crochet class – The haberdashery Blog.

Ami James - Textile Artist, children's sewing bee, Crochet, sewing studio, textile art, Workshop and classes

Where Did January Go?

Posted on February 8, 2018 by Ami

Hi everyone,

Time seems to be flying by here and it’s been a few weeks since I’ve blogged 😣

As always it’s been really busy with workshops, craft groups and the Sewing Bee.

Lets st start with the little ones……….

we’ve had rag dolls….

Doorstops….

Dinosaurs…..

Free Motion Embroidery….

The crochet group have been working wonders with wool …….

The craft groups are always growing in numbers all the time, please feel free to join us …… Look here for times and dates

The two week course on the Vintage Botanical Fabric Journal finished last week and we had beautiful results ……

Theres another date Available for this one plus more workshops Here

I’ve finally got around to uploading my new kits on to my website……. Embroidery box kits……the price includes postage Available here…

It’s getting close to the Spring Knitting & Stitching Show at Olympia Stadium. There’s a ticket giveaway competition going on over at my Facebook page …..Here

Thanks for reading

Ami

xxx

Ami James - Textile Artist, children's sewing bee, Crochet, Workshop and classes

Amazing Start To The Year……Warning, lots of workshop photos ❤️

Posted on January 19, 2018 by Ami

Hi everyone,

Its been so busy here in the Sewing Studio which is brilliant and the diary is filling up quickly.

Theres a new craft club starting here on Monday at 10am-12pm. It would be lovely to see you there…..

The Crochet workshops have already started back. This runs every Saturday morning 10am-12pm. There’s no need to book, just come along and learn new skills. They are a friendly bunch that progress very quickly ………

The Kids Sewing Bee has also started back and as ever they are all enthusiastic and creative. We’ve had cowls, pencil cases and pouches being made and rag dolls and doorstops in progress……

My adult workshops have also been busy and so far this year we’ve had rag ruggging, beginners sewing and the Free Motion Embroidery workshop…….

The Craft & Chat and Making Memories Quilting Group have also started back 😍…..

All dates coming up are available to see on my website here

that’s all happened in 13 days 😳………….. I’m one very happy tutor

thanks for reading

Ami

xxx

children's sewing bee, Fabric, New Stock, sewing studio, Workshop and classes

Colourful, creative and New Stock!!!!!

Posted on June 30, 2017 by Ami

Hi everyone,

Its been a couple of weeks since my last blog post. It’s been manic here with lots going on and new stock arriving.

We’ve had a top up of Stylecraft Wondersoft and more colour ways added to the collection…..

We’ve also had the new Stylecraft Candy Swirl but we’ve only had the liquorice colour way in with more to follow very soon…..

Now for fabrics…… we’ve increased the plain selection but also had more bolts of Christmas fabrics in from Robert Kaufman…..

Now for the time for everyone’s favourite part….. The Sewing Bee.

All groups have been very busy.

Monday group have working on their own pillow pals….

My little ladies on a Tuesday have been busy working on brooches and patchwork pj cases….

Saturdays are always busy as I have three groups and our Sue has the crochet group…..

My Saturday groups have been working on owls, bunting, dress making and patchwork….

and last but not least – my new window display.

I’ve got a fantastic new summer window display but I cannot take credit for it. A big thank you to my friends Rachel, Lynette, Darren and my mum. Also a big thank you to my stitchers Mia, Molly and Hollie who took time out of their day to help and design the display …..

Thank you for reading and supporting me, means the world to me.

Ami

xxx

Ami James - Textile Artist, behind the scenes, children's sewing bee, Crochet, in the haberdashery, textile art, Workshop and classes

A Quick Catch Up ……..

Posted on February 23, 2017 by Ami

Hi everyone,

Welcome to this weeks blog post from a windy Derbyshire.

It’s been a lovely week here planning, organising and workshops.

we start this week with the crochet workshop with our Sue. At the moment it’s all about the socks and virus shawls….

This week in the Sewing Bee…… finished selfies, zips and an important job of designing the quilts for the quilting festival in August.

We had fun on Monday evening….. the free motion for beginners workshop.

We started off with wobbly lines and pointy curves but by the end of a fab evening …….look what happened 🙂

I’ve been putting my machine to good use this week. Textile collage art that are getting ready for exhibitions…..

All the new dates for April and May workshops are now online along with a new gallery and exhibitions…

That’s it another week, another blog post.

thank you again for your support, it’s proving to be quite a year for us…..stay tuned.

Ami

xxx

children's sewing bee, Crochet, Customers, News, sewing studio, Workshop and classes

Well What A Week It’s Been…….

