/croft-mill-fabrics_issue-16_the-time-has-come

www.croftmill.co.uk Issue 16 2012

The time has come the walrus said……

Welcome to our first missive of 2012. A fair old plethora of stuff for your perusal. You will see cottons, woollens, velvets, embroideries, crafty cloths, thick, thin, narrow and wide. Not quite a gamut but plenty of choice. Happy Sewing!

A TIME AND A PLACE An enormously strong, powerful, heavy and wonderful crepe in a dark lilac one of the best woollen cloths you are ever likely to get hold of. This will keep the rain out, never mind the cold.

Upholster perhaps?

REF: OT5 60” wide £7.00 per metre

A FAR FAR BETTER …

Wool/poly heavyish crêpe-like suiting in dark navy. The yarns aren't crêped, the effect is in the weave. As good as it gets.

REF: CH2 60” wide £9.50 per metre

ALMOST MATCHING Damson taffeta.

REF: CH2 60” wide

£5.75 per metre

AND ANOTHER THING Variety is the spice of life and no two cloths could be much further apart than the last ones and these. Lightweight and drapey, polyester fabrics in dark navy.

Plain very fine hopsack weave cloth.

From an impeccable source, good looking, easy care, beautiful fabrics. You won't go wrong with either of these.

REF: OT3 60” wide £4.00 per metre

ANOTHER CORDUROY Dark brown, 8 wale corduroy (might even be 10 wale) which has had, it says, a washing but I don't quite understand it. I think it is a finish that has been made to look as though the cloth has already been used. So it isn't a plain brown cloth; the top of the ridges in the corduroy has been, I'll use the term knocked off or flattened, but has its colour changed from very dark brown to beige so that you have got a beige raised bit then a dark brown furrow, then a beige raised bit. Do you see what I am getting at? I hope so. It is another very different one which will look at least two different colours if you present it to the light and it might even be more.

REF: JA6 60” wide £8.00 per metre

you would make a skirt, whether you would want both jacket and skirt I am not sure. It comes in beige - all shades of brown down to cream in the form of a dogtooth check. The background is basically cream woven into which are beige, darker beige, brown and darker brown yarns making up the dogtooth check, all of which are very clever.

REF: JA29 60” wide £9.00 per metre

A RUSH OF BLOOD This fabric is a very similar cloth to the Moon River cloth in that it is made of viscose and silk with the same weave pattern but a different print. This is basically in white and many shades of pink in the stripes with darker crimson/cerise floral pattern with the addition of lilac. It's all fairly heavily disguised within the overall context of the weave which has many different thicknesses of yarn in the weft whilst the warp is all one colour which is white.

Will look good on its own but I think it might look even better if worn as a layered article on top of something white. A wonderful cloth.

REF: OT4 60” wide £6.00 per metre

AUGUSTA Suiting in two quite different shades of green, both of which can be seen at the Masters in April. a) A medium weight 100% wool serge in a darkish emerald green b) A lightweight fine herringbone weave 'worsted' suiting 55% wool / 45% polyester in kingfisher/light green Both from a very good maker.

REF: OT7 60” wide £7.50 per metre

BAG OF BITS We have four bags of bits and pieces of all manor of cloths.

Sample strips, short ends, nothing really to make garments from but ideal for craft work, practice etc. There is a lot in a bag and to be fair we can only really allow one per customer and it is first come first served. £12.00 each

BATON BLEU (WATER CANNON)

ASCOT We have had this interesting and beautiful suiting before. It is made from mostly wool with the addition of silk to give it a hand like no other. It comes in just the one weight, which is for light suiting and jacketing. I doubt that you would make trousers but

60% wool/40% polyester navy blue cavalry twill suiting of a nature to combat the perils of the sea or even water cannon. In old money it is a 12/14 oz cloth which has a light shower proofing which doesn't affect the handle one iota. Magnificent.

REF: CH2 60” wide £8.50 per metre

Offices 5 & 6, Primet Business Centre, Burnley Road, Colne, Lancashire BB8 8DQ T:01282 859281 email: info@croftmill.co.uk website: www.croftmill.co.uk

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BEAUJOLAIS

BRODERIE ANGLAISE

I read in the Daily Telegraph recently that we, as a nation apparently, are still confused about wine. Don't let this happen to you. It's either white or red and generally comes in a bottle.

Open, pour, drink. What's confusing? By the same token there is nothing confusing about this cloth. A light wine coloured poly wool lightweight gabardine from the same mill that produced the Treacle Mine cloth. A decent trouser weight, a wonderful colour and a fabulous hand.

REF: OT15 60” wide £7.50 per metre

Traditional 5 hole design Broderie Anglaise in a) white b) cream REF: OT15 45” wide £4.95 per metre

BLACK HOLE Staring into space obviously in the right conditions you are almost bound to see darkness lit up by zillions of tiny specks of light. Not unlike this rather fabulous suiting that I have before me which is very black indeed with the finest of dotted lurex stripes which gives the impression to me of a night sky. There is a little bit of interest in the weave in that it has a tiny diamond pattern and the speckles are in silver. Made in 70% wool, 28% polyester and 2% lycra. It has a wonderful soft hand, it doesn't appear to crease much, if at all.

REF: JA9 60” wide £8.50 per metre

BLACK TRACKSUITING Very soft lightweight polyester velour tracksuiting in black. It has a rib pattern which is about 5mm wide.

REF: OT119 60” wide £3.00 per metre

BLEU You may remember some time ago we had a rather pretty dark navy lightly brushed, soft cotton with a little bit of lycra, twill with an all-over tiny white leaf and spot print. Having been told that there wasn't any more another roll has been acquired. A lovely fabric for little girls' dresses or dungarees or even for bigger girls.

REF: OT16 60” wide £5.00 per metre

BOILED OVER Navy blue embroidered boiled wool/poly fabric. Not entirely sure what the yarn used in the embroidery is it could be wool but it is likely to be something else but it's a fairly big sprawly, interlocking, bow and tassle design in the same navy blue. Very effective. We only have an eyeful of it. It's awfully expensive so maybe by the time you read this there's hardly any left.

REF: JA19 60” wide £20.00 per metre

very

Deli chedule Delivery S We aim to despatch your parcel within 3 days of receipt of your order. Due to the nature of the business and when the catalogue has newly been despatched this may be longer.

From despatch parcels take between 1 - 3 days depending on the courier. More details can be found on our website www.croftmill.co.uk

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BUCKET'S GOT A HOLE IN IT Cream poly cotton shirting with a pattern hole design. The holes are quite tiny with four oblong holes surrounding a tiny circular pin-prick hole. Well you have to do something in your spare time, haven't you? Another cloth from this fairly highfalutin fashion place which might look awfully attractive over a red flannel liberty bodice.

REF: OT18 60” wide £4.00 per metre

BWHNA Fabulous herringbone weave, cotton trousering. They has been very lightly gone over to give a wonderful hand and very good drape. Another trousering from Gurteen, whose trousers can cost over £100 a pair. a) very dark brown b) very dark navy blue REF: OT21 60” wide £6.00 per metre

CHAMBRAY D'HOTE A super fine 100% cotton chambray in beige. Not a very pale beige as the last one we had, a little bit darker than that but as it's made up of mostly white with brown yarns, it still has to be described as pale beige. Tons of very fine yarn in it.

REF: OT24 60” wide £4.50 per metre

CHECK CHINOS Then we have two Check Chinos. Very fine cotton chino in a light Prince of Wales check in a) Grey b) Brown, a pale brown but not beige Beautifully made REF: OT26 60” wide £5.60 per metre

CHINO Lighter weight cotton trousering. a) Navy blue b) Olive green Then we have our heavier Gurteen cotton trousering with very light sanded finishes; all 60 in wide: c) Black d) Sage green e) Khaki f) Light navy with a tiny white pinstripe at one eight of an inch intervals.

REF: OT28 60” wide £6.00 per metre

COALITION Well we're getting along very nicely without money, aren't we?

Best to not go down that road, eh? This cloth is another 60” wide poly wool suiting in two shades of grey a) one which would be described as a dark clerical grey and b) the other which would be best described as a medium to dark grey.

Both light weight, summer weight even, same very fine hopsack weave.

REF: JA11 60” wide £8.50 per metre

Offices 5 & 6, Primet Business Centre, Burnley Road, Colne, Lancashire BB8 8DQ T:01282 859281 email: info@croftmill.co.uk website: www.croftmill.co.uk

CORD DU ROI In days of yore to prevent chaffing in delicate areas where the armour or chain mail came to a conclusion those that could wore corduroy breeches. They would not however have had the choice of these two colours. a) A vivid royal blue, cotton needlecord with a little bit of lycra. b) A vivid cerise pink cotton chunky cord without lycra. On reflection there is some lycra, but being a chunky cord it doesn't stretch as readily as the needlecord.

