Oilcloth Bag Making

I am bringing my most popular workshop to Tetbury in June - Oilcloth Bag Making!

I have taught this workshop 3 times and each time there has been a waiting list of people who want to join the course.

At the weekend I taught he workshop at Prema Arts in Uley, Gloucestershire:

This is my favourite teaching space. Just look at all that space and huge windows with lots of natural light!

I but the oilcloth needed for the course. I try to pick a variety of spots, owls and camper vans.

It was a fun day!

The workshop involves:

Learn to sew oilcloth.
Sewing a zippered internal pocket.
Learn how to box the bag corners.

At the end of the day everyone leaves with a gorgeous new bag!

It is a wonderful way to learn how to use oilcloth!

The next 2 dates for this workshop are:

Saturday 14 June 2014 in Tetbury, Gloucestershire. Email me for more information.

Sunday 13 July 2014 at Prema Arts, Uley. Email Prema for more information.

Winning an Award

It has taken a few days to process the weekend!

On Saturday I attended the Adult Education Learners Award ceremony for Gloucestershire. I had been nominated for Outstanding Tutor of the year, which had really shocked me!

Much to my amazement I actually won!

Receiving my award was so nerve wracking! This is the Head of Education and Libraries in Gloucestershire!

The person who had nominated me had written a statement about me that was read out. I had to fight back the tears! She praised my relaxed teaching manner that helped learners to settle into my groups. Not only that,  but she highlighted that my biggest skill is the fact my relaxed manner is backed up with rigorous planning and in depth knowledge of each of my learners achievements, skills and needs. Learners feel confident in my classes because they know I know them.

It was a lovely morning out which involved getting my nails done and having a cuppa with some of the learners who also got an group award.

I had invited my lovely friend Helen and my eldest son came too!

We had a lovely time!

When the ceremony had finished the husband of one of the learners came over to talk to me. With tears in his eyes he explained that I would never know how much my lessons had changed his wife's life. That she had regained some of the confidence she had lost 5 years before following a major life changing event. She now has friends and leaves the house. He thanked me for giving her so much, and for helping him too...

I had to fight back the tears.... I was so moved and pleased that I had been able to help them both.

That is why I love my job as a tutor. I love working with people who previously had found a classroom environment stressful. I love helping people to learn a new skill whilst building their self-confidence.

I love working with people who have struggled with things in their life, but have taken the risk of coming to my classes. Watching them change and grow is incredibly rewarding!

That is why I spend hours completing paperwork for classes and making sure everything is organised.

It is quite simply the best job in the world!

Linking up with Let's Get Acquainted at The Sewing Chick.

Designing and Sewing Day

My weeks at the moment have turned very busy with 4 groups across the county.

The classes vary in abilities, social skills and life styles. Each one is different and each one has it's own challenges, but all of them are fun!

Today is my one day a week at home when the boys are in school and I can play with designs and ideas in between private lessons.

So today I need to think about a quilt for my 5 week course in March... I have these scrummy fabrics lined up:

Pic courtesy of M is for Make

 

 Along with some serious amounts of orange and grey solids from Simply Solids.

The challenge is to design blocks that will teach the learners new techniques. 5 weeks is a short time to learn all about patchwork and quilting so I need to be quick and snappy so that learners can get a taste of patchwork skills and have a go at some quilting...

With me so far?

So..... breaking the 5 weeks down into a schedules is the starting point:

Week 1: Introduction, cutting and piecing: squares and half square triangles

Week 2: Sewing it all together to make a quilt top.

Week 3: Putting backing, wadding and front together.

Week 4: Quilting using a walking foot.

Week 5: Binding

This is a rough guide and it is part of the course that 'homework' is done in between classes. So if people want to make a bigger than laptop size quilt then it needs more homework! Equally people who have not time outside class with have a smaller quilt..

So I need to make a demonstration quilt - it is a hardship I know - that will show the learners what they are working towards.

I plan on starting this afternoon between my morning class and the school pick-up and after school club!

Wish me luck!

Do as I say, not as I do!

On Tuesday during my class in Gloucester one of the learners bought along a length of stretch, leopard print material. She had been asked to make a skirt with it.....

During the first lesson a fortnight earlier she had been introduced to an electric machine for the first time, previously she had sewn using a hand crank. At home she had taken her new electric machine out of it's box and made her son some cushions for his flat. This had prompted her friend to ask for a skirt.

So we sat discussing the design, how to cut the fabric and how she wanted to construct the skirt. She planned everything on paper, including drawings of the finished skirt.  I had taken along this fabulous book:

It has everything a new sewer and experienced sewer needs to know about using a sewing machine!

She sat for 20 minutes reading the book, making notes and before I approached again to talk about getting started. I showed the page that explains needles and how you need different needles for different jobs - we are going to need stretch needles for this skirt. the next question was, what happens if you use the wrong needle?

I explained that the machine skips stitches, puckers and generally gets upset. I talked about leather needles, using size 90 for sewing PUL...

Then it dawned on me - I hadn't been using my own advice. When I had attempted machine applique, free motion quilting and machine embroidery I had always left the same old needle in. Just any old needle... but my tension never seems right, the machine missed stitches...

When I was researching Aurifil threads, it said that 50/2 needed a Top Stitch Needle for quilting. I bought some and they have solved all of my problems when doing any kind of quilting or applique!

If I had used my own advice I could have saved myself a whole lot of frustration and started machine quilting a very long time ago!