Dress in a Day photos

On Saturday we had our 'Dress in a day' workshop. As always I am seriously impressed with the dresses everyone makes at the workshop, they are always so different. The dress is such a flattering style, easy to make up and you get to take home the pattern which is made to your measurements! I was very inspired after the workshop that I decided to start making a linen top which has been on my 'to-do' pile for some time. Here are some of the dresses from the workshop modelled by their smiley creators!

Lisa's lovely check fabric which matched up on the side seams perfectly + some bias binding  + two patch pockets = fab dress

Joanne's 'Liquorice Allsorts' dress (very Sheffield!), a short and very sweet version!

Sara's black and white chic number, which I think is very Mary Quant! Sara bought 2m of the check fabric fabric in the John Lewis sale, before realising we need 2.5 metres to make the dress, so we added a strip of black fabric at the bottom of the dress to extend the length and made some black bias binding for the neckline in the same plain fabric.

Our next 'Dress in a Day' workshop is on Saturday 27th October!

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

Fab Patchwork Cushion Covers

Last Saturday was our Patchwork Cushion workshop with our fab tutor Janet Bottomley. For once, I had the opportunity to join the workshop and managed to whip up a coaster, as a sample, and the actual cushion cover. I'm very impressed with it - and now I can strip piece (which sounds a bit racy but isn't) and do some simple quilting. I went for some contrasting fabric which kind of co-ordinates with our bright blue sofa.

 

Here's a couple of other cushions made at the workshop, which would look fab on any sofa!, (including a skulls and owls combination) 

More patchwork workshops will be coming in the autumn where you can learn some simple projects which you can make as Christmas presents (or other gifts), sign up for our mailing list on our homepage www.rwssheffield.co.uk so you can find out when they are ready for booking.

'Dress in a Day' for Summer

After last weekend's 'Dress in a Day' workshop I was so impressed with what everyone had achieved in the day that I decided to make another dress for myself, using the same bias cut pattern. So this is a lovely Summer dress in printed linen (from Direct Fabric warehouse on London Road), I didn't have any bias binding to match so I did double hems on the neckline, hem and sleeves. I opted for cap sleeves and gathered them slightly to make them runch a little. As the dress pattern is designed to be quite loose fitting instead of putting darts in etc I just sewed some lengths of ribbon into the side seams and tied them at the back. I think it worked out really well and I've been wearing it for the last few days because its so cool and lose fitting in this warm weather.

At the workshop everyone created different dresses, some were plain fabric with contrast or coordinating bias binding, some were patterned, others altered necklines, added darts or sewed hems in contrast coloured thread, and everyone put in some sleeves which were long, short, flared or runched! It was a really busy day for me, our tutor Sharon and everyone at the workshop!

Next 'Dress in a Day' workshop on Saturday 4th August @ Meersbrook Park United Reformed Church!

Contemporary Craft Fair - this Saturday

Don't forget Running With Scissors will be at the One For Luck Craft Fair at the Workstation (next to the Shrowroon Cinema) on Saturday, its starts at 10.30am and its free to get in. Laura, our crochet tutor and Melissa our Bath and Beauty Products tutor also have stalls. Come down and support your local crafts people and treat yourself to something nice!
 http://www.facebook.com/events/226481104093744/

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!

The lost art of pom-pom making

This week I have been making lots of pom-poms for the Running With Scissors window display in the centre of town (more on this later). I am am completely shocked that when I ask children or young people I know, not only have they never made a pom-pom, they don't even know what one is!! We used to make them all the time at school, make Easter chicks from them, scarves, bobbles for hats, stick wobbly eyes on them .... hours of fun - I'm really shocked at the lack of pom-pom knowledge in the youth of today. Is it just because I'm a product of the 1970's or is it just that children don't get to do much craft at school? - there seems to be a whole generation which has skipped these craft skills (as well as cooking!) and this generation are now teaching the children of today, but don't have the skills to pass on. Since I found out about the lack of pom-pom knowledge I've been asking children if they do any sewing at school - and I'm really astounded at what I'm hearing. It seems that the government really does not see the value of creativity and it's slowly getting squeezed out of the curriculum. Running With Scissors is now on a mission to turn the tide. I feel a summer school coming on just to give children and young people the creative space and time they need to express themselves and to make something which is relevant for them. I'll update you on this later!

Back to the shop window - Running With Scissors has a shop window display in centre of town at the bottom of Cambridge Street (which runs down the side of Cole Bros) from 8th - 21st May. I have just been to drop off the items for the display and to meet the students who will create the window, 2 girls studying for their NVQ Level2 in Retail Merchandising. The shop is one of the shops painted green and is part of the 'Sheffield Showcase' project, run by Sheffield City council and the Source Training Centre at Meadowhall. I'm really excited to see what the students do with items I brought in (including a chain of pom-poms) and can't wait to see the finished window. I'm really chuffed that the students get the opportunity to get this sort of experience and support the project whole-heartily.

Rant over - more updates coming soon!!