REF: CH6 45” wide £6.00 per metre

COTTON LAWN 54” wide fabulous cotton lawn with a 'triffid' growing floral design in a) Lovinia - black, grey and dark olive on a pale grey background b) Cuta - navy blue, light blue and mushroom on a light almond background c) Tula - burgundy, wine and pink on a pinky beige background It's all a bit sombre but very attractive pattern.

REF: JA8 54” wide £7.50 per metre

CREAM LAWN 100% cream cotton lawn.

REF: OT34 58” wide

£4.75 per metre

CREST OF A WAVE Whilst we're swimming with the tide, it might be the best time to tell you about this next cloth. It is a moleskin. It is described as red but it's not. It is burgundy/wine colour. It is a good quality moleskin which would make up into trousers, obviously, but smoking jackets even though no-one's allowed to smoke. There are a lot of people that want to wear a smoking jacket who are going to smoke regardless, even if you tell them not to.

Absolutely scrumptious. 100% cotton.

REF: JA15 60” wide £7.50 per metre

DARTH These are reversible poly/viscose “melton” cloths, jacket/light coating weights. a) Black - black on one side and black with a fairly subdued check in burgundy on the other side. The check is made up of broad bands and fine lines which meld well into the black background but not so well that you can't see it. It will be an excellent wearing cloth and fairly warm because of the brushed finish that it has. A very smart and cosy fabric. b) Navy - Also in plain navy.

REF: CH7 60” wide £9.00 per metre

DJ Not all jerseys are cotton. A bit obvious but with cotton still in shortish supply folk have to try something else. These are something else. a) Navy blue/white stripe where the navy stripe is narrower (7 mm) than the white (18 mm). £3.75 per metre Made in polyester. b) Plain burgundy with a ever so slightly velvety feel. Made in poly/viscose. £4.75 per metre

c) A black/white stripe where the white strip is 3 mm and the £4.75 per metre black is 18 mm. 100% viscose. d) A fine black and purple stripe with a tiny gold lurex stripe in the purple bit. 100% viscose.

REF: JA26

All 60” wide

£5.00 per metre

DREAMING OF A WHITE BATHROOM I was thinking of and indeed humming to myself White Christmas as I said that. It is called multi-tasking you understand. Christmas has passed for another year, but we still have this heavy, thick, white cotton towelling which I have every reason to believe with fluff up thicker with successive washes.

Not too many successive washes as otherwise you would never get it back in the machine! But it will become softer and fluffier than it already is. Better than most towellings you find in extremely posh hotels.

REF: JA14 60” wide £10.00 per metre

DRESS SATIN a) Some Like it Hot - a mushroom or even light mushroom coloured polyester satin with a not quite distressed finish, perhaps worried finish would be a better description. It lends itself to dresses I have seen on TV lately in both loose and tight figure hugging styles. Quite different in my book. b) Come Up and See Me Sometime - dark brown, cotton/ lycra satin. Dull finish, fairly heavy due to the denseness of the weave. If brown is in vogue you are in luck; if it isn't, be different.

REF: OT37 60” wide £3.00 per metre

DRESS SHIRT Pure 120s doubled yarn cotton shirting in white with the finest of herringbone weave. Elsewhere we have a cloth that says It doesn't get much better. This is the same made by Tootal in their halcyon days.

REF: JA21 60” wide £6.00 per metre

DUCKY Very lightweight cotton canvas in a very, very beautiful shade of pale blue. Finely woven, on the cusp of greatness.

REF: OT38 60” wide £6.00 per metre

imes Opening T We have already mentioned we are not a shop I know; we are happy for you to come, but please just give us a ring first so we can arrange a time. Orders can also be picked up if preferred. For placing orders by phone we are open between 9.30am - 4.30pm Monday to Friday but you can order online at www.croftmill.co.uk at any time that suits you.

ntee Our Guara As long as it has not been cut we will replace or make a refund for anything not to your liking within 14 days of delivery of your fabrics.

Offices 5 & 6, Primet Business Centre, Burnley Road, Colne, Lancashire BB8 8DQ T:01282 859281 email: info@croftmill.co.uk website: www.croftmill.co.uk

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ESS ESS Very tasty, slightly stretched polyester satin in navy blue with an all-over, ditzy, tiny floral print in other shades of blue with a bit of turquoise and white. Soft as a baby's bottom.

REF: CH8 60” wide £5.00 per metre

FAINT HEARTED There are a few cloths which nowt but a few folk can wear and there are others which we can all wear but we don't always have the class, do we? You and I have got it but there are many that don't. This is a cloth that we could wear. It is a Daks original, I believe. 70% wool, 30% polyester, lightweight check suiting in what is described on the label as olive and grey. I would see it as perhaps either a very pale olive or even beige mixed with olive or two shades of grey, a paler one which is mixed with beige. I am not certain. The overall effect is very subdued, very classy and extremely elegant. Perhaps you can tell that I like it. It has a fabulous hand, doesn't appear to crease when scrunched. So all in all it is rather tasty.

REF: OT40 60” wide £7.50 per metre

FAIR TO MIDDLING A poly wool acrylic mix, light bouclé cloth in a burgundy and cream ¼ inch square check. Fairly light but will suit all weathers I imagine. It's from a very good maker.

REF: OT41 60” wide £6.00 per metre

ges ivveerryy SCchhaerdule l e D i l e D Our standard P&P charge is £5.95. This excludes non UK mainland postcodes which are: IV; HS; KA27-28; KW; PA20-49; PA60-78; PH17-26; PH30-44; PH49-50; ZE; BT; IM; TR21-25.

For these areas the charge depends on weight.

Surcharges apply and vary from £0 - £8 on top of the standard charge. Please place your order and we will confirm the charge before we ship.

More details at www.croftmill.co.uk

FINESSE Cotton chino with the finest of Madras stripes in brown and beige.

Only when you get close to the fabric do you see the fineness of the stripe, from a couple of metres away it just looks not to be plain. From a German trouser maker.

REF: OT43 60” wide £5.50 per metre

FLANNEL

FANCY THAT 66” wide Taffetas. I haven't seen these before and maybe you haven't, they are reversible. On one side they have a check in different tones of black, from white to black, and different tones of red in a plaid weave. The other side is a plaid weave. a) In, pink, green burgundy and white. b) In, purple, navy blue, pink, grey and white. c) In, pink, black burgundy, grey and white.

Wonderful as linings but perhaps wasted as you wouldn't have the benefit of its reversibility, just how you would use this I don't know. They are made, I think, in a viscose/acetate with perhaps a little polyester, they are firmish, without being too stiff, but they are not silky soft. Having said that, they have a pleasant hand.

REF: CH10 66” wide £4.00 per metre

100% cotton lumberjack shirting checks, lovely cloth in blue, beige with a fine line over check in red.

REF: OT46 54” wide £4.85 per metre

FUR FABRIC

£5.50 per metre c) With it came a dark purply (mink) cast grey faux suede which is in fact sueded on both sides which means it sticks together a bit not quite like Velcro but it does cling to itself but that shouldn't be too much of a difficulty as you are going to line it, I am sure. This is a more substantial cloth. £6.50 per metre REF: JA3 60” wide

Fur fabric as I've only seen a couple of times in my little lot in cloth, well I've actually seen it but I have not been able to afford to get it although there will be some of you who will remember, oh 20 years ago, when we had a bevy of some wonderful fur fabrics from France. These are from the same place and more expensive now than they were then, which goes without saying as 20 years is a long time but the quality is just the same. a) the first one is black; the pile is about ½” (or whatever that is in centimetres or millimetres even) and is as cuddly as a grizzly bear can be; we have around 20 metres of this; that is all. c) a black and deep turquoise animal print (I don't know what animal, it probably isn't a copy of any particular animal fur although some may see it) but certainly you have never seen a black and turquoise animal have you?

But it's just fantastic to look at and wonderful to touch; the pile is slightly finer and shorter than the other two, but in terms of appearance and softness it's at least their equal.

The not so clever news is that it is £25.00 per metre but it is cheap at that. I promise you. Don't miss it.

REF: JA16 60” wide £25.00 per metre

FINERY

GANT

FAUX SUEDE Polyester, faux suede in a) Black b) Deep tan

A fine cotton voile, in off white not pure white but it is not cream.

REF: OT42 56” wide £4.00 per metre

FINEST QUALITY WHITE SHIRTING White finest quality poly/cotton shirting.

REF: OT44 60” wide

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£4.75 per metre

A rather splendid brushed cotton flannelette shirting in a plaid check, quite large plaid check it has to be said in a dark blue a rusty red, mustardy yellow and combinations of all three of these colours in the weave. It isn't a dyed fabric; it is a dyed yarn woven cloth. It would be absolutely magnificent as a lining to an anorak or as an over shirt or just as a very warm shirt indeed.

REF: OT48 60” wide £5.00 per metre

Offices 5 & 6, Primet Business Centre, Burnley Road, Colne, Lancashire BB8 8DQ T:01282 859281 email: info@croftmill.co.uk website: www.croftmill.co.uk

GEISHA

HARKING BACK

I really don't know why this should remind me of Japan but it does it is a beautifully fine cotton lawn in a very delicate pale blue with an all over floral/lily type print in white/mauve/navyblue and a little bit of lime green. The centres of the flowers are in a darker pink and the flowers are outlined in purple. It almost looks like petals floating on a pond and is very delicate.

