Happy New Year to you!  We’re kicking off 2010 with a massive sale.  There are lots of reductions on yarn, fabric and patterns throughout the site.

I don’t about you, but if I have time, I like to give handmade Christmas cards to my family and special friends.  It is nice to make the extra effort for the people you’re closest to.  So a few of our friends will be getting these cards this year:

handmade Christmas cards

They were so easy to make.  We used some card blanks bought from a local craft store and a piece of Novelty Labels and Classic labels Christmas fabric. From the fabric, we cut around each square label.  These were mounted onto a small piece of wadding which was slightly smaller than the size of the square.  We fixed the fabric to the wadding, wrapping the edges around the wadding so it was nice and neat.

The red and green card blanks already have square apertures cut into them which were the right size for the squares.  So we were able to fit the now padded squares into them and sealed them up.  The white card is plain, so we just glued it the square to the front of the card.

Easy peasy!

Our next idea for Christmas sewing projects is this little Santa Sack.

Little Santa Sack

For this bag we used the Classic Stripe and Classic Scroll Christmas fabrics.

It has an oval shaped base, which has been stiffened, so that the big will sit nicely. The sides of the bag were made by sandwiching a piece of thin wadding with the two pieces of fabric.  This was then quilted in a simple grid pattern.  It was attached to the base piece and sewn up the back to form the bag.

The top can be folded over to show the contrasting inner fabric.  The wadding was smaller than the actual fabric, so it actually stops 5 or 6 cm short of the top of the bag.  This means that the part you fold over isn’t padded and therefore folds over better.  We put a coordinating tie around it and fixed with a loop at the back, under the fold, so that it didn’t fall off.

If you try making your own “santa sakc” like this, do let us know.  We’d love to see your own version!

Here’s an idea that my Mum came up for the Christmas table this year:

Christmas placemats

She used the gold stars fabric for the main part and then cut borders from a piece of the Novelty Borders Christmas Fabric.

Novelty Borders Christmas Fabric

She sewed them together and used some special heat resistance wadding. She backed them with a piece of the Classic Stripe Christmas Fabric.

Striped Christmas Fabric

Why not have a go yourself and brighten up your Christmas table with some placemats of your own.  If you would like more details about how these were made, then please do write a comment below.

Our summer sale is now on with up to 20% off many of our yarns, fabrics and patterns.

If you’ve been feeling the heat over the past few days, then we have plenty of summer-weight yarns on offer including the beautifully soft Rowan Lenpur Linen and Sirdar Juicy as well as Rowan Pima Cotton and Sirdar Calico DK. There are plenty of patterns to choose from if you’d like to knit a new top or cardigan for those cooler evenings.

Or if you’re going on holiday in the next few weeks and fancy a new outfit, why not switch on your sewing machine and make yourself a halter-neck top or skirt from one of Amy Butler’s patterns and fabrics.

Visit the site today to view the many discount yarns and  discount fabrics that we have on sale.

I think the warm, sunny, Spring time weather that we’ve had recently is what has given me an urge to do some sewing. I’m fairly new to sewing so I started with something simple – an A-line skirt. I used Amy Butler’s barcelona skirt pattern and some of Amy Butler’s fabric which I think is perfect for summer.

The instructions that come with the pattern are clear and the pattern pack also includes the instructions for making a layered skirt and an apron.  I might well try the layered skirt next as I’ll need to do some sewing again soon, in order that I don’t forget how to do it!  Perhaps I should have taken step-by-step photos to remind myself of what I did at each stage?

Even for a beginner, it was quick to make – I did it in a weekend.  If I’d really gone at it I could have made it in a day, but I didn’t want to rush it.

Here I am modelling my skirt:

My Amy Butler skirt

Welcome to Hulu – the UK’s newest online yarn and fabric shop.

Setting up the business has been a real delight although it’s been extremely hard to choose which yarns, fabrics and knitting patterns to stock. If there’s something you’re looking for that we don’t have, we would be most delighted to order it in for you.