tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27071946270772311882024-03-13T21:42:13.489+00:00The Sewing ShopOn 5th January 2012 two ladies were handed the keys to a shop. This is the story of how they turned this little shop into a busy, buzzy, thriving (fingers crossed) haberdashery, sewing and knitting shop.Lindseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00322044656860713430noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2707194627077231188.post-39588184746487354622014-09-08T21:49:00.001+01:002014-09-09T13:00:23.459+01:00Dashwood Studios Christmas Wish Advent Calendar Tutorial<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqIjh4cLcpOd3ZUvKJCjkppfdszA_bOf239rbi5i4hU2fcYfg5w2_A-wQhpg3hjON3oRVTV8glmkRnIsXosNU7LgMqJj5IeY0gys8YIJdioX10V5VzxrB1iQxXduUiuFjYVUWSvsdq-6Q/s1600/advent.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqIjh4cLcpOd3ZUvKJCjkppfdszA_bOf239rbi5i4hU2fcYfg5w2_A-wQhpg3hjON3oRVTV8glmkRnIsXosNU7LgMqJj5IeY0gys8YIJdioX10V5VzxrB1iQxXduUiuFjYVUWSvsdq-6Q/s1600/advent.jpg" height="240" width="320"></a></div>
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Out of all our Christmas fabric ranges this year my favourite is without doubt Christmas Wish from <a href="http://www.dashwoodstudio.com/christmas-wish/" target="_blank">Dashwood Studios</a>. The gorgeous palette of icy blue, soft green, Christmassy red and warm cream is bright and jolly without being garish. A classic festive combination but with a stylish modern slant. <br>
I loved making the sample of the advent calendar to display in the shop but I felt that the instructions provided were a teensy bit confusing in places. To help solve any uncertainties I decided to photograph every step (yes EVERY step) and create an online tutorial for people to follow.<br>
Be warned this post is very "photo heavy" but I think that makes all the difference in a good tutorial.<br>
Materials:<br>
*Christmas Wish Advent Calendar panel (£8.50 <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LichfieldSewingShop?ref=hl" target="_blank">from The Sewing Shop</a>)<br>
* fat 1/4 backing fabric - I chose Xmas 1046 Gingerbread from the same range (£14 per metre from The Sewing Shop)<br>
*wadding - I used Sew Simple Supersoft cotton (£14.30 per metre from The Sewing Shop)<br>
*1/4 metre binding fabric - I chose Xmas 1047 Snowflakes also from the Christmas Wish range (£14 per metre from The Sewing Shop)<br>
matching machine sewing thread<br>
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A kit is available for £18.95 plus £3.50 P & P. Please ring <a href="tel:01543%20253780" x-apple-data-detectors="true" x-apple-data-detectors-type="telephone" x-apple-data-detectors-result="0">01543 253780</a> for details or to place an order.<br>
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Process:<br>
1. Cut out the back panel around the outer edge of the green seam allowance.<br>
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2. Cut out the pocket strips around the outer edge of the ecru seam allowance. <br>
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3. Press over the seam allowance at the top edge of each pocket strip and top stitch. With hindsight I wish I had folded the edge over twice and done a much neater hem rather than just folding once. However, the raw edge is inside so it isn't seen. <br>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8xSSDb-1_C00iQNBp0s6xuwmAipccPi6U8VtCz_1GopEkabTNL4UnpXOIc2P8WXdLMUr63tOdt0Yr6NP16C02qSRLOW1-da8ctEBn2CHX2qoTkLDSHMcgMBJhsNh1u-jQugT1nxCvbw8/s1600/IMG_2955.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8xSSDb-1_C00iQNBp0s6xuwmAipccPi6U8VtCz_1GopEkabTNL4UnpXOIc2P8WXdLMUr63tOdt0Yr6NP16C02qSRLOW1-da8ctEBn2CHX2qoTkLDSHMcgMBJhsNh1u-jQugT1nxCvbw8/s1600/IMG_2955.JPG" height="240" width="320"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Reverse of pocket hem.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHszzogX2m4cWkNJ9id_KG9neekjT2lnrpKIiLNZoP0CmHWcv5hi0aNkRdKw9zNRKxcjTBgzr9vvvBKR0bA2mI7yGVK04uqSvUHmwQAvw6xJ4ETg3d0729kX52gVVitvZRaEyRNCTPAFo/s1600/IMG_2956.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHszzogX2m4cWkNJ9id_KG9neekjT2lnrpKIiLNZoP0CmHWcv5hi0aNkRdKw9zNRKxcjTBgzr9vvvBKR0bA2mI7yGVK04uqSvUHmwQAvw6xJ4ETg3d0729kX52gVVitvZRaEyRNCTPAFo/s1600/IMG_2956.JPG" height="240" width="320"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Front of pocket showing top stitching.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwtAc32dDaTkZtHTfh4fclNcgtp1esPjZuFqPFsp0zq1vlcaLXFugdLru3p2iVLonFXJq7OGBENm-OevhUpYYmCdJPA3rk0tU27GFlMX6S1u_tq01pIMnEHTzGGnYR01ZCSSi5CInAhqM/s1600/IMG_2957.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwtAc32dDaTkZtHTfh4fclNcgtp1esPjZuFqPFsp0zq1vlcaLXFugdLru3p2iVLonFXJq7OGBENm-OevhUpYYmCdJPA3rk0tU27GFlMX6S1u_tq01pIMnEHTzGGnYR01ZCSSi5CInAhqM/s1600/IMG_2957.JPG" height="240" width="320"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All the pocket strips hemmed and top stitched</td></tr>
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4. Now comes the fiddly bit - making the pleats to create the gusseted pockets. I found the best thing was to do lots of pressing - time consuming but worth it in the end. <br>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjirK3iswNXOdHVIRWq5NJALTst4SRqlVGZxKRQb8OKK-U1-IV7G1IUfwC8Y4Gcd-uAUNqKcU0gm5jKwkVtrolSiOCsM2fXnUXjbhrCvZlTxYna_ZyhyphenhyphenzTNCiwCcyiGxglCV_xyvfyaS5w/s1600/IMG_2966.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjirK3iswNXOdHVIRWq5NJALTst4SRqlVGZxKRQb8OKK-U1-IV7G1IUfwC8Y4Gcd-uAUNqKcU0gm5jKwkVtrolSiOCsM2fXnUXjbhrCvZlTxYna_ZyhyphenhyphenzTNCiwCcyiGxglCV_xyvfyaS5w/s1600/IMG_2966.JPG" height="320" width="240"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finger-pressing pocket creases</td></tr>
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I finger-pressed but only because I was too idle to keep going downstairs to my ironing board or to carry my sewing machine downstairs. Press the edges of the pocket pictures and fold the creased edges in together to meet on the dotted line.<br>
I did one side at a time, pinned it in place against the dotted line, then brought the other edge in to meet it and pinned that too.<br>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoqmBuy2I5XqTrd4GqJtV9qalKFVmPsy0IRS6sNeebelpELrtafeU9MjbxXNbbuPS81xPiljTZM7a_TGTaSQWDG9s6gEiuqKdeZsk045PkPIAioNix0vheVn9oh-l1tYluXHLtdqcLlA4/s1600/IMG_2971.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoqmBuy2I5XqTrd4GqJtV9qalKFVmPsy0IRS6sNeebelpELrtafeU9MjbxXNbbuPS81xPiljTZM7a_TGTaSQWDG9s6gEiuqKdeZsk045PkPIAioNix0vheVn9oh-l1tYluXHLtdqcLlA4/s1600/IMG_2971.JPG" height="240" width="320"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First pocket edge meets dotted line</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP6IF9PpmfPhgG3lBLnLzH_BODMSz60VDHz3vo7wCEvoRKuhRW3JhllW2OFDvDHdJA5JtammVhP6zyaxr4DRjm8L_4u36qh8oscLX5i_VT9FwwOKEt64kWpIp30eYuE-cM1qW7HFVWigA/s1600/IMG_2975.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP6IF9PpmfPhgG3lBLnLzH_BODMSz60VDHz3vo7wCEvoRKuhRW3JhllW2OFDvDHdJA5JtammVhP6zyaxr4DRjm8L_4u36qh8oscLX5i_VT9FwwOKEt64kWpIp30eYuE-cM1qW7HFVWigA/s1600/IMG_2975.JPG" height="320" width="240"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Second creased edge meets first on dotted line</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsZHjGQ1bJo3K3HZeXDx2CRW7cZFcSbO8CY9vg_nEkzVt0uyLciOeqbLnDuVGcpb9tqkg3Ai6ORwX79CXzPYCwhrbUvI_0TcuTcF3EzdLVvPprbbM1zo_JQ76ym1Qu4FReZhmFQ0QxLaE/s1600/IMG_2978.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsZHjGQ1bJo3K3HZeXDx2CRW7cZFcSbO8CY9vg_nEkzVt0uyLciOeqbLnDuVGcpb9tqkg3Ai6ORwX79CXzPYCwhrbUvI_0TcuTcF3EzdLVvPprbbM1zo_JQ76ym1Qu4FReZhmFQ0QxLaE/s1600/IMG_2978.JPG" height="320" width="240"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Both edges pinned in place on dotted line</td></tr>
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Repeat this for all the pockets on every pocket strip. That's a lot of pins! I just pinned at the bottom edge of each pocket as that is the part that will be sewn. However, I did give each strip a final press to ensure the pockets met on the dotted line from top to bottom.<br>
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Now it's time to stitch those pleats in place. Use a standard stitch length and stitch all the way along, just inside the bottom seam allowance.<br>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMG1DXRhLiEoPIq7yZ9nQsNf0m3hMFON07FuQcydC5qGU2BjncIC5n8ocga5CfC_17hbN_kHSQ0QElUDnPDF2oqd6HuvT4j5xGv0femTUCWfWQ8AhKWCpmqK4DlhNCbJy_nKjGpxVp_JY/s1600/IMG_2979.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMG1DXRhLiEoPIq7yZ9nQsNf0m3hMFON07FuQcydC5qGU2BjncIC5n8ocga5CfC_17hbN_kHSQ0QElUDnPDF2oqd6HuvT4j5xGv0femTUCWfWQ8AhKWCpmqK4DlhNCbJy_nKjGpxVp_JY/s1600/IMG_2979.JPG" height="320" width="240"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stitching pleats in place.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-kUuhj43etGzz_ZXhQ25zR-IF844GwKQrIH9xK0wMrcXrLJdiBg1YKVeGGk-V30jyXLCNQ8ATTGEYi2obXzr2j2zdBTl87G6BMbNrEsayCr6hKwtFrGnSVA6AblHN5jhI_x1R1snlvnM/s1600/IMG_2980.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-kUuhj43etGzz_ZXhQ25zR-IF844GwKQrIH9xK0wMrcXrLJdiBg1YKVeGGk-V30jyXLCNQ8ATTGEYi2obXzr2j2zdBTl87G6BMbNrEsayCr6hKwtFrGnSVA6AblHN5jhI_x1R1snlvnM/s1600/IMG_2980.JPG" height="320" width="240"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sew just below the pockets in the seam allowance</td></tr>
