Maker Monday -Felt Robin

We will use flat acrylic sheets to cut and stitch a felt robin just in time for Christmas.  We will be handstitching and learning some embroidery techniques in this relaxing and mindful workshop.

You will be able to take home all your makes and you will be given a goody bag to make more at home!

All materials and equipment provided , including drinks and refreshments

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Christmas bags

Make this easy Christmas bag in just half an hour!

We ditched the Christmas wrapping paper last year and went with fun drawstring bags for our presents.  As long as the mice haven’t eaten them and I can remember where I put them, they will be reused until they fall apart.

Follow the pics to make your own Christmas bags.  You will need:  fabric, scissors, trim, cord for drawstrings, sewing machine.

I used half a metre of green glitter cotton, 4 and a half metres of cord for the drawstrings, 1m of ribbon for the casing. You can decorate with fabric initials, pompoms, felt or anything you fancy.

Step 1

I used glitter cotton fabric and sewed the seams up each side.

Step 2

Chose my trim and cord drawstrings.  I like a pull cord from each side. You can save money and cord by only having one pull cord, like a school PE bag.  Don’t forget to add another half metre as when the knots are tied it can get quite short. 

Step 3

I turned a wide seam over to the inside and stitched round the whole bag top to make a neat top.  If you have plenty of fabric, turn it even wider so you can use this top seam for your casing and sew 2 rows of stitiching half an inch apart.

Step 4

I used ribbon for my casing as it doubles as decoration. Stitch it around the top of your bag about 3 inches from the top edge.

Thread the cord through the casing. If you haven’t left a gap you can cut your ribbon to thread through.  If you want to do it really properly, sew one casing on the front and another on the back, leaving a little gap for your cord to thread through.

I usually run Christmas classes to make these and we had a blast last year with little versions of these.  If you need any help just shout or come and see me!  I have lots of Christmas fabric in stock.

 

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Nearly Advent…

It’s nearly that time of year again and this year I aim to be far more organised! We have the town Christmas lights switch on this Sunday 1st Dec so I shall be wrapping up warm and showing my dad the delights of town on a special event day. It’s always buzzing with lots to see and do regardless of your age. Check out ‘Love Somerton’ on FB.

There are lots of ChrIstmas gift ideas in the shop, ranging from a variety of ready to make kits including candle making, sewing, lino cutting and fimo through to serious buy-all-the-bits bits and bobs and make it from scratch. I have some great box packaging that you can decorate yourself with paint, pens or stamps to make an eco friendly reusable wrapping, or sew your own drawstring bags from fun Christmas fabrics. More of those ideas later as I vow to do a bit more on the bloggy website along with step by step instructions for those who might need them.
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Dear Santa,

 Dear Santa!

There is such a fine line being in retail on the issue of Christmas.  Talk to the crafters and they will tell you that by the end of January, they have all their cards made and ready.  Some finish theirs on their holidays in July in the caravan and take cases of paper and die cuts with them.  I was asked for Christmas fabric before Easter last year (I had only just put it away)!    Then the non crafters tut at me for having a quiet stash on the table under the stairs in September that will gradually creep out “Christmas? It’s not even November yet”!  The good news is that over the year I learned to just keep Christmas under the table, accessible enough for crafty makers and hidden from the shoppers.  I can probably guarantee that I won’t be ready for Christmas when it comes and will end up sending shop-bought cards which will be embarrassing for a die hard crafter!  Nevertheless, whenever you enjoy your Christmas making, I will probably still be thinking about buying more sparkly and glittery stash!