Hi everybody. Hope you have had a lovely Father’s Day. Did any of you make any handmade Father’s Day gifts? If you did, I’d love it if you would come and share a picture of your creation on our facebook wall.

Today I am going to highlight some of the fabulous new fat quarter packs  that have been added to our site in the last week.

My absolute favourite pack has to be the gloriously spotty ‘polka dot’ pack. It is a real steal at just £10.80 for a set of 10 assorted Polka Dot fat quarters. Just think of the wonderful projects that you could create using these pretty fabrics. If however you do need a bit of inspiration, at the end of this post I will link to some sewing projects that use fat quarters of fabric.

If you have a friend or relative that is expecting a baby then you will love our new Teddy design fat quarter packs. You can choose from beige, blue or pink colourways. The designs in this pack are just perfect to use to make gifts for babies or little children. Who doesn’t love cute teddy print fabric? :o)  The pack cost £10.80 for 6 assorted fat quarters.

Another design I’m sure you’ll all love is our Teapot print fat quarter pack. For £10.80 you get 6 assorted fat quarters which are just perfect to incorporate into your kitchen themed sewing projects. I can see these prints being perfect for turning into kitchen bunting (There is an easy bunting tutorial on ‘The Goodness’ blog) or maybe using as pockets on a pretty handmade apron.

Floral fabrics are always popular and the Aspen print design fat quarter pack is sure to be no different. These delicate floral print fabrics would look lovely sewn into hexagons for a traditional English paper pieced quilt or you could cut the fat quarters into squares and sew a patchwork lap quilt. There are 6 different coloured fat quarters in the pack for £10.80. I could also see these fabrics looking great sewn up in combination with needlecord to make a child’s pinafore dress.  I would love to see a russet coloured needlecord dress with Aspen print ruffles, patch pockets and self-covered buttons. Beautiful!

Honestly you are going to love one of our other new fat quarter packs…it’s called ‘Honesty’. It is a mixture of different coloured teeny floral prints. It is a great print that would look superb turned into a cushion front or maybe used as trim on handmade hand bags or tote bags. It is £10.80 for 6 fat quarters.

Last but not least, the final fat quarter pack to be added to our site in the last week is called ‘Pastiche’. It’s a real assortment of designs and for £10.80 you are getting 10 fat quarter sized pieces of fabric. This collection will be perfect to add to your patchwork cotton stash.

If you decide to purchase a pack of 100% cotton fat quarters but are stuck for ideas on what to make with them then check out the following links for lots of sewing inspiration.

• 25 things to do with fat quarters - Crazy Little Projects blog
• Fat quarter projects Pinterest board by LindaKay Pardee. Nearly 100 pins…so plenty to keep you busy!
• 30 fat quarter projects - Owen’s Olivia blog

Happy Sewing!

Best wishes, Kim

As promised last week, here is a selection of sewing patterns from our site for swimming costumes and bikinis. I have been busy searching our catalogue of patterns to bring you details of some of my favourite swimwear sewing patterns.

Here they are:-

• McCalls M6569

Patterns for swimsuits, bikinis and cover-up. Lovely ruched details make these costumes a really pretty design for the beach.

• McCalls MC5400

Various patterns for bikinis with briefs and also a pattern for a cover-up.

• McCalls M6759
  

Two styles of swimming costume pattern and also a pattern for a two-piece swimsuit and cover-up /sarong. I love the swimming costume pattern which has contrast side panels. I’m sure it’d be a flattering fit.

• Kwik Sew K3875
  

Bikini patterns. Choice of string bikini top with tie side briefs or gathered pull-on bandeau top with flounce trimmed briefs.

• Kwik Sew K3238
  

Patterns for tankini halter neck top, pull over bikini top and 2 choices of brief.

• Kwik Sew K3239
  

Mix and Match Swimwear. Lots of different bikini/tankini top and brief styles to choose from in this pattern pack.

•  Kwik Sew K3695
  

Halter neck swimsuit patterns. One is a basic style whereas the other one has a centre front slit with tab detail.

• Kwik Sew K3779
  

Gorgeous gathered front swimming costume with or without straps.

• Kwik Sew K3608
  

Patterns for an ultra fashionable ‘cut-out’ style swimsuit and a tankini top with briefs.

There are lots of other swimsuit sewing patterns available on our site and you can see them all in the Kwik Sew swimwear section.

We also sell bikini clips and clasps plus moulded bra cups that are perfect for your summer swimwear sewing project. If you need swimwear elastic we sell that too!