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5. Press the side and bottom seam allowances of each pocket strip.<br>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsim9NqKCgX1_aFVz6lnIfv3CpG-w2r_ToOTFwNRGC-ZPEsFA3lnVH855frNR4MDVgIWO-1VjgALHvgqTXMrAE7y0TRz92iLiAhi2nmzhEaW737gHAFt0wQA0gNRHaMMMGzTDZ8yA-bhc/s1600/IMG_2981.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsim9NqKCgX1_aFVz6lnIfv3CpG-w2r_ToOTFwNRGC-ZPEsFA3lnVH855frNR4MDVgIWO-1VjgALHvgqTXMrAE7y0TRz92iLiAhi2nmzhEaW737gHAFt0wQA0gNRHaMMMGzTDZ8yA-bhc/s1600/IMG_2981.JPG" height="320" width="240"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Press bottom seam allowance of each pocket strip</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV5R_Or_QhJb0ciqA-B0vetx76HRfxyot7aSLqiQ2oBxrZMqJQtXkZfbB6NkX1sis7QBCes5Zq6uP8EmYVZGRg9VbgZw0QEctxixns4nTgB5eQ_rWJwUyumZ2xaOJqlUbHP-EQiBeR7MY/s1600/IMG_2982.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV5R_Or_QhJb0ciqA-B0vetx76HRfxyot7aSLqiQ2oBxrZMqJQtXkZfbB6NkX1sis7QBCes5Zq6uP8EmYVZGRg9VbgZw0QEctxixns4nTgB5eQ_rWJwUyumZ2xaOJqlUbHP-EQiBeR7MY/s1600/IMG_2982.JPG" height="320" width="240"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Press side seam allowance of each pocket strip</td></tr>
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6. Pin each pocket strip in place on the back panel. Line up the dotted lines with the squares on the backing.<br>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-rjwGUhTmLFIaoBKpD1B56eGu_ago3d-VqFhBLwe7pyUI8Z2iOanx2Cw4uIGqxiFlIC2Z_vTG-S7QqOJwmupYkRkN4t6JdVhtyVh6d6CiA9pVMXGy9HdTq47f0HkHJGdsAF7WJQQrQtI/s1600/IMG_2985.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-rjwGUhTmLFIaoBKpD1B56eGu_ago3d-VqFhBLwe7pyUI8Z2iOanx2Cw4uIGqxiFlIC2Z_vTG-S7QqOJwmupYkRkN4t6JdVhtyVh6d6CiA9pVMXGy9HdTq47f0HkHJGdsAF7WJQQrQtI/s1600/IMG_2985.JPG" height="320" width="240"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pin pocket strips onto the backing</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS9NNzol88dNk0oVkG1HixKrgdMOeHeJ8HOF7jiHjD0itbtDL4Put2kYgbtnwIlG2MW7LZsztXbY9P_UabKDO89lWwH9xE9emBaOKRT9wcNA2SMtWWpNUP-ruhh59D_z9sVNgFfpDIDI8/s1600/IMG_2983.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS9NNzol88dNk0oVkG1HixKrgdMOeHeJ8HOF7jiHjD0itbtDL4Put2kYgbtnwIlG2MW7LZsztXbY9P_UabKDO89lWwH9xE9emBaOKRT9wcNA2SMtWWpNUP-ruhh59D_z9sVNgFfpDIDI8/s1600/IMG_2983.JPG" height="320" width="240"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Align dotted line with squares on backing</td></tr>
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Then pin the outer and bottom edges of each pocket strip to the backing panel too.<br>
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***NB This is the point at which I deviated from the Dashwood instructions. <br>
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7. Layer the panel with a piece of wadding and your chosen coordinating backing fabric to create a quilt sandwich. This will give the finished calendar some body and stop it being too floppy to hang nicely.<br>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8KIDCq364sP4FzcTfQUoPDKIGAqpYXWZ1xchSyWZ_a05yr6_cuiZ9PpV0kHAlrXrTdmWbS3YG5IAXs0BSkpecwR2tn5h327-yIPJA92ioQBdYG87slcamWjcIapKHscBroF6ZAbSvDtE/s1600/IMG_2992.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8KIDCq364sP4FzcTfQUoPDKIGAqpYXWZ1xchSyWZ_a05yr6_cuiZ9PpV0kHAlrXrTdmWbS3YG5IAXs0BSkpecwR2tn5h327-yIPJA92ioQBdYG87slcamWjcIapKHscBroF6ZAbSvDtE/s1600/IMG_2992.JPG" height="320" width="240"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Layering up the quilt sandwich</td></tr>
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8. Now stitch the pocket strips to the backing, also sewing through the wadding and backing. In this way you are quilting the calendar at the same time as stitching the pockets in place. <br>
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I found it easier to stitch between the pleats of the pockets first. Pin the pleats apart as shown while you stitch down between them. Start in the centre and stitch from top to bottom. Repeat for each row. <br>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkpw1IhuJc9Qqtgo7UN4vrcLS_EnPV1GMuiuZM8yBBi6aRlU3EXBWT_GVz8AKCQotqCNq_a7duwvGarhs2ZMn7h_kqAoDhjyDxdlgX_gCtFx_jqocG6SQehvEoowfx7VSRcCYtuH5aLBA/s1600/IMG_2995.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkpw1IhuJc9Qqtgo7UN4vrcLS_EnPV1GMuiuZM8yBBi6aRlU3EXBWT_GVz8AKCQotqCNq_a7duwvGarhs2ZMn7h_kqAoDhjyDxdlgX_gCtFx_jqocG6SQehvEoowfx7VSRcCYtuH5aLBA/s1600/IMG_2995.JPG" height="320" width="240"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Machine stitching between the pleats</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br>
<br>
Finally top stitch around the outer edges of each pocket strip - down one short side, across the bottom of all the pockets then up the other short side. Repeat for each pocket strip.<br>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieOAzdDuaZZ8Qq_effkchWopshUdQvbrfrYaHnXHNogMSZy0o3Pald7vFCCJP353UhPq0bNUVfgcW9fSPwV9Y1TPxVK9P26zPN8lSnPbbotsi1sUgu9mMu0njo2w0UySODTl2Rhf1MuXk/s1600/IMG_2994.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieOAzdDuaZZ8Qq_effkchWopshUdQvbrfrYaHnXHNogMSZy0o3Pald7vFCCJP353UhPq0bNUVfgcW9fSPwV9Y1TPxVK9P26zPN8lSnPbbotsi1sUgu9mMu0njo2w0UySODTl2Rhf1MuXk/s1600/IMG_2994.JPG" height="320" width="240"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Top stitching the pocket strips </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br></div>
At this point I created a hanging sleeve to hang the calendar with. You could do the same or alternatively make a couple of loops from fabric, tape or ribbon with which to hang your calendar.<br>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNuRql3Pt_G4pU3Y3tmYDDzuUMiHwfm9bqDISq48tQoQzLwiWC4vjdJ0CtBqbuDbhKGLBcdf6tNWqhME2GwRYGOKRYPe3hYZtKsRN81o9khH3eoPTl-avUjf1CNsdQqIwOu_BYOjZdE8Y/s1600/IMG_3001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNuRql3Pt_G4pU3Y3tmYDDzuUMiHwfm9bqDISq48tQoQzLwiWC4vjdJ0CtBqbuDbhKGLBcdf6tNWqhME2GwRYGOKRYPe3hYZtKsRN81o9khH3eoPTl-avUjf1CNsdQqIwOu_BYOjZdE8Y/s1600/IMG_3001.JPG" height="240" width="320"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hanging sleeve on the back of the calendar</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br>
<br>
If you wish to add more quilting now is your chance. I just worked and extra row all the way around as seen in the photo. You could also add embellishments such as beads, buttons and other trims.<br>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4SkxaoyF43lZV7aU-x0xwfnFT1_Vmjllq3sgXKyoih-5dWCHL-Ls-Ymj9ufUzM1BFS62KEMu7ttoteLOg5o-mT8tZiIy8olJQTQaWMZVbGCHT7Kauo6ltXzX-41dSEra3cnQlinX11s0/s1600/IMG_2996.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4SkxaoyF43lZV7aU-x0xwfnFT1_Vmjllq3sgXKyoih-5dWCHL-Ls-Ymj9ufUzM1BFS62KEMu7ttoteLOg5o-mT8tZiIy8olJQTQaWMZVbGCHT7Kauo6ltXzX-41dSEra3cnQlinX11s0/s1600/IMG_2996.JPG" height="320" width="240"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Extra row of quilting</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFhWlTy9UNVeaP8I2GBQgVXooI7X7HsTFZnPh_UWcSWUwiqxnHDRY0So2Ii4Ctc0i6eyn2N_4_C6xRGKIu9vTtBVTIJ4vXU7vkCFA65hG4ImZe_MfJqDVdntHKcNMk8tBK7flaEiGbSWY/s1600/IMG_2997.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFhWlTy9UNVeaP8I2GBQgVXooI7X7HsTFZnPh_UWcSWUwiqxnHDRY0So2Ii4Ctc0i6eyn2N_4_C6xRGKIu9vTtBVTIJ4vXU7vkCFA65hG4ImZe_MfJqDVdntHKcNMk8tBK7flaEiGbSWY/s1600/IMG_2997.JPG" height="320" width="240"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Extra quilting around the edge</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br>
<br>
When you are happy, square up your calendar using a rotary cutter and grid ruler. Trim through all layers of the panel along the edge of the green seam allowance. <br>
<br>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhJomtjziGf4j9KnVllgO62RRVA9LCms0-kvP0V2gySmk7-vWmLODmKEG4mU0uS7s_o8viYsxH_p8HFkM0TeS7Vl0sk-6zug3aFFDesoDbmvs7NZ48FuzMEvc_vtDbu_yWWk7uDp86UoA/s1600/IMG_2998.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhJomtjziGf4j9KnVllgO62RRVA9LCms0-kvP0V2gySmk7-vWmLODmKEG4mU0uS7s_o8viYsxH_p8HFkM0TeS7Vl0sk-6zug3aFFDesoDbmvs7NZ48FuzMEvc_vtDbu_yWWk7uDp86UoA/s1600/IMG_2998.JPG" height="320" width="240"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Trim the excess fabric and wadding</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihfu2qjz69T3pT6ZDbl1irsmj_htnIBHau9fX3zVKAog986IXEnwPxwrgmHi_jPiOxv7s7rojLM5u67U_KgOnmKQP9gI1I_Ru_sUL-zWt3G-YCvWhc7qaoW4RGXRkoZ8smREupTz89WxQ/s1600/IMG_2999.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihfu2qjz69T3pT6ZDbl1irsmj_htnIBHau9fX3zVKAog986IXEnwPxwrgmHi_jPiOxv7s7rojLM5u67U_KgOnmKQP9gI1I_Ru_sUL-zWt3G-YCvWhc7qaoW4RGXRkoZ8smREupTz89WxQ/s1600/IMG_2999.JPG" height="320" width="240"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Squaring up the quilted panel</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br>
<br>
