Vintage beaded trims and Betty Foster's dress making books

At RAG RESCUE website tomorrow

Pretty vintage fabrics tomorrow at Rag Rescue

Rag Rescue website

Lots of vintage buttons to brighten up the Christmas Season

At Rag Rescue tomorrow

Article in Craft Business magazine - all about the Rag Rescue business.

 

On the Shopfloor

After discovering a trunk full of 1840s clothing, Sandie Kerensky decided to put her passion for textiles to good use and launch a business like no other. Read on for her inspirational story

Having worked as a special needs teacher for more than 18 years, I had grown tired of the increasing amount of time I was spending handling the managerial side of things and decided to throw caution to the wind and try something new. I was 45 years old and although it was a huge risk, I knew it was ultimately the right thing for me to do.

From a very young age, I always had a very keen interest in textiles and soon began working with my husband selling antiques. It was an amazing experience and we would literally go from one fair to another to see what we could find. However, it was not until 1996 when I came across an old trunk full of fabulous 1840s clothing, that the idea for Rag Rescue really took hold.

Following my discovery, I spent the next two weeks going through all the mesmerising items I had found to see if there was anything I could rescue. The costumes themselves were simply awe inspiring and although many of them were in a terrible state and had certainly seen better days, I was amazed at the vast amount of components – buttons, ribbons and scraps of fabric, for instance – that I was able to salvage from them.

On a mission to ensure they went to a good home, but also curious to discover whether they could present a profitable opportunity for me, I decided to take them to a couple of fairs and see if they generated any interest. The response was simply extraordinary and before long I had everyone from dealers and collectors, to designers and students asking for my goods.

Realising that I could be on to something big, I quickly began looking for other distressed fabrics, such as laces, trimmings and ribbons, that I could sell and eventually decided to launch my own website, Rag Rescue, two and a half years ago.

An Innovative Idea
Specialising in one-of-a-kind, vintage haberdashery items, the store now boasts everything from salvaged embellishments, trimmings and lace work, to rediscovered sewing cottons, silks, embroideries and needles – many of which are simply impossible to find else where.

Materials tend to come from the unlikeliest of places and I find I will often come across the most amazing products when I least expect it. However, that is not to say I am not always on the lookout for things to rescue and I spend a great deal of my time visiting house clearances, auctions, antique fairs and car-boot sales to see what I can discover. I also have many people contacting me directly to say they have recently cleared out an old relatives attic and were wondering whether I would want to see if there might be anything of interest.   

Rag Rescue certainly is not your everyday craft store and while we might sell many of the same things as traditional haberdashery outlets, the fact that our goods have been salvaged and boast such a strong and fascinating history definitely makes them stand out. 

People's perceptions have really changed over the past few years and while there will always be customers looking for the latest products and materials, most generally seem to be moving away from many of the newer, more contemporary haberdashery items on the market and gravitating towards truly authentic, vintage materials from the past instead.

Environmental matters have also become increasingly important and people are now far more interested in where their goods have come from and whether or not they have been recycled than they were before – something which has definitely worked to our advantage.

I now have customers from all over the world purchasing their materials from me and tend to do a lot of business with people in Japan, Australia, Germany, New Zealand and Europe. America has also become a surprisingly strong market for us and we seem to have developed a huge following overseas, which is great. Having said that, the UK is definitely still our biggest area.

Customers use the materials for a range of different purposes and I am often amazed at just how inventive they can be. We really do attract a very varied demographic and while we get a lot of trade from professionals – dealers, antique collectors and designers, for example – we also appeal to an astonishing number of young shoppers as well, particularly art and fashion students who will usually continue buying their goods from us once they are established and also frequently recommend the store to their fellow colleagues and friends. Of course, crafters also account for a large part of our business and we literally have everyone from quilters and sewing enthusiasts, to embroiders and dressmakers shopping with us.

Hurdles to Overcome
As a complete newcomer to the industry, the greatest challenge for me has been getting my head around the internet and advertising side of things. It has definitely not been easy and is something I have pretty much had to start learning from scratch. Fortunately, my previous interest in textiles meant I had a good understanding of that aspect of the business, so I wasn't totally clueless!