Posted on January 27, 2017 by Ami

Hi everyone,

It’s a bit bloody cold but it’s been a lovely week here…..lots to show and tell you.

This week it’s the adults turn to go first….

Monday was the start of our first quilting course in the new Sewing Studio.

The ladies picked out their fabrics, cut out what pieces they needed and started to piece together. A great start and I can’t wait for next week….

Then on Wednesday evening we had the beginners sewing workshop. We had a lovely time and everyone went home very pleased with themselves and with beautiful cushions….

The crochet group also loving the new Studio have been busy. I can tell you there’s a huge project in the pipeline ……more details to follow…

Now let’s crack on with the little ones….

Firstly our joint quilt project is coming along nicely, we still have a few more hand prints to collect…..

My new little ones got to grips with the machines, they learnt to thread, wind a bobbin, practice straight lines and curves……it was only fair after they’re hard work to let them play with decorative stitches…

My Wednesday group are on their next projects on dream clouds ….

Now for the big reveal of my older groups fabric dying session and didn’t they do a fantastic job…..

I’m also pleased to tell you I’ve been asked to be a Young Quilters Leader for children 6-18yrs.

I will be sitting down with my planner next week to arrange days and patchwork and quilting projects……I’ll keep in informed.

I’ve also been busy work on my new collection of dresses…..The Historic Dress…..

Lastly if you would like to join us on any of our workshops please visit our Website

That’s all for this week.

Thank you so much for following us and keeping up to date with our news.

See you next week

Ami

behind the scenes, children's sewing bee, Crochet, Customers, textile art, Workshop and classes, www.simplyneedlecraft.com

Back in the Swing of Things

Posted on January 13, 2017 by Ami

Hi everyone,

Happy January!

It might be cold and snowing but we’ve had loads going on here to keep us busy.

So the new shop opened on the 3rd. We had an extremely busy day and lots of customers and little stitchers popping in to say hello. Thank you for the overwhelming response.

With the shop and Sewing Studio up and running,the workshop dates have been released and classes are booking up quickly Click here for up to date classes

That also means the return of our Craft and Chat night. This year we have moved the day so it’s now the first Thursday of every month.

We have a great first night in the new home. There was lots of creativity including knitting, crochet, cross stitch,lace making, sewing and appliqué….along with tea and cakes.

The Crochet workshop also started back and got cracking on learning new patterns and techniques. This class is good for beginners and more advanced.

My first group of little ones started back on Wednesday. The new studio got the thumbs up and we started work and our next project…..not completed yet but here’s the progress

In between all the excitement I started on working on a new technique myself. A textile art collage and quilted over net… not sure if I like it or not at the moment….

All in all a busy start to the year and looks like 2017 is going to be the year of new crafts, hobbies and challenges.

Happy new year to you all.

Keep warm and stay safe.

Ami

XXX

behind the scenes, Butterick patterns, children's sewing bee, Christmas, Crochet, Fabric, in the haberdashery, New Stock, sewing studio, Workshop and classes

The Bird & The Hare !

Posted on September 23, 2016 by Ami

Well hello and happy Autumn to you :).

I can’t quite work out where this week has gone……time is flying by which means we are close to Christmas now (in a crafting sense). So it was perfect timing to increase our Christmas fabric range. Not only have we got the gorgeous festive prints from Timeless Treasures now we have these yummy ones in stock too.

AND we’ve also had a new range of fabric paints in…… 24 different shades which become permanent after ironing.

It’s that time of year again where Butterick drop the price of their sewing patterns. Patterns are now half price until the 15th October. Over 3000 patterns in stock.

This week was the end of our last quilting course of the year 😦 I just love tutoring these courses. It’s a daunting task to people new to quilting but every single one of my ladies have done me proud. The evenings and day courses have been fun, relaxed and productive so it’s a definite that I will be running courses again next year.

The kids in the sewing bee have been busy (as always). At the moment when have two groups making patchwork bags, a group starting to make a rag doll, two groups making doorstops.

On Saturday we have finished off appliqué cushions and book covers.

The book covers are a great project, it allows to pick you own colour scheme (and is great for using up scraps). Then designing the layout followed by thread choice and the most exciting part……picking and experimenting with stitches.

Our Sue and her lovely ladies from the crochet workshop have been following the Stylecraft crochet along……..the crochet workshops run every Saturday 10-12pm. Beginners very welcome.

Lastly, I’ve been experimenting again with raw edge appliqué …..neither of these are finished but I’d thought I’d share pics to prove I’ve been busy 🙂

That’s all my news for this week, it’s been another busy and vibrant week here. Thanks for following.

see you next week

Ami x

children's sewing bee, in the haberdashery, in the hoop, New Stock, sewing studio, Workshop and classes

I’m Ready For The Weekend !!!!