Now it's time to bind the calendar. I cut my binding fabric into 2 <span style="font-size: xx-small;">1/2</span>" strips, folded and pressed them in half lengthways. I attached the strips by machine from the front then flipped them over to the back and stitched by hand to give a neat finish. <br>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1QEuoAz6CXbfSsN5O94olwK3DXf2ZJf7n1yUXy_GfPtnw_wAbFR5rqs-MTEhCbnQawiCVFICB2m9M6HjGpdxePZ1notWr5GPNADEG-vD6xX1_Jq51Yx5jQF0GLybD_7Rb-PGzxvs-zUk/s1600/IMG_3003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1QEuoAz6CXbfSsN5O94olwK3DXf2ZJf7n1yUXy_GfPtnw_wAbFR5rqs-MTEhCbnQawiCVFICB2m9M6HjGpdxePZ1notWr5GPNADEG-vD6xX1_Jq51Yx5jQF0GLybD_7Rb-PGzxvs-zUk/s1600/IMG_3003.JPG" height="320" width="240"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Binding with 1/4" seam allowance</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZJ4SrpLm-H3GM51Ne5sn5sAzONotvMMzG1LWbGrAUo3xNLl-Z0hezNZGuBiCik7x1yJk02lXDgRj_4AiV56FtyavshRVy5yOQ-CM1hvQ9DJbpdtecpMp6it-BqGnrTI2xA_j-xgstI3E/s1600/IMG_3004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZJ4SrpLm-H3GM51Ne5sn5sAzONotvMMzG1LWbGrAUo3xNLl-Z0hezNZGuBiCik7x1yJk02lXDgRj_4AiV56FtyavshRVy5yOQ-CM1hvQ9DJbpdtecpMp6it-BqGnrTI2xA_j-xgstI3E/s1600/IMG_3004.JPG" height="320" width="240"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Flipping binding over to the back ready for hand stitching.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br>
<br>
And that's it! You're done. One advent calendar ready to be filled with festive treats for a lucky child - big or small - on December 1st.<br>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA4AoOfHNKDy9b6UAnWDIIFBwchUJ-GabMOjS_W6vpSJN4FuWP0XQGBAKfW18uLDnNFnG6EVcl_jx2S4hf0m1ltwiAXW-DCHHXEiPN7pBWN5q9MiMmIRsvSASA5jqzDjFprWbO3yfEjhA/s1600/IMG_3018.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA4AoOfHNKDy9b6UAnWDIIFBwchUJ-GabMOjS_W6vpSJN4FuWP0XQGBAKfW18uLDnNFnG6EVcl_jx2S4hf0m1ltwiAXW-DCHHXEiPN7pBWN5q9MiMmIRsvSASA5jqzDjFprWbO3yfEjhA/s1600/IMG_3018.JPG" height="320" width="320"></a></div>
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<br>Lindseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00322044656860713430noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2707194627077231188.post-55903250182081742312013-02-05T14:15:00.000+00:002013-02-05T14:15:21.115+00:00Happy Birthday to Us!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Can you believe it?! We have been open <span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">ONE WHOLE YEAR</span>!! January 20th 2012 was the day The Sewing Shop opened its doors for the first time and the unsuspecting needlewomen of Lichfield.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And what a totally fantastic year it has been! We've met so many lovely new friends, we've learned how to be buyers and book keepers and teachers as well as shop keepers. And as the following photos will show we've filled a rather empty-looking shop with loads... </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVE9tk-ZXKOCkV_y7cEGONcAJGxR-GQWnWgC2TROy6ZIr19fxiC2KfIf2J4qGdE0dG2ETWOJgu_j6QBWDERCkIJ_dNuabroPJfuAFdUE-8AMiH6GV_TDYzKLyZDFsT-iJG7v_yTD3le7E/s1600/IMG_0096.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVE9tk-ZXKOCkV_y7cEGONcAJGxR-GQWnWgC2TROy6ZIr19fxiC2KfIf2J4qGdE0dG2ETWOJgu_j6QBWDERCkIJ_dNuabroPJfuAFdUE-8AMiH6GV_TDYzKLyZDFsT-iJG7v_yTD3le7E/s320/IMG_0096.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">...and loads...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnOF5eZ4YCkEnXyUcqW4GwH4GtbDWIHGsuUXWQ-6vCW6McVmZos2hyphenhyphen8q1W1gyCq1gfLZLBfScJpbjeD_iu6RUM6F5k_adu_JE-Kv5gnwjoErjFGTDDufzhhWsEpf1M6MlMfsOvcw4XHd0/s1600/opening+day+070.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnOF5eZ4YCkEnXyUcqW4GwH4GtbDWIHGsuUXWQ-6vCW6McVmZos2hyphenhyphen8q1W1gyCq1gfLZLBfScJpbjeD_iu6RUM6F5k_adu_JE-Kv5gnwjoErjFGTDDufzhhWsEpf1M6MlMfsOvcw4XHd0/s320/opening+day+070.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">...and loads...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheVuIimM13GtU3jlBu-z1OcWD6FzmlRmCJqe7nIsrl7tO2w59qSFg8-0Cml3WzWNZOkFPAH9kRMFgI6D76HARII-gM5-bL9G3uOSFU-yy8YpWUa_a2PCFl0EzRHy7PsV9-O3ConwUqzX8/s1600/opening+day+075.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheVuIimM13GtU3jlBu-z1OcWD6FzmlRmCJqe7nIsrl7tO2w59qSFg8-0Cml3WzWNZOkFPAH9kRMFgI6D76HARII-gM5-bL9G3uOSFU-yy8YpWUa_a2PCFl0EzRHy7PsV9-O3ConwUqzX8/s320/opening+day+075.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">...of stock. It's quite incredible to see just how sparsely furnished our shop was when we first began trading. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEosWKUe7TfXmGe3g3UJJ3gvIGrmZ6EpN1yQBc1axnJDZ1aZa7i7yPBRX41B63FQ3fHLLmKEhbnMTIehjCItJr4RcV5hMAUs2lGlGoHTEjZPSnzzADbx9o-4WF5H6Dz0NCdcT-Kh2Jolg/s1600/opening+day+096.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEosWKUe7TfXmGe3g3UJJ3gvIGrmZ6EpN1yQBc1axnJDZ1aZa7i7yPBRX41B63FQ3fHLLmKEhbnMTIehjCItJr4RcV5hMAUs2lGlGoHTEjZPSnzzADbx9o-4WF5H6Dz0NCdcT-Kh2Jolg/s320/opening+day+096.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">A glimpse through the rainbow curtain at the back shows just how tidy and organised we were.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf3Zrodnv-ozXdunxVfAgoRL0y6y-fPsVViXS9w_JiO6MYTTWMu4iQZXiTYx4vT6n2_3qFn8nEkh_QdIjRJ5jFvXmVAPP7Cx9a-K_0Eil38FNtJ36JLcOW8LN2-MHux6KP4pNQAygHZL8/s1600/opening+day+097.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf3Zrodnv-ozXdunxVfAgoRL0y6y-fPsVViXS9w_JiO6MYTTWMu4iQZXiTYx4vT6n2_3qFn8nEkh_QdIjRJ5jFvXmVAPP7Cx9a-K_0Eil38FNtJ36JLcOW8LN2-MHux6KP4pNQAygHZL8/s320/opening+day+097.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And now..? Well now we are jam-packed full of fabrics and yarns and haberdashery of all kinds. We have sewing machines and magazines. We have buttons and bias binding. We have pompoms and Poodles. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaLGtO5YnF9sHqULh0WQFzZ2rprpFCVdCDh9NBrp1CRIJkJnKgSw_PY-114JRZ5YdqpCT2FRyzwjudia8UHBGNubKSCjpc7qXlR-lSW1a38GwoUYoufovKaeruF-dSk2l7wrVsijJGlTc/s1600/yarn+wall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaLGtO5YnF9sHqULh0WQFzZ2rprpFCVdCDh9NBrp1CRIJkJnKgSw_PY-114JRZ5YdqpCT2FRyzwjudia8UHBGNubKSCjpc7qXlR-lSW1a38GwoUYoufovKaeruF-dSk2l7wrVsijJGlTc/s320/yarn+wall.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And we couldn't have done it without you. We'd just like to say a massive <span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: x-large;"></span></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: x-large;">THANK YOU</span> </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">to every single customer who has visited our shop, whether you've bought one single button or hundreds of metres of material. It has been a fantastic year. here's to many, many more.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Cheers</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><em>Lindsey and Sandra</em></span><br />
xx<br />
<br />
Lindseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00322044656860713430noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2707194627077231188.post-39906883963220876972013-01-03T22:19:00.003+00:002013-01-03T22:19:38.439+00:00Happy New Year<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Wowsers! It's 2013! Let's see if this year I can manage to keep The Sewing Shop blog a little more regularly updated. Short but sweet is going to be the way forward I think. Little and often maybe...? So let's start as we mean to go on.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">To start the New Year we have a series of new events for your delectation. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">Knit and Natter is back!!!</span> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Bigger and better than ever. OK maybe I'm getting a tad carried away but there is one BIG change in that the sessions will now be run in the evening and not the daytime. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">From 7.00 until 9.00pm to suit all those who work or have childcare difficulties in the daytime. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The new session will be starting on Tuesday 29th January and continuing on the last Tuesday of every month thereafter. We can't wait.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgov-nbNGXRz7Rs8wUdgESNBf9nU2a1qF8CcwCPoUHH0nzw84tk2jtofBQJsfJiNmTEFXs3HHU4UFnIxv791OPL0miFCwPeGJFc3pP9FuLiJB2VgbUjPAy23RUBlnVTUAKz3RnC1AlHiKs/s1600/opening+day+118.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgov-nbNGXRz7Rs8wUdgESNBf9nU2a1qF8CcwCPoUHH0nzw84tk2jtofBQJsfJiNmTEFXs3HHU4UFnIxv791OPL0miFCwPeGJFc3pP9FuLiJB2VgbUjPAy23RUBlnVTUAKz3RnC1AlHiKs/s320/opening+day+118.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span>Lindseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00322044656860713430noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2707194627077231188.post-16517476798515685202012-07-01T21:50:00.002+01:002012-07-01T21:54:14.804+01:00What's Been Going On..?It really is 3 months since I last wrote a blog post!!! I can't believe it. Huge apologies but we've been so incredibly busy as more customers have discovered The Sewing Shop... No bad thing but it has meant that our plans to dominate the wonderful worldwide web have faltered somewhat.<br />
But now all that can be rectified as I have a lovely little laptop. So I can sit in the bosom of my family in the evenings and post on the interweb, rather than sit on my own in the cold and lonely back room tethered to the desk top PC.<br />
