The Sewing Place

Laura Ashley collapses ...

Acorn

Re: Laura Ashley collapses ...
« Reply #15 on: March 18, 2020, 10:08:00 AM »
The two dresses I made for our goddaughters last summer were made with Laura Ashley fabric that I have had since the 80s (when our oldest goddaughter was a baby).  It was really beautiful fine cotton.

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« Last Edit: March 18, 2020, 10:09:47 AM by Acorn »
I might look as though I'm talking to you, but inside my head I'm sewing.

Fiona M

Re: Laura Ashley collapses ...
« Reply #16 on: March 18, 2020, 16:20:33 PM »
I haven't set foot in a Laura Ashley shop for decades.  They were always ridiculously expensive, and things were never the same after her son took over.  I'm amazed they hadn't already gone bust.

Sewcycle

Re: Laura Ashley collapses ...
« Reply #17 on: March 25, 2020, 07:37:38 AM »
I too remember with fondness my long Laura Ashley dress with flounce. Mine was quite hard wearing and never shrank though I did get some of their later prints which faded terribly. Does anyone remember the bags of tiny remnants they sold for patchwork quilts! I still have some of the bits. That cotton was quite heavy too.
In the late 80s, Laura Ashley expanded and opened lots of shops, one in Canterbury.  The dresses were lovely, but the quality was sometimes a bit off. I once bought a dress ( in their sales) and when I got it home realised the velvet nap was in the wrong direction on one piece- completely unwearable! Their quality control could be odd even then. I think the rapid expansion damaged them as a family company. The shop closed and they moved business to a trading estate - entirely the wrong place - and always had very few customers when I visited which hasn’t been for at least 10 years.
Re the markets, we used to get beautiful remnants in Stockport market. It helped my teenage sewing no end.
'Is there a life before breakfast'

Tamnymore

Re: Laura Ashley collapses ...
« Reply #18 on: March 25, 2020, 09:17:21 AM »
@Sewcycle yes some of the quality control was a little strange in the early days but I had loads of great stuff from them and I still have a houseful of Laura Ashley wallpaper, paint and curtains. I have loads of duvet sets - nicest and best quality I've ever had. Sigh! I have some Laura Ashley fabric pieces in the cupboards under the eaves in the attic which I must dig out some day.

That's interesting about the remnants in Stockie market. I've lived not that far away for over 30 years and alas Stockport market hasn't had much in the way of fabric in that time. There were several good fabric shops when I first lived nearby but all have gone. Stockport Market has been doing a good job of reinventing itself with special events and a revamped produce hall with nice eateries. Like so many small businesses they will be badly hit by current events. I raise my glass to Laura Ashley of old and Stockport Market. Both fine institutions in their day.  :toast:
'One should either be a work of art, or wear a work of art.' Oscar Wilde

Acorn

Re: Laura Ashley collapses ...
« Reply #19 on: March 25, 2020, 09:31:56 AM »
I still have the Laura Ashley dress I had for my 21st birthday. 
I might look as though I'm talking to you, but inside my head I'm sewing.

Tamnymore

Re: Laura Ashley collapses ...
« Reply #20 on: March 25, 2020, 12:38:22 PM »
@Acorn has your Laura Ashley dress shrunk in the wardrobe like mine inexplicably have?  0_0
'One should either be a work of art, or wear a work of art.' Oscar Wilde

Acorn

Re: Laura Ashley collapses ...
« Reply #21 on: March 25, 2020, 12:43:09 PM »
It has!   ><  Most peculiar.
I might look as though I'm talking to you, but inside my head I'm sewing.

Sewcycle

Re: Laura Ashley collapses ...
« Reply #22 on: March 25, 2020, 13:37:15 PM »
@Tamnymore Stockport market is where I started my sewing. My Mum used to go there for fabric for my “domestic science” efforts....a bit of a failure when I was 12. I know Stockport market isn’t anything like it used to be, but I got wonderful velvets and floral fabrics from there in the 70s. Glad it’s managing to save itself. Now Stockport has got to do the same!

I never bought Laura Ashley duvet covers and my husband hated all the florals but we did buy some nice wallpaper once. Nice until we tried to hang it and it stretched like anything.
'Is there a life before breakfast'

toileandtrouble

Re: Laura Ashley collapses ...
« Reply #23 on: March 25, 2020, 14:15:29 PM »
@Tamnymore @Acorn  As I see it, the problem is the storage.  Things I have left in the wardrobe for a while, or indeed, even put safely away in suitcases, develop this fault.  The only remedy is to keep them out in the light where you can see them.
Hope this helps!
Yarn down:  1000g
Fabric down:  29m

coffeeandcake

Re: Laura Ashley collapses ...
« Reply #24 on: March 25, 2020, 16:09:01 PM »
I used to buy the Mummy and Me stuff from Laura Ashley for me and my 3 eldest daughters :D I went into the Norwich store last year and bought a couple of blouses and a jumpsuit.  I still really like their stuff so I'm sad to see them go.

BriarRose

Re: Laura Ashley collapses ...
« Reply #25 on: March 26, 2020, 00:03:16 AM »
Deep in my young 1970s heart, I loved all the ruffles and florals produced by Laura Ashley, but only in theory. I was a denim and tee shirt sort of girl, balanced by the chiffon and gold coin belts I wore for dance performances. Guess I was sort of schizo, and Laura Ashley was too sweetly sane.  ;)
It's just fabric. We can out-think it.

Renegade Sewist

Re: Laura Ashley collapses ...
« Reply #26 on: March 26, 2020, 00:52:20 AM »
@BriarRose perhaps you would have done better with Gunne Sax and Jessica McClintock. Less frou frou.  :ninja:

Nice to see you here. ;)
Hey Bill! Read the manual!  Hehehe.

BriarRose

Re: Laura Ashley collapses ...
« Reply #27 on: March 26, 2020, 15:40:32 PM »
@BriarRose perhaps you would have done better with Gunne Sax and Jessica McClintock. Less frou frou.  :ninja:

Nice to see you here. ;)

I adored Gunne Sax and actually splurged on a gorgeous GS sundress one year. Truly wanted a GS wedding dress that I tried on half a dozen times, but it cost twice what it cost to make my own dress, so I let it go.

Nice to see you, too. I've missed you.
It's just fabric. We can out-think it.