Yarndale and New Yarn Projects

I've recently finished a dress and a knitted top (will share pictures soon) so obviously I needed to replace them with more projects. So a trip to the new yarn festival 'Yarndale' in Skipton was a opportunity not to miss (I was never going to leave empty handed was I?) so I was very restrained and only bought one pattern and some yummy wool from Easy Knits (although I don't think the pattern is that easy really). It a scarf which is starts with solid stitching at one end and you gradually build up the number of holes to form a big lacy pattern at the other end. Its really unusual and I had some problems picking a yarn to create it but eventually plumped for this one with a metallic thread running through it too.

Here's some other nice photos from the event, ,the crochet bunting was organised through Lucy who runs the blog 'Attic 24' which is lovely.

I love Fred(s)

I wanted to give a big shout out to Fred's on the blog! If you have not discovered this gem...... Fred's Haberdashery is a real treat for Crafters. Don't be fooled by the size of the little shop, it really is a tardis. It's rammed to the ceiling with every sort of haberdashery you could ask for, need or want. The ladies in the shop are super knowledgeable and helpful and know the shop stock really well. I am also super jealous of the storage in the shop - such as the sliding walls to hold the stock of (many) zips. Its located in central Chesterfield and is well worth a trip to the town http://www.freds-haberdashery.co.uk there is also a facbeook page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Freds-Haberdashery/108177649353578 and they do mail order too. You could also combine a trip with the 2nd hand / vintage market (Thursdays) or fabric shopping on some of the market days, or a visit to the small but reasonably priced Esbergers fabric.

Buttons Anyone?

Here is a little braclet I made with a tiny, tiny proportion from the stock of Fred's ...these will be making an appearance at one of our 'Make your Own Christmas Presents' mini workshops on 8th Dec.

Good Intentions

Hello Everyone, despite feeling bad and trying to ignore it I think people actually really like to read blogs.... for me its a time shortage, not a shortage of things to say. I would really like to share with you all about lots of things going on at Harland Works, and all the things I've made for friends and family and all the other things that I think are important in the craft, eco and fashion worlds.

For those of you that can remember I stopped buying new clothes in Jan 2012, except for basic essentials such as underwear, shoes (obviously) and long sleeve t-Shirts. This was mainly due to not being able to close my wardrobe and having so many clothes I don't really wear. Since then any 'new' clothes I have either made, or bought from charity shops to wear / upcycle, or exchanged at Sheffield Clothing Exchange. Landfill stats for clothing are shocking and the disaster in the Bangladesh Clothing Factory hopefully highlighted the conditions people work in to produce low value clothing for European markets.

So now no new clothes for 1 year and 9 months and I'm not really missing it to be honest.

So lots of things have been created since I last blogged - Circle Project (embellished and free machine embroidery), lots of little owl broaches for gifts, a pink dress in progress, a green linen summer top, a lampshade, a decoupage giraffe, a free machine embroidered new home gift, a recycled sausage dog draft excluder and lots more.... the bay window curtains are finally finished too so I will post some photos soon.

A Crafty Sheffield Christmas

Well...its the last day of school before Christmas and when I was young that meant you could bring games into school like Connect 4 and Battleships, so I'm in the Christmas holiday mood. Since the last post things have been busy with the spring workshop programme and I've made lots of gift vouchers for crafty Sheffield people to get in their Christmas stockings.

This week I was in town for the last minute presents and also popped into 'Birds Yard' on Chapel Walk. Birds Yard (Sheffield) has been set up by Birds Yard (Leeds) and local artists and craftspeople can rent selling space to promote their wares to the good people of Sheffield. This is MUCH needed in Sheffield, in fact 3 of our tutors have items for sale in the shop (Sharon - tweet cushions, Saskia - Screenprints and Hayley - Lampshades). I often feel that Sheffield falls way behind places like Bath, Bristol, Brighton, Manchester and Leeds for promoting good and professional craft (except for Silversmithing of course). I wonder if its because our art / craft degrees in Sheffield are quite limited and we are just not turning out trained graduates and craftspeople, or is it because Sheffield doesn't value the benefit of craft as much as other major UK cities? Where are Sheffield's crafty pop up shops for example? I hope Birds Yard starts a new trend.

