Hello, my name is Anna and I'm an addict... (aka Craftaholics Anonymous)

Well, I will blog about last weekends thing later (there are still some pictures to be taken), but yesterday I actually went to a craft fair in Birmingham. This was a bit of a surprise event for me, as I actually didn't know about it before Sheila from the B&B told that she's going. So, I tagged along...

It was held by ICHF Events
@NEC Birmingham and with the same ticket you could enter all three parts:
1) Fashion, Embroidery, and Stitch
2) Sewing for Pleasure
3) Hobbycrafts

I had looked at the website before and the main things for me to see where a workshop by Bernina (Bernina in Finnish) & Madeira. There were actually three options for me, but I got my first choice, the stitch covered mini notebook, which was perfect timing-wise. The main idea was to try free motion embroidering with a machine, so that's why I had some choice. That started only at 11:45, so I had time to go an listen to Stuart Hillard's 10:30 talk on wardrobe customization, which was the other main event for me.

While I was waiting for the talk, I looked around a bit and just next to the talk podium, they had The Giant textile books. So, amazing! See the pictures below for two of the books and visit their website to see more pictures and past exhibitions.

So, then it was time for Stuart's talk. If you've never heard of him, shame on you. Well, not really, but he was a contestant in the first series of The Great British Sewing Bee. He gave really good tips on what you can do with just few simple things. I'm a lot better at doing something from scratch than customizing, so I was excited about this and he didn't let me down. And I even got a picture with him! And just look at his pants, I love the color!

Stuart demonstrating what you can do
with a t-shirt and a tie

Me and Stuart. I have the worst posture ever in
this one and it makes me look kind of fat...
well, at least Stuart looks good :)

I had a bit of time before my machine embroidery workshop, so again, I was just looking around. And I saw this guy making all kinds of cords with an interesting method. And of course I decided I need to learn it and I got the kit. There was a beginner's kit, but the one I got included the beginner's kit + more advanced stuff. I think I'll be ok with it :) The method is called lucet and you can find more about it at Ziggy's website.

So, then finally it was time for the workshop. It was taught by Pauline Verrinder from FibreFusion. And in one hour, she managed to help us learn free machine embroidery (no embroidery machine needed!) and we made a small note book as well. First it was a bit of practicing, I tried to do a flower (that looks better than I would've expected for my first try and then I tried writing my name, which was a less successful attempt. But I think my final product looks pretty good. You can see here the actual notebook (the cover keeps opening, so I needed to weigh it down with my camera case) and a zoom in to one (the better one) of the flowers.

After this workshop and lunch I went to see if I could get to an appliqué workshop in Sizzix stand. It was a workshop without reservations and the next one was starting in half an hour, so I decided to sit down and wait. I actually got very tempted to buy the cutting machine they advertised (which I guess was the point of it all), but I think with the amount of quilting and appliqué I'm doing at the moment, I can be without one... The workshop was held by Angela Southey, who also writes on the Sizzix blog. I got so much out of it and I think my needle case turned out ok (and I didn't have one!)

I also met a really cool person who I shared the machines and iron with. Jenny has her own company and she buys bags which she then embellishes and sells further. Take a look at her work on her website.

Needle case with a butterfly appliqué

After all of these workshops it was 14:30 already. But this was kind of perfect. The place didn't have a lot of places to sit down, so people started to get tired around this point. I had sit most of the time until then, so I was totally ok for walking. So I missed the worst rush. I had managed to buy a few things in between the workshops, but now I started to have a hard time controlling my shopping impulses. I think I used more money than I had planned, but everything I got was useful (well, I really shouldn't get more fabric...) and things I haven't really seen in Paris. Or I'm sure some of the stuff you can get there, but I would have to go look for it.

So, at this point my shopping included, in addition to the lucet stuff: a meter of tweed remnant (£5) and some general stuff for sewing like glue pens, rotary blade sharpener, some cable needles for knitting, and a scissors case. I still needed an embroidery hoop for machine embroidery, which wasn't too hard to find.

