In Haberdashery Heaven

I am often asked where I find some of my vintage lace, fabric and ephemera that I use in my artwork.  I am very fortunate to have a good friend who is an antiques dealer and he is always on the lookout for pieces for me.  But one of my best friends, Sarah, has lived in East Sussex all her life and knows many hidden gems where I can find pieces that will inspire me.  She is always surprising me by taking me out to visit a shop that she has known for years and that she thinks I might like and our latest outing was one of those surprise visits and it did not dissapoint.... Just take a look......

Waywards, is a vintage haberdashery in St Leonards, it carries a huge selection of bolts of vintage furnishing fabrics, heavy linens, ticking, hand loomed cottons and retro prints.  It is packed full of the most wonderful old vintage draws that are home to hundreds of old cottons, silk and satin ribbons, lace trim and thousands of buttons.

I was like a kid in a candy store when I visited Waywards, it was a scrumptious feast for the eyes! And of course I did make several purchases.

Waywards is located in the trendy Norman Road, St Leonards, which has a number of unique and fascinating shops that are well worth a visit.  When I made my visit Sarah also took me to SHOP, a beautiful gift shop that also sells mouth watering cakes, where we took a well earned rest from our excitement at Waywards and had Cappuccinos and Coffee, Almond & Amaretto Cake.

The Owner of Waywards regularly has a stall in London's Portobello Road Market selling many of his haberdashery finds, so if you are not local to Sussex you can pay him a visit in London.

Just take a look at the shelves below packed with vintage buttons!!  What I love is that alot of the items in the shop also come in their original packaging, many from the thirties and forties.

And for me, one of the highlights of visiting was getting the opportunity to look through these old fabric sample books below, they were wonderful, so inspiring, and were also for sale!!

 Waywards is definitely going to be a regular destination on my vintage ephemera address book!!