REF: MC32 60” wide £6.00 per metre

Another "old" fabric that has resurfaced is this rather exquisitely Japanese made polyester habutae "silk". It is finely seer suckered in blue and white or pink and white ¼ in wide stripe in a) blue and white b) pink and white Very much a maid of the mountains/hills are alive, sort of cloth, but in its way modern.

REF: OT54 42” wide £4.00 per metre

GINGHAM (¼ in)

HE'S IN A WORLD OF HIS OWN

¼ in corded edged gingham, poly/cotton; a) Red b) Green c) Lilac d) Yellow e) Dark Blue f) Black g) Brown h) Pale Blue i) Pink REF: OT49 45” wide

These are words used to describe many things we don't understand from lunacy to simple meandering. It's used to describe me as I wander lonely as a cloud amongst fields of fabric, rolls falling down, stacks collapsing when you have to remove something from near the bottom, and indeed I can and do get carried away. One such occasion presents itself now. They appear to be made of polyester/viscose and acetate which gives much more body than the usual and enables the clothes to have a reasonable amount of weight and quite a bit of character. This will help with any draping you need of the cloth. They have come from a tailor and I believe they were linings for expensive suits. There are quite a few so you will have to pay attention, glasses on, and hearing aids in. a) Silvery grey/beige satin stripe with a fine relief stripe in beige. b) Light beige satin with a paler beige fine stripe at quarter inch intervals. c) Taupe/mushroom satin stripe. d) Dark chocolaty brown with a brown relief stripe at 11/2 half-inch intervals. e) Black satin with a very fine pinstripe relief in a much lighter brown. The whole thing looks very dark brown but I think the background is black. f) Very dark mushroom/black/brown satin stripe obviously a cloth meant to cover all eventualities. g) Dark brown with a multiple relief pinstripe slightly raised and slightly rougher than base cloth. This one you could use inside out, in fact you could use them all inside out if you wanted. h) Brown/Black plain - this is the only plain one. Totally plain brown on one side, and totally plain black on the other. i) Brown Pinstripe - in a very dark brown. j) Black/ brown pinstripe - a very dark brown and black tiny broken pinstripe design, which almost gives it a birds-eye check appearance.

Of a quality of a bygone era and you don't have to use these as linings. As near as makes no difference REF: CH15 40” wide £4.40 per metre

£3.50 per metre

GINGHAM (1in) 1 inch corded edged gingham, poly/cotton a) Emerald Green b) Pale Blue c) Dark Blue d) Red REF: OT50 45” wide £3.50 per metre

GUINCE We have found a roll this beautiful cotton lawn which has a slightly satinised finish giving it a beautiful hand. This is a fashionable print in a Lucienne Day abstract type design in very dark navy, almost black with cream with a hint of pale blue, which looks a little bit like pairs of brackets with little abstract star and flower shapes between them. It's very attractive and as you walk away it all melds together rather beautifully. Stunning I think.

REF: MC37 57/58” wide £6.00 per metre

HALLELUJAH A very good friend of mine who has contacts throughout the textile industry, well he used to have, he's retired long since, but came up with a bit of a gem this weekend. A 41” wide (never heard of that before have you) woven, 100% cotton Tattersall check as traditional and old-fashioned as you like, cream background with green, mustard, burgundy and navy yarns forming the ½“ square check. There's every reason to believe that it was actually woven in this mill before it was shut down.

It is no spring chicken but it is a good cloth. I'm almost tempted to put it in a museum but why should I be selfish? Treat yourself to a little bit of history.

REF: JA 12 41” wide £3.00 per metre

HAPPENSTANCE I think it was Goldfinger who warned Bond that once was coincidence, twice was happenstance and three was enemy action. This cloth just happened to arrive at the same time as Faint Hearted and, well, wonderfully well they go together. They are very fine cotton chinos, 1) in Sandhurst Beige and 2) in a very pale olive which goes an absolute dream with the olive and grey wool suiting (faint hearted). That's put the cat amongst the pigeons somewhat hasn't it? You perhaps didn't want either and now you want both.

Don't think too much about it, just go for it.

REF: OT52 60” wide £5.00 per metre

HENLEY ANTIQUES A cloth with a bit of a period feel to it, Yorkshire made through and through, 55% wool, 45% polyester in a striped blazer design which reminds me of Henley and the chap on Antiques Roadshow that delights in wearing striped jackets. I am not sure he has one quite like this. His tend to be slightly more on the brighter side.

These are subdued and come in a) grey/ beige and pale blue stripe b) green/ turquoise and grey stripe c) light rust, lemon and a fawny brown stripe They are all 1” wide stripes, interspersed with narrow stripes of contrasting colours. Beautifully fine and quite light and sadly, in some respects, ideal for the summer we never had.

REF: OT55 60” wide £6.50 per metre

Offices 5 & 6, Primet Business Centre, Burnley Road, Colne, Lancashire BB8 8DQ T:01282 859281 email: info@croftmill.co.uk website: www.croftmill.co.uk

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HENRI

INCY WINCEY

Waterproof canvas in a brilliant red. The basic fabric is polyester and the backing, or coating as I really ought to call it, isn't Goretex but it is a membrane of similar ilk, entirely suitable for garments or as covers or awnings or whatever else you might want to do with it in the garden, provide shelter for you gnomes.

REF: OT56 60” wide £5.25 per metre

Printed cotton winceyette in two designs. a) A mottled pink/cerise ground with a contrasting blue simple floral pattern. b) A dainty striped floral pattern on a plain white ground.

The tiny pink flowers are another pink striped borders repeating 1” across.

REF: OT61 45” wide Both £4.25 per metre

HIM GONE That was a quote from Dances with Wolves, when Kevin Costner was learning the Sioux language but he got a bit fed up with things. This cloth is a cloth that the Sioux warriors might have used to cover their credentials having emerged from the river having washed away the evidence of the day's toils. It is a cotton fabric with a sort of Bedford cord weave, it is plain it has been washed and scoured. I don't think it has been dyed; it is the same cloth as our Tutti Frutti. Those of you who got that would be able to tell you it is heap strong. Excellent cloth.

REF: CH16 54/56” wide £5.00 per metre

ITALIAN MIX Well, here's a can of worms. No money but plenty pasta, fastest cars, slowest payers. Fabulous country, lovely people, dreadful politicians. Great cloths. This is one of the latter. A 60” wide right royal mix of yarns wool, silk, acrylic, polyester in a light coating weight cloth in a purple and turquoise diagonal weave pattern. Fabulous!

REF: CH19 60” wide £8.50 per metre

IT DOESN'T GET MUCH BETTER

Superfine cotton lawn and with a very delicate and faint Prince of Wales type of check. The background is slightly off white and the colours making up the check are pale blue and different shades of beige, a bit too much of the same you might think but on the other hand it's awfully delicate and is extremely well made. Summer nightdresses, sarongs type garments or just a lightweight shirt all come to mind. A beautiful cloth.

REF: JU38 60” wide £4.50 per metre

There will be those of you who bought from us, donkeys years ago it now seems, some 36 in wide cotton shirting. If memory serves me right we sold that in 10 metre bolts and maybe charged £3.00. We had 10,000 metres and it flew out, as I'm sure it would today if we could get it. This might not be that cloth but it is approaching it, woven on more modern looms. I don't think it is a young cloth, 100% cotton most likely Egyptian cotton, but it could be better than that. It is pure white with a tiny diamond dobby and has a hand of silk, it almost melts, it is that delicious.

REF: OT63 60” wide. £6.00 per metre

IF THINGS DON'T CHANGE

JAGUAR

There is a saying that if things don't change they will stay the same but I'm sure in our experience it's not the case. Not much has actually got better in terms of fabric over the years and indeed much has got worse, certainly in terms of quality, but that's not true in this case. This is another Gurteen cotton trousering. My overused adjective of wonderful applies once again here, it's 98% cotton 2% lycra flannel. That's exactly what it has the feel of, an old-fashioned wool flannel even though it is made of cotton. It is woven in dark and pale grey yarns giving a lightly marled appearance to the surface, it's about the weight of a moleskin and in fact been sanded or peached finish to give it almost a moleskin feel.

REF: OT59 56” wide £5.50 per metre

A truly wonderful superfine 150's worsted wool suiting, 60” wide, in light grey with a fine white pinstripe at 5 mm intervals.

There's a small element of lycra to help with the drape but I'm blowed if it needs it.

REF: JA23 60” wide £15.00 per metre

HORSE WHISPERER

IMITATION

JERSEYS - COTTON In different weights, different widths, different colours, different texture but all beautifully made in cotton.

Medium weights: a) White b) Cream d) Pale Yellow e) Pale Blue f) Cerise g) Red REF: OT64 All at least 60” wide £5.25 per metre

Imitation silk. This particular cloth is a delightfully superfine and super soft, quite shiny fabric and we have it at the present time in a rather splendid pillar-box red.

