Great British Bunting Classes at John Lewis

April 11, 2012 - PRLog -- GREAT BRITISH BUNTING CLASSES
JOHN LEWIS BRANCHES

In time for London 2012 John Lewis is introducing Great British Bunting Classes with complimentary tea and cake for customers ahead of the celebrations. Hosted in the haberdashery department at selected London branches, the classes draw on the quintessentially British tradition of decorating with bunting at times of celebration.

In 2011, the Royal Wedding set the bunting bandwagon rolling and this summer the trend is expected to return. John Lewis’s British Bunting classes will encourage customers to master the basics of pattern cutting, tacking and stitching, to make and decorate pretty summer bunting with a patriotic twist. British bunting will make a lovely addition to any home or al fresco party space, such as a balcony, roof terrace or garden.

The classes will centre on sewing techniques and colour matching skills as well as appliqué, stitching styles and hand embroidery, to add a personal touch to the bunting. Customers will be able to select from John Lewis’s extensive range of fashion fabrics, ranging from gingham and floral to polka dot and stripe prints in patriotic reds, blues and whites, perfect for the party season.

Sam Drysdale, Haberdashery buyer for John Lewis said: “The Great British Bunting Classes were inspired by classic British traditions ahead of the summer season. John Lewis has a wide range of traditional, kitsch and vintage inspired fabrics on offer in the haberdashery departments and with all eyes on London this summer and plenty of parties due to take place, bunting is the perfect way to decorate for any celebration.”


Classes will teach customers the following steps:

Step 1: Choose your fabrics for the bunting. Aim to select complementary colours and prints that look appealing when placed together

Step 2: Place the template on your fabric and cut around it using pinking shears to avoid fraying. Repeat until you have enough flags

Step 3: Evenly space the flags along the bias binding tape, folding the shortest edge over, and pin in place

Step 4: Sew on the flags with a straight stitch, leaving at least 40cm of tape free from flags at each end for hanging

Step 5: Decorate the triangles with applique embellishments, buttons and stitches



The Great British Bunting Classes will be available throughout July (4th, 11th, 18th, 6th, 13th and 20th) in John Lewis London Branches: Oxford Street, Stratford City and Peter Jones - to book please email events_london@johnlewis.co.uk

-ENDS-

Notes to Editors:

The John Lewis Partnership - The John Lewis Partnership operates 36 John Lewis shops across the UK (29 department stores and seven John Lewis at home), johnlewis.com and 264 Waitrose supermarkets. The business has an annual turnover of nearly £8.7bn. It is the UK's largest example of worker co-ownership where all 81,000 staff are Partners in the business.

John Lewis - John Lewis, 'Britain's favourite retailer 2010'* and 'Multiple Department Store of the Year 2010' ** typically stocks more than 350,000 separate lines in its department stores. The website stocks over 200,000 products focused on the best of fashion, beauty, home and giftware and electrical items including online exclusives. johnlewis.com is consistently ranked one of the top online shopping destinations in the UK (www.johnlewis.com ). John Lewis Insurance offers a range of comprehensive insurance products - home, car, wedding and event, travel and pet insurance and life cover - delivering the usual values of expertise, trust and customer service expected from the John Lewis brand.

John Lewis is proud to be the official department store provider to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

John Lewis and London 2012 - As part of this partnership with LOCOG (The London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games) John Lewis operates official London 2012 shops within its Oxford Street, Stratford City Liverpool, Bluewater and Kingston shops. John Lewis is helping to furnish lounge and reception areas at key Games-time venues as well as offering Partners (staff) the opportunity to support LOCOG in the operation and build-up to the Games. Further to the sponsorship with LOCOG, John Lewis Partnership has developed 'Partners in Sport' an initiative to put something back into the community through sport which includes sponsoring several London 2012 hopefuls as well as funding sports coaches.

* Verdict consumer satisfaction index, January 2011
** The Drapers Awards for fashion retail, November 2010

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