Stitched Up :: Nottingham Craft Group

What we do

It’s been a long time since we updated this blog – in fact several people have commented that it’s looking a bit out of date now, so I thought that I would take my (shiny new) camera along to show you what we get up to week by week.  Tonight was a bit of a quiet evening with just 7 of us there, but was a very pleasant evening having chats, laughs and cakes.

From the top we have Jacqueline, a Textile Workshop regular knitting a scarf from some lovely pink Rowan wool.

Then we have Emmeline, practicing her knitting skills and gaining confidence all the time!

Vicky is making a lovely granny blanket like the one she made for a gift.

Stefka is crocheting a desk zombie for her new desk at work (and to guard the paperclips…)

Sue is knitting a scarf from a lace pattern

And just to show it’s not just a knitting/ crochet group I am embroidering some gingham with a folk pattern for a bag.

We still meet every week, and we’re a friendly bunch – why don’t you come and join us?  As we’re not a class we just bring along whatever projects we are working on (and can carry!) and chill out for a couple of hours.  And eat cake/ biscuits.  How much better does it get?

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Last month I received some very happy news from one of my girlfriends. Her first baby, Milo, was born and this week I’m going to see him. Yay!

So, following tradition (well if you can call one other baby blanket making event tradition) I’ve made Milo a blanket. This time its a cotton quilt of the Very Hungry Caterpillar with appliqued gingham flowers, apples and pears.

It turned out a square shape (because of the print) so it might make a better play or changing mat than a blanket but I don’t mind what his mum uses it for as long as she likes it.

The blanket is bright and colourful like this funky little chap I found on the garden today. I wonder if he’s very hungry too…

Stitched Up Gets Laced Up

Well it seems a new craft wave has hit the Stitched Up group – bobbin lace. Thanks to our experienced lace maker Sue a few of us have been having a bash and picking up some lacey skills.

On Wednesday Laila was learning half stitch, whole stitch and twisted whole stitch:

This is what it looked like when it was finished. Pretty good for a first go eh?

Claire and I have also been learning lace making with Sue and we’ve written a little more about it on our respective blogs (Pinky & Boo and Victoria Louise). Sue shows us all how its done though and here is the beautiful piece she’s working on at the moment.

You can see more of Sue’s lace on her blog Travel, Fibre & Thread.

Don’t worry though, we haven’t abandoned other crafts. Stitched Up still embraces crafts of all types. Here’s a little snapshot of some of the projects our stitchy ladies were working on this week.

Margaret’s crochet times table helper. How clever is this?..

Jacqueline and Jane know how short British summers are so they’re knitting socks ready for the winter…

Stefka has made this enormous bag with the fluffy trim to be felted. She was also creating her own embroidery design which you can see on the table…

Claire was crocheting these beautifully delicate irish roses. These will be included in some of her lovely hand made items that she’ll be selling at the West Bridgford Craft Fair on 17th and 18th July.

And I’ve been embroidering on the print of these pretty folky napkins which are soon to become cushion covers.

As you can see we’re a real mixed bag at Stitched Up and so are our crafty interests and skills. If you’d like to join us then get in touch, all crafts welcome!

Fabric Swap and Afternoon Tea Event this Saturday

Still Going Strong!

Things have been a little quiet on the Stitched Up blog recently so I thought I’d pop by to say we’re still here and still going strong.

Our craft group still takes place every Wednesday evening and recently we’ve had a few lovely new ladies join us. There’s still room for more crafty guys and gals so do come along.

As always we welcome crafters of all interests. Lately our stitchy folk have been bringing a range of crafts including embroidery, crochet, hand sewing, spinning, lace making, knitting, beading and dress making and it has been great for beginners like me to see our more experienced crafters at work. I’ve even learned a thing or two!

If you’d like to know more about Stitched Up then please take a look at our ‘about’ page or get in touch.

Beginners blog

I’ve been stuck in the house feeling lousy with the flu all Christmas but the one positive thing to come out of it is that it finally gave me the time to get a long awaited project off the ground.

This is my own little blog which will be a kind of journal tracking my progress in learning and applying crafts and dressmaking skills. As the Stitched Up ladies know I’ve been going on and on about wanting to learn how to make clothes and accessories for ages and now with lots of inspiration and brilliant people around me there’s no better time to go for it.

If you get a chance do pop by and say hello at www.victorialouise.co.uk

Eco Christmas Stockings

Christmas is almost a distant memory for another year but before we pack away our tinsel and baubles can I share a little Christmas project with you?

I couldn’t show these before because they were part of my nieces’ and nephew’s prezzies. I was giving them money this year but still wanted to personalise something for them. Can you guess who is the Mighty Boosh follower, the giraffe lover, the zombie fan and the girlie girl who loves pink and glitter?

I haven’t worked with felt very much at all before but when I do I find it lovely to use, its so forgiving. This particular felt is also kind to the environment because its made from recycled plastic bottles. I’m reluctant to buy wool felt without knowing the history to it (specifically the treatment of the sheep) but with this ‘Ecospun’ felt there are no animal by-products and no new use of oil (plastic) in the fibres.

I found out about Ecospun from the fantastic ‘Crafting a Green World’ blog and bought mine from Craft Felt UK. I don’t think their prices are much higher than other felt I’ve seen in the shops or on craft market stalls and their delivery was super speedy!

Quilter’s Cloth Review – Desk tidy

Here is Pamela’s pretty desk tidy with another fantastic combination of pink and green together – it never fails.

Don’t you love the jingle bells?

Pamela said that she found the fabric lovely to work with. It has a nice even weave and a good weight for crafts or quilts.

Quilter’s Cloth Review – Sleepy bunny cushions

I was lucky enough to get two of the Barefoot and Roses fat quarters from Quilter’s Cloth, a pretty fresh green floral and a pink candy stripe. I love the combination of pink and green together, its all over my house and they were the colours at our wedding this year. So with this fabric, I wanted to make something that would decorate our home.

Because the two fabrics sit so nicely together I decided on patchwork cushions with a sleepy bunny embroidery in the middle. The embroidery pattern comes from Aimee Ray’s book ‘Doodle Stitching’.

As a relative beginner at the Stitched Up group I found this obviously good quality cotton very easy to work with. The fat quarters went a long way and there was enough for me to make two cushions.

I could imagine being able to make all kinds of things using fabric from Quilter’s Cloth, as our reviews so far have shown. Barefoot and Roses is just one set of the many designs available so check them out at www.quilterscloth.co.uk

Stay tuned for more reviews from the Stitched Up ladies!

Quilter’s Cloth Review – Bag linings and book covers

Well, as promised here are the first two creative projects made from the gorgeous Barefoot and Roses fabric kindly sent to us by Quilter’s Cloth.

Our resident crochet queen Margaret had crocheted this pretty grey handbag from the softest, chunky yarn. As soon as she saw the green candy stripe fabric pattern she knew it would make a lovely lining and she was right. Don’t the colours work well together?

Jaqueline had recently sat a course at the Textile Workshop on how to make book covers. She soon put her new found skills into practice using the dusky pink floral fabric. I believe these books are going to become a gift for one of Jaqueline’s friends and I’m sure they’ll love them.