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Thursday 24 March 2016

Round Up Of This Weeks Giveaways


Hello!

You might have noticed a few giveaway's popping up on the blog and on my twitter and instagram feeds. I wanted to share a little bit more about the brand's I'm working with on this post. They are all sewing related and I'm really happy to feature them on Create It Samantha!

I have two giveaway's live at the mo, you can enter Korbond's 'win a vintage box' competition on twitter at  #korbondprizes or Sew Essential win £25 to spend in store here . I've thought hard about which companies to work with on the blog and really proud to working on these two giveaways. I would really love to win either of them myself!


I went to meet the ladies at Sew Essential as it's only down the road from me a few weeks ago. I went to school in the town they are based in and I was really over the moon with the amount of choice of haberdashery and fabrics, dressmaking patterns.... and the whole thing! WOW!


As you know I love any thread and fabric related crafts and winning £25 would really kickstart Spring time crafting for me. What would you choose?  You can enter here with bonus entries by following Sew Essential on twitter, facebook and instagram. . Good Luck the competition closed next Thursday. T&C's apply


My other giveaway is a collection of beautiful vintage sewing boxes from Korbond. They are offering a great competition to win a sewing box a week for a month! That's five times you could win! I've been using these sewing boxes for my Crafternoon teas for over two years and they are hard wearing and oh so cute...
I've know the team at Korbond for over eight years and they are a fabulous company. I owe them for getting my tapestry designs in a UK supermarket range plan a few years ago. I used to take my daughter into store and say 'Mummy designed that', whilst buying the weekly shop.

Each week we will have a new design up for grabs for a month, this heart shaped box is this weeks competition but... be quick it closed at midnight GMT.

A new sewing box will be on the #korbondprizes hashtag in the morning.

Without selling out, I hope you enjoy these competitions? What else would you like to see on the blog? Do let me know in the comments.

Happy Crafting,

Samantha xoxo
 

Friday 18 March 2016

Win A Korbond Vintage Collection Craft Box Each Week For A Month!

 
 


The one thing I take to every Crafternoon tea party is a pretty storage box full of vintage materials.  Today I'm sharing with you why I love my little collection of Korbond Vintage Collection  craft boxes, plus you could win one of my favourites every week for the next month! Oh yes! Read on to find out how. 
 

Button box holds all my spare cotton embroidery threads


If you follow me over on twitter or instagram you will see that I have these beautiful vintage sewing boxes from the Korbond Vintage Collection in my photos.

A Crafternoon tea  at Crich Tramway Museum

Korbond, you will probably know for the bright yellow and blue packaged emergency sewing kits that you find in your local supermarket. But they also produce these lovely vintage sewing craft boxes, they really are a little secret that I want to share! They also have a whole range of professional sewing tools and threads in their Creations by Korbond range, available to purchase online and through independent needlecraft shops.

vintage dressmaking pattern tins packed up for a  fascinator class

I've been using their vintage craft boxes for over two years and I always get comments on where can I get the vintage sewing pattern tins or the button lid thread boxes. So why not enter this great competition and you could win one to keep your stash all tidy with of course a little vintage flair...

Each week for the next month, we will have a new storage box to win starting from today. That’s five!

The competition starts with the beautiful Love Heart Sewing Box (190101) she’s beautiful isn’t she? Just look out for new prizes for the next four Friday’s on the hashtag #korbondprizes at @teacakecraft and @korbonduk. Just follow and RT and you could win. A winner will be announced each week.

Picture
Before I go, if you're visiting the ‘Sewing for Pleasure’ sewing show this week at the NEC, Birmingham 17th-20th March, Korbond will be supporting Sewing Bee Jenni Taylor who has her own stand (ZF20) and she will be holding daily workshops at the Korbond Learn to Sew Studio. Pop by and see Jenni's #sewingrevolution!
 

Picture
Sewing Bee Jenni Taylor

April from Korbond told me that some of Jenni's favourite products from the Korbond Care & Repair range includes the
Needle Threaders With Cutter 
for sewing on the move (as you don't need your scissors to snip the threads)
and the
Water Erasable Marker for quilting and free hand drawing of patterns.  

