Inside the Vault

News, Makes and Moments from The Fabric Vault

Issue 05 – May 2026

A note from the Vault

May finished with a bit of a heatwave – temperatures around 30 degrees! Hopefully you managed to stay cool. We were chatting to several customers who had been sewing outside in the garden in the shade to escape the heat. No doubt it will get colder again and we’ll be moaning about rain in June!

Last Months at The Fabric Vault

May certainly was a busy month (again)

May started with a Bank Holiday and that meant that we were at Lichfield Cathedral to launch our Poppy Project. This also coincidentally combined with the first day of “The Longest Yarn” exhibition at the Cathedral so there were certainly lots of people present to keep Dagmar and our volunteers happy.

As always we love it when anyone comes in to the shop and shares details of what they have made and show us pictures or are wearing self made garments as well as bringing in part finished quilts etc to show us.

In the shop, we have been busy with lessons and workshops and also we saw some amazing new fabrics at one of our suppliers – lots of them were gorgeous dressmaking fabrics and we may just have ordered a little bit! Keep an eye on our social media for updates.

This month we have been making items to wear – these were related to our Poppy Project and used a Tapestry fabric along with suedette and cotton to create garments for us to wear when promoting the project. Dagmar made herself a dress and skirt and John made a waistcoat – our lovely volunteers were also kept busy and produced waistcoats, skirts and aprons to wear.

Then to finish the month, we were back at the Cathedral for another Bank Holiday and 3 days of the half term holidays where again people could come and join us to drop off or make poppies. It was great being inside the cool Cathedral whilst it was sweltering outdoors.

Make of the Month ✂

At The Fabric Vault, we’ve continued to tell our customers about our make of the month.

If you haven’t heard yet, this is where we invite you to send in pictures of items that you’ve made with material purchased from our shop. This may be bags, quilts, clothing and much more.

The first one is from Julie (our regular contributor to Make of the Month :-). This time Julie used two completely different fabrics again. On the left is our beautiful viscose from Hungary. Isn’t it gorgeous? Do you remember last month when she made a top from the same fabric in a different colourway? She is definitely getting ready for summer.

In the next photos, Julie has used our William Morris Polyester Silk along with a new pattern. She’s certainly not making life easy for herself this time – silk and ruffles!

The second “Make of the month” we would like to share with you today is photo of us and our “Poppy volunteers”. Everyone made their own garment. For some of them it was first time making a garment, some of us were a bit more experienced.

If you’d like to see your makes featured, please email them to John: [email protected] or WhatsApp them to us at the Fabric Vault.

Classes, Workshops & Learning

Dagmar has yet again been working hard behind the scenes on planning more lessons and organising lessons into the diary. She has also been adapting those on our website to make it easier for you to see the content of lessons as well as make it easier to book; Book Now

We offer a wide range of lessons, from complete beginners taking their first stitches to experienced sewists looking to learn new techniques. You can find more details of lessons by popping in the shop or checking out the lessons section on our website; View all Lessons

This time we have photos of “concentrating hard”

What’s Coming Next?

Hopefully you may be thinking of Summer Holidays or maybe even thinking further ahead to autumn and winter items to make – we are also always having to think ahead when ordering and have been thinking about the “C” word – as always when new arrivals turn up, we like to share these with you on social media – we are on Facebook, Instagram and Tiktok – content does vary on these – so please have a look if you get the chance.

As always, our Sewing Retreat Days of 2026 continue – our next one will be on Sunday 14^th June. Dagmar has been working hard on the booking system for this on our website so that it allows you to book and pay in instalments for the Sew Relaxing days rather than have to pay the full amount in one go – please look on our website for further info and as we speak, there are still a few spaces available! Sewing Retreat Days

From the Community

After the Table Runner Project was completed, the Poppy Project began, this will now continue to run in the background and more info and dates can be found at; Poppies Project

What is exciting for us though is that even though the Table Runner project was completed, that isn’t the end of it! Many of you have been asking us, “Where is the runner now?”, “When will it be displayed?”, “What’s happening with the runner?”

Well, we’ve been busy behind the scenes again! – Dagmar has been incredibly organised and busy and what began as Common Threads — a collaborative community project creating a table runner for the Table for the Nation at Lichfield Cathedral — has now grown into something truly extraordinary.

Over 864 handmade squares, created by people of all ages and backgrounds, were brought together to form a remarkable 15-metre community table runner filled with stories, memories, creativity, and connection.

Now preserved by the newly formed Community Table Runner Project Charity, the runner continues its journey beyond the Cathedral through exhibitions, talks, workshops, and community displays.

Find out more about Table Runner

And best of all, we can announce that the Table Runner can now be seen in all its glory in Lichfield Cathedral until 5th July 2026.

Thanks for reading, we hope that you’ve enjoyed this edition of “Inside the Vault”

With stitches and thanks,

Dagmar & John