10/07/2025
It’s a year to the day that everything changed.
Over the 6 years of The Wee Fabric Shop, we first and foremost have to celebrate YOU, the wonderful people who came along on our fabulous ride of creativity. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for supporting our dream, together we made an award winning creative community that spanned the whole of the Highlands, and enjoyed hosting visitors from all of the world.
Together we have …
* Organised 1296 classes.
* 1092 social sewing sessions.
* 20 pattern swaps with regular raffles for fundraising local charities.
* 6 Christmas Markets - supporting lots of awesome crafters, the last one in 2023 we paid out well over £3000 direct to those Crafters.
* Supported Mikey’s Line throughout our time in Tomatin Road.
* Inverness food bank donations with our Christmas raffles.
* We all sewed lots of tote bags, for Inspire at Inverness Cathedral, for their projects.
* Featured in Sew Magazine local shop of the month.
* In 2019, the Australian Bushfires, we collectively sewed, and sent pouches off to the Animal Rescue Organisation.
* We survived covid - oooft that was a tough one, and you kept us going!
* 2021 we entered into the British Sewing Awards, and WON! Best Sewing Retail Shop in Scotland.
* 2022 we entered again, chanced our luck and WON a second year in a row, then the magazine which supported the awards closed and that was the end.
* 2022 held a Ukraine fundraiser, sewing competitions and raffles
* 2023 another publication started sewing business awards, we didn’t know that customers had voted to include us on their short list and we WON The Stitch Industry Award for best sewing retail shop in Scotland.
Along the way, we hoovered up a million pins, broke thousands of machine needles, spilt our charity tins of buttons all over the counter and floor countless times, figured out in 2024 that the kitchen water heater (which we were told was broken and not to use!) only had a blown fuse! Made a billion cups of tea and a few coffees, especially when you were weary and life was getting too much. Kept the dementia at bay by problem solving your sewing dilemmas and in all those years only one person had their finger caught in a machine (yes, it was an a&e job).
A massive special shout out to the highly skilled team we had the honour to work alongside.
* Louise from Rowancrafts Dressmaking with her endless talent and perfectionism in dressmaking and soft furnishings.
* Annie, Annie and The Hooks held her wonderful, welcoming, mindful crochet classes.
* Helen, Vintage Buy Me / Vinyl 2 Vintage with her amazing pattern drafting techniques and masterclasses in fitting.
* Another Helen who taught how to make the endangered heritage craft of Dorset Button making,
* Lexy from Learn & Create who taught the kids sewing classes.
* The infectious enthusiasm of Lesley Murray with the beautiful book binding sessions.
* And lastly and certainly not least (the outstanding sewist soon to be on series 11 of The Sewing Bee starting Tuesday 19th July) Orla - who helped us guide the teens sewing social club. https://www.instagram.com/sewsbyorla/
Our wee shop will never be the same, leaving it last year, after clearing out all the ruined contents, it was a total loss, with mould penetrating everything including the walls and ceilings, never did we think we wouldn’t be back, nor did we think, a year later we would be no further forward.
The strain of being in limbo for so long has taken its toll, dragging into a second year is not something Fiona nor I can do anymore. We did seek other premises, but Inverness is severely lacking affordable spaces for small businesses. So that’s it for The Wee Fabric Shop, what a sad way to leave but it’s right for both of us.
In the Autumn Fiona is excitedly off to Uni to do Contemporary Art Practice and I am returning back to where it all began for me in 2014, at The Sewing Room , where I’ll be teaching classes. (more on that another time)
If you’re part of our Wee Makers (facebook) Group it’s all still happening over there, and we can’t wait for next week's Sewing Bee series 11 chat!
Lots of love and hugs - and in the shop there were many hugs !! Marice & Fiona xx
