We’re big fans of Tabara’s Rope Bags. We discovered them in her book Baskets by Tabara N’Diaye. You can read Emily’s post all about it. There was something so satisfying about making the first bags that we wanted to make more, this time with some variations. After a nice chat on Instagram, Tabara sent me …
British Mother’s Day is coming soon! Make Retro Dress Garland fit for a Queen. I originally made these garlands to celebrate the Queen’s Jubilee, but they make a lovely Mother’s Day decoration too. And shouldn’t our mum’s be Queen for a Day?! Here are the Mother’s Day garlands. It’s the same idea just tailored for …
Let’s begin with some general sewing machine maintenance that applies to most machines. There are two equal and opposite errors. One is never to clean, oil or change the needle on your machine. The other is to be too rough or to go too far. There is basic maintenance that we can do at home. …
I have a soft spot for Valentines Day. Maybe it’s the colours and maybe it’s just a great excuse to spread some love around. I like to go beyond romantic relationships and include family and friends, sewing buddies, co-workers, teachers, even the post mistress! Valentine fabric envelopes are one way to show gratefulness to the …
Looking for a last minute gift? Book Sleeves are my favourite project this year. There are 5 days to go – plenty of time to whip up a book sleeve. They’re so much fun to personalise for people who love books! Inspiration There are lots of good Book Sleeve tutorials out there. Jessica @peacelovebooksxo has …
Did you know that Scandinavian countries will be celebrating St Lucia’s Day next Tuesday? St Lucia’s Day is a Swedish Festival of Light celebrated on December 13th. In the old Julian calendar December 13th was the date of the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year. Lucia or Lucy means light. Although it’s a …
Send a hug through the post with these straight-line quilted Christmas postcards. This straight-line quilting technique is super satisfying. And it doesn’t need special equipment. Anybody can stitch these Christmas postcards on their regular sewing machine. What you need festive fabrics fleece or wadding pretty thread + 100/16 Topstitch needle ribbons or rickrack printed postcards …
Once you’ve made the Santa Sacks, what do you put in the bag? We asked the elf! This follow-up post to our Sew Sustainable Santa Sacks is full of Santa Sack filler ideas. So you’ll have lots of little things to put in the bag. Because we had lots of kids in our family, 6 …
One of my favourite things about holidays is that they come around every year! So things that I didn’t get to do one year, I can find time for the next. And things that I did make last year, I can enjoy this year all over again. Last year we posted this Sew Sustainable Santa …
Monster Knees mending is one of my favourite forms of visible mending. Knees often seem to be the first part of a pair of trousers that need mending. My kids could get rips in the knees the very first time they put them on! Monster Knees mending transforms the hole into a monster mouth, that …
Now that it’s back to school time, I am enjoying using pretty scraps of fabric to make some pretty back to school hair accessories for my daughter on the Juki MO 2000 overlocker. The rolled hem feature on the Juki MO2000 overlocker I really have fallen in love with the JUKI MO2000 Overlocker and seem …
Recently, I watched the Disney movie Moana and decided to transform the primitive wave motif that appears in the movie title, into a free motion quilting line design. I like to call it making Moana waves. Regrettably, I missed Moana the first time around. Our kids had passed their Disney princess stage when Moana came …
Marie Lawlor shares about her make of the ever-so-popular McCalls 7969 dress. Happily, a favourite fabric finally found the perfect pattern. The Pattern This McCalls pattern has been a sewing community cult favourite for over 2 years now, and I can finally understand why! I will admit, that when I first saw it, M7969 wasn’t …
Mercedes has a knack for Nickers! You can visit Mercedes and lots of other sewing celeb’s in Birmingham this month at Sewing for Pleasure. Juki is hosting a series of Sewing Celeb Workshops. Mercedes is offering workshops on her Fold Over Elastic techniques on Saturday and Sunday at 3:15. Making Knickers with Mercedes will help …
Emily at Brick Dust and Glitter found this great gift wrap idea on Pinterest. It’s a no-sew gift wrap that uses fabric you already have! Take a look at the simplest, prettiest, reusable wrapping! All you need is some fabric. You can raid your stash or use a silky scarf or up-cycle an old shirt …
Hi. Martha here. I’ve been stitching some more festive Christmas napkins! There are NEW Rifle Paper Company Christmas fabrics this year. Our family is growing as our grown up kids keep bringing more and more people home for Christmas! We can always use more napkins. And I was desperate to add them to my collection. …
Meet Ellie Bannerman. We discovered Ellie on the @the.seam.uk – a cool site that helps people find sewists in their area who upcycle and do alterations. When I noticed that Ellie was using a Juki overlocker, I asked her if she would share about what she does. Here’s what she said. Starting out Ever since …
The Fabric Sewing with crinkle silk chiffon is possibly the most challenging substrate I have sewn with to date. I am the kind of person who can become bogged down in minor details, talk myself in circles and procrastinate on a seemingly difficult (or new) task. I was extremely lucky to have the opportunity to …
Here’s a tutorial for some fast and fun Baby Bunting. I love decorating with bunting and I’m always looking for new ways to make it. I needed to make some tiny bunting flags to go in a camper van that I was kitting out for our neighbours. But tiny pieces can be fussy to work …
This May we saw the opening of a new Japanese sustainability and textiles exhibition, Making Nuno, at Japan House, London. It features innovative fabrics by Sudo Reiko, one of Japan’s foremost textile designers who combines Japanese traditions with new engineering techniques and unusual combinations of materials including silk, handmade paper, nylon tape and thermoplastics. The …
Did you know that the Juki MO 2000 overlocker does an amazing rolled hem?! We already love the air threading feature that makes this overlocker so easy to thread. But this rolled hem takes the cake. We’ve been using the rolled hem feature on the Juki MO 2000 overlocker to make homemade handkerchiefs. What’s a …
With British Mother’s Day just around the corner, these one handle storage bags make a lovely gift. They’re easy to stitch together. I’m using the Juki TL QVP Mini straight stitch sewing machine to make the bags. It’s a wonderful bag making machine! Choosing the fabric Go for a heavier weight canvas type fabric that …
This Naughty & Nice Christmas Bunting is a fast and fun last minute Christmas project. It’s naughty because it’s just TOO easy! It’s nice because the double sided flags look lovely from every angle. Using the air threading JUKI MO2000 overlocker to stitch the bunting together is fast, fun and fabulous. The extra weight of the double sided flags …