There are some tips on how to sew swimsuits over on the following blogs ‘Creative Chicks’ and ‘Mama Hen Jen’.

Also our lovely twitter friend (@jolittletime) Joanne from the blog ‘Sew Little Time’ has told me that there is a swimming costume sew-along going on over at the blog ‘Three Dresses Project’. Pop over, take a look and get involved.

Happy sewing everyone!

Before I go I just want to remind you that if you would like to apply for the next series of the Great British Sewing Bee you only have until tomorrow (Sunday 9th June) to do so. Get those application in! You can read more about the show in my blog post here.

Also as next Sunday (16th June) is Father’s Day you might be starting to sew a gift for Dad this weekend. You’ll find some ideas on what to make here in one of my latest blog posts.

I hope you all have a great weekend.

Best wishes, Kim

Hi everybody. Hasn’t it been a lovely weekend. I made the most of the weather by going out for walks and then having a barbecue. What did you all do over the weekend? I’d love to hear. Please come and tell me over on on twitter or facebook.

Talking of social media, since I started managing the social media accounts for Sewing-Online in January 2012 I have loved making lots of new sewing friends. One of the people who I have enjoyed chatting about sewing projects with is Karen Rigg from Willowwears.com. She makes fantastic handmade garments and I love reading her latest blog posts to see what she has been sewing.

Karen studied needlework at school but she then didn’t do any more sewing until she was in her late twenties. She then proceeded to take a break from dressmaking for 10 whole years! Thankfully she started sewing again in January 2012 and even better for us, is that she chose to blog about her sewing adventures on her blog ‘Willowwears’.

I have been following Karen’s sewing progress since the beginning of her blog in April 2012 and I am delighted that she recently chose to take her sewing even more seriously and decided to invest in a new dressmaking dummy from our website.  Karen opted for the Ladies Deluxe Dressmaking Dummy and she called her mannequin ‘Dolly’. She has tweeted me to say she is finding the dummy really useful for her sewing which is great news for us to hear.

After Karen bought her dressmaker’s dummy from us we decided that she would be perfect to become one of our Sewing-Online sewing pattern reviewers so we sent her a couple of sewing patterns of her choice, free of charge, for her to test out and to then let us know how she got on with them by blogging about them.

Karen opted for Simplicity 1699 and Simplicity 2442. I loved waiting to hear which patterns she would choose…..it was exciting to think I could watch the progress of a couple of our patterns being stitched up.

Simplicity 1699 is part of the new Simplicity Spring 2013 collection. It is a ‘Sew Stylish’ pattern for a ‘Misses and miss petite fit and flare dress or peplum top which has princess-seamed bodice, short raglan sleeves, waistline seam and back zipper. Collarless jacket with 3/4 sleeves and braid trim. Straight leg pants with side zipper.’

Karen has only had the patterns from us for a month but has already stitched up a peplum top, linen trousers and the jacket from Simplicity 1699 and she has really done us proud! The garments she has made are stunning! I love her choice of sewing patterns and it is wonderful to see photos of the garments she has made using sewing patterns from our online sewing shop.

Karen has been tweeting about the handmade clothes as she is sewing them and it is lovely to see how the clothes are first cut out, pinned together, constructed and then finished, etc. She is very kind and shares lots of pics along her sewing journey so we can always see how she is getting on with tackling each sewing pattern she attempts.’Tackling’ is probably the wrong word, ‘breezing along’ with each pattern would probably be a better word. Karen has a knack of making sewing look easy and much more than that she makes it look FUN! :o)

Here are a few photos of the finished garments she made from Simplicity 1699:-

Now you can see what I mean….simply stunning!  Karen is a very talented dressmaker and one we are very pleased agreed to review for us here at Sewing-Online.com.

If you would like to read what she says about the pattern please pop over and visit her lovely sewing blog ‘Willowwears.com’. Karen has written two blog posts about Simplicity 1699. The first post is all about the peplum top and the linen trousers and the second one is dedicated to the collarless jacket.  Here are the blog post links you’ll be needing:-

• Revival Of The Peplum

• All Boxed Off

Just to give you a little taster of what she says about the peplum top….”I was practically doing cartwheels when I put the (raglan) sleeves in they were so easy, I almost unpicked them just so I could put them in a second time!” Also Karen says that Simplicity 1699 is “A lovely little summer top that can, in my opinion be dressed up or down depending on the occasion”.

Karen does also mention that the top sizing does seem to come up quite small so you may want to consider going up a size when you make it. We sell Simplicity 1699 in 2 different size pattern packs - Sizes 8-16 and sizes 16 -24.