Linton tweed: 100 cm x 140 cm / £5

I also saw some good deals on patterns, but luckily most of the ones I was interested in didn't have my size anymore, so I ended up getting only two. The underwear one is mostly for the corset as I think I can make a petticoat without an actual pattern. And I was very happy to find one of the retro patterns I've been drooling on in sale.

I also found some plain red cotton fabric, which is perfect for my vintage dress, that I'm still planning on to do. I have some linen in the same color, but I've been a bit worried that it might be a tad thick with the polyester.

And then I saw this really cute tractor fabric at Doughty's and I really need to sew a shirt for my nephew. He just loves tractors: my mom got him a t-shirt with a tractor on it for Christmas and he only took it off when my sister told him that if he doesn't give it to her to wash now, he won't have it for the whole next week... So, just to have a dressier shirt, right? And when I was in line to buy that I saw the girls in front of me getting the cool camera fabric below and I just had to be a copycat and get some. The color isn't really my color, but at least there are some yellow cameras... And maybe I can combine it with something... :)









After I got some food, I had a bit more energy left and I saw the cutest cat fabric ever! It was in thre Little Laura's Haberdashery and they had the same one in white as well and while I was pondering out loud to the lady next to me that I would get it as a contrast, she pointed out to me that there was actually even a better contrast fabric on the shelf. The black one with paw prints on it. How perfect is that. I'm thinking of Alma & Chardon (with a contrast edge), or maybe something like Ava or Macaron...

And then something draw me back to the tweed and Linton. Maybe the fact that I got into my head an idea of a tweed jacket and my 1 m piece wasn't big enough for that (for the 1 m piece I'm actually planning Thurlow). So, I went back and looked at the 2 m pieces that were meant for jackets. And I saw it right away. It was actually one of the most expensive ones at £60. I really loved it, though, and while I was wondering if I should get it the lady asks me if I'm a student. I said I was, although an astrophysics student, and she told me that the student price was £45. She kind of sounded like I should've actually been a dressmaker student or something, but I guess she felt sorry for me: I'm sure she saw how much I liked it... And the best thing: this was actually a fabric ordered by Chanel, but when the fabric is older than 3 years they can start selling it as a fabric as well. So, I need to make a Chanel jacket, right? And what is a better pattern than V8804? So, I think I need to go pattern shopping...

Vogue 8804

Bit of a break...

So, I had quite a hectic period in my life, so no sewing or blog updating. I was in a conference, where I had a poster, I had to find an apartment, travel back to Finland (for a friend's wedding + work) and then I had to move. So, that pretty much ate up my October. First week of November I still had apartment stuff to deal with and then last week I had my well deserved holiday in Qatar, visiting my cousin who lives there.

Qatar was amazing, and the fabric prices! I could've bought so much... But, during my move I realized how big my stash really is, so I was very strict with myself and only bought 2 meters of this silk (~20 €, can you believe it?). This kind of silk costs like 30 €/m in France...

And then my cousin also showed this crafts store to me, and well, I spent a few euros there as well...

But, I think I was controlling my impulse to buy very well :)

It's back to sewing for me, I have so many plans, but I decided to stay out of sew-alongs and stuff as keep it stress-free. Well sort of, there are a few things I'd love to see finished...

Fabric for Fashion - The Swatch Book

So, since I haven't been sewing, really, but apartment hunting and guarantor hunting and stressing about it in general, I thought I'd tell you about a book related to sewing I got myself lately. I'm really trying to cut down on actual physical books that I have, and this is not exactly the smallest, but this is something you can't get for kindle.

I've been wanting to get this book, since I first read about it in Tilly's blog (you can also find more pictures there, I'm lazy...). Now I decided I needed to get it. I'm having trouble of understanding all the different fabrics, especially in English (and in French!). And when you're ordering online, you don't really have a chance to feel how the fabric is. And it's not exactly something I'm great in Finnish either. So, I thought this book was just what I needed. And it's amazing! It doesn't go in very deep on the fabrics, just gives you the main idea of what and how the fabrics are made, but it provides swatches!

