Once, haberdashers were two-a-penny on the High Streets of England, with plenty of mostly female customers who made and mended dresses, scarves, pullovers, curtains, soft toys, and clothes, rummaging around to find what they wanted before hurrying home to work miracles with their sewing machines, knitting needles, crochet hooks, yarn, bobbins, or embroidery.
But now haberdashers are far fewer and farther between. They are no longer a High Street staple. So let it be said that Sew Sew Haberdashery in Bell Walk is no ordinary shop. It’s not so-so. It’s astounding – a phantasmagorical Aladdin’s cave of items that many people, mostly men, have never even heard of. I’m talking about chenille, crimps, jump rings, wadding, ballpoint bodkins, kidney wires, and kilt pins. And that’s just reading off one of the dozens of shelves on the walls.
James Coppins has run this softly furnished warren for four years, taking over from his father who ran it for over ten years. He even renovates and re-sells good sewing machines when not otherwise helping customers to find what they want.
Sew Sew has comprehensively everything you need to become a dressmaker, seamstress or fashion designer. Its many rooms and corridors are packed to the rafters with rolls of fabric, silk, cotton, wool, and other materials. So much so that Jason (he of the Argonauts) might easily have lost his fleece if he had been chased by the Minotaur in this labyrinth of Occa.
Sew Sew occupies most of the same site as the ancient and long demolished Uckfield Market Hall, which had dated back to the 13th century, and where more recently there had been a butcher, a fishmonger, a haberdasher, and quite probably a candlestick maker, chandler and costermonger, along with other stalls.
The Covid era, predictably, was good for sales as people went back to making do and mending. Nowadays, business is good but somewhat dependant on the weather. When it’s warm and sunny, customers are fewer, and James might easily be found on the Piltdown golf course improving his handicap.
Uckfielders should be very proud of this extraordinary shop, which in over thirty years of trading has become one of the biggest and best general haberdashers in Southern England, and with a gigantic stock that is all on view (if you have a few hours).
OK, it’s not for everybody. But it’s unique. And it’s yet another creative Uckfield secret…
https://sewsewhaberdashery.co.uk/