<br />
But enough waffle. <br />
<br />
Enough apologising.<br />
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What has been going on in those 3 months, you ask?<br />
<br />
Well we've got more stock. Much more stock! <br />
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Our two shelves of cotton fabrics have now expanded to five, with designs from Michael Miller and Riley Blake amongst the many beautiful bolts. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_56lU01s6pEc10CJEjKYxW6rkQXSeyXWXR90n2WCsTrk6q3bgJT_mJqpEI1zrgmRXKsRQVo6yEPgqib05GkhLa35kcexqffuJdjLJz2C5leo-PAQVUW1PzjDlkl847acvVaT9MP3Aks8/s1600/IMG_0458.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_56lU01s6pEc10CJEjKYxW6rkQXSeyXWXR90n2WCsTrk6q3bgJT_mJqpEI1zrgmRXKsRQVo6yEPgqib05GkhLa35kcexqffuJdjLJz2C5leo-PAQVUW1PzjDlkl847acvVaT9MP3Aks8/s400/IMG_0458.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cupcakes and Polka Dots</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
We have many more colours, textures and weights of Stylecraft and King Cole knitting yarn and fabulous patterns from both companies. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGb6Nb4hkKEE_rrF9hyphenhyphentg-Vqz98z91YC2CKA6798mE5816frlRdcv8iYn9tjygE8wyFDqLl6zC7l4_2OolG9nuAMXeQCsCEi0xGfkZmdD07O84vEVz2zz240vOgNu_58rAf-fZ3cI32Cg/s1600/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGb6Nb4hkKEE_rrF9hyphenhyphentg-Vqz98z91YC2CKA6798mE5816frlRdcv8iYn9tjygE8wyFDqLl6zC7l4_2OolG9nuAMXeQCsCEi0xGfkZmdD07O84vEVz2zz240vOgNu_58rAf-fZ3cI32Cg/s320/3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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We have just take delivery of the amazing Hooked Zpagetti. A new European craze for lovers of knitting and crochet on a BIG scale (more about this in the next day or two). <br />
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Our range of ribbons is growing all the time. We now have grosgrain, patterned, spotted, striped, sheer, floral and patriotic as well as the standard double faced satin. <br />
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We have some gorgeous patterned bias bindings - great for making bunting or edging hemlines, placemats, curtains, etc. Some even have a lacey edge.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi6PkOEkmPgfcjxLj1zlYc0tcRepjbeKKM1Ff2MtMXTNahfnPqaOY-BVI5v1ykRdr17ZQ8m3FMWlOeTsJPmsr4I7_1Y7Nb_hjtcPg4d2R4XMv2gAbm_YDmEiIf4k_leoqbJAZVYFlMElM/s1600/lace+edged+bias.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi6PkOEkmPgfcjxLj1zlYc0tcRepjbeKKM1Ff2MtMXTNahfnPqaOY-BVI5v1ykRdr17ZQ8m3FMWlOeTsJPmsr4I7_1Y7Nb_hjtcPg4d2R4XMv2gAbm_YDmEiIf4k_leoqbJAZVYFlMElM/s1600/lace+edged+bias.jpg" /></a></div>
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Our workshops have been going great guns. We have now added various fabric techniques to the range of crochet classes we offer. Our Simple Applique Cushion Cover has been very popular and bunting is not just for the Jubilee so you can still come and learn to make this cutie.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeK-hVtX5R_qyz7sHVhGm_bJdRK93AKl8c27eXHIsQvmopbEgHFRKJwDxIPhKjFOv8AwdjlB53ceE0a0I_1z1DaacXesOZe6ZuX3Jess1_Q5yWYFDv_cZipL3WsELRGrMAUB1mrrY7NoU/s1600/276693_125956870874394_95398579_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeK-hVtX5R_qyz7sHVhGm_bJdRK93AKl8c27eXHIsQvmopbEgHFRKJwDxIPhKjFOv8AwdjlB53ceE0a0I_1z1DaacXesOZe6ZuX3Jess1_Q5yWYFDv_cZipL3WsELRGrMAUB1mrrY7NoU/s1600/276693_125956870874394_95398579_n.jpg" /></a></div>
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We post details of all of our workshops on our Facebook page and, in future we'll keep the website updated more regularly, so they'll be listed on there too.<br />
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So that's a very quick catch up. Over the coming days, weeks and months we'll bring you more regular updates of what's going on in the world of The Sewing Shop.<br />
<br />
ttfn<br />
x<br />
<br />
Lindseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00322044656860713430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2707194627077231188.post-78463036340025192762012-03-23T22:57:00.000+00:002012-03-23T22:57:57.271+00:00New Workshops - bookings being taken.<div class="lfloat">Here we go. GFor your delectation, may we present our workshops - both crochet and fabric techniques - for the next few weeks. More will be added as we create them/they evolve/demand dictates. If you would like to attend any of these but daytime is no good for you then please let us know which class you are interested in and when you would prefer it to be held.</div><div class="lfloat"> </div><div class="lfloat">If you would like to book a place on any of these classes then please email (<a href="mailto:lichfieldsewingshop@gmail.com">lichfieldsewingshop@gmail.com</a>), inbox us through <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LichfieldSewingShop" target="_blank">Facebook </a>or ring the shop on 01543 253780.</div><div class="lfloat"> </div><div class="lfloat"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Fabric Bunting.</span></div><div class="lfloat"> </div><div class="lfloat">Date: Tuesday, 3rd April or Wednesday 11th April 2012</div><div class="lfloat">Time: <span class="fcb">13:00</span> until <span class="fcb">15:00</span></div><div class="uiListItem uiListLight uiListVerticalItemBorder"></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="uiGrid mvm"><tbody>
<tr><td class="vTop"><div class="fbInfoIcon fbDescriptionIcon"><i class="img sp_1wkyo2 sx_ba8ab7" title="Description"></i></div></td><td class="vTop">Just in time for the Summer of Celebrations, learn how to make 5 bunting flags. Choose one of our fabulous patchwork fabrics and a complimentary bias binding to make a gorgeous decoration for your home or garden. <div>Included in the £20.00 cost is a fat quarter of cotton patchwork fabric, a metre of bias binding, use of our sewing machines, threads, etc. and of course tea/coffee and cake!</div><div> </div></td></tr>
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<div align="center" class="uiListItem uiListLight uiListVerticalItemBorder"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfU9U-nccmN_SCsdyivqLOb5Gg-3NuIzlN4klo5agJsMYfncBfppLqQuwsvvgTaxOZaN_oFwlDAHdCO44dPE0i15p-M7Aqi8p6kfiJX9wwhIiUxtdg-J8b56qHgy5XFDcEZp95CK_Ndr4/s1600/heart.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img aea="true" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfU9U-nccmN_SCsdyivqLOb5Gg-3NuIzlN4klo5agJsMYfncBfppLqQuwsvvgTaxOZaN_oFwlDAHdCO44dPE0i15p-M7Aqi8p6kfiJX9wwhIiUxtdg-J8b56qHgy5XFDcEZp95CK_Ndr4/s320/heart.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="uiListItem uiListLight uiListVerticalItemBorder"><br />
</div><div class="lfloat"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Crochet Heart Bunting</span></div><div class="lfloat"> </div><div class="lfloat">Date: Wednesday, 4th April 2012</div><div class="lfloat">Time: <span class="fcb">13:00</span> until <span class="fcb">15:00 <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="uiGrid mvm"><tbody>
<tr><td class="vTop">If you have learnt the basic crochet stitches we will now teach you to increase and decrease, creating some lovely little heart shaped motifs (see photo above). These can be strung together to make a garland, stitched together and stuffed to make hanging decorations or left singly and used as coasters. Very versatile and very addictive to make.A 4mm crochet hook and ball of Stylecraft Special DK yarn are included in the £16.00 price.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="vTop"><ul><li><div class="fbInfoIcon fbDescriptionIcon"><i class="img sp_1wkyo2 sx_ba8ab7" title="Description"></i></div></li>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWhde4_4gVb8s9MLYzmbvMSQ7bCcdwKC5ZXPwDbxxAwNvRPF0vmZuWV69g7MEF-DO8WEmyTRmM2hZsCnVdNyddeKR9auz5xFfl-zR1j4gPuaN0GxdVd58pLCRD1vl9UpozuNEptDACEP4/s1600/P200610_19.350001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img aea="true" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWhde4_4gVb8s9MLYzmbvMSQ7bCcdwKC5ZXPwDbxxAwNvRPF0vmZuWV69g7MEF-DO8WEmyTRmM2hZsCnVdNyddeKR9auz5xFfl-zR1j4gPuaN0GxdVd58pLCRD1vl9UpozuNEptDACEP4/s320/P200610_19.350001.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="lfloat"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Crocheted Granny Square</span></div><div class="lfloat"> </div><div class="lfloat">Date: Tuesday, 10th April 2012</div><div class="lfloat">Time: <span class="fcb">13:00</span> until <span class="fcb">15:00 </span></div><li class="uiListItem uiListLight uiListVerticalItemBorder"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="uiGrid mvm"><tbody>
<tr><td class="vTop"><div class="fbInfoIcon fbDescriptionIcon"><i class="img sp_1wkyo2 sx_ba8ab7" title="Description"></i></div></td><td class="vTop">The classic crocheted square that everybody knows and loves. Learn how to make this little gem and you'll be creating your first afghan/blanket before you know it.A 4mm hook and ball of Special DK yarn plus tea/coffee and cake are included in the price of £16.00.</td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHAKXQduy5oPDxHJ2GZTBrfWKY0psCB0NEbtEDsdV2z_A6u9ykJFu870AK6zcvCBNnBQBFJTXIn9syLUWMN3f1c3FYRKlEmLiUh1wccgmd5jGMyZxFGAXIY246jc_P59_s0MZv2TAXU3I/s1600/flowers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img aea="true" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHAKXQduy5oPDxHJ2GZTBrfWKY0psCB0NEbtEDsdV2z_A6u9ykJFu870AK6zcvCBNnBQBFJTXIn9syLUWMN3f1c3FYRKlEmLiUh1wccgmd5jGMyZxFGAXIY246jc_P59_s0MZv2TAXU3I/s1600/flowers.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Crocheted Triangle Bunting</span><br />
