Day out at Lord Sewing

I went to Oswaldtwistle Mill yesterday - saw advert for free demos at Lords Sewing Centre within the Mill a while back.

The first demo was the Fabric Master Heat Tool, cutting out fabrics, embroidered motifs etc - and also using it to melt hot fix crystals onto fabric, leather, wood amongst other things. It looks like a useful piece of equipment so I've ordered it direct from the makers today using Flair Magazine's special offer of a free gem upgrade to go with it. Click here to see a video For the things I want to try with this I need organza, Crystal Organza, is recommended. According to one of the ladies at the demo. the Sewing Centre at Scarborough have it, and possibly Boyes at Scarborough and Bridlington. They recommended No Show Mesh stabiliser for working motifs onto organza, so I bought a roll of that.

The second demo was Foundation Piecing - I didn't really know what this was, but as it is something to do with quilting, it seemed a shame to travel all that way and not attend. Very pleased I did - it's a great way to use up oddments of fabric, looks impressive and isn't difficult. I bought some Stitch and Wash stabiliser for this. It will go through the printer to produce the 'blocks' and come away when washed. It also tears away easily. I think stich and tear would do the same job - have a bit stock of this so need to experiment before buying any more Stitch and Wash. Made a start on some Christmas fabric pieced blocks - don't know what they will eventually become, will wait and see how many I get out of the available fabric.