So, they introduce the main fabric types and the swatches are not dyed, so they're mainly white/grey so that you won't be distracted of the color of the fabric. This really gave me some understanding of the different common fabric types around. And leaves out a lot of guesswork. Also, the book is about 70 pages, so it's not a huge read. The book is more introductory, but I think a huge book with a lot of information wouldn't work with swatches. It already is quite thick and the nature of the information is such that I need to go back to this book over and over again before I've actually learned to recognize the fabrics without the book. But I can recommend this to anyone with the same problem: it really makes a difference to feel the fabrics.

My Colors

I so wanted to take part in Me Made May 2013. But, alas, I don't really have enough me mades to last for a month. This is my goal for next year. To actually sew so much, that I could pledge myself to wear at least 2-3 times a week me mades. But, I loved getting inspiration from others and enjoyed the posts of other bloggers. Inspired by Gillian, who included a color palette for her MMM'13 challenge, I wanted to create my own color palette. Not really to challenge myself, but to think more about the colors I use and what kind of fabrics I buy. I came up with the following:

The idea is that the smaller rectangles are sort of accent colors, so that I have more neutral tones to choose from. This isn't really that strict and I'm not going to go and throw away clothes that don't fit to the palette. But I've noticed that these are the colors I wear most often. And if I look at the things I'm sewing, the Réglisse has pink and brown in it, the Sassy Librarian Blouse will be from orange and yellow and the swimsuit from turquoise and red. So, not bad...

#sewingdares

So, what's happening on twitter...? You can get your very own sewing dare! Basically the idea is that someone else challenges you to sew something you haven't done or are a bit afraid to try. Or think you dislike, but kind of need. It's all about fun and not stress and after reading about this from Gillian's blog, I decided I wanted one. I mean in addition to all the challenges I'm doing and being late with...

So, when I asked for a challenge, Clare from Sew Dixie Lou suggested I make a circle skirt for dancing. And Gillian suggested I sew one of my Sewaholic patterns. So, I decided I'd take them both up for a challenge. I have already bought a fabric that I thought I'd use for the Cambie dress and I have an idea about Thurlow trousers as well, I actually have some fabric that could be used for the shorts version. So, we'll see which one I tackle first. I also have knit fabric I thought I'd use for a Renfrew top.

My knit from Spoonflower

The Cambie dress fabric deserves a few words. I actually "designed" some of my own fabric with Spoonflower. I didn't really read all the instructions and just uploaded the picture and considering that, it turned out pretty amazing. I'm not sure about the fabric quality, I did order a knit fabric at the same time and it seems a bit more high quality than the cotton sateen. Basically I uploaded this Hubble image of the Orion Bar and made it a fabric:

Star Factory at the Center of the Orion Nebula
Credit: NASA, C.R. O'Dell and S.K. Wong (Rice University)

And why is this picture so special? Because this is what I study: The Orion Bar, the bar-like structure which you can see on the bottom left in the picture. Or that and the area towards the stars that can be seen in the middle of the picture. The awesome thing would be to make the dress for my thesis defense, but that will be like in 2 years. So, I think I will make this sooner. It can always be my presentation dress. The black looks a bit greyish, it's not so bad in this, but the black I ordered is worse, because the whole fabric is the same color. But I wanted the matching fabric since I thought I would only make the skirt part of this picture fabric. So, I hope I will get to this soon. I'm pretty excited to make something of this farbic! I also love the equation knit. I need to buy some color coordinating knit, though, for the hem and the cuffs. Well, there are a few choices in that fabric.

For the circle skirt I thought I would use a fabric that I just picked up from the post office yesterday:

Isn't it lovely? I think it'll make a perfect circle skirt for dancing. I kind of was thinking about dancing when buying this fabric, since Aristocats and swing sort of go together (just see Everybody Wants to be a Cat). So, I have a plan for the circle skirt as well.