Luckily, we have been given some great media coverage in the press since our launch and although we are still nowhere near as well known as we would like to be, we have certainly done our best to get our name out there. However, it has been difficult and there is still a lot more we would like to do to ensure people know who we are and what we are known for.

Of course, cash flow is always a problem and the overhead costs of visiting fairs can be extremely expensive. At the moment, we attend around two or three a month and have to fork out about £500 each time, which isn't cheap! 

The economic downturn has also been an obstacle and although we have not been affected by it personally, I have definitely noticed a change in our customers' behaviour and, whereas in the past most people would purchase as many items as they wanted from us during their visits to the site, we are now finding that shoppers are being more cautious and only buying one or two products at a time. They are also being a lot more careful about the choices they make and testing the waters before making their decisions.

Fortunately, we do not appear to have suffered at all so far and have actually experienced a massive boost in our sales over the past year, which is pretty amazing given the current climate. In fact, we are now selling approximately 500 to 600 of our items each month and have seen our customer base increase enormously since we launched.

Brighter Musings
At the moment, our smaller fabrics seem to be the most in favour, with consumers mixing and matching different materials to come up with their own designs. We are also seeing a growing number of people incorporate our accessories into their everyday garments – stitching old buttons onto new jackets, for example – to create something completely unique.

Our vintage French toile is also incredibly popular right now and literally sells out as soon as it goes on sale, with other materials from France also doing especially well. Anything from the 50s or 60s is also very much in favour and we are always on the lookout for new things from forgotten eras that we can stock.

Generally speaking, there seems to be a lot of interest in vintage clothing and materials at the moment and a number of different factors – the economy and environment, in particular – are encouraging a growing number of people to make their own things. Whether it's sewing an old ribbon onto one of their t-shirts or making an entire quilt out of scraps of old fabrics, customers are definitely more interested in reusing previously-owned items than they once were, which is great.

At present, I am really enjoying running the business and plan to put all my efforts into making it as successful as I possibly can. For me, Rag Rescue has never been about generating a big profit – although that is, of course, important – but ensuring that some of the world's most beautiful, hand-crafted pieces are not forgotten, but enjoyed, valued and recognised for as long as possible.”

Vintage Briggs Penelope fibre embroidery silks.

These beautiful silks are vintage and from Briggs Penelope range. They are made of vegetable fibre, well wood pulp actually. The label reads brighter than silk and they really do shine.

All being listed this morning at 7am at the RAG RESCUE WEBSITE

Great vintage furnishing fabrics for cushions and bags at Rag Rescue

Four wonderful vintage furnishing fabrics will be listed at the Rag Rescue website tomorrow

RAG RESCUE website

French vintage fabric toile - Childs play series

I've called the above five pieces of French vintage fabric toile, Childs play as I don't know the exact name of the design. Just thought it described them well.

Really great designs to add to your quilt, journal or postcards etc. As I only had five washed and ironed I've added another Arts and Crafts designed embroidery as the other one has sold quickly.

All will be listed tomorrow morning at 7am

at

Rag Rescue Website

Congratulations to William and Kate - start designing your wedding crafts to sell before the big day. I'll be looking out for those special fabrics and trims.

Vintage fabric

The above items will be listed tomorrow 16th November at 7am

Back from my trip to Liverpool

Vintage goods being listed tomorrow at Rag Rescue

Thanks to everyone for being patient and waiting for your orders to be posted tomorrow.

The weekend  was superb in Liverpool, especially the production of the John Lennon play as well as the Japanese and Turkish meals we had. Our Japanese friend and her husband made us very welcome and I feel very refreshed now, or at least will do tomorrow when I've had a good night's sleep.

Back to work tomorrow and there will be lots of lovely items coming up this week.

Vintage fabrics being listed at rag Rescue on Saturday and Sunday

I am going away for a weekend break so am showing the items that will be listed on Saturday and Sunday. All orders will be posted on Monday morning.