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<div class="lfloat">Date: Tuesday, 17th April 2012</div><div class="lfloat">Time: <span class="fcb">13:00</span> until <span class="fcb">15:00</span></div><li class="uiListItem uiListLight uiListVerticalItemBorder"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="uiGrid mvm"><tbody>
<tr><td class="vTop"><div class="fbInfoIcon fbDescriptionIcon"><i class="img sp_1wkyo2 sx_ba8ab7" title="Description"></i></div></td><td class="vTop">You've seen it hanging in the shop, now have a go at making your very own crotched bunting. A slightly different twist on the fabric flags which would be fabulous worked in red, white and blue for the Diamond Jubilee celebrations or any other colour scheme to suit your home décor.<br />
Includes increasing and decreasing techniques so more suited to those with a grasp of the basic crochet stitches. A 4mm hook and ball of Special DK yarn are included in your fee. Cost £16.00.</td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI4EptdTvDHUE1-tPRl564WtbnSIbPtEP4mq3UpRfXfb75qVnbSnDM7-s_pPBnff_D-C02Qfd7RBOLhIJ0nC_NmiWzpJCLzkzZPQ8JaLC30-MXy6a3OJk9zEn9DwAZyLEa3MARDwM1CXI/s1600/13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img aea="true" border="0" height="203" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI4EptdTvDHUE1-tPRl564WtbnSIbPtEP4mq3UpRfXfb75qVnbSnDM7-s_pPBnff_D-C02Qfd7RBOLhIJ0nC_NmiWzpJCLzkzZPQ8JaLC30-MXy6a3OJk9zEn9DwAZyLEa3MARDwM1CXI/s320/13.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Beginners Machine Patchwork Panel</span><br />
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<div class="lfloat">Date: Wednesday, 18th April or Tuesday 24th April 2012</div><div class="lfloat"><span class="fcb">Time: 13:00</span> until <span class="fcb">15:00</span></div><li class="uiListItem uiListLight uiListVerticalItemBorder"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="uiGrid mvm"><tbody>
<tr><td class="vTop"><div class="fbInfoIcon fbDescriptionIcon"><i class="img sp_1wkyo2 sx_ba8ab7" title="Description"></i></div></td><td class="vTop"><div class="text_exposed_root text_exposed">In this class we will take the terror out of using a rotary cutter to cut fabric squares. We will then piece them together on the sewing machine (or by hand if preferred)to create a patchwork cushion front.<br />
We will then look at the different methods of quilting and finis<span class="text_exposed_hide">...</span><span class="text_exposed_show">hing a quilt. If there is time we will begin to stitch our “quilt sandwich”. This can then be completed at home.<br />
In a future workshop we will cover how to create a simple envelope cushion using this panel.<br />
All fabrics, wadding and threads used on the class are included in the cost. </span><span class="text_exposed_show">Cost - £20.00</span></div></td></tr>
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<div class="lfloat"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Absolute Beginners Crochet Class</span></div><div class="lfloat"> </div><div class="lfloat">Date: Wednesday, 25th April 2012</div><div class="lfloat">Time: <span class="fcb">13:00</span> until <span class="fcb">15:00</span></div><li class="uiListItem uiListLight uiListVerticalItemBorder"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="uiGrid mvm"><tbody>
<tr><td class="vTop"><div class="fbInfoIcon fbDescriptionIcon"><i class="img sp_1wkyo2 sx_ba8ab7" title="Description"></i></div></td><td class="vTop">(As 28th March)<br />
Once you have mastered how to hold the hook and yarn (no mean feat in itself!), you will learn how to create a basic foundation chain plus double and treble stitches. Crochet is totally addictive. Once you have mastered these basics you will be hooked!!<br />
A 4mm crochet hook and a ball of Stylecraft Special DK yarn are included in the cost of the class.<br />
Cost £16.00</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Crocheted Flower Workshop</span><br />
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<div class="fbInfoIcon lfloat"><i class="img sp_1wkyo2 sx_8a39e0" title="When"></i></div><div class="lfloat">Date: Tuesday, 1st or Wednesday 9th May 2012</div><div class="lfloat">Time: <span class="fcb">13:00</span> until <span class="fcb">15:00</span></div><li class="uiListItem uiListLight uiListVerticalItemBorder"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="uiGrid mvm"><tbody>
<tr><td class="vTop"><div class="fbInfoIcon fbDescriptionIcon"><i class="img sp_1wkyo2 sx_ba8ab7" title="Description"></i></div></td><td class="vTop">In this session we will show you how to create a crocheted flower using double crochet, half trebles and trebles. This can be finished off with a brooch back to make an individual accessory, applied to a cushion or you can make a series of flowers and join them to make a scarf. Once you've made one you will be covering everything in yarn flowers!<br />
A 4mm crochet hook plus all yarns used on the day are included in the cost.Cost - £12.00</td></tr>
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<div class="fbInfoIcon lfloat"><i class="img sp_1wkyo2 sx_8a39e0" title="When"></i></div><div class="lfloat"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Folk Art House Applique Picture</span></div><div class="lfloat"> </div><div class="lfloat">Date: Wednesday, 2nd or Tuesday 8th May 2012</div><div class="lfloat">Time: <span class="fcb">13:00</span> until <span class="fcb">15:00</span></div><li class="uiListItem uiListLight uiListVerticalItemBorder"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="uiGrid mvm"><tbody>
<tr><td class="vTop"><div class="fbInfoIcon fbDescriptionIcon"><i class="img sp_1wkyo2 sx_ba8ab7" title="Description"></i></div></td><td class="vTop">Create a one-off folk art picture of your own or an imagined house. We will be using fusible web to apply fabric scraps and embellishing with lace, ribbons, hand embroidery stitches and buttons.<br />
Included in the cost are an 8” embroidery hoop, calico base fabric, all fabric scraps and trims used on the day, plus tea/coffee and cake.<br />
Cost £20.00</td></tr>
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So there you have it. We hope there is something to tickle your fancy in that little list. If you have a technique that your desperately want to learn then please let us know and we will do our best to include it in our next block.<br />
<br />
ttfn<br />
xLindseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00322044656860713430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2707194627077231188.post-44538578590552077372012-03-23T08:08:00.000+00:002012-03-23T08:08:24.213+00:009 Weeks Old!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9s0WT3xrbtGRtxkuXW37KLtPhCa4BaxCwIVQB9yfyHjTNaB1Ce_KARzDLbHub1iNefL1WP1mO_-TZKOg5aMISjdG9Iljpip-65jMkfS1FN27f76nRcjaq5P2balrg0PzlsPb0JOApUHM/s1600/15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img aea="true" border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9s0WT3xrbtGRtxkuXW37KLtPhCa4BaxCwIVQB9yfyHjTNaB1Ce_KARzDLbHub1iNefL1WP1mO_-TZKOg5aMISjdG9Iljpip-65jMkfS1FN27f76nRcjaq5P2balrg0PzlsPb0JOApUHM/s320/15.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Well it's a whole 9 weeks since we opened our lovely little shop and things have certainly changed somewhat. I'll post some more up to date photos once I get into the shop armed with my camera, but for now here are a few pictures from the talented lens of Andy at <a href="http://www.peacockpix.co.uk/www.peacockpix.co.uk/Welcome.html" target="_blank">Peacock Pix.</a> We just love them.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm4KpYTFqq2JWynv_xOamwDbLgT4hnvuRz40yTvk98V-RmO1hlFk1li4nlG6gOyPZ5Fn37m06hQ7_kNBRdTTlGso-mrVz717zwwU3UfqPl0Sro2neHtrcyzvYZYO80cVe9dLJvWjU3b_E/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img aea="true" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm4KpYTFqq2JWynv_xOamwDbLgT4hnvuRz40yTvk98V-RmO1hlFk1li4nlG6gOyPZ5Fn37m06hQ7_kNBRdTTlGso-mrVz717zwwU3UfqPl0Sro2neHtrcyzvYZYO80cVe9dLJvWjU3b_E/s320/1.jpg" width="202" /></a></div><br />
We have much more new stock to tempt you:- embroidery, haberdashery, yarn, fabrics...<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm1STaW0ygAdaSamHLl1buVSmulhZiIlZWkU4DXLI8vZ_kqsUn7XhSacDFz6QHgfaF2JL78bGNvHFW119OzfOjfR4Yues6aifGI_4X5ZCQA3fgZ4NGj6EuFqZ3_GVPCy50XpKqXSUDJPM/s1600/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img aea="true" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm1STaW0ygAdaSamHLl1buVSmulhZiIlZWkU4DXLI8vZ_kqsUn7XhSacDFz6QHgfaF2JL78bGNvHFW119OzfOjfR4Yues6aifGI_4X5ZCQA3fgZ4NGj6EuFqZ3_GVPCy50XpKqXSUDJPM/s320/2.jpg" width="198" /></a></div><br />
