Saturday 11 February 2012

Fabric Finds 3

Fabric Finds

There have been lots of great new fabrics and patterns appearing in the shops over the last couple of weeks.  Here's a selection of some of our favourites.

Sewaholic Renfrew Top

Sewaholic Renfrew Top
This versatile pattern from Sewaholic will enable you to make a selection of new tops of all seasons and occasions.  You can change the neckline, the sleeve length and of course the fabric to create several different styles of top. 

You can purchase this pattern from Sewbox or Backstitch.

Minikrea Children's patterns
Minikrea

Raystitch have a gorgeous range of kids patterns in stock - Minikrea. Theses patterns include clothes for babies, toddlers and older children to the age of 10.  View all the patterns here. 

They also have a whopping 40% off the Lady Grey Coat pattern by Colette. 



Moda Precuts & Moda Essential Dots

Quilt Me Happy have got some lovely new Moda charm packs in, I just love the way they photograph them, showing you every fabric in the pack (see the Butterscotch and Rose charm pack pictured below).    Also if dots are your thing they lots of Moda Essential dots fabrics in ever colour you could want.

Butterscotch & Rose




Silent Cinema by Jenean Morrison

Not only do Patch Fabrics have a snazzy new website that went live a couple of days ago, but they also have the beautiful Silent Cinema fabrics by Jenean Morrison.   

Silent Cinema


Daisy Cottage by Riley Blake

Grey fabrics are certainly proving very popular at the moment, and I have to admit I'm amazed at how pretty they look, another predominantly grey collection is Dasiy Cottage by Riley Blake new in at The Fabric Loft. 

Daisy Cottage
Nani Iro

Back to Raystitch but for fabrics rather than patterns this time, they have just had a delivery of some gorgeous new Japanese fabrics by Nani Iro for Kokka.  Loving these subtle understated designs, they are a little bit on the pricey side (£22 per metre) but ideal if you have something special in mind.
Tea Cakes by Verna Mosquera

RUCraft have just got the Tea Cakes collection by Verna Mosquera in stock on their site.  This range has florals, stripes and dots in pastel colourways.



Sunday 5 February 2012

Craft Twitter Chats

I've only recently discovered Twitter chats, conversations where you all use the same hash tag after yout tweets so all the tweets can be viewed together when people click on the hash tag.  I've started joining in with the Crafter Minds twitter chats which are held on Mondays at 9pm (GMT) using the hash tag #craftminds. 

These chats are aimed at craft bloggers and have covered subjects including promoting your blog, setting up a second blog, improving your writing skills, standing out among other blogs etc.  They have participants from all over the world, but primarily America, from experts to amateurs sharing tips and advice and asking questions. 


I've recently discovered that Craft Blog UK have also started running weekly Twitter chats too, on a Sunday at 9pm.  Tonight's subject is using Facebook and Twitter to promote your blog, last week it was SEO tips.  As with Crafter Minds these chats are focused on craft bloggers.  The hash tag for these chats is #cbuk, you can follow Craft Blog UK here.

I find these chats are a great way to exchange ideas and share/get tips and advice as well as meet new people in the same industry as you.  Have you ever joined in a Twitter chat?  What do you think about them?

TIPS  - When you click on the hastag make you click on the top left where it says tweets: top and change it to 'all' otherwise you will be missing many of the tweets. 

-Also I find it useful to have 3 twitter screens open, one to type your tweets into, one to view all the tweets with that hash tag and one to view the tweets from the person leading the Twitter chat.

-If you miss a chat, or don't use Twitter you can read the salient points from the chats on their sites a day or to later.   For Craftminds find them here, and for Craft Blog UK you need to pop over to their blog and find the summary, the SEO one is here.

Wednesday 1 February 2012

The results are in..... Sewing Blogger of the year 2011

Blogger of the year award winners


Thank you all for your votes in our blogger of the year awards there were over 35 different sewing bloggers nominated and it was a close call as to who made it into the top ten.

The top 3 bloggers all win a prize, the winner gets a £50 voucher for www.backstitch.co.uk and the 2 runners ups get a selection of crafty prizes.  Also one lucky voter was chosen at random to win a £15 voucher for Backstitch too.  Congratulations to the winners.

Do take a look through the blogs below for great sewing tips, projects and inspiration.  Next to each blog I’ve put one of the voter’s comments about why they nominated that blog. 

Top 10 sewing blogs of 2011 as voted by you
  • House of Pinhero  I have watched this blog from the beginning and love the inspiration, creativity, and enthusiasm.
  • Sew Scrumptious  She does such wonderful work for Dress a girl Around the World. She's incredibly talented and generous.
  • Very Berry  There is always so much inspiration on this site and I am always excited to see what she has posted next.
  • FairyFace Designs Her blog inspiring and she shares wonderful tutorials.
  • Lily’s Quilts  She's been such an inspiration to me and so many others and gave me the confidence to have a go at sewing.
  • My Busy Craft Life  She has the best ideas and the most amazing costumes!
  • Sew Happy Geek They have so many great ideas and their link parties have introduced me to lots of new blogs.
  • Flossie Teacakes  Florence makes really beautiful things, sells lovely patterns that she designs and is full of sewing-related wisdom.
  • Kitschy Coo  I chose them because the things are beautiful with lots of laughs along the way.
  • I’m a Ginger Monkey  She's so funny, I love her sense of colour and her tutorials are really great.
A big thank you to all the sewing and craft bloggers out there who keep us all inspired and motivated.  Hopefully this list will introduce you to some great new bloggers that you may not have discovered yet.

Voter prize winner


Tors Grantham from Llanbradach
Blogging tips