Ta Dah!

Dressmaking is not something I have had the time or inclination to do for many years. I hate to admit it but it's been 22 years since I last made an item of clothing and that was to wear for a boyfriend's 21st Birthday Party. That, as I remember it, was a shocking creation involving a pair of trousers and an evening coat with huge shoulder pads (I have an excuse for this; it was the very end of the 80s!). Clothes in the high street are so inexpensive these days and making something to wear can work out to be more expensive than simply nipping into a clothes shop. Also I tend to concentrate on making things that will be used either as accessories or to decorate the home.

I was inspired as I am sure many people were by the first episode of "The Great British Sewing Bee" - a programme that hopes to do for sewing what "The Great British Bake Off" did for home baking. In this episode the contestants were challenged with making an A Line skirt and being a fan of skirts in the Summer I decided it was time to re-acquaint myself with dressmaking.

Back view

A while ago some fabric in a shop caught my eye. It was a retro design in greens, whites and turquoises in a funky curvy geometric pattern. I loved it but realised that it didn't fit in with the usual Hope & Gloria designs but could make a fun skirt for the Summer just for me. Armed with two metres and my pattern ordered from ebay I set to work.

Apart from a minor hiccup with cutting out and needing to dash back to the shop for another metre of fabric it was fab to make and I am delighted with the results. I am sure that a professional dressmaker casting a critical eye over my project may find a few faults and I am sure that the seams could be straighter in places but this is just down to practice. Speaking of which I have more fabric on order to make another. All I need now is some sunny weather and some fake tan on my legs and it's ready to wear!

Party! Party!

Children's Parties are always the most special of occasions and the Hope & Gloria Team love it when we are called upon to add to the celebrations. We offer a range of party themes and one of the most popular is t-shirt decorating.

Last week Tanya and I headed to Maidenhead armed with 16 humble plain white t-shirts, felt & fabric shapes, buttons, ribbon, beads and fabric paint. Our purpose? - to help a lovely girl called Orla to celebrate her 9th birthday.

It really is fascinating to watch designs being thought out and then becoming a reality. Each of the 16 girls had their very own individual ideas in mind and Tanya and I had a fabulous time helping to completely transform the plain t-shirts in to fab and funky creations. All of the party goers were delighted to take home their t-shirts at the end of the party and wore them with pride.

Here are some pics of what was made:

You can find out more about Hope & Gloria Children's Sewing Parties by clicking here

Happy Half Term

I have just realised that I completely forgot to post these gorgeous creations from the children's sewing workshops that I ran this half term. Life has been mad for the past week - the first week of a new half term always is.

So here they are lovely, lovely sunglass cases and covered notebooks. Everyone who came along was as wonderful as always so well done to everyone and I can't wait to see you at the Summer Workshops in a few weeks time!

I love these notebooks. A huge well done to Ella, Gemma and Laura.

Fabulous handiwork by Jasmine and Tegan.

Gorgeous accessories made by Molly and Stephanie.

Marvellous Moustaches

Tasteful sewing projects for boys can be tricky once they get to a certain age. When they have outgrown the pirate/sailboat/dinosaur phase it can be hard to make something to adorn a room that will please let alone elicit a response of"cool!".

This is why I have been really delighted to find groovy moustache designs creeping in to home furnishings and accessories over the past few months. There have been rumours of moustaches becoming trendy in fashion magazines for a number of years now (although these are yet to go mainstream), and the "Movember" campaign to raise awareness of prostrate cancer charities grows bigger year by year. As a result you can now see all sorts of derivations of fun, facial hair on all sorts of things from phone covers to cushions.

In our house we love them - the boys think they are lots of fun and I am able to finally create a sewn canvas that they are happy to have hanging in one of their rooms.

I was really pleased to find the background fabric and the large moustache motif is made from my old favourite -  felt. I went for a handlebar moustache to begin with. Simple but effective it is now ready to hang. Hooray for moustaches!

