My Couture Notions Shop
The Blog

Welcome in our online shop

€ $ £...

Previous or back to : Back to General Store Back to  Wedding store Back to Traditional or historical costumes store Back to Lingerie store Version française

Sewing, knitting, embroidery, easy and fashion blog

--- ---

83 Item(s)

Set Ascending Direction
per page
Page:
  1. 1
  2. ...
  3. 4
  4. 5
  5. 6
  6. ...
  7. 9

We fill up of fluorescent this new year to give pep to our ideas!

Therefore find our braids with pompoms in fluorescent pink, yellow and green as our zippers with rhinestones yellow, green and fluorescent pink as well.

rhinestones zipper and fluorescent pompom braid

rhinestones zipper and fluorescent pompom braid

Braids can be sewn on the edge for making cushions, armchairs tablecloth and even a clothing or an accessory like the edge of a scarf, coat, etc.

fluorescent pompom braid

Zippers have their teeth in colored rhinestones which can give a very original look to an outfit

fluorescent rhinestones zipper

Find our fluorescent pompom braids here and our fluorescent rhinestones zippers here (also available in white and garnet).

Bookmark and Share

Blog tags:

Comments Posted in News By Amandine

The new shipping rates

Jan 14, 2015 12:00:00 AM

We wanted to keep you informed of a pleasing novelty on deliveries: La Poste (the French shipping service) replaced since 1 January 2015 the Lettre Max by the Lettre Suivie!

new rates Lettre Suivie

What changes for you:

- Lower prices, especially for small weight, up to 250g (for higher weights you have the choice between Mondial Relay, Colissimo and Chronopost)

- The ability to send parcels up to 3 cm thick instead of 2 cm for Lettres Max.

Since all our deliveries are determined according to weight, the difference will be really noticeable for you. Online tracking remains the same, once the order is placed, you will have the link to follow on the La Poste website.

From our side, we can now offer you products shipped by Lettre Suivie like some wool that did not pass by Lettre Max!

Here is a detailed picture to show you the changes that prove particularly beneficial to the departments and overseas territories where we display below the rates before tax:

changing letter rate France and overseas

Bookmark and Share

Blog tags:

Comments Posted in General information By Amandine

I am Charlie

Jan 8, 2015 12:00:00 AM

I am Charlie

We would have preferred to offer you our best wishes in 2015 in other circumstances.
In this day of national mourning this tribute is obvious:

For (by alphabetical order) :

  • Ahmed Berabet, policeman,
  • Frédéric Boisseau, maintenance worker,
  • Frank Brinsolaro, policeman,
  • Jean Cabut dit Cabu, cartoonist,
  • Elsa Cayat, psychiatrist and psychoanalyst,
  • Stéphane Charbonnier dit Charb, cartoonist,
  • Philippe Honoré, cartoonist,
  • Bernard Maris, economist journalist,
  • Mustapha Ourrad, reviser,
  • Michel Renaud, organizer of the "Carnet de Voyage" biennial of Clermont-Ferrand,
  • Benarrd Verlhac dit Tignous, cartoonist,
  • Georges Wolinski, cartoonist,

And also :

  • Clarissa Jean-Philippe, policière

And finally :

  • Philippe Braham, cadre commercial.
  • Yohan Cohen, employé du supermarché Hyper Casher,
  • Yohav Hattab, étudiant,
  • François-Michel Saada, cadre supérieur retraité
Comments Posted in General information By A&A

How to choose your knitting needles?

Dec 16, 2014 12:00:00 AM

Whether you are a beginner or not knitting, the choice of knitting needles is paramount! And there is choice, from straight needles to circular needles through double pointed needles and all materials, we will try to guide you with all these needles variants and their uses.

how to choose your knitting needles

Take stock on materials. Knitting needles, all kinds they can be can look as:

- Metal : It's the knitting needles matter that is most often found , especially in the grandmother knitting box ;). They are unbreakable but can writhe, heavier by diameter, emit a clicking knitting. Your work in progress can easily slide on metal knitting needles (not easy for beginners). The cheapest on the market! (find our metal needles here)

- Plastic (or acrylic) : Plastic or acrylic knitting needles are quite common in large numbers because lighter than metal. They tend to hang knit very well which can also be troublesome for beginners. By cons, they are silent.

