Meet Lindsey, the creator of Sew to Grow, an Australian sewing brand that designs patterns and...
What prompted you to start a fabric store? How did you get into the business?
We had a sewing workshop studio in Hackney and knew we wanted to start selling fabric too but didn't want to contribute to the production of new fabrics or just sell the same fabrics as everybody else. We bumped into a local designer on a dog walk one day who mentioned that he had a cupboard full of leftover fabrics that he'd be interested in selling. That was our first load of stock! We have only ever sold true designer deadstock fabrics, sourced just like this, straight from designers leftover fabrics at the New Craft House.
Favourite part of running your own business
New fabric delivery days are always so exciting! We buy everything that a designer has leftover so never know exactly what we're getting - when it arrives it's a bit like sorting through treasure.
Least favourite part
We're not the best at keeping organised so used to hate keeping stock in the back organised but luckily we now have an amazing team member, Hayley, who keeps everything so sorted.
Favourite fabric / fabric brand
We love bespoke designer prints, especially on silks. We get a lot of prints that designers have had specially made just for them so they're super unique and special.
Favourite sewing pattern
Our own! The Everyday Dress is probably our favourite as it's such a versatile, wear all the time kind of dress. We also have a range of lingerie patterns that are SO good, we bought them all from a lingerie brand who was closing down so they're tried and tested by thousands of customers. We wear them all the time.
Favourite pattern designers
We really love everything that Soften Studio designs, her Clo Bias Skirt is a firm favourite in the team.
Any advice for other people who might want to open a fabric store?
Try and think about how you can be different to other fabric stores and we'd always suggest looking for sustainable alternatives - there is so much waste in the fashion and textile industry.
What are you most looking forward to / excited about in the future (regarding your company)?
In the near future we've got a really big delivery coming from Liberty which is always exciting. We source fabric from them directly from their own production lines, the fabrics they use to make Liberty clothes and accessories, it's really exclusive and as Liberty fans ourselves we're always so happy to get it! In general we're looking forward to growing our business, getting more amazing fabrics in, continue to run sewing workshops in our space and keep welcoming customers into the shop too. We love running NCH!
