Category: Sam

Hop. Skip. Bump.

~ velosews ~ 10 Comments

Hop:
Sewing, crotchet, knitting and embroidery extraordinaire Sam of Stitched up by Samantha is amazing to follow. 


She does a lot of crafting and isn’t afraid to try her hand at a new project.
Sam has been blogging since 2012 and we had a ball at the Minerva Meet up earlier this year. So I agreed to be the next ‘blog hop’. 

Skip:
Why do I write?
Mmm. Ok. Here it is then.
In my early school years, I was always sent to ‘special English’ classes. So I essentially write to practice these skills.

source

Recently I was told the real reason why I got sent to ‘special English’ classes…

The bottom line is I love writing and I found out that there are others in my family who are ‘writers’ and where my parents come from, their culture encourages you to write poems and stories. So it’s all worked out for the best.


What am I working on?

  • My Minerva make each month. I get to make something each month courtesy of Minerva Crafts. While all the Minerva bloggers are in the Northern hemisphere and I’m not, it’s amazing to see how we sometimes use the same fabrics but to suit our own style.
  • Activewear because Spring has arrived and my gym gear is more worn out than I am at 6am in the morning. And I really need to take off this ‘winter’ weight. I’ve entered a fun run in November as my goal.
  • Plans to make some clothes with elements from costumes in Game of Thrones and my latest fav, Outlander. Not costumes, but ideas from clothes worn by characters in these books.
  • Two ‘gradual’ projects are making a bra (cough, cough) and helping a friend get a jacket pattern to fit her, so she can make it again and again.

Kwik Sew 3790 an office TNT staple

How does your blog differ from other sewing blogs?
Well to be honest, my blog is no different from other sewing blogs. 
1. I plan projects. Or I change my mind and get involved in the latest sewing challenge.
2. I test patterns. Or I just get stuck into a pattern and make it up.
3. I make adjustments to a pattern. Or I just move on and make the next 2 or 3 versions.
4. I take photos as I sew and post them. 

Grainline martime shorts #3

How does your writing process work?
I write when I have a project idea. 
Then I keep writing about the project as I contemplate the challenging steps that confound me along the way.
I’ll have at least 4 draft projects running at the same time both on my blog and on my PR account. They’re my online notebooks. 
When I get stuck on one project, I move the another project to give my head ‘breathing space’. The solution pops up when I’ve moved onto another project.

Trifecta Tee worn with test skinny jeans Vogue 2104

Bump:
Sadly, I haven’t been able to hand the blog hop baton to anyone because it’s been so successful that the bloggers I’ve approached are already a different blog hop thread.

Minerva meetup or UK roadtrip

~ velosews ~ 22 Comments
Being invited to be a Minerva Crafts blogger last year was a real highlight for this little Aussie sewer. Then when Vicki let me know about the plans for last Saturday’s meetup months ago, Mr V did the travel planning so we could be at Minerva. Mwah to Mr V. He loves all things travel.


So the journey to the meetup began a bit earlier.
‘What would the day be like?’ ‘What is this placed called Dawen?’
Mr V had us triapse through Dublin and Belfast (Westeros), before we flew to sunny and hot Manchester. 

We grabbed our car and made a quick visit to Manchester before meeting up with Sam and Winnie at Darwen for dinner. Karen Ball joined us and together we had a lovely and not so quiet dinner. You would have read Karen, Sam and Winnie’s reviews about this. It wasn’t the soccer on the tv that made it a rowdy meal;)

Thanks Winnie, Sam and Karen for meeting us on Friday night. 


Saturday at Minerva Crafts was an awesome day. Totally awesome. Here’s a link to the latest photos 


Minerva is a family owned and run business. Their love of crafts is infectious. The staff were on the ball all day and they have a wealth of craft knowledge.
There were a number of demos that I missed because there was so much to see and do.


Sam and I enabled each other assessing fabrics and ‘what could be’ our potential projects :)) 


Thanks Sam and Jordan. Jordan, a keen Minerva staff member, found a roll of fabric that we’d seen earlier but couldn’t find at the counter when we were ready to make our purchases. Thanks Jordan.

All the Minerva staff did a fantastic job on the day, that includes Jess.

Doesn’t Vicki’s dress look amazing?

The Minerva Craft group ran the refreshments and lucky draw. They meet at Minerva 3 times a week to craft and they’re a caring group. I petered out at noon so I was promptly given a seat to perch on with a cuppa in my hand and a sandwich. I really needed that!


There were workshops during the day which I didn’t do so the fabrics, crafts and chatting to everyone ‘knocked me for a sixer’. But it was all good.


Karen Ball gave her very first talk about her sewing journey and she was funny, engaging and everyone connected through their own sewing misshaps. Sometimes I don’t prewash fabrics and I’ve used my fabric scissors for paper. Doh.


The By Hand London girls spoke about how their business has developed and what their current challenges are. They have a strong creative vision that will soon become a strong brand in the near future. And they enjoy life too:)


Thank you to the ladies who said ‘hi’. I’m really pleased you did  and that you enjoy the sewing adventures I get up to:) 


The Minerva bloggers (aka Spoolettes) are so creative and true to their individual styles. Sharing their adventures and knowledge is very inspiring and also lots of fun to be a part of. They have lots of stamina and can really move on the dance floor. 
Everyone’s formal dresses made with Minerva fabrc, were great.


Vicki’s plans for the day went off splendidly. Bravo. Vicki made this an enjoyable day for everyone. The Minerva Craft group said how supportive Minerva Crafts is to encourage their crafting endeavours.


Vicki, I hope you can recover from such a great event and maybe we can look forward to next year’s meetup. I’m saving my pennies up now as I know that ‘all roads lead to Minerva Crafts’.