When Karen talks about the trousers she says “…, these particular ones are extremely easy to make.” and “The construction was, in its entirety, as follows: inside leg seams, crotch, side seams and zip (I inserted a concealed zip instead of a side one) and some twill tape on the waist.”.

Karen does say she found the trousers to come up a bit on the large size so she then had some adjustments to make to get the perfect fit.

I am not really much of a dressmaker myself, although I would love to have a go one day. I make clothes for my daughter but not yet for me. What Karen shows you through her dressmaking blog posts, is that it is perfectly achievable to make garments that are tailored to your body shape and that it is isn’t as difficult as you imagine. Karen is, like I said before, very talented at what she does and it is lovely that she shows us that with a length of fabric, some patience and a bit of time we too can sew ourselves a new summer wardrobe. A gorgeous handmade, one-of-a-kind wardrobe!

I would like to say a massive thanks to Karen for road-testing our sewing patterns for us. She is about to start sewing her second Sewing-Online sewing pattern, Simplicity 2442 which is a Karen Z design evening dress in 3 lengths with bodice variations and matching bolero. Once Karen has completed the garment I will write a new blog post telling you all about how she got on with it. I can’t wait to follow her progress on her Willowwears twitter and facebook pages. If you are on those sites, join in and follow her progress too. It’s SEW exciting!

I hope you all have a fantastic week. Can you believe we are in June already! Where has the time gone? I’m pleased we are now starting to see the sunny weather, it really does cheer us all up and gives us a chance to start planning our handmade summer clothes. I will be doing next week’s blog post about sewing patterns for bikinis and swimming costumes. I thought it best to give you all a chance to order your patterns now and get those cossies made before the summer holidays.

Last week we published our latest sewing newsletter which is all about ‘Summer Storage Solutions 2013’. Click here to take a look. If you love polka dots, like I do, you will be happy to see the new red and white polka dot storage bag range. It’s gorgeous! There is also a travel sewing machine bag on sale, retro sewing kits and much more besides. Please take a look.

Thanks for reading.

Best wishes, Kim

Last week I told you that it was about time I blogged about my fantastic roasting pan from our sister company ‘kitchenwares-direct.com’. I couldn’t decide what to make though but after a trip to my local farm shop I decided upon the ultimate comfort food…..Jacket Potatoes!

I managed to get 3 huge red potatoes and I thought they would be just perfect for giant baked potatoes. Number 1 - they would be yummy to eat and Number 2 - they would be an excellent meal to cook to demonstrate the versatility of my Baccarat iD3 Roast and Grill pan from Kitchenwares-Direct.

I have had my pan since the end of January when it was first sent to me to start road-testing it and I kid you not, I use the pan all the time. It is so easy to clean the pan after you have cooked your meal but most importantly the food I cook in it always ends up divine. Be it jacket spuds or roast chicken, the pan cooks to perfection each and every time I have used it.

Without any further ado, here’s a photo of my jacket potato with butter, blue cheese and cheddar (oh…plus a dash of luxurious double cream to make it even more tasty!)…..

I was so happy to find such huge baking potatoes, you can’t beat a cheese topped spud as a delicious weekend tea. :o)  If I’d had some chives I would have sprinkled some of those on there too, but sadly I didn’t have any. I am trying to grow some but with this rainy weather I haven’t got very far!

Here’s a photo collage showing you how I prepared the potatoes. The first photo shows the washed potatoes, the second photo shows the potatoes ready to be cooked with a coating of olive oil and a sprinkling of salt and pepper and the third and final photo shows the potatoes after they have been baked in the oven for a couple of hours on a high temperature. I left the lid on the pan for about an hour and then removed it for the final hour as I like my jacket potatoes to have a nice and crispy skin.

To make the jacket potato filling super scrumptious I removed all the cooked potato from the crispy skin and then mashed it up in a bowl along with lurpak butter, double cream, crumbled blue cheese and grated cheddar. I then piled the rich cheesy mash back into the potato skin ready for me to eat it. If I could have been patient I would have then popped it back in the oven for the cheesy topping to melt and go bubbly…needless to say ….I couldn’t wait to eat it so I didn’t end up with twice baked potatoes this time.  I only ate one of the three potatoes, I popped the other two baked potatoes into the freezer ready to reheat as a meal another day.

Our sister company Kitchenwares-Direct.com sells all the hard-anodised cooking pots and pans you could need.  The pans really are fantastic quality and they are well worth their money. We currently have the Roast And Grill pan on sale at £34.99 but it has a much higher RRP.

