Sewing inspiration

The art of sewing has inspired me to create a new board on Pinterest. While looking for images and photos, I decided to research a bit further and speak to our tailor to find our more about the story of this craft. I’ve collected the main milestones in this post to share with you!

– Sewing is considered one of the the oldest of the textile arts, dating back to the Palaeolithic era, and is used in a variety of industries such as tailoring, shoemaking, upholstery or sail making.

– It was done by hand for thousand of years until the invention of the sewing machine during the Industrial Revolution in the nineteenth century.

– In London the home of high-quality, bespoke tailoring is Savile Row. The first tailoring shops were established here in the late 18th century, and patrons have included Lord Nelson, Winston Churchill and Mick Jagger.

– Tailors use a pattern or template to construct pieces of garments, before sewing them together to create the finished product.

– During the 20th century, there were a number of advances in the sewing machine technology and the textile industry that spread around the world.

– Although Western-style clothing prevailed, different cultures have developed diverse sewing techniques, from methods of cutting fabric to types of stitch.

I have also found many sewing tips, tools and tricks online for your home sewing, which I’ll share with you on our Pinterest sewing board.

But remember! if you don’t have time to do repairs or simply don’t know how to sew, LaundryRepublic’s professional tailoring service offers a brilliantly convenient way to get your clothes repaired or altered. From sewing on new buttons, to re-seating and re-hemming, to taking a garment in, out, up or down – our excellent tailor has 30 years of experience and is here to help.

Simply enter your instructions when ordering online or call us on 020 7193 3130 for specific queries. Our standard tailoring prices are available at www.laundryrepublic.com/view-prices.html, and for anything else you can send us the garment and ask for a free, no-obligation quote.

Simplify your laundry!

One of our resolutions for 2013 is to give our customers and followers the best tips to make your laundry easier and more effective. If you’re still one of those people who loves to do your laundry at home (really?) here’s some straightforward advice to help you save time and energy – by sorting your clothes correctly before washing.

First, check the care labels. Put any garments that need special treatment (hand washing, no tumble dry, delicate fabric, etc) in their own pile. For the rest of the laundry, sort it by colour. Make sure that you separate white garments (if you want to keep them white!) from reds and bright colours, as these can leak into the rest of your clothing. In addition, to avoid getting fluff on your garments consider washing towels in a separate load.

Turn all the clothing right side out, unless the label instructs otherwise. Do up all the buttons to avoid damaging other garments and check the pockets – to avoid nasty surprises (like pens), and you may even find some extra cash!

Check each item for stains – to pre-treat them before laundering or clean them further before drying. If not, you risk setting the stain forever. If you find any rips or loose threads, it’s better to fix them before cleaning as it could get worse in the washing machine.

Of course, the LR team is more than happy to help make your laundry easier, simpler and greener – so if all this sounds like a chore, let us take care of it for you!