Posted on September 10, 2016September 10, 2016 by Ami

Hi everyone,

You would not believe how hectic this week has been……but still fun 🙂

My little sewers have been busy again this week. Patchwork and appliqué has been the challenge……

On Monday and Wednesday I had my new Sewing Bee sessions start for 8-12yrs. Both sessions were brilliant but I have nothing to show you as yet as they are getting to grips on the machines and completing little challenges to help them relax.

Monday evening it was the adults turn and four ladies joined me in the Free Motion Embroidery Introduction Workshop. This is a great session and people are always impressed with the results.

Then it was on to the 2nd evening of the quilting course and yet again I’m so pleased with the results. The ladies worked extremely hard and I can’t wait to see the finished quilts….

The crochet class have been up to their usual antics ….. You can join them every Saturday 10am-12pm

This week we’ve had a delivery of tote bags and still awaiting a delivery of yarns 😦

I’ve had a little bit of time to get some stitching finished….

Thats it for this week I’m off to relax 🙂

Thank you for reading

Ami

children's sewing bee, Crochet, News, sewing studio, Workshop and classes

2 in 1 !

Posted on July 8, 2016 by Ami

Hi everyone,

Apologies for not blogging last week. Things here were a little manic but I’ve finally had an hour to catch up and update with all of our news and goings on. I have loads to share with you so I hope you don’t mind lots of pics…. 🙂

Lets start in the crochet department…

Our crochet workshop has been going from strength to strength this year and the items being made our fantastic. Sue works very hard behind the scenes thinking up new projects.

I too have been getting my hook out recently, mainly because of the football being on and sometimes its good to have a break from my coursework. So I started off with a little Baymax for my lil man, which he was quite impressed with 🙂

Then I progressed on to octopuses which I can’t make my mind up for they look evil or not.

Then I decided to make a little something to go into the window display…. going down the theme of wildlife/nature….

Carrying on with the yarn theme, just a quick update on the yarn bombing. Donations have started to arrive and we are making good progress…….Please keep them coming

Thank you to everyone that has donated so far x

The kids are busy too. My older group are in the middle of making slippers, one of my younger group are making rag dolls and dream clouds and the another have finished off little tool belts ( great for sewing essentials) and an owl projects that was great for getting to grips using templates and patterns and hand stitching. They are all doing amazing and my Saturdays are an absolute pleasure.

The adults have been showing creative flare too. My ladies that have joined me for the quilting workshops have all made a brilliant job making their lap quilts. They have worked so hard and we’ve had a great time.

And the textile art workshops are still popular. This time the challenge was to make an art cushion using a scene that we liked. Great Workshop, so much fun and I’ll be running this one again soon.

And lastly it was our first ever Craft & Chat evening last week which was lovely and a great way to relax and meet like-minded people. Our next night planned is on the 2nd August 6pm-8.30pm. If your free pop along and join us.

That’s it for now. Thanks for reading.

Ami

xxxx

children's sewing bee, Crochet, Customers, Fabric, News, Workshop and classes, www.simplyneedlecraft.com

What a Washout !

Posted on June 18, 2016 by Ami

Hi Everyone,

Well what a wash out of a week….But not all bad because you’ve downed your gardening tools and reached for your crafts…..hence its been another busy week here.

But with the lack of sun I decided to cut some Christmas Fat Quarters…yep thats right.

Lets show you what else has been happening here….

Our crochet group have been busying away to make these gorgeous tops…

Well done ladies they look great, can’t wait to see you next project.

A new group of ladies joined me on the June’s quilting Course which started this week. First week was all about picking fabrics, using a rotary cutter and mat, setting up sewing machines ready for piecing and joining our strips ready to layout the design…..busy week.

There’s nothing better than having a former student come in with a finished project that she started in class. Lynette joined our Textile Art – Textile Canvas Workshop back in April/May. And finished her canvas at home…..Looks brillaint Lynette, so proud of you..

I’ve not had my crafty mojo much this week but I have managed to make this lil girls summer dress ( I don’t normally dress make )…..

Next some general info for you to keep you informed.

Our Online Summer Sale is on for one more day SEE HERE

We have a few spaces on our children’s Sewing Bee due to new groups forming and a shuffle about. Please contact me ASAP if you are interested.

Also I’m please to announce we will be taking part in this years Sew Saturday in October. Were planning goodie bags, discounts and demonstrations but keep your eyes peeled for more details along the way.

Thats all for this week……Hoping for a dryer week next week 🙂

Thanks to everyone that follows and reads this blog. I love writing/typing it.

I’ll see you next week

Ami

xxxx