All of the Baccarat iD3 cookware range is hard anodised which is twice as hard as stainless steel and has an ‘easy clean’ 3 layers of non-stick coating. All of the pans can be used on all cooker tops, including induction. The whole range is dishwasher safe and comes with a lifetime guarantee.

The Roast And Grill Pan is a substantial size and weight. It measures 34 x 24 cm and both the roasting pan itself and the (griddle) pan lid can be used directly on the hob. You can see from the photo below what the pan bases look like.

It is because this pan is so versatile that you will really get your money’s worth from it. You can use it to cook so many kinds of meals. So far some of the meals I have cooked in it include roast chicken and vegetables, roast beef and all the trimmings, jacket potatoes, chicken nuggets and chips and much more. As the lid has griddle lines it would be perfect to use on the hob for cooking beef burgers and chargrilled vegetables, etc.

Other Baccarat pans available from the Kitchenwares-Direct website include:-

Hard anodised 36cm wok with lid 

Hard anodised 32cm fry pan with helper

Hard anodised 20cm saucepan with lid

Please pop over to the website and take a look at the professional quality Baccarat iD3 cookware range. As far as I am aware, Kitchenwares-Direct.com is the only UK stockist of these pans! So if you like the look of them go ahead and visit the website and treat yourself. 

I hope you all have a great Bank holiday weekend.

Best wishes, 

Kim 

I hope you have all been enjoying your weekend. I have been sorting out my sewing notions and have decided to put my patchwork hexagon sewing bits and bobs into my Button It red polka dot sewing box.  They fit in the box really well and the box now takes pride of my place in my lounge. Up until now I had just piled all sorts of sewing accessories into the box but I am much happier now my beautiful box is filled with pretty fabrics for my daughter’s patchwork blanket.

Today I am here to urge you all on in your sewing dreams! Did you sit there last month watching the Great British Sewing Bee (or better known as #GBSB if you are on twitter) wishing you were on the programme showcasing your own sewing talents? If you did then now is your chance to be in series 2 of the BBC 2 show made by Love Productions!!!

If you would like to nominate yourself as a contestant you must be over 18 years of age (by June 1st 2013) and you must live in the UK (including Isle of Man and Channel Islands). You must not hold a sewing NVQ (or other sewing qualification) unless it was from over 10 years ago. You cannot have ever worked full time as a seamstress, dressmaker, tailor, sample machinist or pattern cutter and your main source of income must not have ever come from working in a professional sewing environment. You can read any other terms and conditions on the application form which you can download here.

Here at Sewing-Online we are all delighted that there will be a second series of the fantastic sewing show. We were very honoured to have been chosen as one of the suppliers of sewing stock to the series 1 of the show. We are all for getting the nation sewing and the Great British Sewing Bee did a superb job of showing everyone that sewing is not only a fun hobby to have but a modern one too.

It was so wonderful to have the opportunity to watch people sewing to their heart’s content on our TV screens. It really did get people talking about sewing all over the social media networks and that was fantastic to witness. Twitter and Facebook has always been buzzing with people discussing their latest sewing projects but when we had the #GBSB hashtag to follow you could really see how much everyone loved the show and had taken it into their hearts.

If you would like to apply to be on the next series of the Great British Sewing Bee please visit this link and download the application form.

In other news, we have been very busy adding new stock to the Sewing-Online website. In a couple of weeks time I will do another dedicated blog post to our latest items but in the meantime here’s a little taster of the gorgeous new products we are now selling…..

1. Needle felting kits from Orchidea. - These are an amazing concept. They are a felt-by-number needle felting kit and they are available in some stunning designs. I love the Sunset Felt kit which you can see in the photo collage above. It is £21.85. I have always wanted to have a go at needle felting but to be honest I had been worried it looked a bit complicated! These kits make the craft accessible for everyone.
2. Pink Spots Knitting bag - If you are in the market for a new knitting bag then you’ll love this pink spotty bag that we have just started to stock. It is £22.88.
3. We are now stockists of Reynolds Freezer Paper!!  If you haven’t heard of it before then you’ve been missing out. :o) It’s an amazing paper that you can draw your pattern pieces onto the papery side and then you gently iron the plastic coated side down onto your fabric and the paper magically adheres itself temporarily onto the fabric. This means you can then cut out the fabric pieces without having to use pins to pin the paper down. After you have cut around your paper pattern all you have to do is peel off the paper from the fabric. You can even re-use these paper pattern pieces a few more times by just ironing them on again. One roll of freezer paper is £8.63.