REF: OT60 45” wide £3.75 per metre

Firm cotton poplin in salmon pink.

REF: OT66 148cm wide

IN THEM THA HILLS

JUST AS THE SUN WAS RISING

A vivid, bright golden orangey dress velvet. Beautifully soft and was a cloth that apparently never made it into garments. That tells you that nobody liked it or it was dyed a colour wrongly. I happen to think it is rather special and as a cloth it is made by the best makers in Germany, which doesn't always go down well but, prejudices apart, it is a truly fabulous cloth.

REF: JA7 60” wide £8.00 per metre

We got a little bit excited before Christmas and we decided to buy more of this, probably a bit too late to be honest as we have some left. If you are the very organised sort and get ready for Christmas in January then this fabric is perfect for a classy Christmas table cloth. It's a fabric that doesn't express itself totally in the Christmas atmosphere but it is very festive looking.

It is a fairly simple plaid design in beige with the plaid weave in dark green outlined in red, just the right colours for Christmas. It wasn't designed as a Christmas fabric, it is a ladies suiting made from poly/viscose, it has a beautiful hand.

REF: CH20 58” wide £4.00 per metre

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JUMPING JEHOSOPHAT

Offices 5 & 6, Primet Business Centre, Burnley Road, Colne, Lancashire BB8 8DQ T:01282 859281 email: info@croftmill.co.uk website: www.croftmill.co.uk

£5.50 per metre

KETTLE OF FISH

LSD

Standing next to this polyester crêpe is another cloth that says it is a crêpe. It is not. Someone has been duped. It is a very fine polyester hopsack dress fabric. There is only an odd bit of each and again it's a very drapey, easy care, non-creasing article. a) pale blue (56” wide) b) very pale lavender/silvery grey (60” wide) REF: OT67 width as above £3.50 per metre

50” wide, which is a number to conjure with in cloth terms, cotton and 5% lycra denim which is about half the weight of a normal denim and is dyed in such a way as to give it, I suppose, a mottled appearance. It is made up in the traditional way of a cream weft and blue warp but the blue in the warp is darker and lighter, which is fairly clever I suppose, to give it this different appearance. Much softer than a normal denim but just as hard wearing.

REF: OT72 50” wide £5.50 per metre

KINDERMAN On the selvedge of this cloth is printed KINDERMAN C&V CORD UND VELVETON. That's just a little hint as to where it's from. I won't describe them as famous but they are very good but even they, from time to time, can make mistakes and here is a cloth that they would appear to have made a mistake with. It's cotton with a little bit of lycra, stretch undyed velvet. This cloth hasn't had the full treatment so it hasn't got a velvet pile as such but it does have a brushed finish. It's a heavy cloth, almost a light blanket weight which will shrink certainly 10% if not a bit more when washed but when it does you will have an absolutely fabulous cloth with which to do whatever it is you want to do with it. It will be a warm backing for something, it will be wonderful as cushion covers on its own and might even make light upholstery and of course you can dye it any colour you want. Somebody has lost an awful lot of money on this cloth, even if only on the amount of cotton that has gone into it.

REF: JA20 61” wide £4.50 per metre

LACE For those things you wear under things, or on top, it is ideal. a) White - quite heavy white polyester/lycra lace in an allover floral design which stretches more lengthways than it does widthways but it does stretch in both direction.

REF: CH21a 48” wide £5.75 per metre

MÉLANGE 70% wool, 30% cashmere, soft as you like suiting in a mixture of grey, black and white yarns giving this mélange appearance. A truly fabulous cloth.

JA4 60” wide £12.50 per metre

MERRY MEN Fine lightweight cotton chino, in what I think is a wonderful shade of Lincoln green not to be confused with men in tights green nor indeed is it that kind of cloth. Very finely woven by the best trouser maker of its kind in Europe.

REF: OT73 60” wide £5.00 per metre

MINSTREL Black cotton lycra dress fabric with an all over outline floral and leaf design in white. Quite stunning.

REF: OT74 60” wide £5.50 per metre

MIRANDA

Superior leather faux furnishing in a dark brown.

OT69 60” wide £7.50 per metre

This is a polyester crêpe which has got the finest of bouclé finishes, that is to say that some of the yarn is woven into the cloth in such a way it stands ever so slightly proud of the base cloth. To do this you have to have a fairly dense cloth even though it's still quite light and very, very drapey. I don't normally like articles like this. I think it is beautiful and I can imagine this being made in silk and you wouldn't know the difference, costing £20/m or more. a) A very pleasant shade of light dusky pink b) Creamy beige.

REF: OT75 60” wide £4.00 per metre

LIBDEM

MISS HAVERSHAM

Pure new woollen suiting in a mid chocolate brown with a beige pinstripe at 18 mm (¾”) intervals. Almost a flannel in appearance and handle. Delightful.

REF: JA24 60” wide £10.00 per metre

I thought long and hard for all of half a minute before deciding you would like this cloth. It's polyester lycra stretch lace in, well basically, a black background with a fairly small abstract 'floral' pattern in muted tones of silvery grey, a bit of blue, a bit of gold, a bit beige, a bit of tan. It may have tried to cover all eventualities here. It looks very 'shawlish' if you like, Victorian shawlish might be even better but I think this will be used for lacy tops or inserts or something of that kind. Beautiful to look at and wonderful to feel.

REF: JA18 52” wide £5.00 per metre

b) Black - Also a black polyester non-stretch fine lace.

REF: CH21b 56” wide £4.75 per metre

LEATHERETTE

LIGHTWEIGHT DENIM Cotton/ lycra lightweight denim, a fairly traditional denim blue and a lovely cloth.

REF: JU15 54” wide £5.25 per metre

LINEN TOUCH

MOLESKIN

This is a 100% polyester cheese cloth which boasts on the wrapper 'linen touch'. I must confess that it has a feel totally unlike polyester but obviously it will behave and will wash and wear exactly as polyester. It doesn't crease so therefore is not exactly 'linen look' fabric but it doesn't really pretend to be. It has a lovely finish and is well worthy of your attention. Oh by the way it's in cream.

REF: OT71 45” wide £3.95 per metre

We have a selection of moleskin and moleskin type cloths, some heavier than others. I will start with the heaviest. a) A sumptuous fabric in a light mushroom/brown colour, traditional hunting shooting fishing weight. £10.00 per metre. I know that might have made you wince, but you need to see the cloth. I have, it's beautiful. We have approximately 15 metres, 60 in wide.

REF: OT76a 60” wide £10.00 per metre

Offices 5 & 6, Primet Business Centre, Burnley Road, Colne, Lancashire BB8 8DQ T:01282 859281 email: info@croftmill.co.uk website: www.croftmill.co.uk

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b) Not nearly so heavy, is a brown and darker brown twill weave moleskin, which I suppose looks like a fine diagonal stripe even though it isn't. You get diagonal stripes in the weaving process using different coloured yarns. Only 10 to 15 metres of this. £7.50 per metre REF: OT76b 60” wide c) A tanny brown of which we have only 10 metres. £6.00 per metre REF: OT76c 60” wide

MOON RIVER I think this is a cloth that Holly Golightly would wear; it is a vaguely eccentric viscose dress fabric in black with a whole mish mash of woven fine stripes upon which is then printed a black and pink abstract, quite large, floral pattern. It is very much another one-off effort by this designer garment maker and because it is viscose, there is a fair amount of weight in it. So it's going to hang beautifully. The stripes are horizontal which might make a difference but the print is top to bottom. It is on purpose I assure you. As a decorative shawl it's perfect; as a skirt it's perfect; as a dress I'm not so sure. It might be just a little bit too much. A glorious fabric.

REF: OT77 60” wide £6.00 per metre

MAFIOSO Cotton velvet, in black with a fine white stripe at 1” intervals running down the cloth. Fairly substantial without being too heavy and has a slight sheen to the finish. Probably used in dressing gowns at some point but would make quite nice tops I think.

REF: CH31 60 “ wide £5.50 per metre

NAU This is a polyester/ viscose 'linen look' lightweight pale blue summer trousering/suiting. There are a number of articles claiming to be 'linen look'; I suppose this whilst just being another one is just a tad different. It has a slight sheen to the overall surface, is very handleable and does not crease like linen does and is a very easy care fabric. I don't think it's just another cloth but not bad at this price.

REF: OT79 60 “ wide £5.00 per metre

ON THE OTHER HAND If however, you are a person who favours dark brown, in addition to the dark brown corduroys and sueded cottons we have elsewhere, we have these: a) Dark brown hopsack - absolutely splendid, light weight, 60% wool, 40% polyester, very fine hopsack suiting in as dark a brown as you can get. If Stanley was meeting Livingstone in the jungle and either one of them wore this, they would have never met. Lovely cloth from a good Yorkshire mill. b) Pale brown hopsack - Incidentally if you are not a dark brown person we also have it in a pale brown, not khaki, not fawn but a pale brown.

