Christmas Sewing School

I'm really excited to announce my new venture. I've been talking to the lovely ladies at Love Stitch in Heswall and they've asked me to teach some classes as part of their Sewing School programme.

Before I tell you all about them, I will fill you in on whats been happening in my world over the last few months.

Just over a year ago after feeling dissatisfied with teaching for some time, I was finally pushed to jump when I was made redundant. Over the next year whilst covering a maternity absence, I came to the conclusion that what I really wanted to do, was something more worthwhile and rewarding; teaching has become a rather thankless job (those of you who are teachers may identify with this). I had been a volunteer with Safe Families for Children for a while and in July a part-time paid position on the team came my way. It was a wonderful answer to prayer when I got the job and I'm loving every minute. I no longer wake up on a Monday morning and count the number of days and weeks till the next break. I work with some fantastic people and lots of truly amazing volunteers.

For those of you who have not heard of us, Safe Families for Children is a Christian organisation that has a growing base of volunteers from local churches supporting local families, who are going through difficult times.

Working part-time is perfect for me, it means that I can return to some 'proper teaching'. By that I mean teaching others who want to learn practical skills to make things. Love Stitch is a lovely little haberdashery shop in Heswall on the Wirral where I live. It is a small independent business, which is rare on our high streets these days. It is run by a group of lovely enthusiastic ladies who make time to take care of their customers. The sewing school offers a range of classes to suit different interests and abilities. They also have a coffee shop serving delicious homemade cakes. There is a coffee and crochet group that meets there every Friday.

At the moment I have three classes booked in the run up to Christmas (there are others available too with different tutors).

The first class is on 12th November when we will be making this cube shaped cosmetic purse in Tilda fabric. The class will include the skills of patchwork, quilting and inserting zips. Follow this link to Love Stitch for more information.

The second class is on 21st November when we will be making this pretty wall hanging. In this class I will be introducing free-motion machine embroidery. For more information and to book a place follow this link to Love Stitch.

The third class is on 9th December when we will be making this large Christmas stocking incorporating free-motion embroidery. If you want to know more, follow this link to Love Stitch.

It would be lovely to see you at any of these events.  As I look forward to the future, I am full of ideas for other classes I could run as I try to inspire others to explore their creative side!

Until next time

Judith xxx

Into Winter

Where has the year gone? It's nearly Christmas already.

Life in my little patch has been very hectic of late and I've not had much time for blogging. In September I started a new job, returning to full time teaching in a new school. This has meant that I've had less time and energy for sewing, although I still find time to crochet as I relax at the end of a busy day.

In September I decided to make myself a new scarf to go with my favourite red coat. It was a great charity shop find at £13 for a Windsmoor classic in scarlet cashmere, I changed the plastic buttons for some gun metal ones and it was good to go.

Anyway, back to the scarf! I started with the same red and chose these cheerful colours, including a zingy lime to brighten up those cold winter mornings. I decided on the classic Granny Square for the design as I realised I've never actually done one. I used my good friend, Heather aka The Patchwork Heart's method of turning over the square after each row. That way the scarf is completely reversible.

After a few positive comments from friends and complete strangers, I decided to start a new range of scarves for my Etsy shop. For the first, I wanted to make a scarf that would go with a classic black coat. I chose cream, meadow green, petrol blue and storm blue edged with graphite (Stylecraft Special DK from Country Crafts) for a sophisticated look.

I'm really pleased with the result. It was an interesting experience choosing colours I wouldn't normally go for.

It soon dawned on me that I could use all my favourite Granny Square designs plus try some new ones in a scarf and that would be much quicker to do than a full blanket. More practical and less likely to get boring! I'm always keen to start the next project before I finish the current one.

For this one, I chose the Starburst flower (sometimes called Sunburst). This was the design I used for my very first crochet blanket.

It wasn't very good, there were a few mistakes in it but it is still well used by my family on cold winter evenings.

I did manage to find some time for my main passion, sewing, in between making costumes for the school production that is!

I made these two little covered notebooks using scraps of glitzy stuff from the afore mentioned school show which was 'We Will Rock You'. The shiny fabrics were horrible to work with when making twenty jackets for the cast, but worked a treat for some free motion machine embroidery.

I've made lots of these book covers in the past but never any thing quite so 'modern girlish'. These particular A5 books are for my two lovely work colleagues for Christmas.

This brings me right up to Christmas. Its always lovely to be asked to make personalised stockings. I get great pleasure from imagining these being part of somebody's childhood as they are brought out year after year. Shamefully, I haven't yet made stockings for my own two little grandsons. I'm not sure I can face making a Star Wars stocking, for that is what it will have to be or our Seb (aged nearly 4)!

I would like to wish you a very happy and restful Christmas. My resolution for the new year is to be more regular with my blog posts and to try harder to find space for creativity in my life.

Christmas blessings

Judith xxx