Trying something a little different

The video class reviewed in this post was provided to me free of charge: all opinions are my own

As you may have gathered from this blog, I am a dressmaker. I don’t quilt, I don’t do patchwork, I don’t make cuddly toys: I make clothes.

But sometimes, it’s good to try something a little bit different. You are probably aware by now that, earlier this year The Stitch Sisters launched a series of online classes which they have since been adding to, giving a whole range of video based online classes teaching many different aspects of fitting, sewing and quilting.

Before the launch, they were kind enough to get in touch and offer me a class free of charge. I went back and thanked them, but explained that life was pretty difficult at the moment and that I might not be able to do the class and blog it in anything like a timely fashion. They were absolutely lovely and just said that they’d send me the class link anyway and if I got time, I could do the blog.

Today’s Boxing Day and that time finally arrived! Both children are happily devouring unfettered access to their tablets and the new laptop Santa brought, Mr RW is at the football and no one actually seemed to need me, so I snuck off to the sewing room for a quiet hour. Not being in the midst of a project right now, this class sprang to mind, and so I dived in!

The class I chose was Quilt As You Go Fabric Baskets. The only thing I hadn’t had in my stash before was the 4oz wadding, but I’d ordered some from eBay in a fit of optimism a while ago, so located it in the cupboard, together with a bundle of Harry Potter fat quarters from Aldi (the perils of taking your kids shopping with you!) and dived straight in.

The classes follow a fairly similar format to me, having done a couple of Closet Case Patterns and Blueprint online classes. The lessons are split into bite sized chunks of video which you can watch at your own speed, rewind as you need, replay whenever and so on. Once you’ve watched one, you mark it as complete and it takes you straight to the next in the series.

There are clear requirements on materials and what sized bits of what to cut provided, but the video also talks you through them. I use a rotary cutter, mat and quilting ruler for dressmaking anyway so quickly got my various strips of fabric ready to go.

The course is incredibly clearly explained. Nikki’s obvious enthusiasm shines through and she is a great teacher, breaking every step down and telling you why she’s doing what she’s doing. The ability to pause the video as needed to catch up or locate e.g. my 1/4″ foot made things really easy.

I had intended to watch this on my Kindle Fire but ended up balancing my iPhone on top of my machine and working that way! Even on the relatively small screen, this was still really easy to follow.

And I really enjoyed my little self! As a dressmaker, it was kind of refreshing to just sew straight lines, not even bothering about stopping and starting properly, just sewing away for most of it. I’ve always been a fan of topstitching , so this project suited me really well, given each strip is effectively top stitching into place.

In total, I grabbed around an hour and a half of time to myself to finish off this little basket and I’m really chuffed with it. Clearly, I won’t retain possession of it once the girls see it: in fact, I think I probably need to make another one so that they can both have one!

Good job they’re so speedy to make then!

Thanks so much again for gifting me this class, ladies; I have genuinely really enjoyed myself. I wouldn’t hesitate to buy another of these classes on a subject of interest, it was so enjoyable and the price point seems pretty reasonable to me. It’s been very relaxing to just take myself off and try something new without having to get myself to a class held in a workshop somewhere, so I would definitely do this again.

Becca xx