SO WHAT'S THE VERDICT?

Now that the dust of confusion has settled, I think I should let the cat out of the bag and tell you where I’ll be getting my gingham from. Don’t forget that I’ve been looking for the traditional 100% cotton 1/4 inch check that I grew up with, have always used and plan to use now that I’m teaching smocking online. I’ve been looking for a reliable source with an easy to navigate website that I can recommend to students and would-be students who, in some cases, may be living in other parts of the world.

Since the mid 1970s when I first moved to London, and the whole ground floor of John Lewis was a fabric department, I’ve had the luxury of being able to pop into MacCulloch & Wallis to buy my sewing supplies. Their gingham fabric is narrow at only 90cm wide, but it’s the good quality, typical school uniform summer dress weight that I’m used to working with. They usually have a range of colours but at the moment they only have turquoise. However, if turquoise is ‘your colour’ then I’d most definitely snap it up! They have a very ‘user friendly’ website, so keep an eye out for new stock and if you are planning a trip to London, they have reopened with strict measures in place to keep you safe.

A first smocking sample by Rowena Luke-King.

I stumbled across Always Knitting & Sewing whilst trawling the net one day. Based in Lancashire, where most of our textile mills used to be, they have 100% cotton gingham 1/4 inch check, but due to the pandemic they are also running out fast. They have plenty of polyester/cotton gingham 1/4 inch check which I’d be more than happy to use, especially if I were making childrenswear or beachwear because it drys quicker than 100% cotton and doesn’t need much pressing.

It’s a small family business with an easy to navigate website, but it’s worth noting at this point that nothing compares to being able to see and feel a fabric in the flesh. Photographs and descriptions can be confusing at the best of times as I found out when I bought a yarn dyed gingham with what should have been a 1/4 check, but turned out to be a considerably larger 3/8 inch; something I would have known in advance of purchasing, if I’d taken the time to order a sample first. Naturally I didn’t want to make a fuss; afterall it was a beautiful fabric and I could always use it for something else, but I was understandably disappointed and quite rightly decided to give them a call.

Well, in true North of England fashion, they could not have been more friendly and helpful. They accepted responsibility for the confusion and gave me the option to send it back, which in the event I decided not to do. You see it was their willingness to ‘work with me’ to rectify the problem, plus the speed at which it had turned up in the first place, that cemented my enthusiasm as a new online customer who’s happy to recommend them to others. They don’t know that I’m writing this blog or that I have my eyes on their yarn dyed 1/8 inch check for my next project, but they will know, now I’ve become addicted to ordering samples first, that I’ve started to investigate their line in polka dots!

Of course a leopard never changes its spots and so it goes without saying that I’ll always be on the lookout for new and reliable suppliers. I’ve just ordered samples from Minerva Crafts; double jersey gingham, scuba diving gingham, seersucker gingham and iron-on repair gingham which I didn’t even know existed. They also have your ordinary, every day 100% cotton gingham with 1/4 inch checks but stocks again are low, and of course I’ll wait to see the samples before recommending them to you.