• Organza Hoop Art: Embroidery Techniques and Projects for Sheer Stitching
    Crafts for adults - What I'm reading

    Organza Hoop Art {book review}

    June 8, 2021 - By 

    I am really enjoying embroidery at the moment. It’s the perfect hobby to pick up when you have spare 5 minutes and I love having all my colourful hoops on display. I’ve been Pinning all kinds of embroidery for inspiration and recently came across Organza Hoop Art on NetGalley – thanks for the review copy! What is organza? According to Wikipedia organza is a thin, plain weave, sheer fabric traditionally made from silk. Many modern organzas are woven with synthetic filament fibres such as polyester or nylon. Organza Hoop Art Organza Hoop Art: Embroidery Techniques and Projects for Sheer Stitching by Sarah Godfrey. Add a wow factor to your embroidery…

  • Floral Keyring Kit from Love Embroidery magazine
    Crafts for adults

    Floral embroidered keyring kit

    June 3, 2021 - By 

    I love a free cover gift on a magazine and recently treated myself to a subscription to Love Embroidery. It’s a fab magazine, stuffed full of projects I would love to stitch. The latest issue (issue 14) included a gorgeous floral embroidered keyring kit which I couldn’t wait to make. Floral embroidered keyring kit The floral keyring kit was designed by the amazing Jessie Doe. The kit included a mini wooden hoop, 6 thread colours, cotton fabric and a keychain and ring. I gave the fabric a press (I know it doesn’t look like it) and transferred the pattern from…

  • Cotton Clara modern embroidery hoop
    Crafts for adults

    Outdoors is better {modern embroidery hoop}

    June 1, 2021 - By 

    I love to find the latest modern embroidery hoop kits. I have quite a collection of finished hoops on display and love to find new patterns to work on. When I saw that Cotton Clara has released a new pattern I knew I wanted to get my hands on it. I have quite a few of her designs and they are always really easy but satisfying to stitch. Outdoors is better embroidery hoop kit Just like all her kits, this embroidery kit included a pre-printed fabric panel, embroidery hoop, needle and red embroidery thread. I placed the fabric panel inside…

  • Stitching the Original Dropcloth Embroidery Sampler
    Crafts for adults

    Stitching the Original Dropcloth Embroidery Sampler

    May 26, 2021 - By 

    A few years ago my husband bought me an Original Dropcloth Embroidery Sampler by Rebecca Ringquist. I love this kind of pre-printed panel and the Original Dropcloth Embroidery Sampler features 14 stitches to try. Earlier this year I made a list of all my unfinished wips and it has really helped me finish projects. This week I finished my Dropcloth Sampler. Original Dropcloth Embroidery Sampler You can purchase the Original Dropcloth Embroidery Sampler from Rebecca’s Etsy shop along with lots of her other pre-printed panels. I opted for the Original one as I liked the idea of trying some new…

  • Liberty heart banner with kantha stitch
    Crafts for adults

    Liberty heart banner with kantha stitch

    May 22, 2021 - By 

    My favourite craft is anything which combines using beautiful Liberty fabrics and English Paper Piecing. Earlier this year I made a sweet EPP Liberty heart and framed it in an embroidery hoop. I wanted to make something similar in different colours so I could try decorating it with kantha stitch. What is kantha? Kantha is an ancient form of hand-stitched embroidery which originated in India. The word kantha means “rags” in Sanskrit, reflecting a tradition of using discarded clothing or garments to recycle into something new, such as bed coverings or clothes. Kantha can also refer to stitching fabrics together…

  • knot bag pattern
    Crafts for adults

    Reversible Japanese knot bag

    May 20, 2021 - By 

    Every year I watch The Great British Sewing Bee and it makes me want to try dressmaking. With real life events starting up again I thought I would explore my options and look for some in person classes. I discovered a fun sounding set of workshops at Ray Stitch, a modern haberdashery on Essex Road in north London. They offer a few beginners courses so I signed up to the Introduction to Machine Sewing Part 1 course to give myself a little refresher (this was also a pre-requisite for the dressmaking course). Reversible Japanese knot bag The Introduction to Machine…

  • Sashiko table mat
    Crafts for adults

    Sashiko table mat

    May 15, 2021 - By 

    Although I’m meant to be using up my craft supplies this year, I couldn’t resist Box 8 of Hoop Club by Cotton Clara. It’s been a while since I stitched any sashiko, but I loved the sashiko panel I bought a few years ago, and was happy to do more. Hoop Club by Cotton Clara Hoop Club by Cotton Clara is a monthly embroidery box and you can subscribe at any time. I don’t need any craft kits but I couldn’t resist Box 8. Not only was it sashiko (not even requiring an embroidery hoop!) but the stitched panel was…

  • Cricut made Numbers Day shirt
    Crafts for adults - Cricut Maker

    Cricut made Numbers Day shirt

    May 7, 2021 - By 

    For the past few years my children have taken part in the NSPCC’s Number Day at school. The NSPCC Number Day is a maths-inspired fundraising event where schools across the UK raise money for the NSPCC whilst taking part in fun maths activities and wearing clothes with a number on. My children were asked to dress up as numbers but there was no way they were going to do that. So I came up with a fun little tshirt on my Cricut inspired by those silly words we used to type out on our calculators when I was at school!…

  • modern bicycle hoop kit from Love Embroidery magazine
    Crafts for adults

    Modern bicycle hoop

    April 27, 2021 - By 

    I have another hoop to show. I’m loving embroidery at the moment and couldn’t resist the modern bike kit hoop by Stella Caraman which came with the latest issue of Love Embroidery magazine. Modern bicycle hoop I love a cover craft kit and I knew I had to get my hands on this issue. It’s actually quite hard to get hold of Love Embroidery where I live so I’ve taken out a subscription to make sure I get all the issues! The craft kit contained a pre-printed cotton panel featuring a bicycle with a front and back basket full of…