Slow-stitched Brooch on YouTube

 

Wow, my first video on YouTube. Here I show you how to make a Slow-Stitch brooch using reclaimed fabrics and lace. A simple project to learn the basics and lose yourself in stitching. I take you through each step. 

Pull up a chair, get a cup of tea and craft along with me. Click here for the video Slow-Stitched Brooch

The Handmade Fair @ Hampton Court

Wow, what an amazing event! This was my first ever time exhibiting my work, kits and promoting my Crafternoon events.  Months of planning, making, writing and thinking were all put into the event and I was over the moon with how it went.

The Make & Take was the Travel Sewing kit or Brooch and we had lots of people joining us to take the weight off their feet, sew and natter at my 1950's table and chairs.It was great to show my kits to the world and was really pleased with the comments and indeed sales that resulted.  The Kantha, Sashiko & Boro style captured imaginations and hopefully we will see more customer completed projects soon.

The chair- what can I say? This was a last minute plan that really took off. I bought the chair to complete the look of a vintage kitchen come living room to give a great feel to the stand.  I was going to cover the chair in patches myself, but I thought that it would be great to encourage the passing public to help me.  Then it dawned on me that I could use the chair and its growing patches to raise money.... so it had to be for Ovarian Cancer Research!

I was overwhelmed by the number of people that stopped and took time out of their day to sew a patch on and make a donation.  Several came back later on or the next day just to see how the patches were growing. Women, children and even men joined the cause and we had to move the chair out into the middle of the stand so that several people could sew at the same time.

Thank you everyone who contributed and we managed to raise £107.50 for Ovarian Cancer Research.

I've got so many people to thank for helping me to get to the show :-

Chris Sweeney, my brother for designing the gorgeous vinyl back drop

Lesley & Angela for helping me on the stand.

Claire for not only helping me on the stand, but driving the furniture back and forth and setting up.

Zani for designing my business card and gorgeous thread cards.

Kate Molloy for desiging my amazing logo

Zani, Claire & Ruth for testing my designs

Heidi Smith for helping with my Crafternoon Tea invitation design

Glenn and the kids for keeping me sane and letting me try out my wild idea.

Thank you and here's to more events!

First Crafternoon Tea

The first Bobbin Wren Crafternoon Tea was a wonderful success.  Vinteas was the perfect backdrop for the event, serving a range of teas in bone china and delicious jam and cream scones.  They even had gluten free ones!

I spent the afternoon in wonderful company showing the group how to make a brooch from vintage fabrics.  The cake-stand had a collection of fabrics, embroideries and lace that had been salvaged from vintage table cloths, shirts and bedlinens giving the group huge scope to create their unique brooch. 

I was overwhelmed by the results.  Each person created a stunning brooch that they were proud of and thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon.

The brooch is available as a kit, which can be purchased from my Etsy Store www.etsy.com/shop/bobbinwren

Thread Cards

I am using my Thread Cards for the first time with a project and I love them. I've been obsessed with how to present the threads in my kits and tried various hand drawn designs, but kept coming back to the card with holes in.

After help from Zanidesigns I have the perfect card with all my branding on too and some of my work on the back!  These will be given out at The Handmade Fair in September 15-17th @ Hampton Court and will be filled with threads in my kits.

Quilt from scratch workshop

In conjunction with The Quilter's Den on Smith Street in Warwick, Bobbin Wren is proud to announce our first Quilting Workshops.

You will create a quilt from start to finish. If you have ever fancied making a quilt, but never known where to start, this is the workshop for you.

Held over 2 days (Saturday 2^nd September and Saturday 23^rd September), Kellie will take you through each stage from choosing your fabrics, preparing them, cutting, piecing, quilting and binding.  Don’t worry if you don’t understand the jargon or how to use the tools and equipment as Kellie will take it slow and make sure that you understand each step.

By the end of the 2 days you will have a beautiful quilt and feel confident to make another one yourself.

The workshop will be delivered in The Quilters Den on Smith Street, Warwick.  There is a car park round the back that is easy to walk to. We will be using the studio in the back room that has workstations, power, irons and all the rest of the equipment that we will need.

Just bring your sewing machine, fabric and sewing kit if you have it.

Book by contacting Anita @ The Quilters Den – 01926 408247 and you can join the events on Facebook.

Day 1

Day 2

Price - £35 for each workshop

The Bobbin Wren Etsy Store is now open

Wow its been such a productive day and now I can announce that the Etsy store is officially open for business.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/BobbinWren

You can purchase the Brooch Kit from the store and there will be other kits going in there as they get completed.

Discount on entry tickets for The Handmade Fair

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If you quote BOBBINWREN when you book your tickets you will save £5 on Full Experience tickets*.

Just quote this code when booking tickets from www.thehandmadefair.com.

With a Full Experience ticket, you get to choose 3 sessions (1 x Super Theatre – hearing from famous faces like Annie Sloan and Keith Brymer Jones in live demos and Q&As, 1 X Skills Workshop – you can try your hand at calligraphy, wirework and more, and 1 x Grand Make – chance to learn a new skill in a light creative session).

Plus, you can come and visit the Bobbin Wren Stand E123 to see our kits and sit for a while to make a brooch.

*Saving applies to full price adult tickets and cannot be combined with other offers. Offer ends 23.59 on 13th September 2017. Booking fees apply.