Our Workroom is set up on the first floor of a Georgian building with low wide sash windows. Our windows look out over the busy high street of our pretty village. We look out over the old tiled roofs opposite, a birds eye view of ornate brickwork and tiling, hidden high up along the eves of roofs, unseen from the street. Above the roofs on the horizon are the rolling tree lined tops of the Chiltern Hills and the Forestry Commissions Wendover Woods. The clouds have been hanging low over the hills, blotting out the tops of the trees and some days this week have been grey grey grey, stormy and squally. But looking back over the weeks photos, you can see the moments of such bright sunshine, illuminating the colour and creativity bursting out of our Workroom.
Visit our 2015 Spring Classes tab on the website if you want to join us in celebrating colour and creativity in the long gloomy weeks of January and February. We have a packed schedule of classes kicking off in the new year and many are fully booked already so don't delay. We have vouchers too if you want to give a friend or family member the gift of a fabulous new hobby this Christmas.
I'm very excited to be swapping roles next week and becoming a student at the Workroom for Claire's exciting Modern Cathedral Windows Class. I'm really looking forward to a little hand sewing project for the run up to Christmas - the perfect de-stress for snatched moments in amongst the madness and bustle, I'm planning supersized cathedral windows for a cushion, now which fabric to choose? ( There is still one space if anyone else fancies joining us)
Lovely winter sunshine first thing today at The Workroom - the calm before a veritable dressmaking storm today! Little Girls Dresses are looking soooooo cute, I can't tell you! I'll share some pics next class when the bodices and skirts come together.
We're making Hot Water Bottles on Tues 25th Nov 10am at The Workroom. I live in a very draughty old Victorian cottage so we have extensively road tested and refined this pattern over the years, I can tell you! If you live in a house as cold as mine I highly recommend you make these in multiples - there's something quite indulgent about choosing your hot water bottle cover each evening.
What makes a perfect hot water bottle? Just the right amount of wadding and quilting, no 'knobbly' buttons or add ons ( so uncomfortable!) the perfect ergonomics of the flap placement to allow for easy bottle filling ( when you're doing a mass hot water bottle fill for a family of 5 you can't be fiddling about taking the whole thing out!). This project is a fun and fab way to use up some favourite fabrics and wadding pieces, practice your machine quilting, and make some useful items. There's a space left on this class if you'd like to join us.
We also have a great new class that starts in January, Sewing For Babies. It's 4 classes aimed at sewing beginners where we will be making bibs and dribble bandanna's, proper old fashioned bonnets or sun-hats, swaddle snugglers for newborns and - fabulously handy to have a few - travel changing mats. For expectant mums or grannies it's the perfect 4 month preparation for a new baby. What's nicer than home-made baby preparations? Kasha, our lovely tutor has been working hard on all these super-cute samples - the Workroom is bursting with baby loveliness, pop in and have a coo...ahhh!
The weekend of the 21st and 22nd November is also our ShopHop weekend....Judy sent me a very exciting picture of goodies for the Raffle Prize this week! Just visit all 3 shops ( PlainStitch, Wendover. Sew Patchwork, Thame. Sally's Sewing Box, Princes Risborough) over the two days and collect those stickers to enter, along with lots of special offers in each shop for the weekend. Save the date, you've got to be in it to win it! xx
