Author: Ruth Singer

I’ve had a long but enjoyable day running the first day of a two-day handbag-making course at the V&A. Second one next week. Nice students as always, and some interesting ideas coming out. It was a early start though!I’m back there this weekend to run a drop-in workshop in the garden – sunshine permitting –…

I’ve been enjoying old craft books recently. I picked up a couple in charity shops even thought they are mostly 70s and 80s which are hardly my favourite style decades! I’ve been more open-minded about craft stuff since I started reading so many blogs, so I gave these books a chance and they have been…

I haven’t got anything new to show today, so here is another lovely piece of work by one of my students. This dress is by Debz and features fab suffolk puffs (or yo-yos for Americans) made of suede. What a great idea of hers to do them in suede. Suffolk puffs were one of the…

Ok, it’s Saturday, but I was busy last night!I spent Monday – Thursday teaching a fantastic group of women on a course called Hand-constructed fabrics for fashion. They produced some amazing work – this is just one piece in progress and there are more over here. We did applique, pleating shadow-work and trapunto, among other…

Terrible pun, but there you go. I have just bought a new sewing machine – an industrial Bernina which should stand up to the heavy work better than my domestic. I am really excited about the machine, but I wont actually be able to use it for a while. I can’t pick it up til…

My tomato plants are bringing me great joy this week. The rest of life is being a bit hard work, but I am delighted with these two scraggy car-boot-sale tomato plants that lived in yoghurt pots for weeks and have flourished since I finally potted them in my window box. They are growing down the…

mmmm. It’s a warm summer saturday night, parties are pounding and barbeques are belching smoke and I am working. As usual. This is the nature of running your own small craft business. I spent the day teaching braiding at the local arts centre, which was great fun. Then I came home to prepare for the…

Lots of other people blog about their work in progress on a friday. I never remember to take pictures of work in progress, mainly as my sewing room is dark and far too messy to be seen. So instead you get a finished product, because I love finishing things! These booties are a much overdue…

One of the best things about having a blog is that it is an incentive to finish and document things, and to know that people out there are appreciating it! So here are a few of the things I have been churning out in my sweatshop in the last few days. Lots more on Flickr.…

I realise I haven’t shown off this bracelet that I made for Heather. I kept it secret until she got it, and it arrived in Canada while I was on holiday and then forgot. So here it is. It is made from four braids hand woven using a medieval technique called fingerloop braiding. Busy making…