Jenni is currently working with the new Korbond professional sewing threads in her workshops at Sewing For Pleasure this weekend. I've been told in tests it's a strong durable thread so I can't wait to try it out on future sewing projects.
 
 
Korbond's vintage button box
 
 
 
I want to thank Korbond for this giveaway and gifting me these beautiful vintage sewing storage range back in 2013 to road test. They are still going and are very much part of my Crafternoon kit.
 
Happy Crafting,
 
Samantha xoxo
 
The Small Print ...
Terms and conditions
 
1. One winner will be selected randomly each week from 18th March to 15th April 2016, there is no alternative prize. The winner will be sent the craft box at the end of the competition on 15th April 2016.
2. The winner will be contacted by twitter on the Thursday after the competition has closed for the week.
3. Details of the winner be announced on twitter.

4. This giveaway is organised by Crafternoon Tea Hostess and Korbond UK
5. *UK residents only*
6. Giveaway closes on the 15th April 2016 when the final winner has been announced.
7. Data will not be shared with a third party.
8. Multiple entries from the same twitter account will not be counted.

Monday 14 March 2016

Vintage Baby Dress - Weldon's 8624 #vintagepledge

 
  


Hello,

Today I'm sharing this beautiful vintage toddler dress I made for my little girl as part of the 2016 #vintagepledge challenge. It's shown middle top on the pattern.

 
 I found this pattern in a charity shop basket whilst I was on holiday in Devon back in 2012 when my Little L was just 8 months old!  Initially I bought it for the christening gown pattern but put it away until she was a little bit bigger.

I loved that it was a sleeping bag, dress and top pattern all in one. The dress has an inverted pleat under the arm to give fullness on a princess line and a really vintage feel. I was in love, I didn't care that the pattern may not be complete, I paid my 50p and left!


I made this dress up for my little L in soft 100% cotton fabric with a ric-rak trim and added bows on the shoulders. I made it over two evenings and the pattern all fitted together really well.
 
The petticoat dress was perfect for crawling looked great when Little L was wearing it with leggings. The puffed sleeve and inverted pleat made it look 'quirky vintage' which is look I love and makes it wearable today with little girls cardigans, leggings and t-bar vintage inspired shoes. I still love this pattern, I wished them made in my size!
 
 
The cute inverted underarm pleat to give more shape to the skirt shape of the dress. I've never stitched this type of pleat on a dress before and it was a lovely little finish.
 
 
The pattern as many vintage patterns was a little bit of a 'fill the missing instructions in' and when you are used to commercial modern patterns, it's like re-reading the rules when you pull an old pattern out of the sleeve. The challenge is always a good one and it was great to complete in such a short period of time!

Ric rac in soft lime one the pink floral fabric

 
The seams were pinked to about 1cm from the seam and then zigaged with a small stitch to make them soft on her skin. Maybe over engineered for such a small project.
 
This was a lovely make and I am looking forward to making it again for other little girl toddlers in the family!
 
This is my first #vintagepledge write up for 2016. I am looking forward to sharing more little makes through the year on the hashtag.
 
Happy Sewing,
 
Samantha xoxo
 

Friday 11 March 2016

Create Your Own Tote Bag In A Crafternoon

                     

 
Last week I held my first Sew A Pretty Bag Crafternoon. It was a lovely day of sewing and making. Hello to everyone I met.

I'm using more of these bags since we have to pay for a carrier bags in the UK, so let's make them pretty, fun and stylish ways to carry our shopping about. They are washable and very hard wearing.

Today I wanted to share with you my fail proof way of sewing up tote bags. This blog post will be spread over three posts. Today I'm talking about sewing up the bag, then printing onto fabric and then using bondaweb to create applique design.

Let's Make!