- Bamboo and wood in general (rosewood, birch, etc.): Our favorite knitting needles! In bamboo, they are extremely lightweight, the knit slips a bit without hanging. Wooden needles are completely silent. We also provide birch wood needles (basix birch from KnitPro) and rosewood (Symphony from KnitPro), which are more resistant than bamboo needles and much more sweet!

Then we need to talk about the needles numbers, all needles have a number, it is engraved on the cap or the needle itself, this number indicates the needle diameter and matching (must match) to what is indicated on the ball of wool. The lower the number, the smaller the needle and the thread will be small and thus thin your knitting (and vice versa).

straight knitting needles

We now turn to the type of needle, there are several:

- Straight needles (1 tip): these are the most common knitting needles, which come in pairs. They may be 25 cm (see our KnitPro Basix instead of children) to 40 cm for longer, depending on the width of your knitting (but the stitches can be compressed).

Double tip knitting needles

- Double tip knitting needles: These knitting needles, straight too, are dedicated to knitting in the round. The double-pointed needles usually come in batches (4 or 5) for thin seamless tubes knitting, such as hats, socks, leggings, gloves and mittens.

- Circular knitting needles: Unfortunately unknown from beginners these needles are very convenient. Circular needles are designed, too, knitting in the round, but can very well be used for the "classic" flat knitting! So instead of buying one pair of straight needles + 1 circular needle from the same number, you can take only the circular needle. There has been a lot of development for this kind of needles in recent years. There are now two types of circular needles:

Fixed circular metal knitting needles

- Fixed circular needles: As their name implies, fixed circular needles are composed of two tips connected by a cable of a given length. The cable is more or less flexible (which can be annoying). They are less expensive than interchangeable, but you can not interchange the number of needles and the cable length.

Interchangeable circular needles KnitPro
- Interchangeable circular needles: it is essential to bring in when you start knitting seriously ;) ! Interchangeable knitting needles are used to create "a la carte" your needles, you buy the diameter tips you want and a cable to length, then you have just to make the connection with the small tool provided with (small wrench to tighten the needle or it may be unscrewed by knitting).

We offer the interchangeable Symphonie needles from KnitPro, they have a flexible cable and resistant rosewood ends, pretty and very pleasant to the touch.

interchangeable Symphonie needles from KnitPro

As you can see, all these needles types have their utility. Each needle has its job in the knitting world, but if you start to practice seriously this rather addictive activity , a tip:
- invest in interchangeable circular needles, you can all knit with!

The only knit that can possibly resist to interchangeable circular needles, is the small round knit as the caps end, gloves and mittens, socks and gaiters. Fortunately, there is a technique to bypass, It's the method of Magic Loop which may require some dexterity at first but which is very useful!

Bookmark and Share

Blog tags:

Comments Posted By Amandine

The blog "Le son des Grelots" tested for us our Kiwi baby's vest & shorts sewing pattern!

We love the pattern description on her blog and the very pertinent remarks she gave us back.

She chooses to reverse the front and back of the baby's vest to show the wrap-over-top side which gives a nice variation.

Click on the image to access her blog's article:

Kiwi baby's vest & shorts sewing pattern test by the blog Le son des Grelots

Is it not a lovely version?

Bookmark and Share

Blog tags:

Comments Posted in Our customers have talent By Amandine

Sewing kit in flowered briefcases

Dec 4, 2014 12:00:00 AM

In addition to the small sewing box, we have prepared pretty briefcases, vintage style and liberty, including a three sizes sewing kit!

We had fun to concoct those boxes. We wanted to offer both pretty decorative briefcases that can contain all the necessary material for sewing in perfect quality.

Each of the boxes is designed for beginners or experienced dressmakers, the proposed equipment is of high quality. Fabrics, buttons and biases have been carefully chosen for a nice assortment that can be used to create pocket, bag, small decorative objects, etc ...