I hope you all have a great week ahead. This week I have got to decide what to cook in my hard anodised roast and grill pan which came from our sister company Kitchenwares-Direct. The reason being that in next week’s blog post I am going to be showcasing my roasting pan for you all. Last time I blogged about my pan I cooked roast beef but this time I’m going to make something a bit different. Not quite sure what yet though! :o)

Best wishes, Kim

P.S :- Don’t forget to send in your application to the Great British Sewing Bee.

Hello everyone. It is 5 weeks until Father’s day so now is the time to start making your handmade Father’s Day gifts. I have been busy searching through our sewing patterns for suitable gifts to make for Dad and I have also made sure to gather lots of useful tutorial links from around the web for you. I hope today’s blog post gives you some sewing inspiration about what to make for your father for his special day on June 16th.

It can be notoriously difficult to know what to sew for men but I think I may have found some unusual ideas for you.

How about buying Simplicity sewing pattern 1709 for Tailgating Accessories and sewing your dad a fold-up chair cover, an apron and a 12 drink can bandolier! How much more unusual a gift idea can you get than a wearable accessory to carry 12 cans of drink! He could wear it to barbecues, on a day out to the beach, to a tailgate party (can’t say I have ever heard of them over here in the UK though) and on so many more occasions. On a hot summer’s day when he is walking around with 12 cans of drink over his shoulder every thirsty person he meets will want to be his friend! :o) It really has to be the ultimate handmade novelty Father’s Day gift for 2013! The pattern is just £5.65.

If you are going to be taking your dad out for a meal to celebrate the day then wouldn’t he look dapper dressed in a handsewn shirt that you have made for him. We sell lots of shirt sewing patterns here at Sewing-Online but one of the patterns I like the most is McCalls MC6044 which is £8.26. It’s a stylish design with rounded hem and a choice of long or short sleeves. It can be sewn up in cotton, cotton blends, silk rayon, denim etc. Depending on the fabric you use this shirt could be smart, casual or fun. My dad loves fishing and I bet he’d love one of these made out of fish fabric. Not sure my family would want to be seen out with him wearing it, but I know he’d love it! Other shirt sewing patterns we sell include Simplicity 5581 (which also has a pattern for shorts and a hat) and versatile McCalls MC2149.

If your father likes to bike then I’m sure he would appreciate a bespoke bike bag and seat cover. We sell Simplicity sewing pattern 1712 which has the patterns you’ll be needing to create these thoughtful gifts. The pattern costs £5.65. The photo shows the bike accessories sewn up in girly fabrics but if you can imagine them made up in manly fabrics then I think you can see how they would make a good Father’s Day gift. These products can be sewn up in cotton or cotton blend fabrics and also laminated fabrics.

If Footie is your dad’s thing then this football design grosgrain ribbon we sell would be perfect to use in a craft project for him. It costs £14.38 for a 9m roll. Another product we sell which would really make your dad go WOW is this football latch hook rug kit. I can’t say I have a clue how long it would take you to complete this rug but if you were still working on it after Father’s day I’m sure your dad wouldn’t mind. The finished rug has a diameter of 28 inches (70cm) and it costs £100.46. 

Now here are some links to ‘gifts for men’ sewing tutorials from around the web.

• About.Com (Sewing) has compiled a list over 15 gift ideas to sew for men. My favourites are the tutorials for the bi-fold wallet and the sun visor CD wallet.
• ManmadeDIY have written a blog post which includes 3 links to tutorials that show you how to make a tie for your dad.
• There are 9 great handmade gift ideas for dad on the AllFreeSewing website. I like the tutorial for the Boxy Dopp Kit.
• Sarahs-Threads has some fab ideas for you. I love the link she provides to the sewing instructions for The Weekender bag by Weekend Designer.
• If you don’t want to handmake a gift for your dad and then end up buying a ready made card - here’s a tutorial from Inhabitots that shows you how to make an 8-Bit pop-up card. It’s very retro cool.

I hope this blog post has helped you decide what to sew for your dad this Father’s Day. If you do make him a gift please feel free to come and share a photo of it on our facebook page or tweet it to me. Our twitter user name is @sewing_online.

Have a lovely week everyone.

Best wishes, Kim

It is Bank Holiday Monday and the sun has been shining brightly all day. It is the wonderful weather we have been having this last week that has inspired today’s blog post all about sewing patterns for dresses.  As it is about time we all started to plan our homesewn summer wardrobe I have picked my 5 favourite dress patterns from the Spring 2013 Simplicity Sewing Pattern Collection to introduce to you all.

