Look what has been keeping me busy lately!

Well it seems to be the season for Crochet.  Alot of the blogs that I have been reading recently all seem to have this theme running through them and I have been quietly dabbling in it myself.

There are some crafting skills which just seem to have alluded me! I have tried and tried and tried to knit, many attempts and many half looking rows of stitching and still it seems that this is one skill I will never master.  I have tried fearlessly to win this battle especially as my mother is one of the most beautiful knitters I know and I am so sad this this skill will not be passed down to me!!

Anyway you have to love Mum's because when I sad to her a little while ago that I wanted to have a go at Crochet she could not stop laughing - mostly because she has witnessed every failed knitting attempt!

I don't know if this then made me all the more determined to conquer Crochet - besides when I was about 10 years old, I had been taught to crochet by my Nanna and I was able to crochet full size lap blankets on my own so I knew I could do this. 

Of course I had to have a look around first at what I was going to crochet, what tools I needed, what kind of wool was I going to buy? I started at this Blog - Attic 24.  I had see this blog before and I have to say that Lucy's tutorials have been fabulous.  There are lots of small projects to get you started and to have a good practice on.  I made lots of Granny Squares and really enjoyed learning to master them.

The next thing I needed some help on was what type of wool and hook I would need.  Kelly from Tangled Yarns was wonderful.  She gave me lots of help on what I was after and even took photos of the colour palette I had chosen to make sure I liked it as I was unsure of the colours without being able to hold them to see!  Her shop is filled with lots of beautiful items and I will even need some more wool shortly to continue my project.

Well would you like to see what I have been making!  I decided that I wanted to make a picnic blanket from a Better Homes and Gardens pattern I had  and here are some of my squares so far

The wool is "Brown Sheep" Cotton Fleece and I love the feel of it as I work with it.  I also think this has such a modern look rather than fluffy wool!

My stack of squares continues to grow and the reason I choose this project over one larger one mainly was so I could hide the not so good squares in amongst the better ones as I hopefully improve.  I still have a way to go and I have to learn how to thread through all the tails and sew it together but so far I am loving it.

Sew Along Success!

Wow - we have had such a wonderful response and start to the Sew Along Classes together with Claire Turpin Design !  It has been great getting into the "classroom" teaching and meeting lots of fellow sewers, stitchers and crafters.

At our Sew Along Social there was a big mix of different projects on the go.  There was sewing, crochet, hand stitching, dressmaking, applique and lots of other projects getting worked on and completed.  It was wonderful to meet so many different faces and with the next Social happening on June 7th it is exciting to see what projects will be out on that night.

Our first Sew Along for You class started last night and mostly I loved seeing the faces on the ladies with their completed Handbag Totes in hand at the end of the evening.  

These classes have been devised with a real focus on skills.  Skills like pattern reading, cutting using rotary cutters, tools used to mark patterns with and sewing techniques all aimed at having a professionally finished item and in this case a Handbag Tote at the end.  These ones below are some of the finished bags. 

Don't they look fabulous.  There is an embellishment still to go on these bags but that is coming up!  It was great to see faces filled with delight at their accomplished sewing as well as new friendships being formed along the way.  Looking forward to next week - we are making a Cafe Apron.

So no matter what skill level you have if you are interested in joining us at one of our Sew Along Social nights or Sew Along classes you can check out the details in the Workshop page on the blog.

Holiday Crafting

During the school holidays I have a bunch of regular little young ladies who love to learn to sew, craft, cut, stick and embellish.  I love how enthusiastic they are at taking in these skills and to watch them engage together in a creative way.  These are some of the lovely creations that they made these holidays.

With so much kids craft going on their has been little time for this big girl to do much of her own sewing at all.  There has been no more progress at this stage on any more Scrappy Sew Along blocks - I am itching to get back to this.

I have been making lots of Custom orders though - I was asked if I made Tea Cosies.  I have never been a Tea drinker - Coffee through and through for me!  But the call for a manly Tea Cosy was made and here is what I came up with.

What do you think - "Manly" enough with a side of Retro???