H's Sew Photo Hop on Instagram

This month I have been taking part in House of Pinheiro's Sew Photo Hop which has been a month of Instagramming everyday.  It's been a challenge to find a picture for each day's word, but a fun challenge.  It's been great to see what everyone else was getting up to too.  Getting inventive with translating the days tasks into pictures shows all the sides of how I am creative as some of mine were not strictly sewing related.

So from the top left picture it all starts with the list for the month and then each days goes from left to right.

Day 1 - Hello (Introduce yourself) - Just me, this picture was from when I was working in London on the canal side in Kings Cross.

Day 2 - Can't/ won't live without - My sewing box from Sammy.

Day 3 - Colourful - This theatre was made by children at a local primary school for a project I run at work.

Day 4 - Work/play - The blog - always work and play!

Day 5 - Silhouette - My giraffe looks like a cat in the silhouette!

Day 6 - Pattern that changed my life - this purse I bought at a vintage fair which is pretty much the same as one I found in my late grandma's belongings!  We were clearly more alike than I thought.

Day 7 - Sew up close - Putting some darts in a dress to alter it.

Day 8 - Sewing playlist - My eclectic taste in music is always interesting.

Day 9 - Stash - Just a few of the fat quarters I have.

Day 10 - Would exchange closet with - Drew Barrymore, I want to be her!

Day 11 - Bucket list - I don't have one so found this quote instead.

Day 12 - Motivation - Writing notes and this quote!

Day 13 - Sewing space - My sewing space is also my dining room table and workspace in general.

Day 14 - Style - I love the Hoxton Hotel's style - totally me.

Day 15 - Secret corner of shame - underneath my dining room table/workspace is a world of non sorted shame!

Day 16 - Tiny vs Big - Loved this shot at Waterloo station - everyone looks so small.
Day 17 - Proudest Achievement - My friends, my own place, my work and my nieces.
Day 18 - Sewing resolution - To actually make up the patterns I have.
Day 19 - Boldest Fabric - This used to be my Mum's dress, now a skirt.  Love the print.
Day 20 - Learning & Practicing - I love to learn new skills, this was Espadrilles attempt at The Makery in John Lewis, London.
Day 21 - Shades of summer - Bubble friday always happens at work in the summer, makes the summer.
Day 22 - Last thing I made - I made this papercut for work as I am doing a workshop on it.
Day 23 - Favourite sewing technique - I love a straight stitch.
Day 24 - Worst part of sewing - Realising your bobbin thread is no longer there after doing a whole set of stitching!
Day 25 - Behind the seams - The first dress I ever made! Simplicity Pattern 3833.
Day 26 - Labour of love - My sari from my brother's wedding 8 years ago to be made into the Anna Dress.
Day 27 - It's been a while - since I had seen my nieces - now rectified!
Day 28 - Trims & Haberdashery - Bias binding and zips from Sew Crafty.
Day 29 - Eye Level - Making some frozen inspired cupcakes for my niece's first birthday.
Day 30 - Favourite Era - I love the 1960's and 1970's so please don't make me choose!
Day 31 - Last thing I bought - This massive crochet hook for using with my Wool and the Gang t-shirt yarn.

There is a bonus play for tomorrow too of Buttons or Zippers!  Let's see what I get up to then.  Which one to choose!?!

Did you do the Sew Photo Hop?  How did you find it?  I loved checking out what everyone else was doing
and there are so many great new sewers out there to follow on my Instragram.

Hope your having a great Bank Holiday Monday - even if it is a little soggy!
H

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Espadrilles with The Makery

Yesterday we got the chance to visit the new workshop space for The Makery in John Lewis, London.  We are big fans of The Makery as you may know from our posts about our visit in 2013 and again in 2014 and so we were so happy when we found out they were opening a workshop space in London and even more excited when we were offered the chance to join a workshop!

We decided to go for the Espadrilles workshop as neither of us have ever made shoes before and so what a great workshop to try.  Also we thought we would let you join in the fun by showing you our photos as well as adding their You tube video as part of this post.  So that you can make your own at home if you can't get to Bath or London for a workshop.