Other fabrics I got with the Aristocats one was a Hello Kitty kimono crepe, which seems very slippery, but so wonderful and a dinosaur flannel, that I'm planning to use for some pyjama bottoms for the pyjama party this month. 

I mean, who doesn't love dinosaurs? Especially in pyjamas? Well, also in anything else, like in this dress by the Cation designs.

But why I'm not sewing and just planning, you ask? Well, I've been really busy with some actual life (we had Paris Lindy Exchange last weekend) and also with work. And I twisted my ankle, which kind of makes everything a bit hard. I did finish cutting all the pieces for my Réglisse today, but managed to growl in pain couple of times, since cutting fabric on the floor isn't the most ankle friendly position. And now, I don't have a sewing table or a sewing room. I have a studio and I'm lucky to have a table for the sewing machine. But, now it's cut and hopefully I will finally finish it soon. For the Great Gatsby dress, I think that will go on to the back burner for awhile. I actually could use some pyjama pants, so I will try to finish them on time for the pyjama party and I also have the SwimAlong, which I'd love to finish this month. But there will be a flapper dress. Hopefully by the end of the summer :)

The Great Gatsby Winner!

So we have a winner! I actually did the lottery last night just after midnight, but was too tired to write the post... But here it is and the winner is....

gjeometry.com!!!

Thanks for all participating in this. I know I don't have that many followers (well, I'm not exactly the most constant updater...), so I'm glad this reached people who were interested. I have sent an e-mail to the winner, and I'm looking forward to seeing your Gatsby dress :)

The Sassy Librarian

So, since I'm still waiting for my lining fabric and the swimsuit fabric is currently held by Fedex (they have tried to deliver it, but since I couldn't get to the phone, they leave messages that even my French friends don't understand... they should deliver the package tomorrow), I decided to start yet another project...

Well, it started from the fact that last weekend there was a lot of Craftsy courses on sale. And I sort of splurged (been doing that a lot recently...). So, what did I get? The first one I decided to buy was Sewing with Silks with Linda Lee, since the last twitter #FabricChat was about silk and got me excited, but I know nothing about sewing silk, except that it's hard. And with that there was an offer for Pattern Drafting from Ready to Wear with  Steffani Lincecum. So, I guess I was exactly their target group. And well, since I'm on the Pants Club, I got the Pant Fitting Techniques with Sandra Betzina and also with Sandra, the Pants Construction Techniques. And finally, the one I've been craving for (mostly because the pattern is exclusive for the course:

The Sassy Librarian Blouse with Christine Hayes

Well, I was very excited about the Sassy Librarian Blouse and actually started watching right away. It was less about fitting and things I need to learn about and just basically instructions on how to construct the blouse and it's different variations. Now, I've taken sewing in school, but mostly we just got instructions verbally, although it was sometimes hard: my teacher had her favorites and I wasn't really one of them (I don't think she hated me or anything, she just thought I was odd - which might be true). So my projects sometimes worked and sometimes not. It didn't make me very excited about sewing clothes, I always had problems with the fit. In junior high, I had a better teacher, but the class was really big, so you always had to wait, but my project turned out a lot better.

So, the point (yes, I have one!) is that because there's just the teacher and the camera, you see really well what's she's doing and everything is explained very clearly. To my surprise I had learned something in school and lot of the hints were things I've been doing (yey!). But I did learn new things. And I've been lately addicted to pleats, and this has them in view 2! And OMG! How cute are the fabrics Christine is using! I need to get like all of them! Well, maybe not grey, I'm not a big fan of grey (and it looks quite horrible on me).

So, there's two views you can choose from. The view 1 has sleeves, a collar and straight front, and the view 2 has pleats, a bow, and it's sleeveless. Well, you can combine the elements any way you want. Here are some amazing examples of finished blouses (find a link to the original under the picture):

Clare Szabo

Alix B

scuffsan

jmacal9425

And there are many more...

