Phew.....autumn here we come...

Well I'm back (and just slightly embarrassed that its been so long since my last post), things have been quite hectic here at RWS H.Q. We have been planning our autumn workshops, which are now ready for booking (hurahhh) although there are some more to come too. We were also at sharrowvale market which was a really busy, as well as sunny, afternoon - so a BIG hello to everyone who discovered us there. Our Private Sewing Tuition sessions are becoming really popular and also we have been working really hard to find a more permanent venue for Running With Scissors (we're almost there... more news on this soon).

We are running 7 new workshops in the autumn block as well as your favourites. Here are some images for the new workshops, I'm intending to do a more detailed blog on each one:

Free Machine Embroidery (+ water soluble fabric) very exciting - its like drawing with stitches, lots of possibilities and lots of scope for creativity! (which is what we are all about at RWS)
 

The Baguette Bag!
As the name suggests - perfect for carrying your baguette home, without it falling out or snapping! Use some lovely fabric and they make great gifts for your friends..

Easy Peasy Shirt to Top
A bit of up-cycling - made from a man's shirt you can run up this little top in a couple of hours. You will get to have a go at attaching some bias binding which is a nice way to finish raw edges.

Improvers Knitting 
Our knitting tutor Fran is running our improvers knitting workshop to give all the beginners out there the chance to have a go at some more techniques, such as increasing and decreasing, stitch patterns and reading a pattern.

101 Ways to Felt
I am very exciting about this workshop which is going to be run by me and Fran. Everyone will get to have a go at wet felting, dry felting and using an embellisher machine and then we are going to chat about knitting and felting in the washing machine! You will get to play about with lots of wool, have a good experiment and make lots of little things to take home! This is a little purse decorated using the dry felting technique (using a felting needle), which you can make at the workshop (we'll put the zip in for you)

Patchwork & Quilting
Our fab tutor Janet is back in December for our place mats and coaster workshop (which would make great Christmas gifts) - they are the wonky house and trees pattern so they have their own individual charm! if you prefer you can make a table runner instead with a little row of houses!

Improvers Crochet
Laura will be running a more advanced crochet workshop for everyone who has grasped the basics and wants to learn more techniques. Provisional date is Sunday 28th October (images and booking details coming to the website soon)

Hope to see you all at a workshop soon
Emma x

Running Wtih Scissors now in City Centre!

Well the shop display is actually up for the people of Sheffield to gaze at! (on Cambridge Street, in town) I am really impressed with what the retail display students have achieved. The Running With Scissors concept is quite hard to put across in a static display because its really a creative / dynamic / changing business but I think the students have got it spot on. I didn't just want to display all the products we do at our workshops as they would look really disparate and random, it was more about getting the idea across and using materials and equipment which would be of interest to people who are interested in crafting. We had decided beforehand that the chest of drawers should be painted red and then I created 6 streamers (a line of pom-poms, tape measures, red ribbon, red pom-pom trimming, a washing line with 3 products from our workshops and a paper chain in red, white and black). When I met with the students I also gave them a little sketch but I said that they could have a free hand and chop up the streamers if they wanted, use some of the items only, or could request more things.... I think its important to give creative people a free rein as both they, and you, get the most out of a situation that way. So streamers got chopped up and wool 'rope' created and fabric samples added - all to everyones benefit.

Also you might have noticed in the window that Running With Scissors now has a QR code (one of those black and white grid box things that you can scan with your smart phone), when you scan it it take you straight to our website - how cool is that!

Felt Fanatics

Felt..felt...felt it's just so tactile I can't resist it. I have lots of felt items and I love crafting with it because it doesn't fray - just cut and use - it's my type of fabric. Making your own felt is also great fun people often get a bit confused but basically there are 3 ways to make felt:

1) get a wool jumper and wash it in the washing machine on a setting that's too hot (we've all shrunk a jumper this way in the past)

2) Needle Felting - this is dry felting using a specialist (very sharp) needle

3) Wet Felting (see more info below)

The wet felting technique is the technique our tutor Fran will be using for the felt bowl and coaster workshop on 13th August. You start with pieces of pure sheep wool. This is built up in layers and then essentially 'mashed' together to form a piece of felt. A combination of heat, friction and soap makes the tiny hooks in the wool fibres lock together with adjacent hooks so the wool becomes firmer and shrinks a bit. It's great fun (and a bit messy) to do and the end product is so unpredictable and beautiful. I've also recently come across a guy called Thomas Horst who makes exquisite designer felt dresses, in the article I read it said that he uses a Black and Decker sander, soap and garden hose! - how cool is that!