Wandering down Chapel Walk (this little Street has real potential...) brought back fond memories of Whiteheads (does anyone remember this little Aladdin's cave of crafting?), me and my Gran used to do down into the basement bit of the shop and buy lots of crafty things to keep us going. It was real jumble of stock and you almost couldn't see Mr Whitehead and the till behind all the stuff piled high! Later the shop moved to the bottom of London Road, but it always lot some of its charm for me at its new location.

So over the Christmas break I really must do those curtains for our bay window (they've been over a year on the to-do list), and finish that linen top and do 18 more granny squares for the cushion......while drinking hot port and listening to Bing Crosby singing 'White Christmas' .....I hope you all have a wonderful time and hope to see you in the new year - Emma x

Craft projects on the go....

This week I have learnt a new craft! (I'm not sure what you call someone who collects crafts skills, maybe a craftoholic but that sounds really unappealing!). I learnt how to crochet which is fab. I joined in the workshop led by Laura last weekend making 'Crochet Granny Squares' and I actually got to grips with it. Once I got home I manically tried to find a crochet cushion cover pattern published in a Magazine a few months ago and after about an hour I found it. Then things got slightly confusing as I'm not sure that it was an 'English' pattern but in true Running With Scissors style I launched myself into it without worrying to much and now I'm the proud owner of 4 crochet squares (the pattern calls for 36 squares, so only 32 to go.....) I am very impressed with myself!

To add to all things woolly I have put aside my current kitting project (despite promising myself to finish a project before I start another one) and started on a winter top which is all silver and sequins - sparkly and seasonal - I will be a walking glitter ball once completed. Its a good job its on 10mm needles so it will be quite quick to knit. I've started this project as I have been naughty and ordered some wool online which arrived yesterday (it was in the sale!) for a winter top pattern which I've had since last year - its going to be purple and pink!. I have never really understood why 'winter colours' are black, brown and grey when what you really need on English winter days is a strong blast of tropical shades to lift your mood and make you feel better!

The Sewing Projects I have on the go include:
Green linen print top
Reversible skirt
Curtains for our bay window (fabric stored for over a year!)
Purses
Christmas Stocking
Wall hanger with pockets
...and those are just the ones I can remember.

Laura has recently been to the 'Knitting and Stitching Show' in London and its coming to Harrogate this month 22nd - 25th November, I went a few years go and its fantastic, all the stalls have lots of offers and discounts and there are workshops, exhibitions and shows too. Apparently one of the exhibitions is called 'The Unfinsihables' - I think this may be one for me! Here's a link to the show if your interested in all things knitty and stitchy!  http://www.twistedthread.com/pages/exhibitions/viewExhibition.aspx?id=39

Vintage Patterns and other musings...

Today I met a lovely lady who has passed onto me some fantastic vintage dress patterns. She has always made clothes for herself, her mother, her children and now her grandchildren and great grandchildren - what a wonderful woman! I love chatting to people who have this sort of knowledge and enthusaim for sewing and crafting, she reminded me so much of my dear Gran, who taught me to sew, and knit and crochet and other crafty things. The lady had heard my interview on Radio Sheffield and gave me a call about her patterns as she has loads and loads and they would only end up in a skip, or thrown out in the end (perish the thought!) - some of them even date back to the 1940's and the images on some of them as so fabulous - a whole different era (Grace Kelly, Jimmy Stewart, Cary Grant, Eve-Marie Saint et al)

Here's a picture of just a couple of them, I'm going to go through the two bags tonight. If you are lucky enough to be booked on the workshop tomorrow I'm planning to bring them along for our tutor Sharon and everyone to have alook at. I am very tempted to make the 'dust coat' pictured here.

In keeping with the vintage theme I finally finished a little hat which I started at a Millinery class (which must be a year ago now.... - I have a long 'to do' list). It was created from scratch from steaming the buckram pieces over mould to create the curved body and then covering it and lining it and adding the hair comb. The only problem is that it keeps slipping out of my hair, so some industrial strength hairspray may be in order!

Uzzle-Wuzzle Bird

The rare Uzzle-Wuzzle bird spotted in our garden