Sewing kit box

The smaller flowery briefcases (21 x 10 cm) contains:

- 1 pair of 17.5cm tailor scissors for fabric

- 4 small dark wooden buttons

Its metal box matching, containing small sewing kit is optional.

Small sewing kit box

Small flowered sewing box

The average flowered briefcase box (23 x 17 cm) contains:

- 1 pair of 17.5cm tailor scissors for fabric

- 4 small blue wooden buttons, red, yellow and green

- 3 pieces of cotton fabric 20 x 140 cm blue, fuchsia pink and ecru

- 1 meter bias with matching flowers

Its metal box matching, containing small sewing kit is optional.

sewing kit, medium box

Average sewing box

Medium box sewing kit

The large flowered briefcase (29 x 20 cm) contains:

- 1 pair of 17.5cm tailor scissors for fabric

- 4 small blue wooden buttons, red, yellow and green

- 3 pieces of cotton fabric 20 x 140 cm blue, fuchsia pink and ecru

- 2 matching pink and green thread spools

- 1 meter bias with matching flowers

Its metal box matching, containing small sewing kit is optional.

Large sewing briefcase

Large sewing box briefcase

Large sewing briefcase

Here inside optional cute vintage styled metal boxes, containing all the necessary material for sewing:

Small sewing kit Box

Bookmark and Share

Blog tags:

Comments Posted in News By Amandine

Christmas and flowery sewing kit

Nov 28, 2014 12:00:00 AM

At A&A patrons, we love the vintage pretty boxes and couture quality tools!

We therefore prepared a sewing kit filled with essential for the couturier, with all the high quality hardware.

The kit is available in Christmas version (as below) or in flowery version (as hereinafter).

 

Vintage Christmas sewing kit

In each kit you will find:

- A pair of embroidery scissors (red for the Christmas version, stork for the flowery version)

- A 200 fine pins box

- A thimble

- A tape-measure

- A seam-ripper

Sewing tools needed

This sewing kit includes the essentials, for beginners or experienced, in a nice little box transportable anywhere. The Christmas sewing kit is a perfect present and seasonal ;).

Here is the spring version of the sewing kit with it's liberty style:

liberty sewing kits

Find here the Christmas sewing kit box and the flowery box there.

Bookmark and Share

Blog tags:

Comments Posted in News By Amandine

The different tools to trace in sewing

Nov 19, 2014 12:00:00 AM

Our A&A's designing works allows us to test all fabric tracing patterns methods.

But what are the tools used and what are they for? We will attempt to answer these questions in detail.

In sewing, drawing on fabric is a must for
1/ Report outline of your pattern and mark the seam lines
2/ Draw seam allowances which also correspond to the cut lines of your fabric
3/ Transpose the seam lines on the other fabric layers

Pencil, marker and chalk to draw on the fabric
What are the tools to draw on fabric?The fabric tracing is very important to mark the values seams and your pattern outline on your fabric and the sleeve marks, etc... There are many tools which can have a different use depending on the medium and the desired accuracy.


- The chalk: The most widespread drawing tool, the tailor chalk, available in several colors allows to produce moderately coarse lines on different colors fabrics at lower cost, available on a-et-a.com in 3 colors set: white, red and yellow. The chalk must be trimmed regularly to stay quite fine and accurate, it requires so a chalk sharpener (here blue).
- The chalk roulette: is generally used for wool but requests that the seam is carried out in the aftermath because the powder disappears quickly. Its layout is thinner than traditional chalk.
- The pencil: more accurate than chalk, pencil needs to be purchased in several colors to match different fabric colors. It too must be trimmed regularly with a pencil sharpener to gain accuracy.
- The mechanical pencil: may exist with more or less thick leads, the more accurate is the 0.9 mm mechanical pencil allowing, unlike chalk or pencil, a thin and precise line. It is ideal for drawing, there are some with thick chalk (here in red), white (here in purple, from Prym)or with pink, white and blue chalk refill (here in red and metal). The eraser can erase the lines directly, if not, as for chalk and pencil, the line goes in the wash.
- The fineliner: the fabric fineliner can have different thicknesses, those presented come from Clover, they have the advantage of a clear blue light marking but well visible which readily disappears with water.
- Lines marker : allows you to draw with a fabric that clearly marks the fold as wild silk. Is used for instance when you can not make pencil line because the fabric is clear or transparent (see our Clover model here).

roulettes pour tracage tissu

Once the drawing done, it is important to copy the seam lines on the other fabric layers. You then use the famous roulette, carbon paper and a cutting board to avoid damaging your table.

