This week has been quite chaotic in the studio. My main job this week has been sorting through all the technical spec sheets and sourcing alternative back up fabric samples in case we can't get the original samples we want/need to start making the final garments.
The images above shows the pile of technical flats and samples I had to get through, I wrote down the fabrics type, where I could source them from and where necessary the width and the price of the material.
Once I had found possible places to source fabrics I circled and highlighted the fabrics that were really essential and that needed to be bought by the end of the week. Ivor suggested that I should and buy the fabrics as it would be a good experience and that way I could also buy the fabrics I needed for the bespoke waistcoat I am making. So it was great opportunity as it meant that I could kill two birds with one stone and still get a very educational experience at the same time.
So I headed of to Goldhawk Road in Shepherds Bush with the list of fabrics and samples that I needed to buy in hand ready for the hunt for the perfect fabric. I knew it was going to be a long day and I thought it might be a challenge but I had no idea how hard it would be. The struggle was real.
I started off my search at A-one Fabrics, which has now become one of my favourite fabric shops in Shepherds Bush as they have pretty much every fabric you need or want. I started off the hunt by first getting the fabrics for the waistcoat as there was a wide range of suiting fabrics and I thought I'd start off with the easy fabrics. At A-1 there was quite a huge range of suiting fabrics to choose from and it was here where I purchased my canvas for £5 per metre and my tweed for £18 a metre.
I personally love the range of fabrics that they have in Shepherds Bush and I think it is great value plus you can haggle which is also a great bonus. The struggle I had when shopping for fabric was that there is a lot to look for and it can become overwhelming and intimidating especially if you are not used to that kind of environment. It took a lot for me to pluck up the courage and ask for help but once I did I was surprised at how nice and helpful the shop assistance were especially in comparison to the fabric shops in Berwick street. I have learnt that when buying fabric you have to be quite vocal in telling them what you want and don't want and be quite persistent to get respect and to also be taken seriously which is scary at first but becomes a much more enjoyable experience when you get the hang of it.
Next I started looking at polyester crepe fabric I needed 4 metres of black crepe and 4 metres of navy blue but the one difficulty was that I needed it to be extra wide (at least 200 cm wide). This proved to be the difficult part as most fabrics on average are 130-150 cm wide so it took a lot of searching before I found the right fabric. I definitely felt a huge amount of pressure buying the fabrics because it is a lot of responsibility and it is not something you can really get wrong because the fabric can never be taken back once it is cut. I was also aware that it was not my money I was spending it was the companies so I felt even more pressure to get it right because I didn't want to feel responsible if I got it wrong.
I took a good few days and a lot of back and forth to find the majority of the fabrics needed but I got there in the end. The fabric above is ribbing that I bought I had a sample of what I was supposed to buy and got the closest coloured fabric possible to what I was shown. When I came back to the studio Ivor was happy with the purchases and nothing more was said on the matter. When I came in the next day Ivor told me that his client wasn't sure about the colour and decided he wanted a darker colour. This was difficult to take in because It was extremely hard to even find the above colour and to be told that actually I had got the wrong colour or he didn't like the colour and I had to go out again and look for a better colour was a bitter pill to swallow. I felt a bit guilty and even more nervous to go out the second time and look for fabric just in case it was wrong again especially because it's about a 50 minute journey each way.
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