Craft Focus - February / March 2021 (Issue 83)

76 Littondale l ife Andrea Heaton, director of Littondale Craft Fabrics and Waddings (formerly Ebor Fabrics Ltd) discusses their own collections designed by herself and husband Andrew, and takes us back through the history of this renowned fabric company Tell us a little bit about the history behind Littondale Fabrics. Where are you based? Who started the company and when? We’re based in the village of Embsay, near Skipton, north Yorkshire. I’ve been in the fabric trade since I was 10 year’s old starting as a Saturday girl in my local fabric shop. I was able to sew my own clothes, toys and sewing patchwork by the age of 11. This proved a wonderful ability when the New Romantic fashions arrived when I was 14 and the only clothes shops for me were C&A or Tammy girl. I still enjoy sewing, at the moment I’m in the middle of a piece patched quilt. Ebor fabrics was set up in 1982 by my parents as textile merchants. I joined the firm in 1985 as their accountant. We bought Embsay Mill from the spinning company Courtaulds in 1993 and converted the weaving sheds into warehousing. The original northern shed roof lights are still in place giving great natural light. I now run the firm together with my husband Andrew, who has also been in the textile trade since the early eighties and has his own agency company. We rebranded as Littondale Crafts after my mother retired to give a fresh image but maintaining Ebor as it’s a name associated with quality within the trade. Littondale is located in the Yorkshire Dales where we live. Talk us through your current collections. We carry large stocks of prints and basic Quilters’ fabrics such as plains, muslins