Why I have been so quiet recently! My New business!

You may have noticed that recently I have been very quiet here on my blog site, and I am now ready to let you all know why!

I have been busy creating a new business.

Lockdown released me from all my teaching and course commitments, and as I am not one to just sit around I decided to create a brand new business.

I wanted to make something that was fun and colourful. Something that would give anybody who is interested in craft or fashion an economical and interesting way to get involved in sewing and creating clothing the right way.

My passion has always been teaching, and I love helping people of all ages and abilities to start sewing or improve their sewing and use patterns, so to this end I created Wabi-Sabi Life – and a range of 7 dolls or ‘charters’ as I like to call them.

Each character has their own fabric, and a matching wardrobe.

I have used all my skills to create the fabrics myself and designed them with extra small prints, so they are perfect for these 1:6 size dolls – they even have their own range of t-shirts printed on stretch lycra!

I absolutely loved making these tiny kimonos.

I have put as much time and effort into making the patterns for my character garments as I do for my full size patterns! The sewing techniques are the same for these tiny garments as they are for full size garments and the skills are the same! I now look at tiny scraps of fabric in a completely new way! Even the smallest scraps can be used to make something wonderful! And with fabric being so expensive at the moment that really is a plus.

Each kit comes in cardboard packaging and we try to avoid plastic packaging as much as we possibly can!

I have also created a detailed making guided for each project and a YouTube video to guide the maker through the whole process. These can all be found over at my new blog site www.wabisabistudio.co.uk.

Wabi-Sabi studio is also the place to ask questions about the projects!

All these products are available in my brand new Etsy shop so if you would like to introduce sewing to a beginner in a fun way or start a new hobby then why not take a look!

Use the coupon code below for 10% off any order.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/WabiSabiLifeDesigns?coupon=MODELISTECREATIVE10

A t-shirt made for the t-shirt kit

I began my sewing journey sewing small mice out of fabric scraps, and I truly believe that sewing is a skill that everyone should possess and who knows where it would lead!

Oh and by the way, I also created a range of purse, pencil case and bag kits to match. With a range of colourful Wabi-Sabi branded children’s and adult clothing in the pipeline!

On top of all that with a little help (well a lot actually), I have finally made some progress with social media! So if you would like to – follow, join, subscribe or like then see below! Phew.

Social Media Links:

Instagram

Facebook

Pinterest

Twitter

YouTube

I hope to have a more time now to get back to my full size projects, but to be honest I am having so much fun with these tiny garments that I am certain to be adding many more outfits to the collection!

Hope to see you over at Wabi-Sabi Life!

Nicola

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Making a fabric bag

This little fabric bag is strong and versatile! Use it as a gift bag, a shoe bag, a book bag, I keep my passport in a bright orange one so I can find it easily.

Versatile Fabric Draw String Bag

Download my free template or simply follow the guidelines on the template to create your own template to your own set of measurements.

As always I love to see pictures of your makes so let me know how you get on.

Nicola

Make a whole set!
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The Monster Tooth Pillow Project! For readers of the DSM

As some of you may know I live in France in the beautiful region of Deux Sevres, and this is the first of my contributions to the regions English language magazine, the Deux Sevres Monthly.

I will be writing a creative article for the magazine each month and I wanted my first contribution to be simple, colourful and fun! Each of the articles will also be here on my blog along with any free patterns and downloads.

This is a great project for teaching young people to sew, I started sewing as a very young child and my favourite thing to make was a tiny mouse. I used any scraps of fabric I could find to make them and the mice were all called ‘Grub Street’ . They lived in a match box! Sewing is a fantastic skill to have and how wonderful it is to teach a child to sew! These pillows are very popular in the USA now and children leave them out for the tooth fairy.

All you need to gather together is…

And you will need access to…

Here is a detailed PDF download that contains the pattern and all the making instructions!

JUST CLICK BELOW TO DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE PATTERN & DETAILED MAKING GUIDE

monster pillow learn to sew instructions and pattern

I would love to see your creations so please e-mail them to me and I will publish them!

If you have any questions at all then please just ask, I am always happy to help!

I hope to see you next month for another ‘creative’ project and if you have any requests then please let me know what you would like to see.

Happy Sewing,

Nicola

 

 

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Free Wrap Around Head Band Pattern & Sew Along!

Ever wondered what to do with all those scrap pieces you have?

Here is a video sew along for the ‘wrap around head band’ Ideal for those long thin scraps that are often left over from our sewing projects.

Headband sew along 1 Click to watch the video and download your free PDF pattern from the members only area once you have subscribed!

Keep watching as I am working on a wider version for long hair today.

And if you get the time – please subscribe to my YouTube channel!

Happy sewing,

Nicola x

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Welcome To My Blog!

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Welcome to my blog.

Join me on my journey as I revisit my fashion education.

My blog will document all my fashion learning over the years as I progressed from knowing very little to having a Masters Degree MSC in Clothing Advanced Manufacture (with distinction) and a career as a senior fashion lecturer.

I have un-boxed all my old pattern cutting and sewing notes from the London College of Fashion and plan to document all my previous and current learning here in this blog.

It should be informative!

Nicola x

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