REF: JA10 Both 60” wide £8.50 per metre

PAISLEY Paisley has ever been out of fashion, it's has always been more than acceptable as a design, the desirability depending on the colours. Sadly this one is fairly ordinary, it's a lightweight cotton/lycra trousering in black with a big paisley design in grey.

You might think how boring, but it isn't; just because it doesn't shout at you doesn't mean it can be ignored. An interesting cloth.

REF: CH23 58” wide £5.25 per metre

PAST TIMES – PURPLY LILAC This fabric is another embroidered viscose, a fairly heavy one, not too flimsy and very drapey. A vibrant medium sized floral pattern which is busy enough for it not to matter for pattern matching. It comes in black, rich purples and lilacs, I think the fabric starts off black and the print must be a discharge so the colours of the embroidery match the pattern throughout therefore being subtle but adding a shimmer. Classy fabric in which you won’t go unnoticed.

CH24 58”wide £7.00 per metre

PERCALE White cotton rich poly/cotton percale sheeting, woven in Italy where they have a nose for fine fabrics.

REF: OT84 96” wide £6.00 per metre

NIGHTWEAR?

PERTEX

A delicate white cotton voile with a small scale pretty burnout floral design. Summer nightwear perhaps?

JA 32 56”wide £5.00 per metre

Pale blue fine waterproof Pertex polyester cloth. If pale blue is the colour you are looking for this is for you. Another waterproof fabric that doesn't come along that often.

REF: OT85 66” wide £4.00 per metre

OH NO - ITS GREY But we love it. Last year we had a super quilted sequin coating that did rather well, so well in fact we got some more, but when we opened it, it wasn't chocolate brown as expected but grey. It is a 60” wide, grey faux fur, which has been quilted to a polyester peach skin finished backcloth. The backcloth has then been embroidered and embellished with rows of tiny shiny grey sequins. Described as being reversible, who knows, you would probably want to wear the fur on the outside all the time but if you didn't you would have something that had an evening appearance.

REF: CH13 60” wide £12.00 per metre

ON YOUR MARK Don't mention that to Usain Bolt!!! Here we have a pink, cerise pink, really good weight, pure linen dress fabric. Almost the marker pen colour I've just noticed. Lovely cloth if the colour suits.

REF: OT82 £7.50 per metre

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Sampcle hsedule Delivery S We offer 5 samples free of charge. Please send us the reference number and name of the fabric you want plus the following depending on your requirements. Where there are a number of items under a reference please specify your preference; a, b, c etc. a) 1 - 5 samples, Please post your request and include a SAE. b) 6 - 10 samples £2.50 (Non refundable) c) 11 - 25 samples £5.00 (Non refundable) You can also view all of our fabrics at www.croftmill.co.uk

Offices 5 & 6, Primet Business Centre, Burnley Road, Colne, Lancashire BB8 8DQ T:01282 859281 email: info@croftmill.co.uk website: www.croftmill.co.uk

PLAIN DYED POPLIN 100% superior quality cotton poplin in red.

REF: OT86 45” wide £5.60 per metre

PLAIN POLY a) Ordinary polyester cotton shirting in a lovely shade of pale mint green. We have just 30 metres. £3.50 per metre REF: OT87 60” wide b) We also have a plain polyester satin in a very pale peach but it is a very superior article indeed.

REF: OT87 54” wide £4.00 per metre

PONTE ROMANO A variation of this old established double jersey knit cloth in that it has a stripe, in fact it has 3 very narrow fine white stripes in tandem separated by a band of black. Made in polyester/lycra I bet you didn't know where that is!! It is exceedingly strong, easy care, good to wear, REF: OT88 60” wide £5.00 per metre

POPLIN - WHITE Pure and simple 60” wide 100% white cotton poplin in brilliant white and nearly of a quality produced in this mill umpteen years ago. We will endeavour to get more of this cloth expensive though it is as is in the future it is likely to be made in China and the quality will not be as good by any stretch of the imagination.

REF: CH26 60” wide £5.25 per metre

POPLIN PRINTS Poplin upon which have been printed in pleasant and beautiful designs.

If you require samples of these please specify which ones you want as we can't sample the whole range as 1 item.

1) Tiny Rose - An off white/cream background with an all over but sparsely printed flower and green style floral rose design in a) pink b) blue 2) Pretty Pinstripe - Cream ground with triple pale blue pinstripe in between which are tiny flowers in lilac and blue with green leaves. 2 cm repeat with the stripes at 0.5 cm. More cream than blue.

3) Say it with flowers - A very pretty traditional medium scale (flowers approx 1 in) densely printed floral in; a) Slate Green ground with a rose floral print in pink d a r k red cream, pale orange and dark green. b) Black ground with a rose floral in pink cream gold and green.

4) Pretty Polka - Small polka dot (3 mm) print in pink, lemon, mint, lilac and cream on a brown ground. Randomly printed polka dots, lots of them close together, ratio of background to dots is the same. Very pretty.

5) Libby - Navy ground with an all over small contemporary ditsy floral print in pink, yellow, pale blue and pale green.

6) Beatrice - Small scale trailing scroll leaf print in cream and black. The black is printed onto the cream cloth.

7) Strawberries and Cream - Very pretty craft print with 7 mm strawberries spaced approx 1.5 cm apart on a clotted cream / very pale lemon ground.

8) Mamas and Papas - 6 mm Polka dot with 2 cm spacing.

Baby yellow, peach, pale green and pale blue spots on a white ground.

9) Polka - 6 mm Polka dot spaced at about 1.5 cm. a) White spot on cerise b) White spot on red. b) Red Polka on a white ground (Can Can) 10) The Crafty Spot - These have a tiny all over white polka dot print. a) Pale sage green b) Pale blue c) Baby pink d) Red/wine e) Dusky Pink f) Dark Navy 11) Ellen - Scrumptious fine cotton poplin. This is a striped pattern with a 1/8th inch coloured stripe and ¼ inch c r e a m stripe. In the cream stripe there are tiny little roses e v e r y ¼inch running up the stripe. This comes in 3 colourways a) Black and Cream - the Roses are red and pink and green b) Green and Cream - the Roses are pink and green c) Pink and Cream - the Roses are pink and green 12) Patch - A lovely random patchwork print made up of 2 in (5 cm) squares. The squares consist of flowers, polka dots, tiny gingham check and other abstract floral patterns. Choose from: a) Navy Blues b) Pinks c) Pale Blue d) Black Grey That doesn't sound too inspiring I know but this is the main identification colour. There is a lot of cream in them, there are also lots of tones of the colours and they all have pink flowers in them. They really are very pretty. As Forsyth would say, I think they are my favourite.

13) Pollyanna White - tiny black floral print on a white ground 14) Pollyanna Black - tiny black floral print on a white ground 15) Rosas cotton poplin in white with a vibrant colourful rose design in red with green. Crisp as a nine bob note.

16) Dolly - Country fresh, multi-coloured floral print on cream 17) Tammy - Tiny multi strawberry and floral print on cream All these poplins are beautifully woven and a lovely hand.

REF: OT89 45” wide £6.95 per metre

PRETTY POLLY Half decent poly/cotton cloth with the following prints: a) A pink, green, pale blue, white yellow tiny all-over floral design on a cream ground b) Shades of blue, green and pink floral spray design on awhite ground.

All very pretty.

REF: OT90 45” wide £4.00 per metre

PRINTED CORD Not corduroy but Bedford cord, which is pretty much like corduroy except it hasn't had the raising of the ribs in the cord a) Off White, not quite white, not quite cream with a small floral rose spray pattern, in pink, dark green, a little bit of tan and a darker pink in some of the flowers. b) Navy Blue, with an all over tiny floral print in different blues from very pale to not as dark as the background blue. This also has lycra.

REF: CH27 56” wide £4.50 per metre

Offices 5 & 6, Primet Business Centre, Burnley Road, Colne, Lancashire BB8 8DQ T:01282 859281 email: info@croftmill.co.uk website: www.croftmill.co.uk

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RED BULL

SEERSUCKER

60% wool and 40% polyester bright red cavalry twill suiting.

Born and bred in Yorkshire so quite firm and a bit awkward.

REF: OT95 60” wide £8.50 per metre

As summery as you are going to get, this 100% cotton seersucker which is a bit of a rarity is an 1/8 of an inch check in a) pink and white b) pale blue and white Both would look ever so pretty in a tiny dress with puff sleeves.

REF: OT97 45” wide £5.60 per metre

RIPSTOP So named because it's supposed to not tear beyond a certain point which is created in the weave, which is a bit of a wide mesh as it were, it is actually in ¼ inch squares. This particular cloth is off-white, is perfect for shower curtains or light weight shower-proof articles. Obviously very strong, but not found very often these days. It would also be very useful for lining toilet bags or perhaps baby mats. If I am not careful I can talk myself into believing this cloth is worth a fortune so I'll stop before you get worried.

