As I told Abi and the 3 other sewing students, I probably haven’t used a sewing machine in about 10 years and even then it was a school textiles project and my Mum did most of the actual sewing!
Over 2 years ago on a visit home for Christmas I said to my Mum I wanted to learn to sew. The morning we were due to set off back to Leeds from Kent my Mum took me to the Singer shop in the local high street and bought me a basic model as a Christmas present. Since then my sewing machine has been rather unloved, it has been shoved in a cupboard and not once been taken out of the box! I put this down to fear. Fear of breaking it and fear of generally just being rubbish at sewing.
Since joining Twitter in May Abi and I have exchanged tweets and I vowed I would find the time to attend one of her workshops. Then, a few weeks ago, I saw a post on Facebook for 30% off the workshop scheduled for the 2nd of July and thought right, I must take advantage of that and just get on with it! So I phoned the lovely Angela at The Butterfly Rooms, Saltaire and booked my place.
I was a little unsure of what to expect and apprehensive about using a sewing machine for the first time in so many years but Abi was lovely and put me at ease straight away. We had the choice of making a book bag or an apron. I went for the bag as growing up I had so many bags and now my Mum is convinced I should make and sell my own, eeek!
So along the way we chatted, browsed some books and magazines, drank tea and learnt how to thread the machines, wind a bobbin and make a bag from some scraps of supplied fabric (you can take your own if you want). Abi even let us play with some bondaweb and showed us how to do some satin stitch applique! I opted not to add anything else to the outside of my bag due to the large floral motif of the fabric but I enjoyed watching the others have a go.
So, here is my creation!
As you can tell it’s quite Cath Kidston-esque which everyone who knows me well won’t be surprised by! It isn’t perfect but for my first attempt I’m really rather chuffed! Most importantly I have conquered that initial fear of oh my god, I cannot thread a sewing machine! I honestly came home feeling really confident and inspired to just get stitching with my machine to see where it takes me and had quite a few ideas buzzing around in my head. I know I have a lot to learn so I must just book myself on another workshop in the near future :)
I had an absolutely brilliant day so a big thank you to Abi for all her help and guidance. A big wave to Emily AKA @FearfulPenguin who also attended the workshop. It was lovely to meet you both.
If your interested in attending one of Abi's workshops, and I can promise you wont be disappointed, you can find more information and dates here.
