Right at the heart of the recent Sewing for Pleasure consumer show at the NEC was the ingenious Customisation Station, hosted by Coats Crafts UK and the Inkberrow Design Centre.

The theme of the stand was Reduce, Reuse and Recycle, which aimed to give show visitors inspiration for making the most of items you might find at the back of your wardrobe, or lurking in the bargain bins in your local charity store.

On one side of the stand, designers Charlotte Liddle and Sally McCollin, representing Coats Crafts UK, were offering free ‘Make It and Take It’ sessions, showing visitors how to make pretty corsages from Rowan and Free Spirit fabrics and Vilene Bondaweb - with embellishment ideas.

Inspiration was everywhere on the wall behind with t-shirts, skirts, cushions and toys embellished with fabric applique. Creating quite a stir were toys made from recycled fabrics and featuring Opti zips and Zip Art – a range of jewellery and corsages made from zip fasteners.

Wander round to the other side of the stand and you’d sense you had stumbled on the fashion designers of the future – all from the Inkberrow Design Centre in Worcester. The Inkberrow team were having a lot of fun customising clothes and accessories with their own unique stamp.

With inspiration and imagination, they showed how you can push the boundaries of style and come up with some eye-catching new looks from old. The team were experimenting with Prym haberdashery and zips, making accessories from scratch and recreating new from old. Prym shoulder pads became works of art, embellished with pearls and fringing; a plain t-shirt became a punk masterpiece with the addition of Opti zips and fabric markers...

There was an amazing corset dress on display, designed by Sarah Poulter. Laura Cooney was demonstrating fabulous brooches made from unusual haberdashery. Check out the feather head-dress (pic) with zip dangles! Bex Farr was also showing off her revamped charity shop chic with fabulous finds snipped and sewn into new and wearable creations. Billy Foskett wowed the crowds with amazing fantasy hats and shoes which he showed off on the fashion show catwalk. We are looking at the style heroes of the future in action!

If you’d like to see the students of Inkberrow Design Centre and their work, they are taking part in a catwalk show at the Clothes Show Live in December.

Customisation is a craze that’s set to sweep across the nation – watch this space...