Thursday 20 August 2015

I'm teaching at the Handmade Fair! Squee

Hello all!

I've got something a little different to talk about with you today, though disclaimer there are no new makes so if you're only in it for the pretty dresses feel free to skip this one.

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I have some very exciting news! I will be teaching a workshop at The Handmade Fair this year. This is a show a bit like the standard knitting and sewing shows, except the focus is on classes and learning new skills. I went last year with my Mum and Sis, and we had a blast learning all sorts of interesting skills like flower arranging, macrame, and we learnt all about the wonders of chalk paint that both my sister and I got very over-excited about and have started painting everything we own with the stuff. My Mum bought a hundred new hobbies as usual (sorry for telling on you Mum ;-) ), and we had Pimms and afternoon tea. I thoroughly recommend it for a day out.

So my session will be on these 3D flowers/ decorations, link here:


I have been making these decorations for years, they are a simple design that once you understand the concept can be applied in a massively wide variety of ways. I have made so many of these for a variety of crafts. We will be making them into brooches at the fair, but I wanted to show you just some of the ways that I have adapted this simple pattern into all sorts of different items.


There won't be many people (I'm assuming) who remember my craft fair days. This slightly creepy head was used to display these brooches in their alternate form as headbands. If you alter the dimensions of the template, and round off the corners you will end up with a more flower-like design that you can see here. Here I attached a grip on the back to attach to your hair, but I also sometimes used ribbon to attach this to your hair. 


We also used these flowers for a variety of things for my wedding. Above you can see the design used with scraps from the length of the bridesmaid dresses which we made into a flower each for the bridesmaid bouquets. This meant that they mixed in perfectly with the dresses, and they were a lovely keepsake using the fabric which probably would have been scrapped otherwise. 



A wide selection of beautiful fabrics will be provided on the day, just look at how different these can look in a variety of fabrics. Something different to do with those fabric scraps! 

I used a larger template, which included three petal sizes and layers of duchess satin and lace for my veil centrepiece:


And how about using them as decoration around your home? My Mum and I attached hundreds of them to chandeliers for my wedding features, and now lots of members of our family have them adorning their homes. It's lovely to go to someone's house and see something you made being used:


The potential uses for these flowers is seemingly endless. I'd love to make some up in rainbow colours and hang them as a mobile in the nursery, next project perhaps? 

I hope this gives you some inspiration on what you could make with these flowers after our workshop, you will hopefully learn a couple of new skills, and will have something pretty to wear on the day. Also, I can't wait to meet up with you and have a chat! If you've got any burning questions then once we get going sewing we can have a natter about all things sewing and crafting. Can't wait to see you there! 

Miss the link? http://www.thehandmadefair.com/skill-workshop/yarn-textiles/ 

Deborah









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