I am absolutely in love with Simplicity 1666 Lisette ‘Sew Your Style’. It is a gorgeous sewing pattern for a Fit and Flare dress with princess seams and back zip. I can so see this dress being made in a bold floral print crisp cotton fabric. You could even make a carryall bag to match the dress as the pack includes patterns for a bag, an ultra fashionable peplum top and a pencil skirt with walking slit. The pattern is £8.15 and it is available in 2 sizes, 6-14 and 16-24.

Simplicity 1686 Amazing Fit sewing pattern is for a mock wrap dress with different sleeve variations. There are two different dress lengths to choose from. The dress has princess seams, inset waist band, lapels and a back zip. The pattern pack includes separate pattern pieces for A, B, C, D cup sizes and slim, average and curvy fit. It is an American Sewing Guild pattern and it costs £8.15. You can buy pattern sizes 6-14 and 16-24.

The Cynthia Rowley dress design for Simplicity 1654 is very pretty with the optional top stitch detailing on the bodice seams. It is a dress which can be stitched up with or without sleeves. It would look stunning sewn in a coral coloured linen fabric. The pattern is £8.15 and available in pattern sizes 4-12 and 12-20.

If you are looking for a simple dress to sew then sewing pattern ‘It’s So Easy’ Simplicity 1643 could be exactly what you are looking for. It has a pattern for a knee length pullover V-neck sleeveless dress with matching tie fabric belt. The pattern pack also includes a pattern for a hip length kimono jacket with cascade front. The pattern is £4.05 and it covers sizes XS-XL.

I love Simplicity ‘It’s So Easy’ 1644 as it is super fashionable and looks just like the dresses currently available on the high street because of the optional long length graduated hem. It is made for stretch knits only. The dress is a pullover halter neck style and it has a smooth front midriff and elasticized back. The pattern is only £4.05 and it covers sizes 6-16.

I hope you have been inspired to get stitching some summer dresses. You can buy all of the featured sewing patterns from our online sewing shop.

I hope you have all enjoyed your long weekend. I bet lots of you have been relaxing in the garden with a spot of hand sewing. Talking about stitching by hand reminds me I must do some more work on the hexagons for my daughter’s English paper pieced quilt. It’s been a few weeks since I last stitched any hexagons for it.

Best wishes, Kim

As promised last week, here is our fabric showcase blog post!! All of these fabrics you will see pictured below are NEW to the Sewing-Online website and I recommend you grab them while you can. I can foresee the Sew Retro fabrics (fabric photos numbers 1,2,and 3) flying off the shelves as they are bang on trend and perfect for all sorts of sewing projects. I think the vintage newspaper print fabric would look stunning made into a 1950’s tea dress with red polka dot bias binding trim.

I am not going to do too much writing in today’s post. I shall let the beautiful fabric photos do the talking instead!

Fabric 1 - Sew Retro Montage Patchwork Fabric by Makower

Fabric 2 - Sew Retro Labels Patchwork Fabric by Makower

Fabric 3- Sew Retro Pattern Patchwork Fabric by Makower. This is available in a Cream or Teal colourway.

Fabric 4- Discs Printed Patchwork Fabric by Makower

Fabric 5- Groovy Words Printed Patchwork Fabric by Makower

Fabric 6- 1960’s Icon Printed Patchwork Fabric by Makower

Fabric 7- Ogee Heart Pink Printed Patchwork Fabric by Makower

Fabric 8- Groovy Flower Printed Patchwork Fabric by Makower

Fabric 9- Pirate Labels Printed Patchwork Fabrics by Makower

Fabric 10- Pirate Skulls and Bones Printed Patchwork Fabric by Makower. Available in a Red or Blue colourway.

Fabric 11- Pirate Scatter Printed Patchwork Fabric by Makower.

Fabric 12- Pirate Fish Printed Patchwork Fabric by Makower. Available in Cream or Blue colourway.

Fabric 13- Celebration Labels Patchwork Fabric by Makower.

Fabric 14- Celebration Montage Printed Patchwork Fabric by Makower. Available in a Blue or Cream colourway.

Fabric 15- Celebration Bunting Printed Patchwork Fabric by Makower. Available in Pink or Cream colourway.

Fabric 16- Celebration Metallic Outline Rose Patchwork Fabric by Makower. Available in Pink, Cream and Sunshine colourways.

Fabric 17- Celebration Candy Stripe Printed Patchwork Fabric by Makower.

Fabric 18- Pirate Waves Printed Patchwork Fabric by Makower. Available in Light Blue and Dark Blue.

