Laura Ashley Fabric

[Nicola1968]

Well it was obviously all too good to be true.  One of my curtain enquiries has her heart set on Laura Ashley fabric for her curtains.

We were warned on the course how awful this stuff is - I bought a bit to make some bags with and it was vile but I thought it was just me - and I'm sure I've seen here comments on how rubbish it is.

I really don't want my first foray into curtain making to fail, in part, due to bad fabric.  How on earth do I tell a potential customer (and acquaintance) that its rubbish and we should run away from it?

Nik

[Lowena]

I've used, and loved Laura Ashley fabrics 
Curtains and cushions...... no complaints after several years wear 

[Acorn]

Same as Low here - I have a number of much loved pairs of curtains in Laura Ashley fabric.  It was a joy to sew and has worn very well indeed.  I haven't bought any for a few years, so I suppose it may have changed, but that would seem a bit odd.   

[arrow]

Which course was this? The Laura Ashley fabrics I have seen have been sturdy, good quality cotton prints, some linen blends, very easy to work with. I guess they make all kinds of weights, thicker for upholstery and more light weight for simpler curtains and so called soft furnishing. Some fabrics need to be lined when used as curtains, and if you want a very particular type of drape you have to buy iron-on fusible lining. Some insist to have curtains completely blocking light, and there is lining for this too. After the curtain making course you know this way better than I do.

I have been looking for curtain fabrics with a bit of color, and not too sweet, I found something called Somerfield Bayberry. In my town anything nice and above beton brut standard is very hard to find. If Laura Ashley is still available, it's not bad at all. I don't think you can fault their fabric quality, but make sure you choose right for the purpose. If the project turns out a bit expesive, getting a fabric sample is still common?

[UttaRetch]

It sounds as if the course organiser has an agenda.   I would check out the fabrics for myself and compare with something that you know and trust.

[BrendaP]

Is the customer going to obtain the fabric or will you source it?

If the customer buys it then it's down to you to do the best you can with what is presented - although it will be down to you to specify how much to get - and be aware that pattern repeats are not always accurately recorded, so always get at least an extra half metre to be sure of having enough.   

If you are going to source fabric then you should start getting some sample books and opening trade accounts with a few fabric companies.

I also recommend you join the MyDecozo forum
https://www.mydecozo.co.uk/

[Tamnymore]

That's interesting. I have several pairs of Laura Ashley cutains and all are great. I made a big pair of lined curtains from a Laura Ashley linen with a big flowery pattern a year or so ago. They were 3 widths per curtain and a drop of about 2m.  They made up beautifully (if I say so myself!) I've always thought Laura Ashley curtain fabric is excellent and it has the virtue of often being offered at sale price.

[Nicola1968]

Thank you, all, you've given me the confidence to give it a go.  I meet with suppliers tomorrow and will be looking at setting up trade accounts next week.

I suspect that the customer is expecting a price similar to  ready made curtains, in which case it will go nowhere anyway    I really wanted to make some curtains for our office (formerly the sewing room) but, at this rate, I won't even get a chance to make curtains for myself!

Nik

[wrenkins]

The reason I had curtains made, when I did, is because ready-mades aren't half as good. If she expects the same price she's in cuckooland I'm afraid.
I wish you well with your venture but the first thing you need to do is get an official price-list printed up. You can then negotiate mates rates if you wish but if you intend to run it as a business, keep your business head on. 

[Greybird]

I've also used Laura Ashley fabrics without any problems over the years. I have also found that the lighter weight ones I have used are washable and don't shrink appreciably. I don't know if they manufacture their own fabrics or whether they are made for them, but I wondered, if they are made by more than one factory, it might be that fabrics from one manufacturer might cause problems and those from another don't?

Good luck with your venture @Nicola1968 - I hope it goes well.

[Nicola1968]

I don't know this woman nearly well enough to offer mates rates.  I live in a village and everyone knows everyone else, I'd be giving mates rates forever!

This particular lady owns a cafe - I don't get mates rates there so she surely can't expect me to offer mates rates for my business.  (I was going to offer her a discount but actually, now I break it down that's utter madness - why should she expect a discount on my business when I don't get one in hers?)

Business head is firmly ON!

Nik

The reason I had curtains made, when I did, is because ready-mades aren't half as good. If she expects the same price she's in cuckooland I'm afraid.
I wish you well with your venture but the first thing you need to do is get an official price-list printed up. You can then negotiate mates rates if you wish but if you intend to run it as a business, keep your business head on. 

[Bloobell]

I used to make curtains and had one or two issues with Laura Ashley.

They're notorious for printing off-grain, so carefully inspect your fabric when you receive it.

Sometimes it doesn't matter  - you can cut it on grain and accept the slight angle, but for other prints (think stripes) it really DOES matter. You either cut it off grain (and deal with potential twisting) or accept a slight angle to the print. It doesn't matter quite so much for curtains but imagine a roman blind where the vertical stripe doesn't run vertically.....ew

The other thing the stores themselves are absolutely notorious for is giving you an order cut in short lengths.

My client ordered the 18m she needed, when it was on sale (oh beware beware beware the sales....you WILL get cruddy seconds, I promise, with the aforementioned off grain prints) and I was sent her order in three different lengths.

Great.

Except it was a half drop pattern repeat and the lengths were not correct to get me with widths I needed for her curtains, and have a match across the two pairs.

You WILL have to return some of the fabric as not being suitable, at some point.

Look at the mydecozo forum for a bit more information. We've all had it, if we've made curtains from Laura Ashley fabric. If you're making them for paying clients, the fabric has to be perfect and useable. If it's not, you'll need to be prepared to say "nope, this is no good" and send it back to LA. That takes time, to inspect and evaluate and you have to think carefully about how long you're prepared to mess about trying to fix LA's shoddy printing and cutting so you can make what your client wants. I used to add at least another three hours fees to my quotes if I knew it was LA fabric, just to cover my time doing this.

[Hummingbird]

I have to agree with Bloobell - there are so many good reasonably priced fabrics available for curtains that LA comes a poor second. These are probably names known to curtain makers rather than makers of other items, or on the high street. For example, Clarke & Clarke, StudioG, Prestigious, iliv to name a few.

Once you start using large panels for curtains then problems like inaccurate pattern repeat sizes, not understanding half drop repeats, printing off grain, printing right to the edge of the fabric with almost no selvege area, supplying lengths folded up in carrier bags, supplying large orders in multiple cuts without asking about drops, pattern dropping across widths and various other issues which get really stressful for the maker crop up regularly. Some of these are down to poor quality control and others to lack of staff training.

If your customer really wants fabric from LA then I'm sure you will be able to make her curtains, but be very clear with her that you will not be responsible for any problems with the fabric and don't feel guilty about adding enough to the price for at least an extra hours work to give yourself time to check the fabric for pattern repeat size, checking carefully for flaws etc. before you cut it. Once cut, they will not take it back/replace if you find a major fault later on.

[Helen M]

I'll agree with the last 2 posts about the patterns sometimes being off grain. I did soft furnishing classes in the 90s and on more than one occasion the tutor called the rest of us over to another girl's project to see the problems caused with the fabric.  I think I made something using LA fabrics without a problem though.

Maybe they have improved. Best to be forwarned!

[Bloobell]

If you're not making soft furnishings with Laura Ashley furnishing fabric, then I reckon it's an amazing product.

I died a little inside every time someone phoned me and said "I've found this gorgeous fabric in the Laura Ashley sale and I need curtains made from it". Sometimes I just said no. There's only so much irritation, despair and tears one person can take over something as moronic as fabric for curtains....