Items being listed on the RAG RESCUE WEBSITE on Saturday 13th November

Items being listed on Sunday 14th November 

More lovely vintage fabric scrapbags

These items will be listed tomorrow at the RAG RESCUE WEBSITE

Vintage fabric squares at Rag Rescue tomorrow

More pretty squares for you to use.

RAG RESCUE WEBSITE

Vintage fabric scrapbags only £3.50 each

If you have only just discovered the Rag Rescue website why not look through the vintage fabric scrapbag section. Each scrapbag contains four pieces of vintage fabric each piece measuring 18cms x 12cms, all for only £3.50

I have sold hundreds of these scrapbags over the past 6 months and all customers have been delighted with them. They are great for a whole variety of crafts, design work and patchwork.

The above six scrapbags will be added to the website tomorrow morning at 7am.

Kaffe Fasset amongst the vintage fabrics

Gorgeous Kaffe Fassett book, Vintage French toile and pretty scrappy parcels.

All at the RAG RESCUE WEBSITE tomorrow

Rose designed vintage fabric squares from the 1930/40's

All cotton vintage fabric squares from the 1930s and 1940's.

These vintage fabrics come from the French German border and many of them are made from Egyptian cotton so I am told, which is why they have lasted so well and in such good condition.

All at Rag Rescue tomorrow

Beautiful pink vintage fabric scrapbags with floral designs and tiny pink roses.

Tomorrow is the start of another vintage fabric week. I will be listing beautiful English, French and German vintage fabrics in the form of scrapbags, squares and scrappy parcels.

Pink is the colour scheme of next week, with fabulous floral designs including lots of tiny roses.

So... tomorrow there are 6 vintage fabric scrapbags.

All at the Rag Rescue website, listing at 7am, so don't miss out.

Lots of vintage items at Rag Rescue

All items above will be listed tomorrow morning.

Rag Rescue website

Large vintage buckles for sale

Great vintage buckles will be listed on the Rag Rescue website tomorrow

 

Vintage feathers

Great for adding to hats, fancy dress costumes and craft projects. These are really large.

All at Rag Rescue tomorrow

Vintage fabrics again - I can't resist listing more

You know where these will be listed tomorrow.

AT

The Rag Rescue website

Vintage beaded trims for the festive season at Rag Rescue

After spending long hours yesterday catching up with my book keeping I forgot to write the post on my blog. Sorry about that.

All shown above will be listed this morning at 7am on the RAG RESCUE website

Vintage beaded embellishments starts November

At the Rag Rescue website tomorrow

Vintage lace motifs on the last day of discounted goods

Lovely lace motifs to add to your Christmas cards, labels or presents and wrapping paper.

All at the Rag Rescue website tomorrow.

DON'T FORGET THAT TOMORROW IS THE LAST DAY TO GET YOUR 5% DISCOUNT ON ALL GOODS ON THE WEBSITE

Pretty vintage fabircs at Rag rescue

Rag Rescue website

Vintage fabric and pre1960's sewing cottons

More vintage fabric pieces and vintage fabric squares plus sewing cottons in Christmassy colours from an age when sewing cotton reels were made of wood and and the cotton was so strong.

I went to a garden centre today to take my mother and my daughter out for lunch. We sat overlooking Morecambe Bay with the horses grazing on the salt marshes and the birds dining on the bird feeders outside the windows. After lunch we went around the garden centre to look at the wonderful array of Christmas decorations. I got some wonderful ideas for using my tiny scraps of vintage fabrics to create items to decorate our tree and rooms this Christmas.  I'll show them on this blog as I complete them and hopefully you may get some ideas yourselves from them.

If you have made some creations for Christmas, please send them on to me via email and I'll show them on this blog with links to your blog or website.

SEND TO: sales at ragrescue dot co dot uk in the normal format of course.

Vintage fabric squares and Christmas coloured buttons

All at Rag Rescue tomorrow

Vintage buttons, French toile and more vintage fabrics

Christmas coloured vintage buttons for your Christmas crafts and vintage fabrics being listed tomorrow.