My plan is to make a sleeveless blouse with pleats and a collar. Although I will use a peter pan collar and since I've never drafted anything and will only get an uneven result, I got a pattern for the Rosemary Collar by Christine Hayes. I will use my other set of old Marimekko curtains:

Muija by Maija Isola 1968, Marimekko

Green Muija

These are popular prints from the 70s, like Kaivo that I used in my Miette Skirt. These are Finnish design classics and remind me very much of my childhood. Muija is only available in black and white at the moment (although I did still see colors somewhere, but not on the official Marimekko site), but when I bought this there was also a lovely green version available (see the picture on the right). After thinking long and hard I chose the orange in the end. I also have some plain yellow fabric that I'm using for the bias binding and collar. We'll see how it looks like when it's done. I'm quite proud that I'm not buying any fabric for this. Only thing I needed to get was buttons. If I don't screw this up, I think I'll be using this top a lot.

I think the course is good for a home sewer, even if you're not very experienced. It assumes you know some basics, but things like buttonholes are explained, so you don't need a whole lot of experience. I also loved the idea of not knotting your thread, but securing it while sewing. I like the approach that even though you want to be accurate and get a finished look, if you screw something up, but it doesn't show, don't worry about it too much. And also that you don't have to have special tools for everything. I've also enrolled in some classes that uses couture techniques and I'm sure it's easier to get that look with proper tools, I just can't get everything. Things cost money, and I don't even have a good place to cut at the moment (I used to do it on the floor, well still do, but I have a tile floor, so it's a bit inconvenient), but I still manage to get things done. Ideally I would have a sewing room, but I don't see that a likely development in the near future. At the moment I live in a studio. Well, my mom managed to sew in the corner of the bedroom... well, I guess I'm doing that too. But most of the tools introduced in the course I already have!

In addition to this class, I've started few other classes at Craftsy and I have to say, I really like the format. You can look at the videos on your own time, you can make notes to them, when there's something in the middle of the video you want to get back to and you can ask questions and the teacher and other students are there to answer you. I also learn a lot from the questions of others. And then you can see finished projects other people have made, which inspires me a lot. If you haven't heard of Craftsy or never tried it, I really recommend to try one of their free courses like the Mastering Zipper Techniques (haven't taken it yet, but heard good things about it here). Well, I'm hooked anyway. Now I just have to finish them. And no, I wasn't in any way sponsored by Craftsy.

Hopefully there's some finished garments soon. And hopefully the weather gets better here, since I'm sewing all these summery things... Well, this one should work, since I already got the buttons and I have the fabric and the pattern was a pdf. Then again, I have a lot of work to do and my parents are coming to visit: they'll be here tomorrow. We'll see. I will also keep the blog updated about the other Craftsy courses I'm taking.

Pinterest inspirational, challenge update, and inventory

Today I stumbled into this blog. I loved the style and I also found Ami's pinterest boards. Now, I've been using pinterest for awhile and I use it for all kinds of stuff, also for inspiration, but I found something in her boards I hadn't thought about. She would comment on which pattern it could be made out of. It hadn't occurred to me, mostly because I haven't been so familiar with a lot of patterns, but I'm starting to be. So when Ami suggested, that this one could be Laurel made from lace, I totally saw it!

Laurel from lace or Agata Swing Dress $420

I wasn't originally very excited about Laurel, but after seeing what people have done with it, I'm starting to see the potential there.

Then there was another pin for a trench coat, which made me think of the Robson pattern.

Robson or Topliner two-tone trenchcoat by Kate Spade $575, $202 on sale

Now, I'm not a black and white person (although I would so have shoes to go with this coat...). And I have a white trench coat, which is a pain because it gets dirty so easily, but I like the idea of the contrasting edges. I might use this at some point.

Yes, still need to wait a bit for my finished challenge garments: I still don't have the lining fabrics! And I got an update on my order that the lining for Réglisse will be late... So, I might not finish in time... Hopefully I get it for next week.

