This week has been busy writing guest posts and magazine articles. My research reminded me of the shocking amount of fabric that geos to landfill. The ‘Valuing our clothes’ report from Wrap includes news that around 350,000 tonnes (31%) of used clothing out of a total of 1.13 million tonnes are sent to landfill. There are …
Sewing
I don’t know about you but I tend to stick to what I am familiar with. I have confess to owning my sewing machine for nearly a year now and only using two stitches, straight and zigzag!!! A while back I saw this idea of creating a stitch guide for your machine, and I have …
I have to admit to being delighted that I was fortunate to be taught how to sew at school, for many reasons. One of them is being able to create a dressing up outfit, all ready for the next school dress up day. My daughter is determined to look exactly like the pirate on the …
Have you made a pillowcase dress yet for this project?? The lovely Louise of Sew Scrumptious is the co-ordinator in the UK, this is what she says about the project: “People who could sew were asked to make simple pillowcase dresses which were then delivered to girls living in poverty in the developing world. Girls …
I don’t know about you but I fight(ignore) a constant battle re the volume of “stuff” in my sewing space. A few months back my husband hit upon the idea of fitting kitchen units for storing all my fabric in, sadly I fail to keep my stash down enough to be able to successfully put …
This is extremely unlike me but I am beginning to think about autumn craft fairs on the run up to Christmas. My thoughts have turned to gifts suitable for men. I am in the process of introducing a new range…IPAD cases made from upcycled men’s trousers and shirts. What do you think? I’m glad the …
What is your favourite part of designing something new? I love the problem solving aspect to a new creation. This week I have made a bag for a wheelchair user, who lives in a care home – the brief was to hold a packet of tissues, a comb and a lipstick. My first ever wheelchair …
We have recently had the builders in, lets just say I am delighted they came, and then went!!! The tot now has a double bedroom and his toys are now in his room, hurray for an adult space in the front room in the evenings! We are rather partial to foot puffs for sitting on, leaning …
A few weeks back I had the delightful surprise to win a giveaway, a couple of fat quarters of Sarah Waterhouse’s beautiful fabric. This is the gorgeous packet that dropped through my door. Sarah makes a range of modern funky designs. Using water based ink in her Sheffield studio she handprints onto organic cotton and …
Don’t you just love it when an e-mail drops into your inbox from a friend? Apart from catching up on news there was an enquiry for a laptop case. This provided a perfect excuse to search for laptop case tutorials. The request for a funky laptop case ha And here are my picks for ideas, …
What do you make with old denim trousers? I don’t know about you but I always seem to have some poor fitting jeans around ready for recycling. There are lots of great tutorial around, I’ve started making some denim baskets for my sewing room for storing odds and sods in! If you fancy making …
I know I’m not.. I’ve been watching the Great British Sewing Bee avidly, wishing I had the skills of the contestants. For those who do not live in the UK it a contestant show where the contestants are set sewing tasks, to find the best amateur UK sewer. The first weeks tasks were to sew an …