Fabric 19- Celebration Love Hearts Patchwork Fabric by Makower

Fabric 20- Fat Quarter Bundle in Classic Wine by The Craft Cotton Co.

Fabric 21- Fat Quarter Bundle in Jasmine

Fabric 22- Fat Quarter Bundle in Spring Flowers

Fabric 23- Fat Quarter Bundle in Teddy Bear Print by The Craft Cotton Co. Available in Blue or Beige colourways.

Fabric 24- Fat Quarter Bundle in Pastel Patchwork

Fabric 25- Fat Quarter Bundle in Candy Heart Print by The Craft Cotton Co.

I hope you all love the new patchwork fabrics we have just added to the site. As you can see there are lots of different designs to choose from. I would love you to come and tell me on Facebook or Twitter which is your favourite fabric. Mine has to be the Sew Retro Montage fabric. I think it would be just the right kind of fabric for a sewing accessories for your sewing room. Things such as a sewing machine cover and drawstring bags. If you plan on making either of those projects then sewing patterns McCalls MC5017 and Butterick B5581 would come in handy.

If you remember, last week I mentioned that we were 81 followers off of 5000 on Facebook. Well I have some news……we now have 5004 Facebook friends and I am over the moon!! I’d like to say thank you to all of you for coming over to like our page and for recommending us to your friends. I really appreciate all your help.

Before I go I’d just like to mention that we are currently having a spring sale on our site, so if you need to stock up on sewing supplies now is the time to do it. Please pop over to our sewing shop website and have a leisurely browse.

Enjoy the sunshine at the weekend. I think we should all make the most of it as who knows how long it will be here for?!

Best wishes, Kim

Hi everyone. I have a feeling you are going to like today’s blog post. It’s all about the newest arrivals in our online sewing shop…..polka dot sewing boxes , neon sewing threads and a few new patchwork fabrics. I also have some links for you to websites that are packed full of St George’s Day craft tutorials for the kids.

As you all know, I adore my polka dots so I am delighted to be able to say we now have these splendidly spotty sewing boxes in stock and ready for you to buy. 

My absolute favourite has to be the red sewing box with white polka dots. I wonder which is your favourite? I’m going to do a poll on our facebook page and ask you all. Pay a visit to our page and tell me which one you like best.

The polka dot sewing boxes are all available in 3 sizes :-Small £17.99, Medium £22.99 and Large £34.99. You can choose from the white with multi-coloured spots, red with white spots and blue with white spots.  The small boxes are 11cm high, 20cm deep and 20cm wide. The medium boxes are 15cm high, 18.5cm deep and 26cm wide. The large boxes are 20cm high, 23.5cm deep and 31cm wide.

These sewing boxes are really useful to store all your sewing notions in and because they have a carry handle you can easily transport them from room to room. The best bit has to be that they will look great in your sewing room!  We even sell other matching items such as the Crochet Hook Set, Knitting Pin Bag, Craft Bag and Knitting Bag.

Have you seen all those neon clothes that are in fashion? I’m sure you have, but had you thought to yourself how are you going to mend those neon clothes if you buy a garment and then the seams need taking up or a button needs sewing on? Well, I guess you hadn’t probably been thinking much about it, but not to worry, I have the answer for you……buy this multi-pack of neon coloured Gütermann Sew-All threads. They are such vibrant colours that will make a real impact if used on black clothing or just seamlessly blend into the background when used on neon coloured clothing.

The multi pack costs £15.18 and in the set you get 10 x 100m reels of Sew-All thread in neon shades. They are made of 100% polyester and you can trust they are top quality as they are made by well know brand Gütermann.

In the last few weeks we have added loads of new fabrics to our website but as there are so many I think they deserve their own showcase so that is why next week’s blog post will be all about them and nothing else. I’m not so mean that I would mention the new fabrics and not show you some pictures of a few of them. So here’s a collage pic of three of the new fabrics that we have available on our website.

Number 1 is Celebration Candy Stripe patchwork fabric by Makower.

Number 2 is Pirate Labels printed patchwork fabric by Makower.

Number 3 is Celebration Montage patchwork fabric by Makower.

I look forward to writing next week’s blog post which will highlight all our new patchwork fabrics and fat quarter bundle packs. There will be lots of lovely pictures of them for you to admire. If you can’t wait until next week you can browse all the patchwork fabrics available on our website by clicking here.