Hope & Gloria Sewing Saturdays - Sewing Workshops For Adults and Teenagers

Since starting Hope & Gloria I have been asked many times whether I would be running any sewing workshops for adults. It seems that many adults and teenagers have caught the sewing bug of late and once again there have been a number of requests for sewing classes for adults particularly those that involve the use of a sewing machine. So here we go - I am really excited to be running two workshops over the next few weeks and plan to add more to the schedule.

Make A Simple Tote Bag - Saturday 22nd June

Make A Patchwork Cushion Cover - Saturday 13th July

Deciding on projects has been a challenge - there are just so many fabulous things that can be made with beautiful fabric and a trusty sewing machine. However, as the workshops will initially be aimed at beginners or people looking to re-acquaint themselves with a sewing machine we will be making a simple tote bag on  22nd June (find out more and book here) and Patchwork Cushion Covers on 13th July (find out more and book here). I am very excited. Both of these projects look lovely and are a great place to start a sewing odyssey.

Although the workshops have beginners in mind, improvers and accomplished crafters will be more than welcome and may appreciate the time to sit and create. It is often hard to find time to actually sit down and make something - classes and workshops can be a great way to make sure that a project gets finished. For more information simply click on the links above or take a look at our website by clicking here

The London Moonwalk

This week I was presented with a project that is completely out of the ordinary for me - bra decoration. I have to say it was a challenge I completely enjoyed and it was fun to temporarily take my leave from my normal design projects (usually involving felt), for Hope & Gloria Sewing Clubs. What is more, it was for a hugely worthy cause making it all the more enjoyable.

Tomorrow night a a very fabulous friend of mine will be doing the London Moonwalk along with two of her fabulous friends. This annual event involves thousands of women from across the UK walking the equivalent of a marathon distance through the streets of London throughout the night with their bras proudly on display. The reason is to raise money for breast cancer awareness. Last year the event raised over £8m!

I have never taken part but decorating the three bras has made me feel that I really should get my act together next year and join these amazing women in their show of sisterhood to raise awareness for this great cause. For now, I wish every woman who is taking part the very best of luck and to anyone who knows someone who is doing the London Moonwalk tomorrow night please show your support for this fab event.

Scrumptious Strawberry Tutorial

It is really beginning to feel like Summer is just around the corner and I for one cannot wait. This time of year is one of my favourites it is the time of year that two of my children were born so a time for celebrations in our house. It is also when the rest of the Summer season stretches ahead and because I am an optimist, every year at this time I truly believe that we are going to have one long hot glorious Summer ahead of us (!)

I have been thinking about fruit a lot recently. I associate fruit with Summer - fruit picking and fruit eating.I have been designing lots of fruit inspired projects for our sewing club's last term of the school year and with these projects still fresh in my mind I thought I'd share this sweet fabric fruit project with you.

You will need:

• A semi circle of patterned fabric. For my strawberries I used an 8cm diameter but you can use larger with the same technique. 
• Green Ribbon
• Thread and soft toy filling.

Step 1

Fold the semi circle in half and sew along the straight edge using small backstitches. There is no need to finish off at the end of the edge follow on to step 2 using the same thread.

Step 2

Use small running stitches to sew all around the top open edge of the the cone shape about 1/4cm from the edge.


Step 3

Once you are back to where you began turn the cone the right way around and add stuffing.

Step 4

Now pull your thread to gather the fabric together creating a strawberry shape. Secure the opening with a few small stitches.

Step 5

Now it is time to add your ribbon "leaves". To do this fold over one end of you ribbon by about 3cm to make a loop nd sew this loop on to the top of the strawberry. Continue to fold and loop the ribbon criss crossing the top of the strawberry sewing it in to place with a couple of small stitches each time you add a loop.

Until your lovely little strawberry looks like this....

Quick and easy to make they could be used for lots of different purposes - key rings, brooches or just sitting pretty in a bowl.