Masam Haidari is a born tailor. He stands behind the counter immaculately dressed in a trim, checked blue jacket. He stitched it himself.

He can’t remember when he first held a sewing needle.

He said: “It runs in the family. My mum was a tailor, and so were her parents. I was born one. Everyone in my family knows how to sew.”

Now, he has set up shop in Brighton’s Western Road selling fabric, haberdashery, and his services as a tailor.

The shop, H&F, opened two weeks ago and sells reams of material, ribbons, balls of wool and crafts materials.

There is diaphanous red silk, polka dot studded cotton, rough canvas, and stretchy jersey fabric that Masam said is “a nightmare to work with”.

But there are ways of dealing with these things.

He said: “As a tailor, you become adaptable.

“If anything comes along, you work out how you can do it: shoes, bags, leather: people come to me with problems, and I can fix them.”

We walk past boxes of belt buckles, press-studs and buttons as Masam pulls down a few rolls of his favourite fabric.

He said: “I love working with tartan. It’s not too thin and it’s not too thick.

“Some things I could even do with my eyes closed: stress stitches, buttons, hemming dresses – I could do that perfectly without looking.

“But not everything is so easy.”

He brings down a roll of glittery pink material.

He said: “You’ve got to be careful with sequins. They can break easily.”

“My hardest customer was a woman looking for a wedding dress.

“If you get a special dress like that, you’ve got to come in three or four times to try it on while we fit it.

“But her weight changed every week. I think she suffered from a condition.

“Every time, we’d have to refit the dress. Eventually we got it right, and she was really happy.”

Business, Masam said, is doing well. But he is still working out what people in Brighton want.

H&F also has a Worthing branch.

There, wool and knitting are more popular. In Brighton, people seem to prefer sewing and crafts.

Masam has loyal customers, and hopes to attract new ones.

He said: “When my first son was born, customers sent flowers, cards, and toys. It was so kind. It showed I’m doing something right.”

Masam is glad his business is expanding.

He said: “I could keep stitching for ever.

“When you’re interested, you never get tired.”