Guthrie Ghani Grand Opening

 

If you have been watching the Great British Sewing Bee on TV, you are quite likely to know that one of the finalists, Lauren was opening a fabric and haberdashery shop, called Guthrie-Ghani, in Moseley, Birmingham on Saturday. Now Moseley is not too far from where I live, so I went down to join in the celebrations.

Fortunately I got there earlier than I had intended, but even so there was quite a crowd to witness the opening ceremony. A kind lady let me get near enough to take my photo. This is Lauren with her husband Ayaz.

Stuart another contestant was there to help with the cutting of the tape

 

and then we were less loose on the goodies inside. My goodness! What a treat that was!

Lauren has wonderful taste in her choice of fabrics for her own sewing and that shone through in all stock she had ordered. I didn't know which things to Ooh and Aah over first.

There were drinks and cakes and a delightful large cake decorated with all things haberdashery!

 

and so many visitors that some had to wait outside until there was space enough to be let in. Tilly arrived and helped Lauren serve and chat to customers.

 

The shop is beautifully laid out and even has a seating area where you can rest awhile, have a coffee and peruse the patterns. It even has THIS wonderful vintage treadle Singer sewing machine on display!

I remember my gran having one just like this. Funny, it looks smaller than I remember it, as a child. Guess I've just grown taller!

The queue for the till stretched round three walls of the room, but the atmosphere in the shop was so vibrant no-one cared in the slightest! Ermmm, that happens to be ME behind  Tilly with my arms full of books and yarn!

 People had come to visit from far and wide and I was lucky enough to meet up with fellow blogger Gilly from Gilly Makes. It was great meeting Gilly for the first time and she kindly took this photo of me and Ann, who was this year's winner of the Great British Sewing Bee.

Ann is 82 and makes all her own clothes. She has so much energy and enthusiasm and was encouraging everyone to give sewing a go, whether they were 5 or 55.  I want to be like her if I live to 82!!!!

Guthrie-Ghani is going to be a wonderful addition to the fabric shops available in the West Midlands. There is an amazing,  well-lit studio upstairs with beautiful oak beams where a wide range of sewing, quilting and knitting workshops will take place, and if you live too far away to visit, don't worry - they have an online shop too!

 

The Great British Sewing Bee



Image source: radiotimes.com



Last night a new sewing show hit the airwaves in the UK - The Great British Sewing Bee.
This is a copy of the Great British Bake Off format, and is a 4 part series showing on BBC 2.
If you live in the UK and are able to watch on i-player  I can thoroughly recommend it. Whilst it may not get the sensational viewing numbers that the Bake Off did it is certainly of interest to more than just us "crafty types". I had been eagerly awaiting this show for weeks and was hooked from the outset, but my son was equally interested once the show started.
Eight amateur sewers take on three challenges each week to try to stay in the competition. They range from 82 year old Ann, who sews all her own clothes,  Mark an HGV mechanic who sews steampunk costumes to somone many blog following sewers will already know: Tilly who blogs at Tilly and the Buttons

Image source: guardian.co.uk

The judges are May Martin from the WI academy and Patrick Grant, a Saville Row award winning designer - one stern and intimidating, the other charming and generous (I'm not saying which is which - no spoilers here!). The host is Claudia Winkelman

The challenges so far are all of the dress making variety, but whilst the judges are deliberating and the contestants are amiably sipping coffee in the nearby cafe, Claudia shows us how to make a simple sewn item. This week is was a laundry bag

Image source: radiotimes.com



There are full details each week's projects on the BBC 2 website and of course there is a book to go with the series, available from Amazon

I thoroughly enjoyed the show. It made me want to get my machine out right there and then and make something. (It was probably fortunate that my machine is away having a service or I would have been up all night sewing!!)

It's Wednesday so I need to show you my Wishful Wednesday projects - the items I would love to make this week if only I had all the hours in the world.

First up is this gorgeously warm looking jacket. (I could have done with this when I was walkng along the beach at Brean Sands in the bitterly cold wind a few days ago!)

The pattern is a free download available here. It is knitted in chunky weight yarn and the pattern gives five sizes ranging from 28" - 46" bust (71 - 117cm)

My sewing project for this week was really difficult to choose (my head is still buzzing from Great British Sewing Bee!!), but in the end I settled on this top.

I'm thinking forward to summer and I'm thinking economy now. It's made by adapting a ready made man's T shirt, which could be purchased really cheaply in a supermarket. It would be a quickly made wardrobe staple. The tutorial is available here

Finally, for my crochet project this week, I've chosen this quick and easy tissue holder:

The free pattern is here
I really need to make one of these, as the tissues in my bag get torn to shreds really quickly and it is so embarassing when you offer one to someone, only to produce a shabby, grubby plastic wrapper. No wonder they hesitate!! I'm thinking I might get to sew it quicker than I'll crochet it, though!

Till next time.................. Julie