We’ve been making quite a bit of bunting lately, there are so many celebrations going on, what with weddings, anniversaries, birthdays and lots more ‘happenings’ there has been so much to do.
So we have given bunting the ‘Joy To Make’ treatment and it looks great, using cottons and cotton mixes which have a fantastic range of colours, they vary in width so you can get quite a lot of triangles out of a small amount of fabric. We match the colours to either a logo or theme and then vary fabrics with patterns to complement it.
The letters were bonded to the fabric and then sewn round to keep them in place and finally the top tape was sewn into place. We try to keep the strings to no more than 3 metres, as if you have a tent to put them up in or around then they should fit ok.
We held a great workshop recently where it was all hands on deck to create bunting, we had cutters for the cloth, machinists to sew up, more cutters creating letters and an ironer! It was great fun, a well oiled production line (well with the help of Proseco anyway).
So if you need a bunting workshop or just bunting, Joy to Make can help, just give us a call.
I love fabric, its tactile, versatile, you can do almost anything with it, shape it, mould it, sew it, whatever. I am so very fortunate to have a fantastic array of different fabrics, different weights, different colours, from fabulous silks to gorgeous upholstery fabrics , braids, ribbons, buttons, cottons. With these our creative textiles workshop is unique.
What can you do with ‘creative textiles’ I am often asked this, well pictures, wall hangings, cushions, bedspreads whatever you like really.
The workshop we did recently was interesting in that one lady said she had the sewing skills but lacked creativity. Up until that point I would probably have ‘themed’ the workshop but I decided that to get creative you needed to be stimulated and therefore a blank canvas was the starting point, and lots of pictures, magazines, cards with different themes on them, and a wall hanging which was done earlier created by 15 people who had never done anything like this before, each tackled their ‘square’ in a different way and all very colourful, lively and effective. One little square with birds on it, started the theme off for our lady and was developed from there.
Another saw an impressionist painting of boats, this sparked her imagination. They delved into the boxes of fabric to find scraps to develop their themes with, each had a piece of beige cotton/linen (curtain weight) to develop their pictures. Hand sewing with silks, cottons and wool, and machining with different stitches with a little help and nurturing, the creations were developed.
The final results were great, one was made into a wall hanging and put on the bathroom wall, the other was to be stretched onto canvas to create a picture.
Why not come and join us for a workshop and unlock your creative side, its great fun :-)[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]
Another lovely crochet workshop filled with lots of tea, giggles and learning the art of crochet!
If you missed out on the workshop here’s a few pictures of the evening where we learnt all the basics of holding the wool and hook, making a chain stitch, double crochet stitch, and half treble stitch, not to mention starting a round! All in the space of two hours!
I hope the ladies who came enjoyed the evening, and took home their knowledge so they can start creating!
We met once again to make myboshi beanie hats in our crochet workshop.
The group was a mixture of beginners and some who have had a go at crochet before.
It’s a pleasure being able to pass on such an enjoyable skill like crochet, and by the end of the workshop, beanie hats had started to take shape!
The main stitch that is used to make a myboshi beanie is the ‘half treble’, so we mainly focused on showing how to do the stitch, as well as the basic chain stitch which you use to start of the boshi.
One of the most important things we show during the crochet workshop is how to change colours of your beanie which is done at the ‘slip stitch’ stage, more information on this can be found on this link. Myboshi has lots of variety of different colours, it’s an important technique to learn how to do as it can be tricky and leave holes in your beanie if not done right.
Once you have mastered the skill of crochet it is possible to make a beanie in an evening or two, as long as you don’t have distractions!
We hope all that came to the workshop enjoyed themselves as much as we did, and do come back to visit us soon!
We are going to be running a crochet workshop at the Sock Fair at Loughborough Town Hall on Sunday 22nd March 2015.
Come along and bring your 4-16 year olds to participate in some creative crochet sessions! Make funky coloured bugs and creatures or fashionable headbands and bracelets. It’s free to join in, so we hope to see you all there! the workshop will fron from 10am – 4pm.
It’ll also be a great opportunity to take a look at all the fantastic arts and crafts on offer from our local artists!
Our first hen party sewing bee was a delightful success!
We provided a group of 15 ladies with a table full of fabric and accessories, and a linen square to decorate to how they wished. The results were fantastic, we were all so pleased with the amount of creativity that was on offer. No square was the same, and each person got stuck in at the word go!
Many of the ladies had never sewn before and were a bit apprehensive of having to use a sewing machine, but after being shown the basics, they were confident enough to go on and machine on their designs.
Afternoon tea was served along side all the sewing, on our very own vintage china tea cups and saucers. Each person tucked into a delicious fat scone with jam and cream!
The workshop lasted around 3 hours, which was just enough time for everyone to complete their square. We will then work on finishing off the bedspread for the Bride before her wedding day.
The buzz in the room whilst everyone was sewing and chatting was such a nice atmosphere, it really is an excellent way to spend time with all of your friends and make something that you may never have thought you could have attempted before.
I am pleased so say that we have also made some sewing converts, they have already got the bug and are keen to come on along to another one of our workshops.
If you would like to know more about our hen party workshops you can read more here.
