Lingard Fabrics in Sudbury brings out community's creativity with window display competition

Sudbury fabric and curtain store Lingard Fabrics has praised its customers for coming up with a host of innovative creations displayed in its front window.

Shop owner Simone Warn – daughter of the original owner, the late Sandie Lingard, who set up the business in the 1950s – said a competition challenging residents to create items from material supplied by the store had been a big success.

It was launched last year, and the winner is being chosen from the makers of scores of items on display in both the Sudbury and the family firm’s Braintree store.

Mrs Warn said: “We challenged people to make items from free fabric in a vibrant green colour. The amount of detail in the items is amazing. We’ve got them on display in our windows and people just stop and stare at them because they are quite stunning.

“There are peg bags, aprons, play mats, cushions, children’s clothes, quilts, pockets to store toys and someone has even made a sheep hut and a knitted sheep.”

She added: “What clever customers we’ve got.”

After posting the competition on the company’s social media sites, more than 16,000 people have viewed it, and they are still voting on the best made entry. The firm is planning to announce the winner in the coming weeks.

Lingard Fabrics was opened in Braintree in 1957 and in Sudbury, in King Street, in the 1970s.

Mrs Warn’s mother, Sandie, also had shops in Maldon and Bury St Edmunds.

Mrs Warn said her mum’s Sudbury shop is still going strong, with the trend of crafting, sewing and knitting helping to keep the fabric business as relevant today as it was when it started 70 years ago.

Commenting on the competition, Braintree store manager Esme Murphy added: “We have had so many votes from all over the world for this competition, and people are popping into our shops just to say how fabulous the windows look.

“We’ve even had customers wanting to buy some of the entries – it’s been a lot of fun.”