Posted on Leave a comment

Beginners knitting

Steph is running a socially distanced beginners knitting class on Weds 29th July, do come and join us. If you have been teaching yourself during lockdown and need a little bit of guidance then this is for you!  If you have always wanted to have a go, then this is for you too!!

If you are still shielding but wanting to learn, check out this youtube clip from the UK Hand Knitting Association and sign up to their channel for help and ideas.  Check it out here

There is only space for 4 upstairs, so please contact me to book your space.

See you soon!

Posted on 2 Comments

Workshops @ Mrs Macs

We have lots of workshops going on at Mrs McGregor’s.  Steph comes every Tuesday morning to run a variety of crafts classes, she can turn her hand to many different crafty pursuits.  We also have Thursday afternoon workshops on a theme, February was all about upcycling and March is all about flowers.

Take a look at the what’s on section for more details or pop to Crafting by Steph’s FB page and see what she’s up to. 

Posted on Leave a comment

Poppies!

Just at the moment, my life is full of poppies.  This Saturday, Steph Baker is coming to do her monthly crochet workshop and guess what? She is making poppies.  There are a few places left if you fancy coming along. The same afternoon and for most Saturdays in October, I will be outside the shop inviting passers by to make poppies from plastic bottles and give them an upcycle with a bit of paint.

I loved the poppy gates at the entrance to town which gave me the idea.  It took a bit of tracking down to find out that our Scout and Beaver groups had made them back in May for the Forces March that comes through town.   Our landlord Dean is happy for us to decorate the big gate that closes the precinct every night and we thought it would brighten up the place now the hanging baskets are all finished.

If you fancy making your own (with or without the kids), bring them to the shop and when there’s enough to make an impact, i will put them on the gate.

The last poppy related thing is that a beautiful bowl has been donated to raffle off to raise funds for the Royal British Legion. It’s currently in the shop window to view and tickets are available at £1.00 a strip so if you fancy donating or even winning, do pop in the shop and buy some tickets.  The draw will take place on Saturday 10th in the precinct.

Posted on Leave a comment

Workshops price fix!!

Workshops for January and February 2018 are all fixed at £12 each.  A good time to have a go at all those crafts you have been desperate to learn over the years and never got round to!  Check out the What’s on calendar or pop your desired craft in the search bar to find out what’s on next .

Looking forward to seeing you soon,

Sue

 

Posted on 3 Comments

New workshops online!

         

Well hi folks! I have spent today populating the What’s on Events calendar on the Mrs McGregor’s webpage here, and yes, Christmas workshops are on the agenda.  I am currently making too many typing mistakes so am giving it a rest for now, but i have gotten up to November and if you pop in the shop, the December dates are on the calendar.

I need to print out flyers, so that’s a job for another night I am afraid.  Enjoy your last hurrah’s with the children before sending them back to school this week!

Have a restful rest of your day.

Sue

Posted on 2 Comments

Confessions of a daisy hooker

Welcome to my first blog tutorial!

Instead of writing a Masters research proposal, i have spent the afternoon making and photographing daisy square crochet, which i have to say has been far more fun.  To combine with Granny square Mondays, i am producing my own patterns and leaflets to go in a crochet gift box (another story for another day beginning with ordering the wrong boxes….).

There are many daisy granny squares out on the interwebnet, not to mention the confusing USA v UK versions of stitches.  I am relatively new to crochet and can only do a few stitches, so can’t lay claim to copyright on any of this, however, this is me mashing a few of those patterns together making the most of a treble and half treble stitch!

Make a chain of 4 stitches, join with slip stitch to make a circle

Round 1: Chain 3 (this counts as your first treble stitch), then 11 more trebles into centre (12 stitches total) (Treble: Yarn over hook, down the hole, pull through, yarn over hook, through 2, yarn over hook through 2)  Finish with a slip stitch to join the round.

      

Round 2:  Change to new colour (white) chain 3 (counts as your first treble), then 2 more trebles into same space to form a cluster of 3.  Next comes the funky daisy part.

TAKE OUT your hook and insert into the top of the first treble (in this case your chain of 3 this very first time), then catch the loop at the top and pull through.  (This closes into a petal shape). Chain 2 and continue your next petal with 3 trebles, take out hook, insert into top stitch and pull through. Continue all the way round and finish with a slip stitch.  There should be 12 petals altogether.

Round 3: Change colour and chain 3 (this counts as your first treble), 2 more trebles into same chain space.  Chain 3 (this is your corner) then 3 more trebles into the same space.