REF: JA17 40” wide £2.50 per metre

ROSE AND HUBBLE As I was saying to myself only the other day there is never a right time for anything, you just have to do your best with what's given to you. Sadly I have failed with that maxim but I am still trying. We have 60” wide beautiful tana lawn cloths on which are printed some old Rose and Hubble designs. They have been made as a sop to those who want Liberty lawns but don't want to pay the price. This cloth is as good so what do we have: a) Jolie - a navy blue background with an all-over floral print in other shades of blue with cream and a little taupe in the flower heads and indeed in some of the stems adjoining the flowers. b) Simone - a cream ground with pretty much the same design but not quite. It is in the same shades of blue, green, mushroom, taupe in the flowers foliage and stems. c) Maribel - a slightly different cream, a little richer cream this time. The all-over floral print is in rust, pink, mushroom, taupe and different shades of green in the foliage and the stems. d) Pippi - a black a very pretty all-over floral design in pinks, blues, mauves, lilac and tones of mustard with some cream. e) Odette - exactly the same design and colours as d) but this time on a navy blue background. f) Aurelie - a typical Rose and Hubble design, cream background and pink, blue, pale mustard, tones of green, and a hint of lilac in the floral decoration. g) Valerie - pale airforce sort of blue with a small floral decoration in pink, lilac, lemon, white and some green in the foliage. h) Anais - another cream ground with a floral bouquet design in pinks, greens, mustard, lilac and blue. i) Gigi - and lastly a more gentle design very much the same, but the floral pattern is not as dense as one or two of the previous ones. This is in cream with delicate blues, greens, pinks, light lemon and mustard in the decoration.

Beautiful, nothing beats these designs. Fill your boots at REF: CH28 60” wide £9.95 per metre

SADIE Fern green, it says on the label 98% cotton 2% lycra, lightweight moleskin made up of finer yarns than all the others and brushed slightly less. Possibly more in the way of a shirting moleskin.

Don't let that put you off; it is still a good weight.

REF: OT96 £5.00 per metre

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SEVERIANO Cotton moleskin with cavalry twill weave in khaki and a very soft finish. You will gather from the title that it is Spanish Last bit.

REF: OT98 60” wide £5.60 per metre

SHEETING Not exactly like discovering a 6.2-carat diamond but in its own way just as comforting. This is 50/50 poly/cotton and we have it in three colours; B) White REF: OT99 94” wide £5.00 per metre

SHINE ON Gold or silver lame. For decoration, for dress, for furnishing even. High gloss mirror finish. a) Gold b) Silver REF: CH29 44” wide £4.25 per metre

SLIP SLIDING SATIN Heavy duty satin, with a fantastic sheen and a great body in emerald green. If you are into theatricals then this is a cloth that will be seen at the back of any auditorium never mind the school hall.

REF: 0T101 45” wide £3.50 per metre Some slight Seconds at £2.00 per metre

SOFT OPTION Cotton moleskin, in a mixture of navy blue and grey yarns. The back of the cloth looks to be all blue but the face where it has been raised is highlighted with grey in it, so it is a grey/ blue cloth at the end of it all. A soft hand and good weight but not too heavy, a bit of a corker.

REF: OT103 60” wide £6.00 per metre

SOMETHING FOR THE WEEKEND Cotton/lycra shirting in a stripe design, indeed it is quite a bold stripe incorporating the colours pink, turquoise, green, purple and other shades of greens and pinks thrown in. The weave is an intricate rope stitch design, there is a lot going on in the fabric and in addition it stretches. Something I'm sure you will want to get your teeth into. Caroline does not like it particularly, she thinks I'm mad but you have been in touch with my mad side before haven't you. Super cloth beautifully made.

REF: OT104 52” wide £4.50 per metre

SPICE OF LIFE Cotton madras stripe trousering in white/cerise pink. A very good cloth woven just down the road from here a fair while ago

by Carrington Viyella.

REF: OT106 60” wide £5.50 per metre

Offices 5 & 6, Primet Business Centre, Burnley Road, Colne, Lancashire BB8 8DQ T:01282 859281 email: info@croftmill.co.uk website: www.croftmill.co.uk

SOMETHING STIRRING Where do I begin? First of all it is 57” wide, secondly it's made of a mixture of polyester, viscose and a little bit of something else with which I am unfamiliar so sadly you too will have to remain unfamiliar but it's not life-threatening or anything like that, it's quite likely to be acrylic but it is only a small amount. The cloth itself is a big plaid check; the basic colours are burnt orange, damson, black and beige with other little bits of highlights in a shinier yarn in silver and then there is a woven chenille raised fine stripe in a grey/green. One of these cloths they don't make a great deal of and perhaps you can understand why. I think it will make wonderful jackets, possibly light furnishings but it wasn't made for that. It is an apparel fabric and it is REF: OT105 57” wide £5.00 per metre

STRETCH VELVET 98% cotton with 2% lycra velveteen, either a) Black B) Dark chocolate brown Reasonable weight even though it is quite fine and it is REF: CH30 60” wide £10.00 per metre

ST TRINIAN'S Quite splendid, poly viscose trousering. Not too exciting but very good cloth. Great for uniforms in school grey REF: OT108 60” wide £4.50 per metre

STILL TO COME So where were we? Oh yes I was about to describe this particular cloth to you. Words failed me last evening but now I'm back on track. Black velvet (in this instance I am not referring to the Guinness and champagne drink) or really even to a black velvet cloth which at first glance I thought this was but it isn't. It is a 100% cotton trousering which has a velvet finish, beautifully soft but only very lightly brushed as opposed to raised. Really is outstanding.

REF: OT109 60” wide £6.00 per metre

STRIPED TAFFETA - NOW IN PINK I am not absolutely certain that this cloth isn't a lining, if it's a lining it's a stormer, if it's for skirts, waistcoats, bodices, that type of thing, it's extremely good. Basically it is a grey and pink stripe with finer silver and pink stripes bordering the wider main coloured stripes. I hope this makes sense. It is a great cloth, a nice hand. 100% polyester.

REF: OT110 60” wide £4.50 per metre

perhaps the most closely woven fabric you are ever likely to see, and it is this for the most part, which gives it its waterproofness.

Don't tell me that's not a proper word I know it isn't. Made from polyester, it is breathable, windproof and waterproof and it comes in the one colour you might have guessed, black. It was on a 200 metre roll which apparently needed a high-powered forklift truck to move it. We have it in 25 metre rolls and believe me they are quite something, just as well Carmen is a strong lass. It's a tad under width at 57 in wide but I am sure that's enough to do what you need.

REF: OT113 57” wide £6.00 per metre

THE LINEN COLLECTION b) A heather coloured cloth with a very faint over check in pale blue. There are actually quite a lot of different coloured yarns in the make up of this but the overall effect is heathery. c) Navy blue twill weave, lightweight suiting in navy blue with a pin stripe and dot chalk stripe in pale blue, red and white, ie, three separate stripes. d) Pale air force blue suiting made up of blue and white yarns with a muted turquoise and pink woven overcheck. e) Light navy zig zag weave with navy and white yarns with a navy pale blue windowpane check.

All these cloths have a soft hand and will obviously wear as linen wears, which is something you either love or hate but they do represent as good a lot of linens as I have seen and as you know I have been in this game for quite some time.

REF: OT115 All 60 in wide £8.50 per metre

THE SPICE OF LIFE Two 60 in wide or thereabouts, woven check cloths. a) A plain weave, the checks are in shades and tones of cream, green and mustard with fine line over-checks in all these colours plus a pale blue. A poly/wool fabric made entirely in Yorkshire, with a lovely silky soft but still firm hand.

REF: OT116a

£10.00 per metre

d) A cotton rich poly/cotton in a sort of lumberjack/viyella check in green and taupe with blue and red in the secondary check.

REF: OT116b

£5.00 per metre

SURREY WITH A FRINGE ON TOP White cotton lawn with an embroidered 'bobble' weave upon which is a pink, cerise, brown abstract floral print. Lovely finish.

OT111 140cm wide £6.00 per metre

SEW NICE A really lovely quality poly/cotton fabric with a pretty mid sized floral design in pink, purple, turquoise, aqua and greens on a white ground. There is plenty of white ground showing and the little flowers are in various sized bunches up to 1 ½”cm - 3 ½” in size.

REF: JA33 44” wide £4.00 per metre

THE BOURNE CONTINGENCY Very much a cloth of its ilk, one that I have seen at times in the past made into things, never just as cloth. Anyway here it is,

TINKER TAILOR 60 in wide viscose/acetate “tailors linings” as follows; b) Black Polka - black satin all over polka dot design. c) Morse - Black with a tiny Morse code design. Dot, dash and tiny arrows. d) Pink Polka - Black with an all over printed tiny pink polk dot pattern e) Dusky Pink with a tiny all over dobby design. f) Pale Pink with an all over tiny dobby design. g) Pale Cream with all over smallish leaf and flower pattern.

There is not a lot of any of them but as they go we will hope to replace them with something of similar interest and in similar colours. That's our endeavour anyway.