I hope you all have a lovely weekend and that Tuesday is a great St George’s day for you all. If you want to do some St George’s Day crafting with the kids then check out the following links:-

• http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/st_georges_day_crafts.htm
  
• http://www.patticrafts.co.uk/category/occasions/st-georges-day
  
• http://www.stgeorgesholiday.com/downloads/index.asp
  
• http://www.baby.co.uk/life_and_home/2013041315-kids-ideas-for-st-georges-day/
  
• http://prettyshabbyuk.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/st-georges-day-sock-dragon.html
  

Before I go can I ask a favour of you all, if you haven’t yet liked us on facebook please could you pop over and like our page. We are now only 81 likes away from having 5000 lovely facebook friends. It’s so fantastic to be managing the sewing-online social media accounts as we have so many wonderful sewing, knitting, crocheting and crafting enthusiasts engaging with the accounts all the time. I love to chat with you all about fabric stashes, latest sewing projects, dressmaking aspirations and all things crafty. I’m sure you’ve guessed it by now but…….. I love my job!

Best wishes,

Kim

Hi everyone. This week’s blog post is about sewing pattern McCall’s M6009 - Easy Stitch ‘n’ Save.  The pattern is available to buy in our Sewing-Online shop and it is a real bargain at only £3.95!  You can choose to buy the kid’s pattern pack in age 3- 6 years or 7-14 years. 

The children’s sewing pattern is for a basic girl’s top and dress with drawstring neckline plus a pair of trousers.  I have the age 3-6 year pattern in my pattern stash and I decided this evening to make the Top A using some fabric that I have upcycled from it’s previous role as a little curtain (which I handmade in the first instance too). 

At first I was going to cut into some polka dot clothes that I had bought today in the charity shops, with the intention of using them for upcycling, but in the end I decided I’d be better off saving those gorgeous ‘new to me prints’ for a special occasion dress or such like. This little top that I made is going to be worn all the time and not just on special days. I am so pleased with how it turned out. Look…..here’s a picture of it -

This top is based on the Top A pattern from McCalls M6009 but I did increase the length of the top as I had enough fabric available to me. I have to admit I did not follow the sewing instructions…. I didn’t even read them! I have made a top in similar style to this before and once you’ve made one pillowcase style dress I find you remember how to construct it the next time round.

This top uses a minimal amount of material which means it can be super affordable to stitch up and yet it still looks like a million dollars!  I estimate the size of each fabric piece (top front and top back) that I used measures around 50cm x 50cm. This does not include the extra fabric I needed to make the drawstring tie /straps though.  If you were making one of these tops yourself you could either make a matching tie from the same fabric, make a tie from a different fabric or the quickest option, use a length of pretty ribbon.  (The amount/size of material needed will vary depending on the age you choose to make)

The bow embellishment on the front of the top was handmade by myself and there are no instructions included in the pattern pack.  It was really simple to make though and you can find some instructions for a similar type of bow here on the LulaLouise blog.

I am quite sure if you decide to buy this pattern that it will be one of those sewing patterns that you turn to time and time again as not only is it simple to make but quick to stitch up too. My daughter’s top took me around about an hour from start to end. A top like this would make a fantastic gift stitched up for a little girl and I bet if you let them pick their own choice of fabric they would be even more delighted with the gift.

At some point I hope to make some trousers following the pattern in McCall’s M6009 and if I do, I promise to blog about the resulting garment for you all. I still have a small amount of this floral fabric left over so I could probably make some plain or polka dot trousers and add a matching floral trim.

Before I say goodbye for this week I just have a little favour to ask of you all……

Tree from Stitchless TV is going to be appearing on Jo Good’s radio show on BBC London 94.9 fm on Monday 15th April between 3pm -4pm. She is featuring in a sewing slot on the radio that she hopes might become a regular feature and she would absolutely love it if you could all email, text or call in when she is on air from 3pm. She will be discussing the topic of ‘What you all made in sewing class at school’ so if you could call in and let her know what you made she would be delighted to speak to you! To call the show please dial 02072242000 between 3-4pm on Monday 15th April. If you are a bit shy about speaking on air you could always email or text Tree and Jo with details of your ‘school sewing makes’ to joanne.good@bbc.co.uk or text 81333 and start with the word “London. Please make sure to only contact the show (by phone, text or email) from 3pm on Monday 15th April, no sooner.  

If you can, please do share Tree’s request with your fellow sewing friends on twitter and facebook. (Feel free to just copy and paste the bit I wrote about the show above as that will save you all time). Hope the show goes well Tree!

Have a lovely weekend everyone.

Best wishes, Kim

****By the way, if you missed episode 2 of The Great British Sewing Bee catch up with it here.