Meeting Lauren from the Sewing Bee

On Saturday I made my way to Moseley, just outside Birmingham to take part in a beginner's sewing class at Lauren and her husband's wonderful shop.   It was a long journey from where I live but worth every minute of it. Lauren and her husband have created a beautiful oasis for knitters, sewers and lovers of good coffee in this leafy suburb. From the minute I stepped into the shop, I felt very much at home because everyone there was welcoming and helpful. I must admit that I had wished now I had taken more photographs for my blog but I felt a little shy going around snapping away. I did ask permission but it didn't seem right at the time. It would be interesting to know how others feel about this.
Anyway, down to business!

Lauren's shop is spacious and airy with lots of natural light streaming through the large windows at the front.  We all duly assembled and enjoyed a coffee with our tutor, the lovely Vicki Walker before going upstairs to the workroom, which again was so spacious and thoughtfully laid out.

Vicki soon got us all into the spirit of the day showing us the project we were going to make, a really pretty pinny.  She did explain that there were may different sewing techniques involved in a seemingly simple garment including making some fantastic patch pockets - something we had all watched on the Sewing Bee.  Then, great excitement, we were allowed to go back downstairs and choose our fabrics - two half metres of material.  The thrill of it all was overwhelming as there were so many designs and colours to choose from, it was mind blowing (in the nicest possible way) but time was quickly moving on and we were all so eager to get started.   I was instantly taken with the pinks/blues whilst some of the girls went for the very modern fabrics.  I finally chose these two lovely designs, quite old fashioned and retro, but then I am old fashioned and very retro myself!  I was originally going to have the main part of the pinny in the striped fabric with the rose pattern forming the pockets.  However - by the time I had reached the top of the stairs back to the studio I had changed my mind and decided to make it the other way around!

Vicki quickly talked us through each step and divided us into two groups of four.  Each group worked on their own cutting table and it was so nice chatting to everyone, getting along just fine.  We were a mixture of sewing abilities but mostly beginners like myself so I didn't feel too much out of my depth.  It was really strange and comforting to hear that most of the girls had the same fears that  I had about sewing and sewing machines in general.  However, one thing was certain - we had all been bitten by the sewing bug and being in Lauren's workshop somehow made it very real and exciting.  I was terrified of making a mistake as one of my worst faults is rushing things like a bull in a china shop.  I have done it all my life, usually because I haven't had much time to get things done so would rush everything.  I have lost count of the times I have had to pull knitting out because I hadn't read the pattern carefully enough and had made stupid mistakes.  Being in a group does put pressure on you to get things right so I listened very carefully to Vicki who suggested that we measured and measured again before cutting anything.  The last thing I wanted was to make a mistake now on this lovely fabric in front of everyone so I took things slow and easy before actually putting the scissors on the fabric.  Vicki showed us how to position the fabric carefully and told us to really think about how we could get the pattern to fit economically on the fabric, thereby leaving fabric over for other projects.  It is tips like this which are invaluable to a new sewer as I don't have the experience to know this.  Vicki was full of lovely tips like this all the way through the day, I learned such a lot from her.

Cut very carefully!!

Unfortunately I had to leave before the end of the class so that I could catch my train home so I had to put my skates on and really tried hard to finish it before leaving.  I know from other courses I have been on that I find it hard to motivate myself once I get home and other things take over - like work!  It was a tight run but I did it and was so pleased with the result.

This is a photography taken by the lovely Vicki Walker on Saturday after completing my pinny.  I was so proud of completing it in the time we had.  Vicki made it all very easy for us and the time just whizzed past.  There were many skills involved in making the pinny which I hadn't really anticipated at first.  We obviously had to measure, cut accurately, use the sewing machine for a variety of stitches. I must say that I had mine on the slowest speed I could until I got my confidence up a little.  We also had to make the lovely pockets, both of which were doubled sided and then attach the skirt of the pinny to the ties, gathering the stitches as we went.  I loved the fabrics and it was so nice that everyone had chosen different combinations so, although we made the same pinny each one was so unique and different to everyone else's on the course.  I forgot to say that we also enjoyed the most delicious lunch with break freshly baked just for me - absolutely scrumptious!

I am setting myself a challenge now to try and obviously write up my blog as regularly as I can and in order to do this I have to produce something worth talking about - it could be something knitted, crocheted or sewn - or even cooked!  I would love to hear from anyone out there, it would be so nice to have someone to visit sometimes.  I hope you have all had a fabulous sunny weekend and that the warm weather reaches all of you.  Bye for now.