Little Hands!

I was really taken back in the school holidays by the "little ones", as I watched 4 and 5 year olds learning how to sew. They amazed me how enthusiastically and diligently they stitched and decorated their dolls. Of course a little help was needed threading the needle and untangling a few tangles....

A little bit on concentration is required...

One of the best parts of the class was choosing a button (or two) for the dolls hair and of course giving their new little doll a name.

After lots of giggles and lots of stuffing the dolls were ready to take home and just be loved.

How amazing are our kids!!

Elizabeth x

Christmas Wrapped Up!

This year in a attend to be very organised for Christmas I decided to set up a wrapping station!! A special place to store all my Christmas goodies - tags, paper, sticky tape, ribbons, string, letter stamps etc. It has also made it really easy for the kids to wrap up their presents too.

One Christmas tip: You can never have too many ribbons!!

Happy wrapping.

Elizabeth x

WONDERFUL WEDNESDAY'S!

As you already know i just love my Wednesday's - and today was certainly no exception. Not only did I have my hour session with Lucia in the afternoon , I also ran a bag workshop with Marieka!

Lucia had fun decorating a singlet to match her skirt she made last week. She learnt how to self cover a button and sew it on, sew AROUND corners of the flower she designed and sew on the doily - with lots of pinning first.

and VOILA here you have it !

After a nice hot cuppa, caramal slice, banana chocolate loaf (courtesy of Marieka), chocolate BROWNIES and a little chit chat we thought we had better get started on our project - a SHOULDER BAG!

It was lots of fun choosing the fabrics and then designing the pockets and bag layout. And just in time to pick up the littlies from preschool the bag was all ready and looking FABULOUS.
Thank you Marieka and Lucia for making my Wednesday even more wonderful!

Elizabeth x

LUCIA'S FIRST SKIRT

Surely it was Wednesday only yesterday!! Well better late then never. Here is the lovely skirt that Lucia made last Wednesday and proudly wore home to show everyone what she had made.

The next day I was able to assist our neighbour who needed some advise in binding her quilt for her Yr9 textiles class.

What a gorgeous quilt. Now she can head home and snuggle up in front of the TV and hand stitch the last part of the binding!

Elizabeth x

Sewing with Lucia!

Wednesdays has to be my most favourite day. It is my day to be in the studio and be creative! It is also the day i have a one on one lesson with Lucia in the afternoon. Lucia first attended a Learn to Sew workshop at the studio during the school holidays. She now comes every Wednesday for an hour of FUN and INTENSIVE sewing. I have been blown away by her enthusiam to sew...and her amazing talent.

Every week there is something new to learn and make. Today she learnt about seam allowances, pinning, selvedge edges, freyed edges and the importance of overlocking (or in her case zig -zag).

Today our project was a 6 panel skirt - so lots of practice doing a 1cm seam allowance and lots of zig zag.

Pinning the seams together with lots of concentration and care.

Of course Jessica sneaks in every now and then. She is sewing up felt puppets for her school class. My how time flies when you are having fun..it can't be 5.30pm. This is definately a two week project so be sure to follow on next Wednesday and we will hopefully have the skirt ready to wear home! Job well done Lucia.
Elizabeth x

My first classes!

The school holidays here in Coffs Harbour were so wet and rainy that of course what could be better then running a few sewing classes. All the girls had fun learning more about how to use a sewing machine, making bags, headbands and patchwork pillowcases!! It was also lovely to have the studio filled with happy chatter, whirring sewing machines, busy fingers stitching and the joy of going home with something handmade.....

I am sure we did not even think about the rain once!

Elizabeth x

Vintage Nest Delivery!

Just in time for the holidays i delivered another order to the Vintage Nest in Bellingen. My order this time was made mostly from gorgeous old teatowels and tableclothes.


This is one of my favourites. I just adore pastels and flowers.
I have decided though that when stretching fabric over a canvas it is better to use a canvas frame with thick sides (about 4cm). It is also worth buying a quality frame when using large pieces of fabric as they will keep their tension better.

These two cushions are made from a gorgeous Japanese print fabric.

Well i had better go and savour my last 10 minutes of normality before i pick up the kids for the next two weeks of holidays. Lots of fun things planned...and no lunches to pack..yippee.

Elizabeth X