Sip Tea and EPP Party 2020

Welcome to our second season of Sip Tea and EPP Party! Lauren from Molly and Mama and I are very excited to finally start this season of slow stitching to warm your heart. This year we are a bit more organised and prepared as you can see. We have a list of themes ready for the next twelve months so you can get ready too and prepare all your supplies, projects and questions you might have.

Cute Button Cards

Over the last few weeks I have been working on writing patterns and it all was going well until I started taking photos of the process. I realised that my constantly interrupted time and especially the poor lighting need some changes so I can produce photos of high quality for the patterns. I am looking for a good light box and cannot wait to continue working on some new patterns that I hope you would enjoy.

Tutorial: Scrappy Happy Trivet

Do you have some pretty fabric scraps that you cannot part with, but don't know what to use them for? Then this quick tutorial might be exactly what you need. Easy step-by-step instructions will help you create a sweet and useful trivet featuring all your precious scraps and make you smile every time you use it. Let's not waste any time and get sewing!

Grandma's Love

My Grandma has a special place in my heart and her love still warms my heart every day. It's the small things like freshly backed sugar rolls, late night tea, a bunch of flowers, a dinner I am cooking that bring memories of her. Our pretend games we used to play together, our trips to the lake and the river near our summer holiday house, our laughs and our tears - it's all a part of who I am now. My brother and I used to spend almost every summer with our grandparents. Each spring our parents would pack us up ready for the summer adventures away from home and send us on a plane trip to a different city for the next three exciting months. It was always fun, and I have to say that we hardly missed our parents, but if our parents managed to take some time off work and come spend some summer days with us all, it always felt extra special.

Sip Tea and EPP: Being Productive

This week we are talking about being productive, and it can have different meanings to all of us. Some can sew an entire quilt in a week and call this being productive, while for others just a tiny simple make can feel like a great achievement as well. It all depends on our own personal situations, skills and needs. We should not compare our own abilities and the size and the number of creations that other can do, but rather be driven by what feels right for each of us personally. I am going to speak from my own experience as a maker of small things because this is what is important to me and this is what makes me feel good. I sew because I love it and I sew because it makes me feel great, I also love sharing what I learn along the way. Some days I can sew for a few hours, some just for a few minutes and there are days when I feel totally unproductive and stuck, and not able to sew anything at all for various reasons. I worked out that I have to MAKE TIME for just a few tiny stitches a day to help me feel better and get me back on track with sewing.

Sip Tea and EPP: Thread Conditioning

This week at out Sip Tea and EPP Party we are talking about thread conditioning. Before I go any further and share my experience, I would like to say that it is very important to do your own search, try things out and decide what works for you personally. We all use different techniques, threads, needles, fabrics, so it is extremely important not to simply follow others, but rather find what works best for you.

Sashiko Coasters

Last month I visited the Sydney Craft and Quilt fair for the first time ever and I truly enjoyed this experience. There were plenty of amazing quilts to admire and get inspired by, wonderful stands to browse and shop at and lovely people to talk to and ask for an advice.

As I was leaving the fair, I came across a stand Indigo Niche that was selling Sashiko supplies. I have always loved this Japanese embroidery technique and even gave it once a go that failed miserably as I was not prepared to follow any instructions or even read the basics of Sashiko at that time. A panel of six designs caught my eye, and I gently pushed closer to the stall so I could see what else was there. Women were buzzing around picking fabrics, printed panels, needles, threads...talking about beautiful items hanging on the wall. Even though I have been sewing and embroidering for a long time now, I felt completely lost and had no idea where to start, but I really wanted to give Sashiko another proper go.