Transposing seam lines with roulette

To transpose your sewing lines, you only need a cutting board, some carbon paper contrasting over your fabric and place over your fabric cut pieces to be transposed. You then draw your pattern layout with the roulette which will transpose the corresponding dots on the other fabric sheet through carbon paper.

We have several tools choices for this:

- Classic roulette : Vintage wooden fabric roulette. Handy roulette with a nice beech handle.
- The ergonomic roulette: Very nice because this roulette fits snugly to the hand. This is the roulette that we normally use in our design department.
- The double roulette: it is used with another method which consists in tracing first time the pattern outline along the seam allowance and then trace by hand, on the other side, the pattern outline.
- The carbon paper: essential to copy your pattern outline, the carbon paper is available in several large sheets of different colors (here 3 sheets 54 x 42 cm in red, white and blue). This copying paper allow to copy many outlines and can be used very long.
- The cutting board: thick media to protect your table, the cutting board allows all types of work: copying lines with roulette, cutting with rotary cutter, etc... Available in 2 sizes in a-et-a.com here.

Japanese rule and sewing patchwork

- The 50 cm sewing Japanese rule: essential element for all designers who respect themselves;). This 50 cm Japanese rule can easily transpose seam allowances on your fabric thanks to its in cm horizontal and vertical scales. Our Clover rule has even a 1.5 cm green contrast part corresponding to the seam allowance commonly used. Japanese rule is also essential for all pattern designings.
- The rectangular rule: very convenient for drawing parallel lines on the fabric because it maintains the fabric due to its large area, it also prevents the fabric from moving when drawing. It can also be very useful for rectangles paths and throught the fabric bias, it is ideal for patchwork work.

And you, what tracing tools do you use in sewing?

Bookmark and Share

Blog tags:

Comments Posted in Tutorials & tips By Amandine

New : Floral fabrics and bias

Nov 13, 2014 12:00:00 AM

They are beautiful and flowered, it is the arrival in our shop of new fancy floral fabrics and bias.

floral fabrics and bias Lecien Froufrou

We fell in love with these flowered printed fabrics by Lecien (Japanese fabrics) in liberty style. So we took assorted bias! Flowered fabrics and bias brighten up our Frou Frou range.

It is already easy to imagine the pretty dresses, inside pocket, jacket with these floral fabrics.

Mustard yellow make a pretty note accompanied the fall, while the raspberry and blue-green are perfect to brighten up our outfits.

floral fabrics Lecien

Floral bias can be used in garment finishes but will also be very attractive as wristband and other jewelery desgns.

Floral bias Lecien

No hesitation! : floral Lecien fabrics are sold by 10 cm and bias the meter.

Bookmark and Share

Blog tags:

Comments Posted in News By Amandine

What to do with trapilho?

Oct 20, 2014 12:00:00 AM

Do you know the trapilho?

These are big balls of XXL cotton threads which allows to make all kinds of baskets, pouches, carpets in no time! To see what these balls look like balls, find our trapilho in big or mini size.

The trapilho is actually a thread coming from recycling called mesh or jersey (fine knitted fabric for t-shirt). This recycling is done in Europe, mainly in Portugal.

We have selected for you on our pinterest board some of our achievements in trapilho to give you ideas. From the carpet to the ottoman cover, from the colorful baskets to jewelery or star decoration, there is certainly something that delights you!:


Please, you also, send us your trapilho achievements photos, we will be happy to publish them on this blog.

Bookmark and Share

Blog tags:

Comments Posted in Discoveries By Amandine
--- ---

83 Item(s)

Set Ascending Direction
per page
Page:
  1. 1
  2. ...
  3. 4
  4. 5
  5. 6
  6. ...
  7. 9