Workshop info

We've all done it - welcomed in the New Year and made plans that this will be the year we learn new skills. Luckily for you, I am running some workshops at the lovely Me & Mrs Fisher in York that give you the chance to do just that. We've only scheduled up to the end of March at the moment, but I will be doing more from September onwards and am open to requests and suggestions of things you would like to see covered.

Here are some details of what's available so far... 

Get to know your sewing machine – Make a Tote Bag! [Edit: this class is now full! There will be another one in the autumn or I can do private tuition before then]
Saturday 17th January 10.30am – 1pm

A class for absolute beginners, where you can learn to set-up and use your machine. You’ll learn some basic sewing skills and end up with a length of bunting to take home and show off!

Class length: 2 & 1/2 hours
Price: £30
Student level: Absolute beginner

Optional extra: Basic Sewers Kit to be collected from tutor on the day, price £8. A kit containing the basic ‘extra’ tools that come in handy when you’re sewing, please contact the tutor in advance if you would like to order one.

Student needs to bring: functioning machine (incl instruction manual and power cord), 2 or 3 fat quarts of cotton print, notebook and pen/pencil.

   

Basic Cushions
Saturday 7th February 10.30am – 1pm

Learnt to use your machine but want to learn more skills? In this session you’ll learn zip insertion, buttonholes, applique and how to make a cushion.

Class length: 2 & 1/2 hours
Price: £30
Student level: Beginner (need ability to set-up machine and sew a straight(ish) line)

Student needs to bring: functioning machine (incl instruction manual and power cord), notebook and pen/pencil, 1/2 metre of medium weight cotton, matching zip or button, matching thread.

  

Make an A-line skirt
Saturday 7th March 10.00am – 1.30pm

Learn to make a knee-length A-line skirt that fits you perfectly. This is a class for those who can sew but want to learn to follow a pattern, insert a zip, hem and finish a garment.

Class length: 3.5 hours
Price: £40
Student level: Improver (basic ability to sew, at least having done our “Get to know your machine” class)

N.B. Student needs to provide tutor with their waist and hip measurements at least a week before class to ensure the correct size pattern is available. If you are struggling to measure yourself please contact the tutor for assistance.

Student needs to bring: functioning machine (incl instruction manual and power cord), notebook and pen/pencil, 1 metre of fabric (suggested fabric: light/med weight cotton), matching thread and 7” or 8” zip.


All classes should be booked directly with Me & Mrs Fisher, either by telephoning 01904 656566 or calling in in person. And if you've never been in to the cafe then you really should, it's a lovely little place and the food is great!

Sewing with tissue lame

After finishing a recent project which reminded me how daunting tissue lame can be if you haven't used it in a while I thought I would share some tips to take some of the mystery out of it. Please don't launch straight in to a precious piece of fabric with these though, test them on a scrap and play around with the settings on your machine as they all behave slightly differently!

Cutting the fabric

Don't use your best dressmaking shears to cut the lame. The metallic threads will blunt your shears in no time. If you can, buy a cheap pair especially, or clean-up and use a different pair of household scissors.

Needle  

If you don't use the right type of needle it will catch as it sews, resulting in 'ravels' and pulls all up your seam. Although it's not a jersey fabric at all, you will probably find that a jersey (aka ball-point) needle works best. Make sure your needle is new and change it more regularly than you usually would - as with scissors, the metallic threads wreak havoc on the needle. You'll be able to tell if it's too blunt as you'll start to get pulls in the fabric again.

Tension

You should find that normal sewing tension works fine, however if you get a rippled effect on your seam the best way to remove this is to use the same trick as with chiffon and other fine fabrics - while feeding your material through to sew, pull gently on the seam coming out from behind the presser foot (not enough to drag the fabric through faster than it otherwise would but enough to increase the tension in the fabric)

Enclose all your edges

You need to finish all your edges on tissue lame otherwise it will fray within minutes. Don't try to overlock them, however, as it looks messy on this fabric. The best way to finish them is some sort of enclosed seam - I would suggest either a french seam, or even better a 'run and fell' seam (both sides shown below):

The same goes for your hem: chose a rolled hem if at all possible. If you've got a rolled hem foot for your machine the fabric should go through fine, if not, leave an extra hem allowance and do a thicker hand-rolled hem.

If you do particularly want to leave a raw edge, run a narrow zig-zag stitch about 1/2cm from the edge to reduce the likelihood of fraying reducing your fabric to bare threads.

Oh, and take your time! Tissue lame is not a fabric you want to have to unpick a long seam from!!

Once you've done it though, you'll be able to stand back and feel proud of your work. It is a fabric that can create amazing garments!

The wheels keep on turning...

While it is in many ways a blessing to learn a skill as a child that you go on to use throughout life, sometimes it's only in passing on skills to others that you really appreciate them - going back to basics can make you realise how far you've come since you started (and how much farther you have to go yourself)

The visit of a friend to collect a spinning wheel she'd purchased meant that I spent Saturday afternoon last weekend teaching her to use said wheel. She picked it up well (as much through her own ability as my teaching I suspect!) but, as the week went on and the weekend approached, I started to realise that 1) it had been several months since I touched my own wheel, and 2) it had been even longer since I taught someone to spin.

Happily for my own wheel, this first realisation meant that my fingers and feet started itching to get spinning, and on Friday night it was plucked from it's hiding hole to work its way through 100g of grey Ronaldsay:

This is such a lovely fibre, I can't recommend it highly enough - easy spinning (I bought mine as a carded roving so no preparation was needed), and makes a lovely soft yarn. The yarn I ended up with is approx 3-ply weight, aka light-fingering, and will probably be a pair of gloves.

And the spinner just starting to find her treadling feet? She ended up with her own skein of yarn too, and I can see a lot more being spun in the future!