We had to bring our own fabric to the workshop - but luckily we have our own 'little' stashes at home, ahem. I went for rockets and spaceships and Sammy chose colourful chevrons. Although as the workshop space is on the 4th floor in John Lewis, you can always buy a little something from their fabric department if you forget or don't have any to bring.

We started by cutting our fabric using the pattern pieces for the shoe size we are.  We cut 2 pieces of each and then 2 each of the lining fabric. One set is for the front and the other is for the back and sides.

Then, we made sure they were right sides together before sewing around the edge, making sure to leave a gap so that you can pull it through.

Once we had sewn around our pieces,  we cut notches in the curves of the front piece where our toes will be and the bottom of the back piece to make the curve lay flatter when turning them through. 

We then turned them through to the right side and pressed them flat, making sure to have points in the end of the front piece and turning in the gap and pressing down.  You won't need to sew this shut as it will be sewn in place when you construct the shoe.

Now time for sewing your pieces to the soles.  Starting with the back and sides piece, find the middle of the fabric and pin it to the middle of the back of the shoe, you then pin around the edge of the shoe at an angle (so the pin goes into the sole), with the fabric flat to the sole.  I am sure this is where the video above will come in real handy.

Then it's a case of blanket stitching around the edge of the sole, making sure the loops go to the inside of the shoe, not on the edge of the sole - again I am sure the video will explain much better than I can, but you can see below how the stitching sits.

Once all the edges are in place, you need to straight stitch up the side of the back and side piece to the front piece so that it all stays together when you put them on.

Then voila, you are done - new shoes!  I can see how these would be really addictive to make, Sammy has already bought another pair of soles to play with.

What pattern would you choose?  I think if I was going to make another pair,  I might go for classic on the outside and then a fun print inside, or slightly different prints for the back and front pieces.

Thanks again to The Makery for giving us the opportunity to attend the workshop, we had great fun!

H,xxx

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Review: Makery Sewing

It has been a little while since we have talked about our friends at The Makery, but our love for Kate Smith's company is still going strong #WorkGoals. We are heading up to John Lewis in London soon to attend a Makery Espadrille workshop and it reminded me that I had yet to tell you how much we have been enjoying Kate's newest book Makery: Sewing. 

This book features over 30 sewing projects, in three sections. One on homewares, one on fashion and another on gifts. It includes projects that are suitable for complete beginners right up to more advanced sewers which means you can work your way through the book, improving your skills as you go.

As with the first book from Kate, the photography is gorgeous and so inspiring. I always love the way The Makery get a lovely mix of on-trend styling using beautiful vintage elements.

My favourite project has to be the flying ducks. I am on the hunt for the perfect fabric now to make these cute critters for my kitchen! It is such a fun twist on the faux taxidermy trend that is so big at the moment. They remind me of my Nana, who used to have a ceramic set on her living room wall when I used to visit as a kid.

In the clothing section I adore this simple but oh so effective t-shirt patch pocket project. It just proves that simple ideas produced to a high standard can be so inspiring. I will definitely be rummaging through my fabric scraps this weekend to update some of my jersey basics.

The tips and 'glossary' section at the back is really useful in its own right and the little sketches are cute and informative.

I love that there are full size patterns in the back which means no annoying visits to the printers to get them enlarged before you can get stuck into your project of choice. 

At first I was surprised at the lack of step-by-step photographs in the projects, but as I settled into reading through the way that the instructions are written, I found that I really didn't miss those photos. It feels like a friend is talking you through the how to and there are little illustrations for the more unsure. Being an accomplished sewer I didn't feel that the book spoke down to me, like some project books that cater to beginners sometimes do. I feel confident though that beginners would also find Kate's easy way with words engaging and easy to follow. The best thing about not having lengthy tutorials is that there is more room for great, useful projects. This book will have me turning it's pages again and again for inspiration for gifts and projects for myself. 

We love this book so much we bought an extra copy which we are giving away as part of our Blog's 4th Birthday celebration. Follow > this link< to tell us your favourite craft book for a chance to win a copy of this book and the rest of our top ten craft books. The giveaway closes on Friday 3rd of July so get over there before it's too late.