REF: OT118 60” wide £4.25 per metre

Offices 5 & 6, Primet Business Centre, Burnley Road, Colne, Lancashire BB8 8DQ T:01282 859281 email: info@croftmill.co.uk website: www.croftmill.co.uk

11

THERE'S A PLACE FOR US Somewhere a place for us, peace and quiet and open air, wait for us somewhere. An asylum if you ask me, did I hear someone say? A place of course could be Croft Mill where sadly there's no peace and open air, just cloth, 4 walls and a roof where recently we've landed ourselves in a sea of corduroy. Some of the best corduroy is still made not a million miles away from here and goes into trousers and jackets in some of the most highly regarded men's home shopping booklets, no names, no pack drill, but they do all believe they are terribly exclusive. This little selection is the best I've come across in my time at Croft Mill. All cotton, all 60” wide and in a fair wide variety of different types of cord. Are you sitting comfortably? Here we go. a) superfine black needlecord b) fine needlecord but much heavier than the black one; this comes in a dark red c) burgundy 6 wale satin-finished cord with a softer handle in a corduroy you have ever felt d) 4 wale cord in a very dark brown, might even be the heaviest of the lot e) antique gold 6 wale cord exactly as the burgundy one mentioned previously f) 6 wale cord in a colour that is a cross between an apple green and beige g) 8 wale cord in a pale rust where one wale is slightly coarser, ie thicker, than the next one h) this is the same as g) but is in a fabulous shade of dark peach i) this is the same as g) but is in a very pale gold j) another very soft cord; this time the body of the cord being 8 wale in brown but the back cloth is green so it has a way of catching the light for it to be neither one thing or t'other but we have had this before (you may recall a couple of years ago); very classy cloth k) 6 wale cord in a soft minky grey.

REF: JA1 60” wide All £7.50 per metre

TREACLE MINES In a far off land, well not too far actually, it's probably only 3 miles from where I live, are the Sabden Treacle Mines. Totally inaccessible of course but an ideal spot for a picnic. It actually has nothing to do with treacle or mines; it's just a gently sloping old quarry which some wise old sage, in the absence of any knowledge, christened Treacle Mines and that would be, to sound right, would have to be spelled Traykel. I shall have to go and look, more to see if it is still there and has not been filled in and indeed if anyone else has had as good a time as we used to have all those years ago. Well what brought all this on is this cloth, pretty much from yesteryear, although not that old it has to be said, which is a poly/wool school wear possibly only made into short trousers, which I remember wearing all year round and having the chapped rings round my legs from my wellies.

We couldn't afford socks you see. 45% wool, 55% Terylene in clerical grey which gives you an indication of the pedigree and in fact was made by a very famous Yorkshire mill.

REF: OT120 60” wide £4.50 per metre

TROOPING A COLOUR Cotton lawn with a vivid brown, black, white, orange and yellow 'African' print. For pattern think D V Furstenburg.

REF: OT121 145cm wide £6.00 per metre

TUTTI FRUITTI This cloth harks back a little to the Teddy boy era. Why that came to mind I'm not sure except that it's a cloth that was of its kind and was originally about in that era. It is a Bedford cord cotton; I

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can't be certain what it was intended to be because it is in three magnificent colours, bright yellow, lime and orange. We only have the yellow left.

A very strong cloth, though not too heavy perhaps. It will make summer shorts or even a little jacket and I can see this being hard wearing enough to cover chairs or curtains for a child's room. A cloth to gladden the heart.

REF: OT122 60” wide £5.50 per metre

TWO HEARTS A very simple and lovely ditsy all over heart pattern on superb cotton poplin. A nice but darkish red print on a cream ground.

The hearts are in cream surrounded by the red which has tiny dots throughout.

JA 31 45in wide £6.50 per metre

TWO T'S It's always a good time to have good stuff even if it is a bit unseasonal. Two rather tasty green cotton trouserings have found their way into my keeping. There's too much for me so I want you to have some. Both with a lovely soft hand. a) 60” wide, 2% Elastane, Pale apple green, lightly sanded twill in a medium weight. b) 63” wide Sage green Bedford cord which has had the same treatment.

REF: OT124 60” wide Both £6.50 per metre

UTTERLY BUTTERY 60 in wide at least. A poly/wool suiting in a plaid design made up of a green and navy blue check, which would normally be the basic check similar to the Black Watch tartan and then with a woven over-check in pale blue and red. The over-check is made of fine lines, a double fine line in the case of pale blue and a single in the case of the red. The red is not a bright red. A beautifully soft cloth with excellent wearing properties.

REF: OT126 60” wide £7.50 per metre

VAN DELDEN Poly/cotton, this time in a darker beige which because of the fineness in the weave and the finest coatings is actually water repellent so this makes excellent summer walking or anorak gear, very light weight: The very best Van Delden in Holland you would pay £60+ if you bought Rohan or Northface trousers in this.

REF: OT127 60” wide £4.50 per metre

VELVET CORD Ridiculously fine cotton cord, with a velvet finish.

Without lycra. a) Pale beige b) Brown With lycra. c) Pale blue d) Navy e) Pale pink The pale beige and brown are lighter in weight than the others.

Super, smashing, great!

REF: OT128 60” wide All are £5.25 per metre

VELVETEEN Something that I have not seen before. A printed cord; the back cloth is a very pale beige but it has something akin to a very, very fine Prince of Wales check printed upon it in dark brown with the back beige cloth showing through, so from a distance it looks fairly dark but close to it gets paler and doesn't look at all like a check, it looks as though it has been mottled. Very, very nice and very clever too.

REF: JA22 £7.50 per metre

Offices 5 & 6, Primet Business Centre, Burnley Road, Colne, Lancashire BB8 8DQ T:01282 859281 email: info@croftmill.co.uk website: www.croftmill.co.uk

VICTORIANA

WHAT A GAY DAY

I am not so sure why I thought this cloth reminded me of Queen Victoria and that era but it does, pretty much as a paisley shawl reminds me of that time. This however is a lace, very delicate lace in a pinky beige, which has been adjoined nay even lightly quilted onto a beige cotton lining. Somebody has gone to a fair bit of trouble to get this right. We haven't a great deal of it. I think it will make bustiers, waistcoats or perhaps even a long frock.

REF: CH32 52” wide £7.00 per metre

Superb cotton lawn with a bold and positive large floral design in dark brown, white, orange, cerise and purple. Stunning.

Originally for M&S. REF: OT132 60” wide £6.00 per metre

VINTAGE I think these fabrics are a bit of a find. They are 100% spun rayon (viscose), they are only 91 cm (or a yard) wide which means pretty much they have been woven on narrower looms, since they don't make them any more, there is a chance that these cloths are reasonable old, hence the vintage bit. The second thing that suggests they are vintage are the prints. They don't allegiance to anyone and have obviously been invented to compete at some point in time of popular designs of a similar nature. The cloth itself is wonderful, has a beautiful soft hand and is quite heavy and unless something changes we only have an odd 30 metres of each one. a) Edie - A black ground with a medium sized all-over floral pattern in mauve, orange, white and brown. c) Jean - A darkish background with a different medium sized floral design, this time in lilac, burnt orange, mustard, white and a dark red. The flowers are in clusters or a spray and in between these clusters are some geometric lines in contrasting, indeed matching, colours. d) Pattie - The same design as c) but this time in a medium sort of blue (or French Navy perhaps) cloth with the floral clusters in orange, white, lime green and a colour between mauve and purple and the lines adjoining the clusters are in matching colours. e) Peggy - The same design as c) but this time on a green background with floral decoration in lilac, mauve, taupe, green and grey. f) Twiggy - The same design as c) but this time on a black background with the floral decoration in blue, mauve, mustard, white and grey. g) Mia - Different to all the rest, a black cloth with a medium floral and some abstract design in orange, purple, light mustard and white.

I'll wager if these were in clothes in a vintage clothes shop they might cost a bob or two.

REF:JA 30 £3.50 per metre

VW Just as we thought summer had gone for ever we got a little burst and so it seems appropriate to start with a little burst of a cloth, a 60” wide almost, I lie it is 57” wide, 100% Irish linen with a quite large bohemian floral print in black on a lemon, cream and dark shades of green background with turquoise, blue and other little bits of colour thrown in. Who am I to say Vivien Westwood as an ordinary lad from Lancashire? But it is rather flamboyant and very striking.

REF: OT130 57” wide £7.50 per metre

WAFFLE Waffle weave cotton rich poly/cotton shirting in white. Heavy enough, because of the weave, to make shorts or perhaps trousers from a blast from the past.

REF: OT131 60” wide £4.00 per metre

WHEN IN ROME I suppose the old adage of when in Rome do as the Romans do pretty much applies everywhere except perhaps when certain people go abroad and certain people arrive here and behave without any consideration for anyone leads to bother. This is a sort of gladiatorial fabric I found by mistake.

