches not only as a way of keeping my own ducks in a row, but to prevent anyone studying with me from purchasing a fabric that isn’t suitable for the project in hand.

The first thing to point out is something that would never have occurred to me since I’m not a quilter, is that fabrics online are often sold in what is commonly known as a ‘fat quarter’. Imagine my disdain when what I thought would be a quarter of a meter of 112cm wide black and white gingham, turned up and turned out to be a 50cm x 50cm square! Quarter inch checks, that’s 6 or 7mm in new money, are not always quarter inch checks, and when it says a ‘beautiful quality’ that means it’s too thick for smocking. I’ve learnt that there’s corded gingham which has a slightly thicker, white warp thread either side of the coloured checks; yarn dyed gingham which is a clear indication that it’s not printed gingham as opposed to woven which is what I’ve been looking for, and polyester/cotton is a lot easier to find than 100% cotton which is what I prefer.

With all that said and done, my advice to you when buying any kind of fabric on line is to take the time and spend the postage money which is usually all it costs, to get a sample first. That way when you order meterage for any kind of project, you will be in a better position to know exactly what you’re getting and be able to push for a refund if what turns up is not what you asked for.

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