If you miss out on the win, Kate's book is available through The Makery shop as well as Amazon and other great book retailers.

Sammy xxx


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Makers Month: What to see, What to do

Hello there and welcome to September!  It's not so bad hey!  We thought that with lots going on in September, it would be a great way to showcase some British Talent and so we have for you Makers Month.  We will be showcasing more from designer/makers with our Who's who feature, tutorials and DIY's as usual, alongside some other little bits and pieces, that you will just have to watch out for!

So, sit back and enjoy what we have to offer for our Makers Month.  Have you any plans for September?  It's wedding fever for us over here at Live it. Love it. Make it and there are lots more going on besides and so we thought we might share some of the things coming up this Autumn to kick start the month of fun.

On Sunday 7th September, hot foot it over to Bath to check out The Makery as they are having an open day!  You can find out more here, and find out more about the special guest, One man crochet.  What a great way to see the new venue and learn more about blogging and crochet.

On right now is Collaborate in that there north, Manchester.  A group of Manchester based makers, come together to exhibit their work at the Manchester Craft & Design Centre.  Well worth a look.

Back down south is The Handmade fair, which I am sure you may have heard of by now.  Kirstie Allsopp will be there along with many other famous faces such as Cath Kidston and Kaffe Fassett.  Sounds like it is going to be a great weekend and you will get to meet lots of designer/makers too.

Next up is one of our favourite craft fairs, Renegade, although we do have to wait for November!  It's on at the weekend of the 22/23 November in London's trendy East end and is definitely worth a visit, so much pretty to be found.  You can see our post on last year's event here.

Finally for our picks of things to go see and do, is the Made Brighton event in November.  Looks like it will be a busy weekend!  There are around 120 sellers on the weekend and so if you don't find Christmas presents for other people, I am sure you can find some for yourself!

So, that's a little round-up of some things to check out, anything we have missed?  Is there somewhere we should visit in the Autumn?  Are you organising an event that you would like us to come to?  Let us know in the comments below and we will take a look see.

Am off to plan the diary,
H

 Live, Love, Make, Like, Share, Follow, Tweet, Pin, Add, Enjoy. 

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Live it: The Makery Re-visited

When we visited Bath a few weeks ago, we just had to go visit The Makery again.  Since we last went for a visit, they have moved to larger premises and so been able to expand what they do.  Plus they now have a gorgeous bright yellow door and a rainbow staircase!

They gave us such a great welcome and let us wander around checking out all their different rooms they now have.  'The Snug' and the larger workspace were our favourites.

We also got to have a chat with the lovely owner Kate about everything that has been going on lately...

For everyone who doesn't already know how long has The Makery been a business?  and a passion?
As a business - since 2009. We got the keys to our first location just 10 days after we had our first baby! We had been planning for a couple of years at that though.
As a passion - lifelong. It sounds so cliche, but it's really in my blood. My mum, Gran and Grandma were are/were all keen seamstresses.

How has the business changed since you started your journey? 
It's changed dramatically - reading our first business plan from 2008 the direction of the company was very different. We were purely workshop-based at the beginning. Our aim was (and still is) to teach as many people the joy of crafting as possible. Over the years, we have just keep finding more and more ways of doing that. 
We've just signed a deal with a company which has licensed our brand to release a range of kits and haberdashery in the UK and internationally, which is something we would never have dreamed would happen already. We'd never have thought we'd go on Dragons Den - I mean, seriously! But it turned out to be a great move for our business and a big learning curve for us too. In fact, we'd never have dreamed about the books either really - it's all exceeded our wildest expectations!

What are your most popular workshops? And what is your best seller in the Emporium ?
The sewing workshops always sell well, and upholstery has always been popular too. I suppose it feels like a really meaty skill where you can have fun revamping furniture. In the shop, we always try and stock a beautiful range of fabrics so they're probably our best seller. And our book sells really well too!

You have just moved premises, what motivated the move?
We hadn't anticipated having 2 premises at the start, but opened the shop just a year after we opened the workshop. It used a lot of energy and resources (financial and human) running the 2 separate premises. And we just felt that it would be beneficial in so many ways to house everything under one roof. It's not been an easy road though - the amount of space we needed in a central location was a big ask! We'd been looking for over a year. It's been incredibly stressful, but our team of staff have been wonderful. 