While I've been waiting for my fabrics and things I've done some inventory on my stash and realized I have more fabric, than I thought... and things to refashion and/or repair. Out of my 4 boxes (one contains mostly patterns) I need to get rid of 3. I decided I need to get rid of at least one box this year. And if I don't make anything myself, I can always offer them as giveaways... But there's no point in hoarding it if I'm not making anything. Hopefully there will be an actual sewing update soon...

It can be Christmas every day!

Well, especially if you're me and forget about what you ordered. So, the Couture Vintage by Tonje Thoresen (in French!) was a nice surprise.

In my letterbox today

Photo by rankkaapina • Instagram

And they all look so wonderful! The Couture Sewing Techniques by Claire B. Shaeffer is a technique book, no patterns there, I've just been drooling for it for a long time. I bought it together with Gertie's New Book for Better Sewing (Check out Gertie's blog also) which actually mentions my old sewing book that I got from my mother (it's from the 80s, but awesome) and you can actually still find it in English (Reader's Digest Complet Guide to Sewing).  The one thing I love about the Finnish version is that the name is "The Great Sewing Book - Sew and Save". Yes, saving has been a big thing in Finnish sewing at least in the 80s. Well, I know my sister also makes a lot of clothes for her girls and saves up a lot.

The best sewing book ever, and better yet: in Finnish!

The Couture Vintage book looks amazing! It's exactly what I want: not sewing technique, just the patterns and the instructions. With craft books I really like when they keep these things separate. I mean I have the Colette Patterns book and Gertie's book which both have technique and patterns, but I have good technique books, so I'd rather just have the patterns and specific pattern information on those books. Well, of course, they are more beginner friendly. But back to my French book, you can see a review and the pictures of all the clothes here (in French, but you can always look at the pictures if you don't know French). I would like to make at least these:

I mean how perfect are these!? Well, it does help, that the model is awfully pretty, but that's the beauty about sewing: you can actually make these fit you, and if they fit, they'll look great.

And something about this book and also the Réglisse pattern that I got today (I'll be off to make a muslin after I write this): the patterns are on a thick paper, so they will be easier to preserve! I think this might be a European thing (I might be wrong), because before Colette patterns I had never seen the thin pattern paper. Of course I will transfer these to such paper, but the originals will be intact! The book uses the same technique as many pattern magazines: you have a bunch of patterns on top of each other to save space. This just makes me so happy! And the Deer and Doe patterns have the instruction booklet both in French and in English (so there's really no excuse not to order these patterns). But if you like vintage style, I really recommend the Couture Vintage book. It's only in French (I think, I didn't really search for it), but I think the pictures are pretty clear and you can always look up techniques on a book in your language. Plus you might learn a bit of French :) And the clothes just look SO pretty!

Great British Sewing Bee (SPOILER ALERT)

I wanted to post about this earlier, but I was behind with some other posts, so this had to wait. Many people have already talked about this, but I just have to add my own: Finally a reality tv series I LOVE! Of course it's the Great British Sewing bee, which have been renewed for second series (yey!). Now, if you haven't watched it, go and watch the first episode now: Great British Sewing Bee - Episode 1. I was totally hooked after 2 seconds... If you don't want to be spoiled, I suggest you watch all the episodes - there's only 4 of them.

The contestants, presenter, and judges

I first heard about this, since Tilly of Tilly and the Buttons announced that she will be a contestant. This was enough for me to check it out. I really like her style: both the blog and her clothes. And it didn't take me a long time to get hooked. Now, it's not your every day reality show. It totally didn't have any drama between the contestants, everyone seemed to think everyone else was awesome. Maybe because they seemed like people who love to sew and were there for that and not because they wanted to be on tv. Maybe there are people who think this is boring, but I just totally loved it.