You will need -
Half a metre of calico fabric
1 spool of sewing thread
Use of a sewing machine.
Sewing supplies -
Including -
Dressmaking scissors
Dressmaking pins
Fabric maker pen

You can make your bag any size you want. We don't use a paper pattern for this project. We simply draw onto the fabric with the washable marker pen.

Firstly measure up the size of your bag. Most tote bags I've had or made are approx 50cm long by 45 cm high. You can get lots in your bag and it fits on your shoulder nicely.


Cut two pieces of fabric with a 2.5cm seam allowance in the calico. I've choosen calico as it's soft to work with and really durable. At the end of the post I've put a picture of the same bag made in home furnishing fabrics which is harder to stitch and you will need a higher needle size.

I'm stitching the calico on a 80 needle.

1. Sew The Top Of The Bag


 
Take the two pieces and firstly fold over the tops of the fabric twice (each 2.5cm deep) and stitch on the sewing machine. I always make a test first to check my machine tension and stitch length it OK.

 2,. Seam Up Your Bag & Make The Straps

Then follow the diagram below to finish off your bag from...


 
top left -
turn your bag right sides together and pin down the sides with the top of the bag level and across the bottom. Sew into place.

 top right -
 to finish off the seam turn in the edge at the top of the bag at a 45 degree angle and hand stitch as per the diagram.

 bottom left -
 make two handles from the remaining calico. Take a 10cm x 12cm strip and iron in half. Then turn 1cm in on both sides. Stitch into position 25% from both ends on the outside of your bag. To find 25% fold you bag in half and in half again and pin.

bottom right -
Stitch on the outside of your bag by top stitching in a square and then across the square to secure.

And here is the finished bag in home furnishing fabrics.

 
           If you want to leave your bag in fancy fabrics why not patchwork each of pieces?



The next step will be to use fabric paints and stamp onto your calico bag.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. Leave me a comment if you have any questions on the steps in the post.

 Happy Crafting,

Samantha xoxo

Join Us At The Fabulous Places Spring Market - Sunday 20th March!


Next Sunday (20th March), come and meet me at the Fabulous Places Spring Market here in Derby.
The Spring Market is 100 bespoke stallholders providing beautiful, bespoke and unique gifts, food and drink and much more!

I always love meeting you all, so do pop by and say hello. I'm in the library on the way to the tearoom. You won't be able to miss my vintage mannequins and sewing machines!

If you are not familiar with the Crafternoon part of my business, I host vintage crafty tea parties in the Midlands, UK. Next Sunday I'll have offers and special treats on the stand.


I will be back to share photos and inspiration from the day.

Have a great Friday!

Samantha xoxo

Sunday 6 March 2016

Win £25 To Spend At Sew Essential

I'm delighted to post about the fantastic Sew Essential Giveway I'm running on the blog this month.

After visiting the online store and meeting the team in prep for the #sewessentialmeet,  I'm giving you the chance to win your very own selection of goodies from the online store up to £25!

                                                         ENTER HERE !

If you are like me and love to make with fabrics, threads and yarns you need to enter! The giveaway is open to the end of March 2016.

Sew Essential stock a huge choice of haberdashery, sewing patterns, fabrics and crafts from trusted brands such as Gutermann threads, Brother sewing machines and Fiskars scissors.

I've put together my wish list of vintage style craft patterns and embroidery essential's for forthcoming Spring projects. This is my selection and yes you can get all this for under £25...


M6977 McCall's Bow Bag This is adorable and with four styles in one it makes a great beach bag or Mummy bag for Summer trips out.

1221Simplicity Vintage Apron I love these aprons and as my Crafternoon aprons need an upgrade for the Summer, I have my eyes on this style.

Stock Scissors I swear by these and also need another pair for dressmaking and snipping corners out of collars and cuffs. I always use these for embroidery projects and carry a pair with every project. So if you have more than one project on the go, you need more pairs!

Wooden Embroidery Hoop 4in I want to start going tiny on projects and wooden hoops looks so classy plain or you can always decoupage them!

Gold Eye Embroidery Needles As every thread needs to be worked with a gold eyed needle in my opinion, it stops friction and breakages of the fibres to give a smoother finish.

