I am very pleased to have written a guest blog post for one of my favourite shops The Village Haberdashery. I first went there in 2013 and was giddy to see so many beautiful fabrics and patterns all under one roof. I also did a workshop there with my friends on a girly weekend down South the following summer, and I always try to visit when I am in London. The post is my top tips for sewing with double gauze. It is a lovely, soft fabric to wear but I have discovered a few things along the way and, most importantly I hope that you can learn from my mistakes! My most recent make is a Tilly and the...
Hello everybody, Here is a link to my interview in this month's Sew Magazine. I was very excited to pop down to my local shop and pick up a copy this morning, though it cost me a small fortune once all of the kids had also picked a magazine each. I am also going to have a go at the free dress pattern with some linen for summer as I doodled something with a similar neckline in my notebook not long ago. Coming up soon on the blog I have an interview with fabric designer and printmaker Karen Lewis so don't forget to sign up for updates. Please also stop by my shop whilst you are here - I am...
This week I finally went out in the coat I have been working on, very sporadically, for a good year or so. The wool cloth is from Marton Mills, which is 15 minutes down the road from where I live, and is lovely to handle. I have been guided through the main processes by the great Ann Ladbury, who is also delighted that she doesn't have to see it again in class! It started out as the pattern pictured below though I merged all of the front and back into single pieces and added welt pockets. When I was considering the pocket size and placement Ann Ladbury pointed out that the look and cloth I had chosen was sporty and...
Last week I had my first experience of a craft-based trade show. I took part in Stitches at the NEC in Birmingham, Europe's largest event of its kind. My textile art, quilts and clothes were displayed on the Aurifil stand, the most popular thread on the market for quilters. I used their products in all of my projects and had made work to showcase their different threads including Brillo (metallic), Lana (wool), Floss and other weights of Egyptian Mako cotton. My aim was to validate my idea to sell products featuring my designs, as well as other "Beautiful Tools for Creative People". As soon as I arrived I knew that the creative world is where I want to be. I...
The mini quilt pictured here is this year's Valentine, stitched on my Janome machine using Aurifil 50wt threads and my freemotion foot. It is my first experiment with text in textile art, and is a little wonky! I received a very inspiring book on the subject for Mother's Day last year, written by British textile artist Sara Impey, and I finally had the time to try it out. I have loved Sara's work since visiting the V and A's seminal exhibition on Quilts from 1700-2010 a few years back, so I was really happy when she allowed me to share her work Between the Lines later in this blog post. The declaration "I Love You More Than Sewing" is a big...
