Made: Items made in our classes and shop this month

We have been really busy recently, thinking up and trying out new patterns as well as guding our students through making some of our most popular items. We have had a really successful first holiday sewing club and Tracey is trying to plan a new patchwork / quilting class which we are really excited about.

All of these items were made in the shop.

The zip up make up bag was made in our holiday sewing club, isn't it great? I love the bright apron too.

The Penny pleat bag (shown here in the dolls fabric) is one of our new patterns that will be available soon.

Hope this inspires you to make something soon, or join us for a class. Please see the Sewing Workshops section of our website for details.

Happy sewing,

Kelly

Inspiration: Teacher's Gifts

Suddenly the end of term is upon us and it is the perfect time to make a little something to say thank you to your or your children's teachers.

We have some brilliant ideas for simple gifts to make. I have added a link to all of the tutorials that we have on our blog.

Envelope cushion - brilliant quick make, just one piece of fabric and four straight lines of stitching.

Two fat quarter cushion - very similar to the above but made with two fat quarters.

Tote bag - something for your teacher to take all her other gifts home in.

Bunting - really easy to make and everyone loves a bit of bunting to cheer up a room.

All of these items were made in our Open Sewing Session from fabric bought from our shop. We have lots of new fabrics in the Owl and Sewing Cat online store that would be perfect for these.

Inspiration: Father's Day

On Sunday the 17th June it is Father's Day here in the UK and we have been trying to think of things that we can make for the Dads in our lives.

I have been scouring the internet for some inspiration and I thought that I would share some of it here with you. Check out our Father's Day Pinterest board to see all these ideas and more in one place.

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How about a simple drawstring bag? Great as a laundry bag or for putting shoes in when traveling:

If your dad likes to cook then how about a brilliant reversible apron?

Both of these items can be made with us in store at our Open Sewing Sessions. If you don't have time before Father's Day then any of these items would be great birthday presents too.

Tutorials:

Make a one of a kind tie for your dad with this tutorial from The Purl Bee. I think that this is such a lovely idea and you can make it really personal to him.

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Or is your dad more of a gadget man? Here are some great tutorials to make something snug for his favourite items.

I used this great quilted iPad cover tutorial to make the one below recently.

Image courtesy of A place of my own

Or perhaps he has a laptop and you think you could make him a laptop sleeve.

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Finally maybe just something smaller to hold an iPod or camera or even special items such as cufflinks or a watch when traveling. This Gadget Cosy Tutorial is quick and simple and there are loads of things it could be used for.

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Obviously if you decide to make any of these you will need fabrics that would suit your dad's personality. We have a great fat quarter bundle online and instore now called 'Hello Sailor' which would be great for men.

If that doesn't seem the thing for your dad then why not have a browse through our other fabrics for sale and see what you think he would like. Here are some of my picks.