How Do I Enter?

All you need to do is to tell us in a sentence, ' What you perfect Crafternoon is', over on the this form.

For extra entries find the follow @sewessentialuk on twitter, facebook or instagram and comment below that you have!

Good Luck! The winner will be announced on the blog on the 1st April 2016. Sorry we are only open in the UK. For full t and c's * see terms and conditions of the giveaway.




**STOP PRESS**
We only have 2 places left at the #sewessentialmeet this evening (Sunday). If you want to book a place see Thursday's post.

Have a great week!

Samantha
 

Thursday 3 March 2016

#SewEssentialMeet; A Sewing Meet Up...plus a giveaway!


           Announcing The Sew Essential Sewing Meet
 


I'm super excited to announce today that Sew Essential have launched the #SewEssentialMeet. If you love sewing, sewing shopping, trying out new skills plus meeting fellow sewists, this is the meet for you.

The #SewEssentialMeet  will be hosted by Sew Essential at their showroom nr Leicester with myself and Kat from AKraftyKat . I've been really excited about sharing this, I visit the showroom last week and the shopping experience is incredible! We have tried to make the day varied and for all levels of sewist with a lovely afternoon tea included for good measure.

So over to Lucy at Sew Essential to tell you more about the day...

' The day will start at 11:30am with coffee, tea, pastries courtesy of Sew Essential and, if you wish, time for shopping in our Aladdin's Cave (AKA warehouse) of goodies. We'll then head upstairs to our showroom for some hand hoop embroidery (basic kit provided by Sew Essential), a demonstration of the new Husqvarna Epic embroidery machine for anyone who would like to see it in action (we're not expecting anyone to buy one, but thought it may be of interest to see the Rolls Royce of embroidery machines!) and the opportunity to discuss Angela's embroidery machine makes with the talented lady herself.

After much tea, chatter and craft we'll head out for a vintage afternoon tea at the Lakeside bistro just around the corner at 3:30pm. Vintage table linen and china plus cakes, scones, sandwiches and endless tea and coffee in delightful surroundings with like minded crafty folk - what better way to spend a Sunday afternoon?! The fun doesn't stop there though - we're also putting together goody bags for our lovely attendees to take home and enjoy after the event!

Sew Essential Meet
Places are limited and we've had a lot of interest so please let me know if you would like to join us and secure your spot by  emailing me at lucy@sewessential.co.uk. Once I have a list of attendees I will contact you to arrange collection of a £10 deposit to confirm your place. The afternoon tea is a total cost of £12.50 per person - £5 of your deposit will be paid towards your afternoon tea with the remaining £7.50 to be paid at the venue on the day. The other £5 of your deposit will be donated to charity and we will also have a raffle to raise further funds on the day. '

Thank-you Lucy!
 
To find out more information on the day and to book you place check out Lucy from Sew Essential's blog post or contact Lucy at lucy@sewessential.co.uk . Places are very limited, so we advise you to be quick!

We will be announcing more about the day in the coming weeks.

here's a sneaky peak at the warehouse from my visit

Who Are Sew Essential ...

I was over the moon to be invited over to Sew Essential 's showroom and an Aladdin's Cave of a
warehouse to chat about our sewing meet up and have a look through the thousands of items they have on stock.
 
Sew Essential is family run online sewing store based in the heart of the UK near Ashby-de-la-Zouch in Leicestershire stocking  pretty much everything you need for all your fabric based sewing needs! From Sewing to Patchwork & Quilting to Home Craft supplies Angela Lucy, Ed and the team really do have it covered. It isn't everyday you get the chance to look around a warehouse of craft.

 
  
We are celebrating the launch of the #SewEssentialMeet with a giveaway...
                             
 
Yes win £25 of Sew Essential goodies from the online store by telling us in one sentence what your perfect Crafternoon is? Just enter
here !
 
I'll be telling you what my wish list would be over the weekend, I'm off to pick out some lovely product.
 
All the best!
 
Samantha xoxo
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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