We have a new series of workshops planned including fabric bunting, patchwork and applique.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd4jZuQ7i41EPFqooCDXU_wY5sNTDJrr9s7YC9iVUUIEopGYkoQA9fruPkkqIQVh3CwZftidgl_MSPVZ7ED_2yJXJT2eX9nVCwafkSiHJBGq6l6eYDvXwvC6V2MlMy_0gLytUuwDrT2P4/s1600/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img aea="true" border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd4jZuQ7i41EPFqooCDXU_wY5sNTDJrr9s7YC9iVUUIEopGYkoQA9fruPkkqIQVh3CwZftidgl_MSPVZ7ED_2yJXJT2eX9nVCwafkSiHJBGq6l6eYDvXwvC6V2MlMy_0gLytUuwDrT2P4/s320/3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
And of course we still have our friendly welcome and the kettle is on!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDpr47mkpgiMyyB3necGm0aWQyuNq_Oc4K7sOsOYmbMLt_GBDe4BR91t16YelqSi6fNEQg2hHynunryGoW-drpYI19NMIVHUYKtTi6TrHDkrpFe9iWTd5G-Q42SVTV8ddS8vp6ODPe4Ek/s1600/21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img aea="true" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDpr47mkpgiMyyB3necGm0aWQyuNq_Oc4K7sOsOYmbMLt_GBDe4BR91t16YelqSi6fNEQg2hHynunryGoW-drpYI19NMIVHUYKtTi6TrHDkrpFe9iWTd5G-Q42SVTV8ddS8vp6ODPe4Ek/s320/21.jpg" width="132" /></a></div> ttfn xxLindseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00322044656860713430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2707194627077231188.post-86222013666259718122012-02-13T11:32:00.000+00:002012-02-13T11:32:59.928+00:00New Baby is BornWell ladies and gentlemen. First there was The Sewing Shop - a stitchy, knitty, hooky haven in the centre of picturesque Lichfield. And now - for those of you who don't live nearby or for those cold, snowed-in days when you can't get to visit in person - there is <a href="http://www.lichfieldsewingshop.com/" target="_blank">The Sewing Shop Online</a>!! Yay!!<br />
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Please pop over and have a look by clicking on the link above. For now there is lots of information about what we do and what we sell, and very soon there will be more lovely photos and online shopping so you can make mail order purchases and receive a little bit of The Sewing Shop delivered to your door.<br />
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We can already take orders over the phone if you wish to pay by card and they will be posted out to you the same day.<br />
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There is <a href="http://www.lichfieldsewingshop.com/blog.html" target="_blank">a new blog</a> attached to the website which we will be using from now on, so this one will go on hold. Please follow the <a href="http://www.lichfieldsewingshop.com/blog.html" target="_blank">link to the new one</a> and follow our news and exploits there.<br />
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Right. I'm off to take some new photos of the shop.<br />
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ttfn<br />
xxLindseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00322044656860713430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2707194627077231188.post-31557126370243169112012-02-03T08:10:00.000+00:002012-02-03T08:10:24.193+00:00Hooking and hexies and pixies<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">So at long last we've managed to get going with our workshops. The spare time we thought we'd have during the day has not materialised as we have been so busy. It's incredible just how busy we have been 0 but brilliant nonetheless. :o)</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">On Monday we had a Crafty Coffee Morning - coffee, cake and a bit of crochet. Heavenly. The ladies who came and paid their fivers had a lovely time, as did we. It was the first bit of crafting Sandra or I have done in months. These drop-in sessions will take place every Monday morning. Bring along you own knitting or hooky project, or come and start a new one. We'll provide the tea (or coffee), the cake and a chance to work and chat with group of friendly crafters.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjKBYMq5jsCtJ_xFC2mBIkK0g3FX58fKnKo3_0MQ3TPTOObgecXmpD4J0JvrVcP930mQNGNcGcLsdWHfrn6h59lnPN_ppOSIfFqJ3E7yGu24cKDDuFwjNf0l_mEB1VEgpSjaIVTJmOYYM/s1600/opening+day+120.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" sda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjKBYMq5jsCtJ_xFC2mBIkK0g3FX58fKnKo3_0MQ3TPTOObgecXmpD4J0JvrVcP930mQNGNcGcLsdWHfrn6h59lnPN_ppOSIfFqJ3E7yGu24cKDDuFwjNf0l_mEB1VEgpSjaIVTJmOYYM/s320/opening+day+120.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">We can now give you details of our first couple of workshops - hopefully the first of many.<br />
On Tuesday 8th February (that's this coming Tuesday), we'll be covering traditional hand-pieced hexagon patchwork. Those of you who either don't fancy using or a machine or prefer the idea of some genteel hand work will love this class. Two hours of cutting papers and fabric and stitching them together to create a pincushion, a gadget cover or the beginnings of a whole quilt! From 2.00pm until 4.00pm, the workshop costs £16.00 and includes all materials used in the session plus tea/coffee and cake!! If you are interested please give us a call on 01543 253780 or email us.</div></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgov-nbNGXRz7Rs8wUdgESNBf9nU2a1qF8CcwCPoUHH0nzw84tk2jtofBQJsfJiNmTEFXs3HHU4UFnIxv791OPL0miFCwPeGJFc3pP9FuLiJB2VgbUjPAy23RUBlnVTUAKz3RnC1AlHiKs/s1600/opening+day+118.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" sda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgov-nbNGXRz7Rs8wUdgESNBf9nU2a1qF8CcwCPoUHH0nzw84tk2jtofBQJsfJiNmTEFXs3HHU4UFnIxv791OPL0miFCwPeGJFc3pP9FuLiJB2VgbUjPAy23RUBlnVTUAKz3RnC1AlHiKs/s320/opening+day+118.jpg" width="240" /></a>Workshop Number 2 is Total Beginners Crochet. Learn ALL of the basics from how to hold your hook and yarn to creating a slip stitch, a foundation chain and progressing to single, double and treble crochet stitches. By the end of the 3 hour session your should have 3 little sample squares which could form the basis of so many projects.<br />
The class is on Wednesday 9th February from 1.00pm til 4.00pm and costs £24.00. This includes a hook and ball of yarn and yummy refreshments.</div>If you'd like to sign up (and there are only 4 places left as I type) please see above for our phone number.<br />
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">There are more workshops being planned all the time. We've had requests for simple cushion covers, machine patchwork, intermediate crochet, bag making, free motion embroidery, applique and childrens sessions especially during school holidays many more so watch this space for more details.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">And don't forget all the other items we stock and can gladly send to you buy mail order. A "proper" website is under construction which will have a mail order shop facility but we are able to take card payments over the phone and send anything to you through the post.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">Local people - remember we are the only place in Lichfield that offers sewing machine servicing and repairs.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">Eek! Time to go and open up!</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">ttfn</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">xx</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Lindseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00322044656860713430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2707194627077231188.post-48401517103568323642012-01-29T09:16:00.000+00:002012-01-29T09:16:08.279+00:00One week on.Well what a week it's been at The Sewing Shop. The people of Lichfield (and beyond) have flooded back through the doors and welcomed us with open arms. The response has been quite overwhelming. They've loved our refurb. They've loved our stock. They've just loved the fact that there is once more a shop in the city selling yarn, fabric and haberdashery.<br />
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We've had so many deliveries this week. We now have Pfaff sewing machines in stock. The <a href="http://www.pfaff.com/uk/150.html" target="_blank">Hobby 1132</a> is a great little workshorse of a machine. Can't wait to have a play with it and we already have one very interested customer. :)<br />
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The stands of Gutermann thread arrived from Germany. Hooray and well done Tina, our rep, for getting them here so quickly for us. The rainbow of colours by the front door look gorgeous.<br />
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And we've already had our second delivery of yarn from <a href="http://www.stylecraft-yarns.co.uk/knitting" target="_blank">Stylecraft!</a> After the first weekend we needed to re-order. The squidgy big 400g balls of Aran with Wool have just flown and our other rainbow wall - the <a href="http://www.stylecraft-yarns.co.uk/knitting/0_caea175_CAFA016" target="_blank">Special DK</a> - has been rapidly depleted. Order number 3 will be going off to Stylecraft HQ early next week.<br />
