Giving retired raincoats a second chance – another upcycling project for discarded clothing
Welsh Terriers, Bo and Wallace get new coats Turning an old raincoat into a colourful dog coat is not only saving you money but it is an eco-friendly way to give a second life to fabric you might otherwise throw in the bin. Let's look more closely at the process...
Original furniture restoration using Corkwood tubular yarns
Original furniture restoration using Corkwood yarnsI’ve been thinking about how many unusual ways we can use the tubular tapes that come from our machines and in particular id been mulling the idea of knitted upholstery. Not having done this before I started with a...
Make a Fairlight Mermaid
I originally made the mini mermaids to showcase what could be done with the recycled tube yarns from our machines in Fairlight. The idea was inspired by a much loved memento that was acquired from a junk shop in the West Country many years ago and was looking a little...
Build your own Peg Loom
How to build a Peg Loom for weaving with basic household tools2020, being a somewhat unusual year has given us some extra time to think about what we are using and what we are throwing away. We have been making and selling peg looms for recycling for a number of years...
Our New Mini Mannequins
Our new Mini Mannequins are finally here, the smaller sister to our half size dressforms. We have been working with this for some time as we have been experimenting with their digital pattern blocks which we are providing with the mannequins along with some really...
How to finish cut raw knitted fabrics with knitted tapes.
We have made a short video below showing you how you can use Tape yarns to give a really great finish for raw cut knitted fabrics and felts. This is simple to do with any sewing machine and because the tape has a natural knitted stretch, this allows you to trim...
Inkscape Digital Sewing Patterns
Introduction to making digital sewing patterns with Inkscape We have been trying out free and open source software, Inkscape to create our own digital sewing patterns. This is the first two in a set of videos that will be showing you how to use Inkscape to develop...
Digital sewing patterns with PatternLab London
Digital sewing basic block patterns and slopers from PatternLab London It was PatternLab London that sparked my original interest in digital sewing patterns. I came across it a few years ago on the web in a random search and at that point it was still in testing mode....
Re-fashioning a man’s single breasted suit into ladies Leg-o-mutton jacket
Leg of mutton sleeve upcycle project This project was inspired by the leg-of –mutton garments that first made an appearance in the late 1820s. Through the decades and to this day, variants of this sleeve have made regular appearances in fashion. Interestingly, the...
Our Lilliput Machines
A few years ago I came across a Lilliput cord maker for the first time. Being a knitting machinery geek, it immediately became a must-have. Lilliput machines are beautifully engineered bits of equipment, most of which were built in the 1960s. With a minimum of fuss...