Butterfly Wristlet review

I recently called for reviewers of the kits and Sara of SewLittleToSay was nice enough to offer her skills...

Here is her finished version which is fabulous. I never thought about adding as many sequins which is the great thing about the kits, we all get to do what suits us. She boxed the bottom and embroidered the strap as well. Love!

You can read her reviews and comments on her blog here. 

Holiday time!

It feels like forever since I posted on here... though I feel like I was taking blogging notes at various points in the holidays...
We took some time off and went to North Devon and stayed at a wonderful house being rented out by a very creative family. It was amazing to be surrounded by so much creative energy. The pictures don't articulate enough just how lovely this place is. About twenty minutes from the coast and with loads of garden space, it reminded me of the holidays we took as children in Sri Lanka.

The art was found object and hand made and pattern was in every nook and cranny of the house.  The branch on the far right is a bad picture of a gratitude branch. Luggage tags with wonderful messages of gratitude hang off it. My personal favorite was of course the giraffe on the wall. A lovely patterned decal that reminded me of far away places...

A line from the chandelier to the window that holds all the childhood bits and bobs, invitations and cards etc...
and my lovely niece enjoying the trampoline in a dress I made her :)

 

 

 Cricket in the garden and boogie boarding in the sea to end a perfect vacation...

August doings...

The summer is almost over and it seems like a long time since school finished. I was very sad at the end of the term as my first class group is done and are moving on. So very proud that so many of them are in the textiles program and are continuing on their creative journey. We all finished projects towards the end of term and I love the dress! Very pretty and finished just in time. Good luck to them all. 

Cushion competition and the Cynthia Rowley dress Pattern

We finished the cushion competition today. The students have been working on their projects for almost six weeks which makes these the longest project they will do until of course we start on the clothing term.

This years entries are lovely. The rules were they had to design a cushion using the skills learned so far and could include, hand and machine embroidery, applique, bead work etc..

Are'nt they lovely? The bicycle one is'nt finished as yet but I do like the idea of it. 

I starred the winning entry. It's great for it's whimsical quality. Congratulations to all of them. 

In other news one of the students was making this Cynthia Rowley pattern. I liked her fabric choice and the back detail...

 

Looking forward to September

 I cant believe it is almost the end of the term. I have looking through the albums of all the wonderful makes and am blown away by the creativity I see in all of them. The collage below is just a snap shot of the many makes but also what we cover in class. They start with the basics of how to sew and move from there on to hand and machine embroidery, free motion embroidery, appliques, fabric manipulation, dyeing, block printing and of course clothing... I  adore the clown embroidery. I find my self smiling every time I look at it.
It's gratifying to see more than half the class take textiles as a subject.

New spaces open up in September as some of our students leave. For more information please check the Seams So Easy website

Introducing.... Simply Fabulous Embroidery and Sewing Kits!

After much prep work and working out kinks and screen and hair pulling here they are, my first venture into the world of sewing kits. 

I have created these sewing kits for those of us who love to sew and embroider. The kits come with a quirky screen printed fabric panel (hand pulled by me!) that you can embroider using any of your favorite stitches to transform into something unique. The kits also have everything you need to make them up. The printed panel is on organic and hand woven fabric giving it a wonderful texture and feel. There are three kits to choose from, The Madam Butterfly Wristlet, The Love Birds Cushion and the Mr Fox Tote bag.  I hope you enjoy making them as much as I enjoyed creating them. 

To celebrate, we are having a giveaway (several in fact), with the help of the lovely Fiona from the Sewing Directory.  Please head over and check out all the details on how to enter. There are vouchers from the Sewbox and Sewing Kits to be won! 
To check the kits out please check the Sewing Kits tab on this blog or go to www.seamsoeasy.com shop.  

DIY Couture dress, Kwik Sew skirt 3744 pattern and the end of term happenings...

I love summer sewing, the girls all break out in color and the dress and skirt patterns get taken out.

The two patterns that end up being the easiest to work through the term and allows scope for making it different is the DIY couture dress pattern booklet and the Kwik Sew 3744 Skirt pattern . easy to sew up and while there are variations to make this shape, the dress and skirt are really is quite easy and satisfying for the students to make up. 

This was made by a student who used a lovely bird printed knit for the body and woven cotton for the upper gathered bit. 

There are a few more in the making and the girls want them finished before the pictures are taken. I will  post on completion! 

And  this one which I made in under an hour to wear on a hot sunny day. Sorry for the grainy picture quality...

Kwik sew Skirt 3744

Made up into...

 This was a variation made up into a skirt. made up by one of my youngest students, The picture is not the best but she had a lovely contrast pocket with trim!  

Nothing like a bit of twirling to celebrate a great make!

There are two competitions happening next week and I look forward to posting the new make pictures next week. Meanwhile lots going on with the sewing kits that I am working on and that have finally made it to sale. available on the tab at the top of this site, under sewing kits... Have a great week.