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For those existing <a href="http://attic24.typepad.com/weblog/" target="_blank">Attic 24</a> fans amongst you (and those about to be converted after clicking on the link), we've been asked about "<a href="http://attic24.typepad.com/weblog/2010/07/the-granny-stripe-tadah.html" target="_blank">Lucy packs</a>". We have all but 3 of the shades Lucy used in her Granny Stripe Blanket and we'll be getting those in very soon. If you would like a pack of all 17 shades of scrumptious yarn then get in touch by email or through our Facebook page. We can post them out to you for £35.00 and free postage and packing. <br />
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Apologies for the lack of photos. We've been so busy we've not had time to take any. I'll try to add some in the next day or so. However, this week <a href="http://www.peacockpix.co.uk/www.peacockpix.co.uk/Welcome.html" target="_blank">a friend</a> is (hopefully) coming to take some gorgeous professional ones. Andy (of Peacock Pix) takes <strong><em>the</em></strong> most amazing photos and we can't wait to see what magic he can create with our little shop.<br />
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Right. I must now get back to the head-scratching task of planning workshops. We're planning to offer crochet, knitting, patchwork and quilting and all manner of other textile and yarn related classes, but trying to work out the what, when and how is no small task. We'll let you know just ask soon as we have them all sorted.<br />
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To kick things off Monday morning is going to see the start of Crafty Coffee Mornings. If you've got that Monday morning feeling and getting everyone off to work and school has left you feeling frazzled, pop down for a cuppa and a cake and a bit of crochet therapy. Hook, yarn, instruction and inspiration as well as coffee and cake are all included in the £5. A nice way to chill out with lovely new crafty friends. Hope to see you there.<br />
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ttfn<br />
xxLindseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00322044656860713430noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2707194627077231188.post-50267426812382558812012-01-22T10:30:00.000+00:002012-01-22T10:30:43.469+00:00We Are Open!!!<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt8Gv107B09FuZ9Y_nm8sDaFTGSN6LLJXF4Zm9nYBgPwD4VB6hl7qE8zGpol83Qzqr2HiWGgGclY5_WuBU4JO0MRdo_QCcordnvzav7DA-c4bryS5tVvu_pMQbFpCDf2A5TwGZPEVyPd4/s1600/IMG_2614.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" nfa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt8Gv107B09FuZ9Y_nm8sDaFTGSN6LLJXF4Zm9nYBgPwD4VB6hl7qE8zGpol83Qzqr2HiWGgGclY5_WuBU4JO0MRdo_QCcordnvzav7DA-c4bryS5tVvu_pMQbFpCDf2A5TwGZPEVyPd4/s320/IMG_2614.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">So here we are at last. Our doors opened to our lovely customers for the first time on Friday. We hoped people would like what we done to the shop but we never thought the response would be quite so amazing. They loved it. :o)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Come on in and have a little look around and see what we've been up to during our brief period of blog silence.</div><br />
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Here's Sandra on Wednesday with our fab delivery of Stylecraft yarns. <br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNQBDNiYimgmPyPBnHUUyl358eqKvICQJ20c3VP71TfYPnUPSRYa2rTDaJ1yUiu2heXUACK8wAHbFAXO_ASG04a6WqWNbPRMiy6Ap8aX_WMxI_-s17xeyNunAm3R-vwopWeb_B31GiGLk/s1600/opening+day+063.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" nfa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNQBDNiYimgmPyPBnHUUyl358eqKvICQJ20c3VP71TfYPnUPSRYa2rTDaJ1yUiu2heXUACK8wAHbFAXO_ASG04a6WqWNbPRMiy6Ap8aX_WMxI_-s17xeyNunAm3R-vwopWeb_B31GiGLk/s320/opening+day+063.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Oh and this is me with the same bundles of yarny goodness. Were we excited? Just a little bit. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV5ZPpjtJntvQS2BtGEhnn90jKztM4BH07D8MZTx_Q6l4Y2Ab0O0h1s_0_rlDNnqHAE71PJoeAfnw1uDfZ3nyXuRG7esm3_7UOvdImhLJ-SuJCeZ9j_xGeXE_bVTxsymfrlCvaB8LQhRE/s1600/opening+day+064.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" nfa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV5ZPpjtJntvQS2BtGEhnn90jKztM4BH07D8MZTx_Q6l4Y2Ab0O0h1s_0_rlDNnqHAE71PJoeAfnw1uDfZ3nyXuRG7esm3_7UOvdImhLJ-SuJCeZ9j_xGeXE_bVTxsymfrlCvaB8LQhRE/s320/opening+day+064.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
On the same day we rreceived another delivery of haberdashery including these bolts of candy-coloured craft net.<br />
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With the help of my mum, and many others we managed to get it all checked off, priced up and out on display. Then it was time to primp and titivate to make the shop look as cosy and welcoming as we'd dreamed. We were moving tables and chairs around 5 monutes before we locked up on Thursday night.<br />
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The it was Friday.<br />
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Opening day.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOauhL5naVuiEoQ3l_hyiNomait-ERfZKoVvmTybsyL4eFL730DIe2f4Mbz_YdAutX1ZoJW2UjIVdEVymneQncAdB4MWdlLnqzwQo7XMfQCdz6BCO4DiVdbmuQ8gvUkDbKs3LoNMUfQCs/s1600/opening+day+047.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" nfa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOauhL5naVuiEoQ3l_hyiNomait-ERfZKoVvmTybsyL4eFL730DIe2f4Mbz_YdAutX1ZoJW2UjIVdEVymneQncAdB4MWdlLnqzwQo7XMfQCdz6BCO4DiVdbmuQ8gvUkDbKs3LoNMUfQCs/s320/opening+day+047.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
This is front part part of the shop where people can sit in comfort to browse through our knitting, crochet and dress-making pattern books. We also have copies of other crafty books that customers can have a flick through for inspiration. And of course we will hold our workshops and crafty get-togethers here. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdkDF7r96EMFpgpF1oWnIFYFEgeDIdTFyrJIDESim1jFOEMtyXOm0tRWM5btlaaiAcSZQXkKX2z_KckPqPRGw2RYsRKiNjy2N_hyphenhyphenPOTyj2m_t0gNtLXHKoCdqSsDw1FskZZYW1PlU91AQ/s1600/opening+day+099.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" nfa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdkDF7r96EMFpgpF1oWnIFYFEgeDIdTFyrJIDESim1jFOEMtyXOm0tRWM5btlaaiAcSZQXkKX2z_KckPqPRGw2RYsRKiNjy2N_hyphenhyphenPOTyj2m_t0gNtLXHKoCdqSsDw1FskZZYW1PlU91AQ/s320/opening+day+099.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
This is the counter area. <br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiANju5NacU6e2eGSMUiiYTkst8x0PQ2e22kjoYNZMN9ZKy9N9ehfBgw0ig0XjFgErZGr71O976uld7i6kEQs12MS2t_eeGmBwRrQj6o9wjOFbkW3ZgSla1n0hk7eZXQCIOFsLiMZXasCQ/s1600/opening+day+096.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" nfa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiANju5NacU6e2eGSMUiiYTkst8x0PQ2e22kjoYNZMN9ZKy9N9ehfBgw0ig0XjFgErZGr71O976uld7i6kEQs12MS2t_eeGmBwRrQj6o9wjOFbkW3ZgSla1n0hk7eZXQCIOFsLiMZXasCQ/s320/opening+day+096.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Ta-dah! The rainbow wall of Stylecraft yarns! We have Special DK in a riot of colours (£2.10 per 100g ball), Wondersoft Baby in DK(£3.55 per 100g), 4 ply and 3 ply(£3.99 per 100g) weights, Special Yarn with Wool in 400g balls (£9.25) and Special Chunky (£2.30 per 100g). It is flying. After 2 days of trading we need to order more very quickly so if you have a particular shades you'd like us to get in shout now. :o)<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiw-IRUgaWIU_fIMlaT3OSFYsTbP-Jc7bubPYbn3hu8__aug_B9f34NFiPNtoBaXUiynR1gBfu-ycCIqAaPTJv70LlBbX9Ekct9urpNAC_a2A0EfcFAndG_wA7j8w6fAMZ005YLpdy1hU/s1600/opening+day+097.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" nfa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiw-IRUgaWIU_fIMlaT3OSFYsTbP-Jc7bubPYbn3hu8__aug_B9f34NFiPNtoBaXUiynR1gBfu-ycCIqAaPTJv70LlBbX9Ekct9urpNAC_a2A0EfcFAndG_wA7j8w6fAMZ005YLpdy1hU/s320/opening+day+097.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
We have scrummy buttons, <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-XhCrAo_9chd83P1c-5NxdtrNgkJdZoWtarAUfd4SqZle42dGCdf5ZqS_ExuhSwxMBFQXuX7drSYou5_0zXDxmf4hs4Un_xaoqpPGxwWELPo6iFVIx8z958QWYVkDvYWuPi2Kyf3L9QY/s1600/opening+day+086.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" nfa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-XhCrAo_9chd83P1c-5NxdtrNgkJdZoWtarAUfd4SqZle42dGCdf5ZqS_ExuhSwxMBFQXuX7drSYou5_0zXDxmf4hs4Un_xaoqpPGxwWELPo6iFVIx8z958QWYVkDvYWuPi2Kyf3L9QY/s320/opening+day+086.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
pretty pearl-headed pins,<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe0UAzFl34JG8umt4-u-tJc7MqMvfwaSJ0gCG5L2j7W8Iqi-v2qEcFM_qJVy8Zg4zYSyYYD8L3rm7AQ2xn8kqEiG-pg9YVNN7v5iSO9p4vsm12lwxTHq6U4cqA2-vKZCeBfiTUwjPSShw/s1600/opening+day+090.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" nfa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe0UAzFl34JG8umt4-u-tJc7MqMvfwaSJ0gCG5L2j7W8Iqi-v2qEcFM_qJVy8Zg4zYSyYYD8L3rm7AQ2xn8kqEiG-pg9YVNN7v5iSO9p4vsm12lwxTHq6U4cqA2-vKZCeBfiTUwjPSShw/s320/opening+day+090.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
