As we fast approach to end of 2019, I thought it would be a good opportunity to share some of the achievements of Nelly Bea Happy Stitchers over the past year. It's so amazing to see would be Happy Stitchers come along to my workshops with very few sewing skills (some cannot even thread the sewing machine) and within a short space of time, be able to stitch with confidence and create garments for themselves, family and friends. it makes all the hard work I've put in over the last year worth it and, i feel very fortunate to have a job I so enjoy and that feels so rewarding.
Mary, has attended lots of Nelly Bea workshops over the last year including All Afternoon Sewing Sessions at Stanpit Village Hall, Monday evening dressmaking courses and some Technical Masterclasses. I'm amazed at how her confidence has grown over the last year: she's gone from a novice to making clothes independently of me and continuing with projects outside of class time. Well done Mary!
Mary, made most of this cap without my help. It was a challenging project with lots of convex and concave shapes to piece together and some horribly stiff plastic to stitch through to form the peak. She also had to contend with centralising the tartan pattern and top-stitching!
I've also seen an HUGE improvement in the abilities of my regular beginners groups which runs every Tuesday morning. It's become a tight knit group, with the regulars who attend forming great friendships as well as progressing their sewing skills. We have worked through a number of small projects together which has helped build up everyone's skill levels and this September we all started making shirts together. Each week a short masterclass covered the skills required for each session including cutting out, darts, top-stitching, seams, inserting sleeves, collars and plackets. I'm not going to lie, there been some unpicking along the way but, we are just beginning to see some fab results
Andrew and Bea have worked really hard over the past year to improve their accuracy and build their skills. I think it shows in these amazing shirts they have just finished. Andrew has worked independently between classes to add lots of additional features to test his skills and Bea worked with precision to ensure a really high quality finish on her first shirt. I think the contrast Liberty print detail is fab.
So, as I look forward to 2020, I look forward to sharing lots of new projects with everyone and sharing the joy of more successful finished projects. It's been an absolute please to sew with so many people in 2019 and I can't wait to continue in 2020.
Don't forget you can find out all about my classes and workshops for 2020 at bit.ly/sewwithnellybea
Happy Stitching Everyone,
Sew with Nelly Bea
Sew, laugh, learn, create