Dinky Felt Pots! June 02 2015

I have been going mad for storage and tidying at the moment - think these two things come together nicely and have been making fabric storage baskets for sewing and craft equipment. I discovered a new interfacing (more to come on that another day!) which is A-MA-ZING and when combined with fabric makes the most perfect baskets.

Whilst on the tidying mission I found some little bits of gorgeous wool felt so made a few mini pots to keep desk bits organised - these would be perfect for jewellery too. If you fancy having a go at a little mini make*... read on!

D I N K Y  Felt Storage Pots!

You will need: Thick Felt (100% wool is wonderfully thick, but a thick acrylic felt is fine too!), embroidery floss, needle, scissors, ruler.

1// Take your felt and cut it into a 10 x 12cm rectangle. Using your ruler cut a 2.5 x 2.5cm square from each of the corners.

2// Thread your needle, knot the end. Pinch one of the squares so that the opposite edges come together to create a corner. Push the needle through the inside edge so that the knot is on the inside of the pot.

3// Use little stitches to join the edges together. You could use a decorative blanket or cross stitch in a nice contrast thread maybe?

4// When you get to the edge do a couple of stitches over the top edge and tie off. Repeat for all corners.

Fill with all your bits and bobs! Check out these neon paperclips - yum!

*if you came to our 'Round Patchwork Cushion' workshop on 2nd June you will have the bits for this in your crafty goodie bag - enjoy your make!

Happy Making!

Ruth x

Sewing with Oilcloth workshop! June 02 2015

There is so much nice Oilcloth style fabric around at the moment I really wanted to do a workshop using it this year - the first one in March sold out as soon as it was launched and the follow up last weekend was also very popular and sold out as soon as I published the pictures of the first. You guys were keen! The workshop took place in the Gallery space of Fisherton Mill in Salisbury and we could take in the Charlotte Moreton exhibit whilst sewing - well worth a look if you are local!

Oilcloth can be a tricky fabric to work with and is probably more commonly used as a table covering. Look beyond the dried on Weetabix on your own table cloths and there are wondrous things to be made! Traditionally Oilcloth is a wax coated material, and the name is now applied to more generic materials that have a PVC coating on a woven underside. In the workshop I discussed the ways you can sew the fabric and what additional sewing equipment you may need - all provided on a hand out. 

We started the workshop discussing how the bag is constructed then got stuck right in to cutting and sewing. The workshop participants were given the opportunity to combine the oilcloth with heavier weight, interfaced fabrics.

'Walking Feet' were fitted to the sewing machines - a must when sewing with PVC coated fabrics - these are a great little addition to your sewing kit!

Here are some photos of the beautiful bags that were made (there were talks of mass production for a school fundraiser) and some small tissue pockets were made with all the offcuts! 

Everyone getting creative!

Love the dark blue print in the lining of this one (LOOK at that gorgeous floor at FM!)

The one on the left used a printed canvas as the top section

The base of this bag had a linen base which we strengthened with firm interfacing

Love the red bases on these - very summery (whenever that may come!) 

This is a great little workshop which I love to teach - watch this space for another date coming up in the summer, possibly incorporating zips!

Happy Sewing!

Ruth x

Ready, Steady... SEW! January 13 2015

R x

Sew far, sew good... October 09 2014

The October workshop program has now kicked off and we enjoyed a lovely morning making knickers! In this workshop we covered basic cutting of pattens and discussed cutting on the bias and what that entails. This workshop also enabled the participants to get to grips with sewing elastic which involved pulling the elastic while simultaneously trying to keep it on the edge of the pattern. A tricky skill and something that was soon got to grips with by the last knicker leg! 3 hours later a lovely quadruplet of knickers were ready to go - beautiful work!