Do you have someone on your list who likes crime? What about concrete ? Maybe some silk ruffles to beautify a Zoom background? I’ve got quite a selection of unusual gifts in my online shop mainly under £50. A lot of my shop has been hibernating since I moved, so if you spot something that says ‘coming soon’ just drop me a line and I’ll see if I can find it for you! I’ll be posting until Monday 19th December so there’s plenty of time for UK shoppers.
Take a break from Christmas shopping to join us at the studio for a social afternoon on Sunday 15th December 1-3pm – free of charge! Bring along your hand sewing, knitting or other craft and enjoy tea & mince pies. There will also be loads of sewing bargains, as we clear out the studio for a change-around in January. You can also find out about and book courses for 2014.
Ruth Singer Studio
On Saturday 7th December, 12-4pm, my lovely studio building Makers’ Yard will be open for you to have a look around. Other tenants will be open too, so you can have a good nosey and do a bit more Christmas shopping.
My studio will be open for you to come and have a look at my work, see work in progress and find out about 2014 courses. We will also have some sale bargains around too, both fabrics and finished products so you can buy presents for yourself and others!
Bargain books
Sewing kits
Samples and old stock from £5
Vintage fabric pieces
Vintage sewing patterns for 50p
New haberdashery and sewing tools
Don’t forget I also do gift vouchers for anyone you think might like to try a workshop or buy a lot of fabric!
I recently completed a small embroidery commission for my friend, the weaver Jan Garside, who I’ve collaborated with before. She asked me to make some pieces based on Elizabethan embroideries at Hardwick Hall for a commission she was working on.
Jan & her finished pieces. Find out more about Jan & her work here.
This was an interesting project. I’m not a traditional embroiderer and although I started my textile career making historical reproductions, it isn’t the way I work now. These embroideries are inspired by Elizabethan stitches, rather than being replicas. I know plenty about Elizabethan embroidery and already knew the Hardwick textiles so had a good idea what Jan wanted when she first asked me about the commission, but I also knew I couldn’t make a reproduction. Working on a commission like this is a challenge, trying to make my own interpretation of the source material but also work within the brief given me by Jan, as the embroideries formed part of her work, with her name on caption. Luckily Jan and I have similar ideas, although different ways of working, and it helped that we had collaborated before. I enjoyed making these pieces enormously and intend to develop the ideas further in my own work, from the stitches used to the idea of working with lettering.
Note added: Some of the linen fabric I used was kindly donated by Scrapiana and came from her handmade wedding outfit!
Ruth Singer 