Thursday 31 October 2013

Crochet magazines!

When I was at the show a few weeks ago, there was a stand which was offering subscriptions to various craft magazines - three months for £1!  My plan had been to get a subscription for Christmas, but I swiftly abandoned that (£1 isn't really enough for my hubby to spend on my Christmas present!), and signed up for Simply Crochet.  I had already got issue ten, so I'm looking forward to having lots of crochet patterns and the guidance in the magazine to give them a go.


There are 33 patterns in this issue, lots of which I really fancy having a go at.  There's even some crochet jewellery, which looks brilliant!

My first project has been a slouchy beret - as if I haven't already got enough berets!  This one involved more new stitches (and also learning the UK stitches, after initially realising I was learning the US stitches).  My latest new stitch is the front-post double crochet.  It makes a beautiful raised pattern on the surface of the beret, and adds a little bit of interest to it.  I used some gorgeous green double knitting Woodlander wool that I got at the show too.

I'm almost there, but here's a quick preview in the meantime...


Front-post double crochet stitches



Tuesday 22 October 2013

Flower Power cushion cover workshop

When I was looking at the Knitting and Stitching Show website, I saw there were lots of workshops we could do - between an hour and two hours long, and for a really reasonable price!  We took the opportunity to make the 'Flower Power cushion cover' - for the very reasonable price of £10, it seemed like a bargain opportunity to learn a little more about using our sewing machines and making something pretty for the house!



Using the needle threader

Yes I know - ten months of sewing and I still didn't know how to use my needle threader!  I should be ashamed!  Obviously I could have checked online but I could thread it myself (usually!) so I never quite got round to it.  Wendy, our tutor, was on hand though to show us how.  Surprise surprise, it's very simple, and now it'll save me precious seconds at home when I go to thread my machine!

Appliqué

My previous cushion was my first go at appliqué, so it was great to have another try under some guidance.  I chose dark thread to go over my flowers - just to show off any mistakes, of course - so I had to be extra careful.  The bottom flower was a bit of a fiasco, but fortunately I covered it over with the second one so the overall effect was pretty pleasing!


Envelope back cushion

An envelope back was the perfect thing to be doing in the hour long session we had.  Obviously, I started off my cushion making with a zip cushion (for some reason I always pick the hard things first!), but the envelope back is so easy to do and really effective.  Unfortunately I was running out of time in the workshop so under pressure I managed to get the wrong part of my envelope overlapping.  Still, I think it looks lovely and is so much simpler to do than the zip.


Although the hour was pushing things a bit, it was a great chance to have a play with the sewing machine (which was a beautiful Janome - I got sewing machine envy) and it was lovely to have something to take home and show off.  Now that a lot of the work on the house is finished, I'm going to get the spare room cleared and it will look perfect on the bed in there!

Monday 14 October 2013

The Knitting and Stitching Show



I have been so excited for weeks, looking forward to the Knitting and Stitching Show!  The show was in Alexandra Palace in London, and Naomi, Liz and I made our way to London on the train at silly o'clock in the morning - 7:30am is beyond ridiculous for a Saturday!  We got off the underground at Wood Green with an absolute hoard of other women, and just followed the crowd to the shuttle bus.  Just look at all these people...!

The show was packed with fabric, yarn, patterns, crafts and all sorts - and best of all, people who just love it all as much as we do.  I even got to see the judges of the Great British Sewing Bee!



We also did a few workshops - we made lampshades and cushion covers, which was great fun.  They were each an hour long - which also gave us a bit of training in working under pressure!  Dami came and met us, and she did a 2 hour glove knitting workshop too, which she said was brilliant.

Here's a bit of a flavour of the day...

Naomi at her sewing machine in the cushion cover workshop

Yarn!

Sewing action shot
Lampshade making



Dami, Liz and me
Naomi and my purchases!