Fabric Friday - Amy Butler

It has been a short week here in the UK as we had a bank holiday on Monday and life is fairly manic as the children in most parts of England have returned to school this week. Of course it is Friday and that means it's time for some fabric eye candy for all of us fabric addicts! For todays Fabric Friday I have choosen to feature Amy Butler.  I know that I feaured her new wallpaper collection a couple of weeks ago but I realised I had not written a full profile about this fab designer for Fabric Friday.

Amy Butler has become a global household name, especially with people who desire bold patterns that don't shy away from a pale colour palette.  However this did not happen overnight and her success has taken time and alot of energy.  Amy Butler started creating small passport sized bags in the late 80's whilst living in Kansas City, which were well received by small boutiques across the country.  The boutiques were handpicked by Amy herself and her bags were only sold in boutiques that she had choosen and built up a rapport by making personal introductions to each store.

In 1992 Amy Butler returned to Ohio with her husband, David, renting a 150 year old cabin/house in 190 acres of rural farmland. From this home they started their Art of the Midwest studio with approximately $1200.  Amy created surface designs for her friend who became a design rep in New York City, often designing and creating into the night. 

After fixing up two houses and being a contributing editor for Country Living magazine, a fact I was unaware of, with thoughts of her little bags that she had made previously, Amy decided to design sewing patterns. And thank goodness she did, I have several Amy Butler patterns, incuding the Anna Tunic above and two books with plans of adding her new book, Style Stitches:12 Easy Ways to 26 Wonderful Bags, to my collection very soon. I am also going to have to buy the raincoat pattern, as I love coats!

Amy Butler also designs for Rowan Fabrics, having produced several collections, the latest being Love

and a new collection, Soul Blossoms, is due for release in December, including Twilight Peony that is pictured below.

And also incudes the Passion Lily design below

It is visible in this new collection and in previous collections that Amy Butler is inspired by vintage fabrics and she happily admits that she loves flea markets and the hunt for treasure at these markets.  Amy Butler's inspiration comes from the rich texture of everyday life and avoids sticking to trends.

Yet Amy Butler does not take all the credit for making her brand so successful. Aswell as her husband she lists many people instrumental in her brands success.  And what a brand - fabric, wallpaper, sewing patterns, books, wool and knitting projects, papercraft products, towels, bedding and rugs, amongst others. There really is a bit of Amy Butler design magic for everyone, whether you are a crafter, designer or just want fabulous things for your home.

Seeing YoYo's before my eyes!

I have spent the past few days in between everything else sewing fabric yoyos for some cushions I am busy making.  Big ones, small ones, medium sized ones.....pink ones, stripey ones, dotty ones and yellow ones,  I'm beginning to wonder if it's spots or yoyos before my eyes!!  So to give me a break from little running stitches I decided to see what other people are using yoyos for!

Available from Seams So Easy

Available from SH Creations

Available from Bliss Knits

Available from Tefi

Available from Yoyoodyne Inc

Availabe from DK Temple

Yoyo's are a great embellishment to many projects and very simple to make.

• Cut a circle of fabric double the width you want the finished yoyo to be.
• Fold the raw edge in,(with the wrong side of the fabric facing you) but not too much, enough for a small hem.
• Sew a running stitch all the way around the circle, folding over the edge as you go, if you haven't pinned it.  (I do it this way as I can never be bothered to pin the hem!)
• Now gently pull the thread so the edge ruffles until you have what resembles a rossette
• Tie off your thread, you now have a yoyo!
• WARNING they are addictive!!

A secret to share with designers who use fabric

Shhhh! Let me tell you a secret.  If you use a lot of fabric in your designs/work you may well benefit from a designer account with fabric distributors.  Whilst all fabric addicts can name drop....Amy Butler, Heather Ross, Michael Miller, Anna Maria Horner, Blake Riley...to name a few, but many of these design for 'fabric houses' and are distributed by big companies.  This then got me to remembering when I worked for Ramm, Son & Crocker an upholstery producer several years ago and they offered trade accounts to interior designers.  So I set about checking websites for different designers and looking into the wholesale details with their distributors.  After contacting several distributors it became apparant that designer accounts are available to people like us!

Obviously there are some catches, like minimum order quantities (MOQ), buying designs by the bolt and shipping, duty and customs when the fabric is coming from outside the UK.  But if you use alot of fabric this maybe beneficial. I have compiled a list of the companies I contacted and details of any MOQ.  To qualify for a designer account you will need to provide details of your business and you cannot just resell the fabric, it has to be used by you.

Amy Butler & Freespirit Fabrics (Anna Maria Horner, Valori Wells & many more)
http://www.coats.com/ (Rowan Fabrics)
£200 MOQ
Buy the design by the bolt or half bolt
Price per yard - approx. half RRP
Form to complete providing business details

Cath Kidston
15% designer discount
You will need to provide a copy of your letterhead

Alexander Henry
http://www.ahfabrics.com/
Distributed by a company in Denmark http://www.adlico.dk/
One bolt minimum per design, 20 yard bolt, approx. half RRP.

Designers Guild
25% designer discount
You will need to provide a company profile on letterheaded paper and complete a trade account form.
No MOQ, buy by the metre.

Birch Fabrics
http://www.birchfabrics.com/
This is a new company with their first collection being available in the next 6 weeks.
4 bolt MOQ

Michael Miller
http://www.michaelmillerfabrics.com/
UK distributor http://www.eqsuk.com/
Awaiting response, will update.

Robert Kaufman
http://www.robertkaufman.com/
Awaiting response, will update

So I hope this helps some of you keep your costs down and increases the profit margins!