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Wanna try DIY designing for your home decor?
The city’s first haberdashery allows amateur seamstresses of all ages to try their hand at elaborate sewing and embroidery techniques in a candy shop of threads and baubles.
What if you could walk into a store filled with baubles, threads and zippers, and design your own clothes on the spot? Sounds like a day in Barbie Land, but the new haberdashery on Linking Road, called The Hab, promises to let you do just that.
The ground floor section is panelled wall-to-wall with zippers, embroidered and sequinned patches, buttons and threads. The floor space is split into four workstations, each tricked out with state-of-the-art sewing machines that would make your granny swoon with delight. They’re capable of helping even the most amateur seamstress masquerade as a pro, equipped with pre-set embroidery patterns, stitches and even elaborate sewing techniques.
So if you’re in the mood to try your hand at pin-tucking a cushion cover, just ask for one of the five-minute demos offered by the store, and let the machine do the rest. We tried our hand at the beginner’s class — embroidering a felt bookmark — and decided to take credit for the three elaborate patterns that the machine dutifully emblazoned onto the strip. And all it took was selecting the pattern and pushing a button.
Chhaya Sriram of The Hab, a concept started by sewing machine manufacturer Usha, reveals that the one-month-old space has become popular for kitty parties and kiddie birthdays. “Kids are excited to try out the machines and show off their creativity,” she says, explaining that their demos allow children to make cartoon pouches and floral headbands.
Regular workshops, conducted on the first floor, allow you to learn surface textures, stitching cushion covers, baby clothes, tops for women, and even DIY revamping old clothes with accessories bought from the selection available at the store itself. With the most expensive class costing a mere Rs 500, it’s not surprising that the workshops for May are already full.