What is your favourite space in your new building? 
Ridiculously, I love the stock room! We've never had a proper stock room before! But in terms of the space it has to be our largest workshop room. It's so large, it gives us the opportunity to host all sorts of events that we could never have dreamed of before. Things like our weekly yoga classes that we run for all our staff members too - it's truly multi-purpose!

Any new furniture favourites you have picked up for the new space?
We salvage and get donated all sorts of things, and a couple of items are favourites in the new place. Firstly, a very old display model singer sewing machine donated by our surveyor's wife. It belonged to her grandma called Maud, who was a demonstrator for Singer. It's beautiful, so has pride of place in our shop. And we've called it Maud too! Then a shop in Bath was refurbishing the other week and were throwing out their old drawers. They're beautiful - perfect for us! They are glass-fronted like old apothecary drawers. We display all our pretty buttons and ribbons in them!

Did you enjoy writing the book? How did you find the publishing process? 
I love writing the book! It's like the ultimate school project - a dream come true! Some people come in knowing about the book, others find out about it when they're here. The publishing process was great for me - I have an agent who kept on my back telling me what I needed to do and why by. She was wonderful. 

What advice would you give to someone starting their own workshop space now?
Don't underestimate the amount of work involved! You need to REALLY want to do this!
Have a clear vision of where you're going: Plan things, write them down. I modify our business plan frequently to suit our business, but it's always good to have a document that I can refer to whenever I'm having a wobble!

Some very sound advice there from Kate.  We really enjoyed our visit, all the staff we met were so very friendly and we got to meet Rufus the dog, how gorgeous is he?!  I think that having a pet around always makes a space really homely.

Have you been?  Do you have a space like this near you?  We always love finding new workshop spaces and so do let us know in the comments.

H & Sammy

Our 'The Makery Emporium' Adventure

If you saw our post from last week about our little day trip to Bath, You will have seen that we stopped into the Makery Emporium whilst we were there. I have been dying to visit The Makery since I first heard about it back in early 2010 and since they opened the emporium I have been even keener to make the trip. Being a haberdashery shop owner myself, I am always looking for other shops to visit to see how they display things, what they stock and of course it usually ends up in a cheeky purchase... this visit was no exception.

The name 'Emporium' is the perfect description of this gorgeous little crafty haven. No bigger than someone's front room, it is packed with beautiful ribbons, trims, buttons and fabrics, no boring basics in this little store. 

I may have picked up a few fat quarters to add to my collection...

I love the displays in this place, this old printing tray was used to show off the cutest rubber stamps and this vintage Sylko thread cabinet is a brilliant home for modern Guttermann threads.

All their ribbon and trims are stored on these yummy wooden reels, they also sell the reels, so you can pick up some for your own trimming collection. 

All the lovely little buttons, findings and charms are stored and displayed in an amazing collection of dishes, trays and jars, just like a sweetie shop! 

They have a really colourful selection of goodies on offer in such a small space, it is a feast for the eyes, even a non sewer/crafter would undoubtedly enjoy a visit. They also had a selection of their new Make Away kits on offer (you may have seen them on Dragons Den).

H and I literally can't wait to go back in the new year, we are going to go and visit the workshop space and hopefully get ourselves booked into one of their classes.

We had such a lovely day in Bath, but the highlight for me was definitely visiting The Makery. 

If you can't make it to Bath you can shop with them online and you may have seen our review of Kate Smith's (founder of The Makery) book 'Makery' back in October, a great gift for anyone crafty.  You can also buy their 'Make Away' kits online in their store at the stocking stuffing price of £15.00... Bargain!  H and I are both hoping for the Stags Head kit for Christmas (I am a little gutted I didn't pick one up whilst I was there) 

Have you been to visit The Makery? what did you think? have you been to one of their workshops? We would love to know what you thought.

Also, if you have any recommendations of places for H and I to visit, let us know in the comments <3

If you want to hear more about The Makery, check out the new issue of Craftseller Magazine for an interview with the lovely Kate Smith.

Sammy xxx