It’s officially Spring, though it doesn’t quite feel it. I hope our excellent range of summery fabrics will be in hot demand very soon. Our winter fabrics – lovely woven wools and wool blends – haven’t moved as much as I’d like and I wonder if it’s because sewing heavier garments seems too much of a mission for most home sewists? One good thing about heavier fabrics is that they don’t slide around when you sew them. But sewing through several layers of wool may seem a bit much for your machine? Well, it’s nearly all about technique and our classes are the place to learn professional tips for sewing different fabrics.

The Nova coat/jacket class – which we held again recently - provides an opportunity to use wool (or other) fabric under the guidance of an expert. We’ll keep offering that class as long as there’s demand. And the boxy Adelaide jacket on display in the shop is made in an orange wool blend (lined with a Japanese cotton) and we’ll offer a class making that pattern in the not too distant future.

So if you’ve put off using wool fabric but could use a new jacket, consider coming to class to make one! And if you want to make your own merino knit (or other knit) garments, come to an overlocker class to learn techniques that give a professional finish! Speaking of classes, our next timetable, from October to end of year, will be out soon!

One new idea we’re working on is a fairly simple session, that could be a team-building exercise, in which 6 not-quite-beginner machine sewists make 2 or 3 small gift items, ideal for xmas presents. Jess is experimenting with pieced pin cushions and decorative stitched needle holder books and Vincent has in mind a particular fabric bag that could hold gifts, craft items or whatever its recipient chooses. If you’re part of a group of about 6 people who would like to spend 2 to 3 hours making these items in work hours let me know. We can provide coffee, tea and biscuits or you could BYO refreshments.

Gift Vouchers!

We have new gift vouchers (gift certificates!) designed by Vincent. There are 3 versions to choose from, depending on the preferences of the donor or recipient. A customer’s comment on their lack of an expiry date inspired me to do an audit of our vouchers that haven’t been used completely (or at all). The results were a surprise: there are lots of unspent gift vouchers out there, some up to 4 years old, including some worth $50 or more. So I want to remind people who’ve been given a voucher to the shop, or who’ve given one to someone else, to make sure they’re used before too long. After all, their value is decreasing with inflation! I’m thinking of putting a 2 year limit on new vouchers so I can keep a very clear track of what the shop owes to customers.

I’ve reminded a few people whose names I recognise that they have unused vouchers and a couple have spent them already! One customer who I reminded looked in her old wallet and found $150 worth of vouchers that she’d forgotten about! It’ll be like Christmas or your birthday all over again if you dig out your vouchers and use them!

Ukrainian Bears

The deadline for knitting Yuri bears has been extended to the end of September. We took 26 gorgeous bears to Rita Angus Village a week or so ago and already been given more by clever and kind customers. Rymans’ aim to send 20,000 knitted bears to Ukrainian children, with 200 of them coming from the Rita Angus Village. We’ll have made a substantial contribution to that goal by the end of September and we know that the Village is very appreciative.

Crafting Threads of Aroha

For knitters and crocheters able to support an excellent cause, the shop is a drop-off/collection point for donations of new knitted or crocheted woollen items for babies, children and adults, which are distributed by the Crafting Threads of Aroha volunteers to families and individuals in need. You can read about this charity here. Several of our customers are incredibly generous contributors of blankets, jumpers, hats, singlets and more. Every few weeks I hand over a mountain of woolly warmth to our local volunteer collector who, conveniently, works at St Pat’s College.

Shop window displays!

This year I’ve solved the perennial issue of what to put in the shop window. The answer is let my customers use it to display their creations! You must have noticed the very cute Easter window put together (behind my back) by our very own local knitting group, assisted by my stealthy staff. And surely you’ve seen the two beautiful displays of modern Maori clothing made by local teacher Nan Walden, including her winning entries in the Hokonui Fashion Show.

Right now we’re displaying the imaginative creations of five of Nan’s students at Wellington East Girls’ College and it looks like another of Nan’s students will provide the purple-themed WOW window display that I’ve signed the shop up to do. And then the knitting group is planning a Spring themed display straight afterwards! Does anyone want to do a Christmas or summer display?

Seriously, if you or your group want to display your creations in the shop window, or perhaps promote an event/cause, come and see me! I like to use the window sometimes to promote our classes but I’m very happy for it to be used to showcase talent or topics that will benefit from the publicity.

Library books

The latest selection of library books available to be borrowed from the shop hasn’t moved! They’re full of knitting and crochet ideas/patterns/tips and are a good read or browse. I partnered with the Wellington Library in this venture because we can’t stock information about everything that people ask for and the Library, which has a fantastic range of books on all manner of crafty topics, offered to lend the shop 10 books every 3 months or so. The idea is that we lend them to customers for a week for free (well – there is a refundable deposit of $10 to pay).

Other free resources

In the shop’s classroom is a large - and growing - selection of donated books and magazines that I’m happy to lend out or, in some cases, give away. There are lots of quilting, embroidery and smocking resources but some on other crafts too. If you’d like to see what’s there in order to get into a new craft or to get ideas /patterns for your craft group, just ask! I’d much rather they were used than stayed sitting on my shelves.

That’s it for the start of Spring!

See you in the shop,

Jo, Jess, Robyn, Toni, Annie, Vincent, Cerys and Trish