Cooraclare woman made of strong material

FOLLOWING a successful career as a television camerawoman, West Clare resident Deirdre Noonan had surgery earlier this year which meant she could no longer carry heavy equipment. Having made her own clothes for years and faced with the high cost of buying materials for her daughter who is studying fashion design, she decided to open her own fabric shop in Limerick.
“Part of the reason I decided to open the shop is that I was spending so much money on fabric for my daughter and we ended up having to go to Dublin and over to London a lot to buy it,” she recalled.
Deirdre has lived in Cooraclare for the last 11 years in the house that has been in her family for 160 years. Her love of fabrics and textiles, however, came from her time in London where she studied painting. She started her working life on a placement with RTÉ in 1986 going on to work for the BBC in London and Belfast before freelancing with RTÉ.
“My degree was in painting but I spent a lot of time then making my own clothes and I actually made my own wedding dress. Once my career in camerawork took off, I left the dressmaking behind because I just didn’t have time for it. I’m glad to be back doing it and I have lots of plans to make more clothes now,” she explained.
As well as going back to making clothes herself, she is already planning to expand the offering at the shop to include patterns and dressmaking classes for others who may be interested in taking it up.
“One thing that has been really surprising so far has been the enthusiasm from not just the fashion students but from other people too. I want to build the stock in such a way that in 10 years’ time, it becomes a treasure trove of modern, vintage and international fabrics and will compare favourably with fabric shops such as you’d find in Florence or Budapest,” said Deirdre.
“We are building up a lot of customers we didn’t expect. People seem to be really excited that there is an alternative to chain stores. I’d say nine out of 10 people comment on it. I think people are celebrating the fact there is a fabric shop opening once again, especially given that there used to be lots of them and there was great competition here. I think people are glad to see that coming back,” she added.
While it may be a challenging time to set up a business, Deirdre believes a tradition of tailoring in the city and the fashion design degree course at Limerick School of Art and Design means there is a market for her products.
“One of the oldest traditions in Limerick is dressmaking and tailoring and there are over 400 students of fashion design attracted to the colleges in Limerick every year. Many graduates stay on and work from the locality for clients as far away as New York,” she said.
Deirdre also believes The Cloth Shop can compete with bigger chain fabric shops.
“As a small independent outlet, we can respond to trends quickly and stock unusual fabric. Bigger outlets can be slow to meet the demands and tastes of their customers,” she claimed.
As well as stocking fabrics and materials from established designers and companies, The Cloth Shop is also showcasing textile graduates from Galway Institute of Technology.
“Graduates will take turns to use the shop to display their work, make sales, take orders and gain interest from buyers in the industry. The 2010 graduates produced some outstanding prints for the kitchen and some beautiful printed silks. I hope that the textile designers will join forces with fashion designers from LSAD and instate Limerick as the fashion capital of Ireland,” Deirdre asserted.
Having opened the shop just last month, she has already seen a number of trends beginning to unfurl.
“Oil cloth is flying out the door, that and velvet are the two big sellers. People love the velvets. They are stunned by them. Mothers of the bride are taking it for wedding outfits. One lady came in and said she dreamt about the colour of one of the fabrics and said she had to have it. She was thrilled with it. We are also seeing a lot of upholstery fabric going too. While we have lots of very exciting fabrics for the students like PVC and lamé but the upholstery fabric seems to be the thing. Brocade is also huge at the moment. Some of the dressmakers are taking the upholstery brocade and using it for clothes. The other thing going very well is the trimmings,” she concluded.
The Cloth Shop is located on John’s Street in Limerick.