Cosy crafts on chilly nights
It has taken almost a year to write on the blog again and what a hectic year it has been! The studio has been slowly gaining momentum after years of us being dormant on line and we have big plans for 2024.
A few weeks ago we had a lovely and very lively group of ladies for a Birthday party making candles. A group of 10 friends who meet up every week and have done for years descended on the studio with giggles, cider and much hilarity.
It made me realise that parties are part of the future for the studio so we are increasing the party options and offering options for group bookings with some shorter workshops that you can book for a few hours with a group of friends or family.
In the meantime as the nights are drawing in I am starting to bring out my winter crafts, in my case nothing more demanding than knitting a few rows of a scarf I have been making for over a year. With The Clovelly Soap Company taking up so much of my energy and in particular this time of year when we are at our busiest I can just manage a few rows here and there while waiting for dinner to cook or watching some sneaky TV before bed. Knitting is comforting and familiar, tying me to my Mum and her Mum in turn. I remember my Nan always having a knitting bag by her chair in the sitting room and my Mum always has crochet or knitting on the go at any time. My oldest daughter who we named the studio after always has a crochet project in her bag for times at school when she wants to relax her mind for a few minutes.
Knitting and crochet and other hand crafts like embroidery or hand patchwork and quilting allow us to pick up and put down with the bare minium of effort or equipment. No electricitiy needed, just needles, hooks, fabric or wool and a small project on the go. Small projects can grow in such an easy and enticing way that we can simply start sewing patches together, a pair a night and soon a small blanket is ready to quilt. It can be as simple as a single ball of wool and 2 knitting needles, row after row until a scarf or dolls blanket is made.
Find an old shirt or soft brushed cotton pj's from a charity shop and start your very 1st quilt.
You will need:
A few weeks ago we had a lovely and very lively group of ladies for a Birthday party making candles. A group of 10 friends who meet up every week and have done for years descended on the studio with giggles, cider and much hilarity.
It made me realise that parties are part of the future for the studio so we are increasing the party options and offering options for group bookings with some shorter workshops that you can book for a few hours with a group of friends or family.
In the meantime as the nights are drawing in I am starting to bring out my winter crafts, in my case nothing more demanding than knitting a few rows of a scarf I have been making for over a year. With The Clovelly Soap Company taking up so much of my energy and in particular this time of year when we are at our busiest I can just manage a few rows here and there while waiting for dinner to cook or watching some sneaky TV before bed. Knitting is comforting and familiar, tying me to my Mum and her Mum in turn. I remember my Nan always having a knitting bag by her chair in the sitting room and my Mum always has crochet or knitting on the go at any time. My oldest daughter who we named the studio after always has a crochet project in her bag for times at school when she wants to relax her mind for a few minutes.
Knitting and crochet and other hand crafts like embroidery or hand patchwork and quilting allow us to pick up and put down with the bare minium of effort or equipment. No electricitiy needed, just needles, hooks, fabric or wool and a small project on the go. Small projects can grow in such an easy and enticing way that we can simply start sewing patches together, a pair a night and soon a small blanket is ready to quilt. It can be as simple as a single ball of wool and 2 knitting needles, row after row until a scarf or dolls blanket is made.
Find an old shirt or soft brushed cotton pj's from a charity shop and start your very 1st quilt.
You will need:
- An old shirt or 2 depending on how big you want to make it or other cotton fabric
- Scissors, Needle, Thread, pencil, tailors chalk or erasable fabric pen, pins
- Heavy card to make a 4 inch square template
- Ruler to mark your sewing lines
- Each night use your template and cut 2 squares the same size.
- Place the 2 squares right sides together and pin together.
- Mark a sewing line 1/4 inch from the edge
- Sewing a small running stitch one one edge to the other securing at the end with a few stitches
- Open them out and start a pile
- Each evening do the same again ( if you want to do more you can, but this is supposed to be irrisistably easy)
- Once you have 14 days worth come back and we will start the next stage!