It is a lightweight cotton canvas in a sludgy sort of brown on one side and adding to its problems has been dyed a darker chocolate brown on the other side, thus making it a reversible cloth. Well made, with a good hand, not stiff but extremely strong and as I said earlier quite lightweight.

REF: JU99 60” wide £6.00 per metre

WHEN THE BOAT COMES IN This is another 54” wide silk satin, different from Prima Donna in that this is a softer finished cloth. It is in white with a large floral or abstract floral design, in purples, green, orange, black and turquoise. A design that Caroline in her pomp would have been proud of.

OT133 REF: 54” wide £8.50 per metre

WHITE MISCHIEF Beautifully made fine cotton crêpe in off-white. Soft as the proverbial. Gorgeous.

REF: OT134 60” wide £5.50 per metre

WINCEYETTE Cotton winceyette shirting/pyjama cloth in either; a) Pink with a white scrawling floral pattern or b) Pale blue with the same white scrawling floral pattern.

Not the best Lancashire winceyette by any stretch of the imagination, but very much more than adequate.

REF: OT134 45” wide £4.00 per metre

WILD MONTANA SKY I've no personal experience of a wild Montana sky; I have heard about it in song and seen some of it in old films and read about in the odd Western book that I have read, e.g. Lonesome Dove.

This is a very dark chocolate brown, sueded cotton. I am tempted to call it a light weight moleskin and, if you want to, you can. I'll just stick with sueded cotton. It has a wonderful sheen to the finish and might just possibly been worn as an over shirt in a cold climate. Just beautiful.

REF: JA5 60” wide £6.00 per metre

YOU DON’T BRING ME FLOWERS There is a touch of the Rita Hayworth about this cloth; it has the hand, almost, of a soft cotton and will drape beautifully and doesn't crease. It is in fact a loosely woven polyester and comes in a large and extremely colourful floral print in red, yellow, blue and green on a white ground. Gerumptulous.

REF: OT135 60” wide £5.00 per metre Due to our new location it is not possible for large groups to visit, however, if only a few want to come we welcome you, but give us a call u! to arrange a time.

Thank yo

Offices 5 & 6, Primet Business Centre, Burnley Road, Colne, Lancashire BB8 8DQ T:01282 859281 email: info@croftmill.co.uk website: www.croftmill.co.uk

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The Basics

10) Navy Blue 13) Burgundy

11) Pale Blue

12) Red

X12 ZIPS - DRESS X1 BLACKOUT CURTAIN LINING 60 in wide standard blackout curtain lining: £6.00 per metre

22in Good Quality dress zips: £1.00 each 1) Black 2) White 3) Ivory 4) Beige 5) Navy 6) Cream 7) Grey

X2 CALICO

X13 SEWING MACHINE NEEDLES - ASSORTED

Very good quality 60 in wide unbleached medium weight cotton calico. Unfortunately the price of cotton has soared so this is now. £5.00 per metre

Pack of Assorted Sewing Machine Needles: £2.00 per pack

X3 CURTAIN LINING

Large Stitch rippers: £1.20 each

X14 STITCH RIPPERS 56 in wide sol proof cotton satin, curtain lining in ecru.

Will probably last as long as your curtains: £6.50 per metre

X15 TROUSER HOOK AND BARS Bright Metal trouser hooks and bars, 3 pairs per pack: £1.20 per pack

X4 ELASTIC, WHITE a) 5 mm wide; 10p per metre b) 10mm wide; 20p per metre c) 30 mm (1.5 in inch wide); 30p per metre

X16 TAPE MEASURES Best Quality Fibreglass tape measures in metric/imperial one side, imperial only on the other: £1.50 each

X5 INTERFACING - IRON ON

X17 THREAD - REELS

36" wide white iron on interfacing. a) Medium weight: £2.00 per metre b) Light weight: £1.80 per metre

450mtr reels of good quality sewing thread: Lots of colours we can match it for you if you like. £1.00 each

X6 INTERFACING - TRADITIONAL Cotton/ Viscose/ Horsehair/ Polyester substantial woven suiting interfacing 32in wide: £5.00 per metre

X7 HAND SEWING NEEDLES Pack of 12 assorted hand sewing needles. £2.00 per pack

X18 THREAD - CONES 5000mtr cones of 120's polyester thread. £3.00 each a) Black b) White c) Cream

X19 VELCRO a) 25mm wide black touch and close b) 20mm wide brown touch and close c) 20 mm black touch and close All £1.00 metre

X8 HEMMING WEB 4mtr Cards of hemming web: 70p each

X9 LININGS - SUPERIOR QUALITY We have good quality polyester linings to match nearly everything: White, ivory, biscuit, khaki, light brown, dark chocolate, pale grey, grey, battleship, dark grey, black, pale mint, mint, apple, pale sage, moss, bottle green, baby pink, pink, dusky pink, magenta, dark red, cerise, amethyst, dark amethyst, lilac, pale blue, royal blue, navy blue.

If you are not sure which colour you may need we are obviously more than happy to match or contrast the lining, just give us the instruction and we can pick one for you. 60in wide; £2.75 per metre

X10 RIBBON Woven edge pink satin ribbon 1in wide. 10p per metre

X11 ZIPS - SKIRT 7in Good Quality skirt zips: 40p each 1) Black 2) White 3) Cream 4) Beige 5) Ivory 6) Brown 7) Grey 8) Pale Pink 9) Green

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X20 WADDING 54in wide (2oz in old money) polyester wadding, the quilter's favourite weight it would appear: £3.50 per metre The space to stock other wadding is a problem but if you let us know what you require we will see what we can do.

X21 ZIPPADEDODAH This is a list of zips that have arrived as a job lot, most of them concealed zips and in a fair old variety of colours. All nylon all YKK and they are as follows; Concealed 23cm long (9"). a) Black b) Very Dark Navy c) White d) Off White e) Red f) Cerise g) Purple h) Coral i) Sage j) Jade Non-concealed (ie the ordinary) 20 cm (8”) long l) Navy m) Dark Navy Big choice in this one!

All one price 50p each, and that's cheap.

Offices 5 & 6, Primet Business Centre, Burnley Road, Colne, Lancashire BB8 8DQ T:01282 859281 email: info@croftmill.co.uk website: www.croftmill.co.uk

O R D E R

F O R M

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C

Your Name Address

Offices 5 & 6, Primet Business Centre, Burnley Road, Colne, Lancashire BB8 8DQ Tel: 01282 859281 email: info@croftmill.co.uk www.croftmill.co.uk Company Registered in England N0: 6817088 Vat Number 998 4484 40

REF No.

OT90

QTY.

A

1

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Date

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Email: Your email is used for payment and courier confirmation where necessary. If you would like to hear about what is happening at Croft Mill, new products and offers then please tick this box.

DESCRIPTION OR REFERENCE

Pretty Polly - Pink

UNIT PRICE

4

Example

£

p

4

00

OFFICIAL USE ONLY Date received

CHQ

PO

C

New Customer

Yes

No

Email Newsletter

Yes

No

Postal Catalogue

Yes

No

Invoice issued Amount £

:

No.

Amount £

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RM

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Special requests, samples, etc.

Should any item you require be out of stock or unavailable, should we: (please tick) Send alternative cloth of similar nature?

Or refund amount due?

METHODS OF PAYMENT Most cards accepted including: S W I TC H

CHQ/PO payable to CROFT MILL UK LTD TOTAL COST OF GOODS ADD POST & PACK (UK mainland only)

£5 95

TOTAL COST

Valid From

Expiry Date

P & P is £5.95 to the UK Mainland only. This excludes the Scottish Highlands and Islands, Isle of Man, Isles of Scilly, and Northern Ireland. A full list of weights and our P & P charges for these destinations and others is available at www.croftmill.co.uk or alternatively please phone us and we will be happy to advise you of the cost. Depending on the weight it could the same as the standard charge.

Issue No.

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Office Use - Transaction ID Telephone orders may be placed using the above Debit/Credit cards.

Offices 5 & 6, Primet Business Centre, Burnley Rd, Colne, Lancs BB8 8DQ

We have incorporated the address label in the order form - please help us to speed up the despatch of your order by filing in your full name and postal address alongside - this will be used when sending your parcel.

We found ourselves with a space here. An entire page, hecky thump! So now it is filled with pictures, nervously I hasten to add as previous experience has led me to believe they may not come out too well. Fingers crossed!

A RUSH OF BLOOD - OT4

ITALIAN MIX - CH19 A TIME AND A PLACE - OT5 JAGUAR - JA23

COTTON LAWN - Tula JA8c

POPLIN PRINTS - OT89

FANCY THAT - CH10a

ROSE AND HUBBLE - CH28 d,i,g,e,b

FUR FABRIC - JA16c

VINTAGE - Twiggy JA17f

IN THEM THA HILLS - JA7

YOU DON’T BRING ME FLOWERS - OT135

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Offices 5 & 6, Primet Business Centre, Burnley Road, Colne, Lancashire BB8 8DQ T:01282 859281 email: info@croftmill.co.uk website: www.croftmill.co.uk