What do you get when you take five beginner sewists, give them four hours of help and the versatile Sis Boom Sophie Tunic pattern?  Five beautiful, totally unique tunics and a lovely morning of sewing and chat.

Check these out!

It's amazing what people can produce with some time, patience, a little bit of help and a whole lot of encouragement  from their sewing companions.

We don't often write about our sewing classes, but they are something that we both love and are passionate about. Obviously, introducing people to the world of patterns and fabric, sewing machines and notions is our major focus.  But what we've discovered incidentally is how much of a pleasure it is to sew as part of a group.  

There is something lovely about having someone to chat with as you work your way through a pattern, someone to share your excitement as you conquer a top stitched facing,  someone to laugh with you as you unpick yet  another wonky seam... and for us, this sense of community is what sewing (and we're) all about.
 
To Lyndall, Elise, Mary, Martina and Kylie - you all did a great job this morning and we really enjoyed sewing together with you!

I love, love , love Sis Boom patterns.  They make up just beautifully and I always come away with loads of hints and tips - it's always so good to learn something new.
My latest rendezvous with Sis Boom is the Sophie Tunic.  I've admired this pattern for a while and have always thought of it as a summery beach cover up.   I decided to make it up in Alexander Henry's gorgeous 'Delicious' in pink and voila - a perfect top for Autumn emerged...

Now we just need the weather to cool down!

Grab yourself some felt and your box of embroidery thread and revisit all those stitches you used to do in high school craft classes - running stitch, chain stitch, blanket stitch, french knots and lazy daisy!

The whole family can join in. Pippa (age 2) made the star on the right with just a little help from her mum!

If you've still got some time, make some decorative garlands. The lucky recipient of your beautifully wrapped gift can use the garland to decorate their tree next year! Cut yourself a stack of felt stars. Pick your favorite decorative stitch on your sewing machine and whiz them though fast leaving the sewing machine running to create lengths of thread between each star.

PS If you live in Sydney and can't remember all those stitches or haven't conquered your fear of using a sewing machine, come and do our Christmas workshop. We will show you how to make all these projects. Details can be found on our Timetable of Classes page.