The judges really knew their sewing: May Martin is a trained teacher of needlework and home economics and has been teaching sewing for 40 years. Patrick Grant has no formal training in tailoring, but bought the Savile Row tailors Norton and Sons in 2005 and since then has been surrounded with some of the best hand sewers in the world. I also liked the presenter, Claudia Winkleman, who has her own radio program and has been hosting Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two for 7 years. She had the ungrateful task to harass the contestants while they were working...

From the left: May Martin, Claudia Winkleman, and Patrick Grant 

The contestants were varied in experience and personalities as it tends to be with reality shows, but I think they really came together because of their love of sewing. And here they are:

Ann Rowley, 81, widowed housewife, mother of 5, grandmother of 7
Has sewn all her life since she was 6-years-old and besides sewing enjoys yoga, cooking, knitting, and gardening
Sewing style: elegant, timeless, and chic

Jane Lake, 57, retired school photographer
Has sewn since secondary school and also enjoys knitting, netball, and classic cars.
Sewing style: retro-inspired, love of vintage fabrics, often flamboyant

Lauren Guthrie, 27, renovation project manager (opened her own haberdashery after the show aired)
Has sewn since she was 6, is a trained physiotherapist, and enjoys running, cooking, growing vegetables, and knitting with her knitting group.
Sewing style: feminine and quaint

Mark Sanders, 41, HGV mechanic
Mark's mom taught him to sew, but he really started sewing when he started to attend steampunk events with his wife (and you can check on Tilly's blog, those costumes are amazing!). He had only ever sewed 2 zippers before the show (the historical costumes are from an era before zippers).
Sewing style: historical costumes, pirate outfits, and the use of heavy duty fabrics

Michelle Osbourne Matthiasson, 35, manager at Centrepoint charity
Michelle learned sewing from her grandmother and now in case of confusion she refers to YouTube. She loves to go fabric shopping with her mom and to create fitting, unique clothes.
Sewing style: classic, tailored, and fitted

Sandra Lavender, 48, cleaner
Both Sandra's mom and grandmother used to sew and she has lot of inherited vintage patterns (she's sooo lucky!). She has 3 girls and she has always sewn clothes for them as well as things like curtains for the home.
Sewing style: flouncy, frilly style, and love for flowery fabrics

Stuart Hillard, 41, sales manager
When Stuart moved into his first home, it inspired him to start sewing. He has since then sewed a lot of things for the home and has 'run out of beds to make quilts for' (he could totally do one for me!). Stuart had the least experience with garments, but he's a fast learner and has a sense of fun in his sewing.
Sewing style: quilt-maker, home furnishings

Tilly Walnes, 32, film festival project manager
Tilly started sewing 2 years ago and 'it was love at first stitch'. She writes a blog about her sewing projects and has quite a following (I read her blog regularly). She also meets like-minded crafters in a local pub.
Sewing style: film noir -inspired, 1960s chic

I wish we could've kept everyone for the whole series, which anyway was way too short. I did have a favorite from the beginning: Ann. I just thought she was awesome, and how many reality shows could boast a winner like her? But even this didn't worry me too much: I didn't hate anyone and wouldn't have been disappointed with anyone as the winner. Sandra held a second place for me and of course I was rooting for Tilly, as I've been reading her blog for about a year now. But I really love that there is a show that shows how awesome older women can be, since in tv it sometimes seems that when women hit 35 they pretty much disappear. And this is a part of what I love about this show: it celebrates a traditionally female skill, which has been undervalued for so long. When Ann actually won the title (and Sandra was in the finale!) she said to Patrick:

You know, it's a real boost that for all these years I've been doing something right.

And I love that she's getting the recognition, but I also think it's a bit sad that she hasn't gotten it before. But in any case I love the way she was just ecstatic about winning:

This is absolutely brilliant!

Oh yes, it was :) I so have a new role model (well, in addition to my own grandmother).

Check out Tilly's experiences of the Sewing bee on her blog. She has also interviews and guest posts from the other Sewing Bee members.
Also check out Lauren's post of the opening day of her new haberdashery. Pretty much everyone was there!