All at the Rag Rescue website tomorrow.

More vintage fabrics from Rag Rescue

Take a look tomorrow to see these lovely vintage fabrics at the Rag Rescue website

Vintage fabric and buttons

At Rag Rescue tomorrow

1950's vintage fabric

Tomorrow you will find the above vintage fabrics in the 'New Listings' category on the

RAG RESCUE WEBSITE

Vintage fabrics, vintage fabric, vintage fabrics

Being listed tomorrow at Rag Rescue website

Can't stop as mum is coming at the weekend for a fortnight and I have to blitz the house, you know what mums are like.....

More being added tomorrow to the website. Don't for get the discount

Vintage fabric scrapbags,vintage fabric squares and antique lace bobbins being added tomorrow.

RAG RESCUE WEBSITE GIVES YOU 5% DISCOUNT ON ALL GOODS UNTIL THE END OF OCTOBER

Rag Rescue aims to ease the news of the Spending review - 5% discount

I am giving a 5% discount on all items on the website until the end of October. Hopefully this will put a smile on some faces after the Spending review which was delivered by the government today.

The discount will be given as a refund via paypal.

So go and treat yourself

at the Rag Rescue website

Christmas coloured vintage fabrics ideal for your crafts

Beautiful patterned red vintage fabrics for all of those Christmas crafts.

Also included in tomorrows listings will be three more vintage fabric scrapbags a lovely vintage box made from cards and another antique wooden lace bobbin.

All to be found at the Rag Rescue website tomorrow.

Vintage fabric squares, vintage fabric scrapbags and a couple of other items.

This week I've been trying to please everyone by placing a variety of items on each day. This does seem to have worked for my customers.

Just to let you know that the vintage French rosy designed fabric that was sold so early this morning has been relisted as available because I do have some more but this is the last. Just thought I'd mention it as a couple of people inquired about it after the news letter went out.

Don't forget that you can see all of the items on the Rag Rescue website tomorrow after 7am.

More great vintage fabric at Rag Rescue tomorrow

All at the Rag Rescue website tomorrow

Three larger pieces of French vintage fabric, one red toile and two super rose designs.

Two Sorrento ware pieces, a stamp box and a rare letter opener.

Three vintage fabric scrapbags.

Great vintage fabrics being listed at Rag Rescue - starting today

All at the Rag Rescue website today Sunday 17th October

Best find of the year - c.1850 baby travelling layette basket

Tomorrow I am going to list the most delightful find I bought at the fair.

It is dated July 1850 on the label which is attached to the leather handle on top of the basket cover.

As you can see this wonderful baby layette basket comes with it's own travelling canvas case, all ready to be popped onto the carriage for their holiday break.

The nanny would have got this basket out of the nursery storage, taken the cover off to reveal this wonderful basket.

The nanny must have thought how lucky the lady of the house was to have such a beautiful baby daughter and how lucky the baby was to be able to go travelling with her parents. All the nanny needed to do now was to pack all of the essential items the baby would need whilst away from home.

A lovely large space for all of baby's clothes.

A lovely tray to place all of those baby lotions, talcs, nappies and pins.

Just look at that lovely lace over pink and decorations of pink ribbon roses.

Now what do you think she might put in the pouches on the lid?

More of those ribbon flowers and rosettes.

All packed.

I think you will agree with me this was a real find.

I have seen the trays before but never the complete travelling layette. 

This basket measures 65cms x 42cms and is 36cms deep a really good size.

I just had to list this as an extra post as it is so special.

being listed tomorrow on 

the RAG RESCUE website

Vintage fabric scrapbags and scrappy parcels at Rag Rescue tomorrow

Well I haven't completed all the washing of the newly obtained fabrics but I thought I'd better make a start on listing some vintage fabrics.

Tomorrow will see some lovely vintage fabric 'scrappy parcels' and some more vintage fabric 'scrapbags' placed on the website.

I have run really low on vintage fabric 'scrapbags' so I have been busy making lots more. I'll probably put a few on each day so that you will have a good variety to choose from.

RAG RESCUE WEBSITE