Review: The Fabric of Civilization – How Textiles Made the World by Virginia Postrel

Apr 7, 2021Apr 7, 2021 toomanystitches2 Comments

This post contains affiliate links meaning if you sign up to the course from this blog, I get a small commission. However, any recommendations and opinions are my own. For more information, please click here.

Some books manage to demand you read every page of them and this week’s review is for one such text. Fancy figuring out the secrets of Machiavelli’s childhood and how textiles shaped his plays and thinking? Eager to find out just how hard it is to knit a 3D bunny on a machine? Read on – this is the text for you!

Stuffed Little Lavender Cat

Mar 17, 2021Mar 16, 2021 toomanystitches10 Comments

Last week’s post marked a dangerous turning point in my machine embroidery confidence where I realised that doing multi-part construction wasn’t so bad after all and, while getting things aligned with dielines wasn’t fun, it was feasible.

Lampshade Making Course, Minerva Studios

Nov 18, 2020Nov 24, 2020 toomanystitches10 Comments

Apart from a recent jaunt down to the London Embroidery School for the rest of their Lace Series course, the number of in-person craft courses going on has been rather lamentable so I was very pleased to see that the weekend Lampshade Making course at Minerva Studios was still going ahead, albeit with some health and safety upgrades.

Beyond the Festival of Quilts: Jogakbo Light Catcher

Aug 5, 2020Aug 5, 2020 toomanystitches12 Comments

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links meaning if you make any purchases via these links, I receive a small commission that contributes to the running costs of the blog. However, any recommendations and opinions in this review are my own. For more information, please click here.

As it seems everything else in life has had to go online, I supposed it was only an inevitability until things like craft shows and festivals started finding ways to transport themselves to the digital domain. This is exactly what the Festival of Quilts was experimenting with, with their ‘Beyond the Festival of Quilts’ event, which caught my eye for the digital masterclasses on offer.

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An Ice Surprise

Jun 24, 2020Jun 23, 2020 toomanystitches7 Comments

I was going through my fabrics, looking for some scrap to help frame up some embroidery, when I came across some old ice dyed fabrics I made a while ago and was struck by how nice they were. What is also very rewarding about ice dyeing is that it is very straightforward to do and, if you want to, you can just prep things somewhat arbitrarily and enjoy the ‘randomness’ of the results.

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Bernina Shop, Zürich

Jun 17, 2020Jun 16, 2020 toomanystitches8 Comments

One of the nice things about being in Switzerland, as well as the beautiful scenery, perfect trains and wonderful cheese, is the number of Bernina stores dotted about the place. Some of them are in surprising places, it often feels like you’ll see one in every small village, but they are usually excellent haberdasheries as well as sewing machine technology wonderlands.

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Fabric Box v 1.5.0

Jan 15, 2020Jan 11, 2020 toomanystitches6 Comments

I love making these fabric boxes. It’s great having a project where you get a nice big square area to do some free motion quilting over and they’re a relatively simple pattern overall. This is the third of these boxes I’ve made – you can see my first and second attempts here and for this one I really wanted to focus on the free motion quilting for it.

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Lyon, ville de soie

Jul 31, 2019Jul 22, 2019 toomanystitches2 Comments

Lyon, to me, is one of the gems of France. It is deservedly famous for the local cuisine, the beauty of the preserved old city, now a UNESCO world heritage site and, even better, for being the historical and modern home of some of the most beautiful silk weaving ever to grace this earth. astitchornine (2)

Box v0.0.1 alpha

Mar 27, 2019Aug 17, 2019 toomanystitches4 Comments

Dressmakers often use a calico toile, or mock-up, as a way of checking the fit of a garment. An added bonus is it is a good way of practicing any tricky parts of the construction or identifying any problem areas because you’ve shredded your £20 a metre silk you’ve been cherishing for several years, awaiting the perfect project.

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Review: The Golden Thread

Feb 27, 2019Feb 24, 2019 toomanystitches8 Comments

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links meaning if you purchase the book through these links, I receive a small commission that contributes to the running costs of the blog. However, any recommendations and opinions in this review are my own. For more information, please click here.

It was always going to be a challenge to dislike to a book that starts with the sentence ‘I am assuming here, Dear Reader, that you are not naked’. It was also always going to be a challenge to dislike any book that promised an adventure through our textile past, present and future.

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