As the dark nights return and the weather gets cooler, the minds of sewing fans all jump to one thing – their Autumn/Winter wardrobe! That first hint of you wanting to turn the heating back on and you MUST HAVE a new hoody and joggers for snuggling. Plus the return to school means new trousers and jumpers for our favourite small people. Along with your favourite warm fabrics like French terry, sweatshirting, flannel and fluffy teddy, you need some new trimmings to make the most of your projects. Here at Little T’s Haberdashery we’ve got an exciting new range of products that’ll do just that.

We have added to our existing selection of drawstring cord, including some great new colours and finishes. From haberdashery specialists Prym, we also have a range of eyelets and washers, cord stoppers and cord elastic. Continue reading for more information and how best to use them in your projects.

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Quite possibly our favourite addition, has been the colourful twisted drawstrings. Currently available in Yellow/Orange/Green and Yellow/Blue but we’ll be adding more colours to the range soon. They add a fun pop of colour to your sewing projects and they’re so beautifully soft. My son was quick to say that he needed the Yellow/Blue for his new joggers I made him for pre-school.

For the rainbow lovers we’ve also got a chunky 7mm multi-colour cord and a finer multi-colour nylon cord. Both of which can also help make the most of your sewing projects.

You can now find it our online shop Prym 5mm Eyelets and Washers in Nickel and Gilt (Gold) and Prym 8mm Eyelets and Washers in Nickel. Each set includes a piercing tool and a tool for their application. Plus there on pictoral instructions on how to apply them on the reverse of the packet.

If you’re using the eyelets for a large project or more often, we recommend the Prym Love Pliers which can be used for easier application. Just pop in the metal tool for piercing or the plastic tool for application and the pliers will make an easy job of applying your eyelets successfully.

HOW TO USE DRAWSTRINGS: When you’ve chosen your pattern and the placement for your drawstring, you need to decide how to create an opening for them to be added into a channel in your garment. There are three ways to do this that I’m going to talk about.

1/ You can add an eyelet. As pictured above, these are metal circular fastenings that create a round hole in your garment and offer a robust opening. To help reinforce your fabric and to stop the eyelet from ripping out or tearing your fabric, you should add a square of interfacing to the wrong side of the fabric and place the eyelet in the centre of the square. As always when using interfacing, select the weight which is closest to that of your fabric. For the hoody I made using the eyelets, I used medium weight iron on interfacing.

2/ You can add a buttonhole. As pictured below on the joggers I made for my son with the Yellow/Blue twisted drawstring, I used a buttonhole to create the opening. There are many different types of buttonholes, I used a machine stitched buttonhole for speed and ease (as I’m lucky enough that my sewing machine has an automatic buttonhole stitch). You can also hand stitch a buttonhole that functions just as well. There’s a useful tutorial here.

3/ You can simply cut a hole! If your garment is made from a non-fraying fabric like jersey, then you can cut a hole into the fabric using a sharp tool like a craft knife or small rotary cutter. Make sure you iron a square of interfacing to the wrong side of the fabric, as with the eyelets and make sure that your hole stays within the area covered by the interfacing. This method will look a little ‘rougher’ over time but will work just fine. And it’s really simple!

Once you’ve added your opening, you’re ready to thread your chosen drawstring. This part can be a bit fiddly but is made much easier if you use a safety pin or a bodkin to help thread the drawstring into and through the channel. Go slow and pull gently.

Now the drawstring is threaded you need to do something to the ends so they don’t disappear back into the channel (we’ve all had this happen at one time, I’m sure, and know how much of a pain it can be to find it again!). With my hoody and my son’s joggers I use tied a simple knot close the end of the drawstring. You could also choose to use a specially designed cord stopper which does the same job and looks great, especially on outerwear like coats and bags.

Your drawstring is now finished! You can either carry on with your project (with my hoody I did the eyelets first as per the pattern) or try your garment on!   As always, we love to see your creations! Please share your photos with us on Instagram or Facebook. If you need any help, please feel free to drop me an email at hello@littletshaberdashery.com

Happy Sewing!