Each time now you are working in sets of 3 with no chains between groups.  If you just continue with TREBLES you will have the photo underneath, can you see it’s going all curvy?

                                                                                                     

After your corner set of trebles, make a group of 3 HALF trebles in the next chain space (yarn over hook, down the hole, pull through, yarn over hook, pull through all 3 stitches). Then make another group of 3 half trebles into the next chain space.

You are now on the next corner, so 3 trebles into same chain space, chain 3, 3 trebles into same chain space.

Continue with 2 blocks of half trebles, next corner set of trebles, 2 blocks of half trebles until you join all the way round with a slip stitch.

        You can stop here with 1 round of background if you wish.  I have continued to do another round     

Round 4:

Chain 3 (this counts as a last stitch in a group of 3 – see photo on right hand side above).  Working in the next chain space, make a group of 3 trebles, chain 3, 3 trebles into same chain space (this is your first corner) then continue with 3 groups of 3 trebles into each chain space. Corner next: 3 trebles, chain 3, 3 trebles into same chain space, continue round with trebles in groups of 3 until end.  On the last group of trebles, you will only do 2 as you will catch up with the first chain of 3.

   If you only want to do trebles and not worry about taking your hook out, you will end up with the pink daisy square on the left of this pic.  Here i have just made groups of trebles with one chain between them.

So there you are!  Make as many squares as you like for a cushion, blanket, scarf and when i learn how to join them all together i will let you know and write another tutorial!!

Happy Sunday!

Sue

P.S. If you find any errors in instruction, do let me know so i can amend. Thanks 🙂

Posted on Leave a comment

Granny square Mondays

For each Monday in June, we will be running granny square workshops.  For many people, it’s been something they have always fancied doing and learning.  Once you get the hang of this, they really are quite addictive.  If you look on the interwebnet, there are hundreds and hundreds of these little square patterns available.  Depending upon your experience, you can dip in and out of these Monday workshops to make whichever you fancy. Once learned, you can keep on going round and round in a square to make a larger blanket and stop when you have had enough, or make lots of little squares and join them together to make a patchwork effect.  There are squillions of ideas on Pinterest to get you started.

At the moment, i am hooked on turning flowery circles into squares, but there are many to choose from.  We can go with whatever stage you are at: total beginner, joining different colours each row, making a daisy, sunflower, circles into squares, or a hearty inside.  If you have something you would like to copy or aspire to, then bring a picture along or e mail it to me first and i’ll see if i can match it.

All in all, enjoy the beginning of the week with a nice cuppa and some company making these fab little squares.

Posted on 1 Comment

Beginner’s Sewing

In this beginners sewing series you will learn how to sew with confidence!

Week 1 we will look at the functions of the sewing machine and find out what all those little buttons, knobs and levers do!  There should also be time to make a quick tote bag or drawstring bag to take home.

Week 2 we will make a patchwork square cushion cover

Week 3 Learn how to insert a zip and make little bags

week 4 Make a simple summer top or bucket storage (like the photo above)

The aim is to create confidence in your sewing through a patient and relaxed atmosphere that usually involves lots of coffee and cake.  Booking essential and timings are negotiable dependent upon when you can get here.

I look foward to seeing you soon!

Sue

Posted on Leave a comment

Upcycling

We had fun upcycling a man’s shirt into a tote bag this week, next class for this is Thursday 4th May (Star Wars Day if any of you are interested…) 

Simply sew up the button placket, cut across the shirt from armpit to armpit then down the sides. (save these for the handles)

Right sides together, stitch up the sides and across the bottom

Use the offcut side pieces to fold over and sew up for the handles

Attach handles where you feel comfortable!  If you need longer handles to go over your shoulder, then use the sleeves.

Posted on Leave a comment

Cardmaking

Among the many workshops here at Mrs McGregor’s is cardmaking.  Not so much in favour these days, as fabric and sewing have really taken off lately, but with the eye popping cost of most birthday cards it is well worth buying the stash to make your own.  You can buy a kit to make one, or an A4 design sheet for £1 that you can squeeze at least 2 cards from, or go mad and buy a whole paper/card stack along with double sided tape and a 50 pack of card blanks.

I run a papercraft class nearly every week, so if you fancy coming along to a workshop they are only a tenner each, or pop in and choose your own bits and bobs to get cracking and save yourself a fortune. (Plasters for papercuts can be provided)!