I think we can all relate to this

Pop Up Pin Cushion Class at the evening Bee Tues 23rd Sept

We love coming up with fun new quick projects for our series of Pop Up Classes, and it seems you love them too as they always sell out in a flash. Lots of our lovely PlainStitchers who work full time have been patiently asking for a while for more evening Pop Up Classes. We'd love to oblige but this autumn our class schedule is choc a bloc so we have decided to offer our most popular pop ups at the evening Bee's .

We'll be kicking off this week with Pin Cushions - we'll be showing you a quick and failsafe method to make super cute mini pin cushions in no time at all, even if you have no patchwork experience. You'll love them - perfect pressies for on the Christmas tree - in fact they'd make perfect sewing themed Christmas tree decorations too!

If you'd like to take part, bring your sewing machine and a selection of scraps and we'll supply the rest...drop us an e mail to let us know you'd like to join in deb@plainstitch.co.uk  and we'll see you on Tuesday evening.

If you want to get on with your own projects the rest of the Bee will be running as usual - so bring your project and enjoy a nice cup of tea and a chat while you sew with Hels.

We'll be offering our sell out Infinity Scarf Class at the November Bee...more details to come

Simple Sampler Reunion 7th Oct at The Bee

My favourite, favourite class to teach at PlainStitch is Simple Sampler. Each term I get to encourage and initiate a whole new graduate entry of patchworkers into our wonderful world of fabric and texture.  Every term I feel very lucky to have such a wonderful job!

Simple Sampler is a little bit special and magical. Every term curiously, but with slight trepidation, a new class begins. I LOVE to talk about quilt making, I love to impress on my new students just what deep roots this craft has. In a throwaway world where we're supposed to consume our lives in smaller and smaller more distracted, bite sized chunks delivered by screens in front of us every second of the day, I love to reveal another world. A world where sitting, and sewing, is actually soul food. Where slow sewing is enjoyed, revelled in, such a treat. Where after half an hour of stolen sewing time you feel fuller, more alive, rather than a little bit dazed and drained after 30mins online.

Even craft can feel a bit fast forward these days. Kits stuck on the front of magazines to make in 5 mins flat, new this and new that, make a quilt in a day, a dress in an evening.  It's so interesting that Slow Sewing is starting to be talked about in the sewing community. I've always been an advocate of it. I don't want to make a quilt in a day. I want to enjoy the process, I want to feel like i've earnt the feeling of pride that completion of a project brings. I don't want to just move on to the next thing.

Simple Sampler is about Slow Sewing. It's a hand made quilt. It's traditional. It uses block patterns whose origins are lost in the mists of quilt history. We choose lovely modern fabrics. Who can't fail to be beguiled by the latest lovely fabrics, a small indulgence in a demanding life. But we sew by hand. We look at the work as we make it - mindful, lost in the simple repetition of a running stitch. It's not rocket science but it holds powerful secrets to well being. It's not an accident that our graduates are evangelical about their sewing. It makes you feel much better about...well everything!

Our Simple Sampler classes always sell out, so do let us know early if you'd like to join us next term. If you feel like you'd like to step off the merry go round for a few hours every week or so, come and sew!

Our next Wendover Sewing Bee is given over to a celebration of the Simple Sampler. Everyone is welcome, graduates of the class, current students and interested visitors. Come along and see a gathering of students past and present with their Simple Sampler Quilts and their current work. There will be cake and tea and lots of fabricy chat, it should be a lovely gathering - 7th Oct 9.30am - 12pm at St Anne's Hall, Aylesbury Road, Wendover. Do pop in, you'll be very welcome!

Welcome New Peeps

Just a little note to say how much I enjoyed the Sewing Bee this week and how lovely it was to see so many new faces there.....you're all very welcome x

Retreat Day is Back! Sat Oct 18th

Ooh it's such a lovely thought.....Retreat Day is back on the horizon!

Twice a year we PlainStitch Ladies pack our bags on a Saturday and hole up for the day at the lovely Buckland Village Hall.We love it there. It's a Victorian hall with soaring ceilings and long leaded glass windows that let the light dapple through. It's in a beautiful timeless sleepy no-through-road village near by where The Workroom is based - but it's far enough away that your real life just slips away for a few hours.

We all bring twice as much luggage as we can really carry, with twice as much sewing as we could ever hope to get through in a day - but hope springs eternal.

We all set up, there's much laughter and cooing at everyone's fabric and planned sewing. Sometimes a brand new project for someone to get stuck into. Sometimes a long worked on project that needs a concerted effort to get finished. Always fascinating to everyone else!

There's huge quantities of tea. So much chat. Bustle. Then quiet concentrated work. Machines humm. Low chatter. Offers of a cuppa. The soft light filters in through the windows ( its always sunny despite being Feb or Oct when we come). We're always astonished when lunchtime comes around. Always a feast. Then a long afternoon of work, un-interrupted by families needing feeding, dogs needing walking and phones to answer. Lunch is catered for us, always super delicious - such a treat not to cook!

Do contact us if you'd like to come along too, we'd love to have you. It's £35.00 for the 9 hour stretch including your lunch and all the tea and coffee you can drink! Drop Helen an e mail helen@plainstitch.co.uk if you'd like to join us.