shirring elastic in a range of lovely shades (fab for making button bracelets with),<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwDp4txU9bHPHqyv_OjzxXXk2c5EDUCyhTP61hugvp-Eup7hagAGgakjOX4pnTks5fDcEpXm5ul_lzqMgptYoRtf6OrVrUzIarAE1jRm77fsG9YzJ-7vpiYnCOLRdIRQfgl2HL85cdhTE/s1600/opening+day+088.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" nfa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwDp4txU9bHPHqyv_OjzxXXk2c5EDUCyhTP61hugvp-Eup7hagAGgakjOX4pnTks5fDcEpXm5ul_lzqMgptYoRtf6OrVrUzIarAE1jRm77fsG9YzJ-7vpiYnCOLRdIRQfgl2HL85cdhTE/s320/opening+day+088.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
and spotty ribbons - we <3 spots!! <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheoif2Z2ZBUIPNYxMHD8ptnc4QpHP-HmmY-Jwxsh0jG6ndFneNJ3zkImleKJPa_kcKFR-5Aa2faNCSfANq42zFW7JAoP1SA-H0Ow5q9GvmcF1UpP5eJ4cQwpJ9cy05KHlMfclCPmfSK8c/s1600/opening+day+081.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" nfa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheoif2Z2ZBUIPNYxMHD8ptnc4QpHP-HmmY-Jwxsh0jG6ndFneNJ3zkImleKJPa_kcKFR-5Aa2faNCSfANq42zFW7JAoP1SA-H0Ow5q9GvmcF1UpP5eJ4cQwpJ9cy05KHlMfclCPmfSK8c/s320/opening+day+081.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">This is my possibly my favourite bit of the shop - the button pick 'n' mix counter. Kilner jars packed with fabulous buttons in every shape and colour you can think of.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF3pmWGCeNj2-yRXn3Pob1HC5-KU9zEsZ54fmpTlXj_XAPl7ROBhBJQk2uIebXJwrEDvlhhL9S7qvt9eHHDMc4CcIUBTgV9Q3-9lk1j7XtnKQSP_pTLW46i7aHgkzPfRbMcnLRSOi-G24/s1600/opening+day+075.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" nfa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF3pmWGCeNj2-yRXn3Pob1HC5-KU9zEsZ54fmpTlXj_XAPl7ROBhBJQk2uIebXJwrEDvlhhL9S7qvt9eHHDMc4CcIUBTgV9Q3-9lk1j7XtnKQSP_pTLW46i7aHgkzPfRbMcnLRSOi-G24/s320/opening+day+075.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
So there you have it. That's us. Now we're open we'll be posting all the time with information about new stock deliveries, workshops and other events plus tutorials and links we think you might like. Don't forget to find and 'like' us on Facebook for regular updates too.<br />
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ttfn<br />
xxLindseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00322044656860713430noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2707194627077231188.post-426824555652635652012-01-11T07:24:00.001+00:002012-01-11T07:24:31.143+00:00Day 5Well I didn't make it down to the shop yet again. Mr Man that was delivering our till and sundry other fitments couldn't make it after all. So instead I totally scrambled my brain by staying at home and wrestling with HMRC online; registering for tax, National Insurance and VAT. Ouch!!!<br />
Despite no photos for you yet again, it was a very productive day behind the scenes. I'm sure you don't want to see pictures of our insurance certificate but that's now sorted. Likewise a floor cleaner is booked for tomorrow, we have reserved a table and chairs for workshops and we have a couple more reps coming to visit us. The other half of our money is now in place and our first haby order has been paid for so should now be on its way to us. Yay!!! <br />
It is all coming together gradually and magically we are making savings along the way. People are so generous - my mum has given us her PC as she's just had a new lap top. A big saving for our budget. Friends have showered us with offers of help, furniture and any other items they have that they think we might need. It's fantastic that we know so many lovely people. <br />
Tomorrow I will definitely have photos for you. Sandra's hubbie has been slaving away on the woodwork for 2 days and we have to go and meet our bank lady at the shop in the morning, so we'll see all the progress he's made. Can't wait. <br />
Ttfn <br />
x x Lindseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00322044656860713430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2707194627077231188.post-16035155894311639872012-01-09T22:51:00.000+00:002012-01-09T22:51:26.114+00:00Day 4Only a quickie post today as it's been a weird one. Sandra's OH has been hard at work all day today - sanding and filling and priming. He's our resident sign writer and utter perfectionist so the outside of the shop will be pristine. He's making everything ready for when our lovely vinyl sign is ready for installation. The front of the shop will be fabuous. Can't wait.<br />
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However, after making such leaps of progress every day last week today was a bit of a surprise. Both Sandra and I felt we weren't getting anywhere or achieving anything. Emulsioning the walls was very much a case of 'all hands on deck' but now it comes to the woodwork and you can't have one person painting while another is sanding - messy!! So in terms of work in the shop we had ground to a halt.<br />
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Instead we decided to visit Simon - Sandra's brother and a graphic designer - to sort out the shop logo and order some postcards and other publicity material. Yay! We could finally tick something of our HUGE list.<br />
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Suitably fired up we went back to my house for a celebratory coffee and, mugs in hand, proceeded to sort out phone and internet supply. Hooray. Something else sorted out.<br />
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Sandra headed back to the shop at lunchtime to finish off the kitchen area. You can see pictures on our Facebook page <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LichfieldSewingShop" target="_blank">here</a>. I stayed at home hugging the computer and trying to place a rather lengthy order on a very slow website. Hmmm... Need to rethink that one. Tomorrow I may borrow OH's Macbook and see if that improves the speed of things. Otherwise Sandra and I may be taking a trip to Brizzle later in the week.<br />
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In the latter part of the afternoon a whole raft of appointments with reps from varying suppliers were set up for later in the week and suddnely the day didn't seem quite so fruitless as it had started out.<br />
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We did also do a little bit of work yesterday (as some of you may have seen from<em> my</em> Facebook page). We have been glued to our eBay accounts watching verious items of furniture for the shop. Yesterday we "won" a fabulous sofa for the front of the shop and a workshop table and chairs are looking quite promising too. I just can't wait to start to collect all these bits and pieces together and start to actually organise the shop layout. <br />
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Sorry it's a bit short on photos today. Tomorrow the battery will be charged on my camera and I'll take some less grainy shots with the aid of that revolutionary gizmo - the flash! My iPod doesn't seem to have one. :-)<br />
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ttfn<br />
xxLindseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00322044656860713430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2707194627077231188.post-42134809688465978552012-01-07T19:56:00.000+00:002012-01-07T19:56:52.936+00:00Day 3<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So... here endeth day 3. As many have asked I thought today, as promised, I would give you a guided tour of the shop. So come on in for your virtual visit.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This is the newly-sanded and primed/under-coated front window. No longer will it be dark brown and dull. We're going to inject a bit of brightness. No. I lied. We want to inject a <span style="color: red;">L</span><span style="color: lime;">O</span><span style="color: magenta;">T </span><span style="color: #b45f06;">O</span><span style="color: cyan;">F</span> <span style="color: orange;">B</span><span style="color: #8e7cc3;">R</span><span style="color: #38761d;">I</span><span style="color: #cc0000;">G</span><span style="color: #3d85c6;">H</span><span style="color: purple;">T</span><span style="color: #f1c232;">N</span><span style="color: magenta;">E</span><span style="color: #38761d;">S</span><span style="color: #3d85c6;">S!!! </span><span style="color: black;">The woodwork could be white or it could be cream or it could be a colour. We're not sure at the moment but the white undercoat has made such a huge change already.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDia0UJvbO-HfzZJYsB9lg2bSDTNOVheZOnzwhh7r62Q5lgQwEvvYdmndgtfSG87fF1yJzsCT9SLXM7FML2xuGigLkTT8PCAPFK0dukwiyd_7zQdyF45_KcG8yNHB9wSAisPANObdReFU/s1600/shop+day+3+015.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDia0UJvbO-HfzZJYsB9lg2bSDTNOVheZOnzwhh7r62Q5lgQwEvvYdmndgtfSG87fF1yJzsCT9SLXM7FML2xuGigLkTT8PCAPFK0dukwiyd_7zQdyF45_KcG8yNHB9wSAisPANObdReFU/s320/shop+day+3+015.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Just to protect unwary passers-by my kiddie painted a beautiful sign to warn them of wet paint.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyJhtEMNM_CzkUrDfrKq3krnFSZDrbsrTg1aRRoRHg8daeH3yYKLN2bGtqiaL2WWIikYUS-JZ-_BFi7Luid5HLsJ_kdhrI-TIJtifI3D5knB5fI9bavURyOUsMLwuXzNpP13DAabEcowE/s1600/shop+day+3+017.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyJhtEMNM_CzkUrDfrKq3krnFSZDrbsrTg1aRRoRHg8daeH3yYKLN2bGtqiaL2WWIikYUS-JZ-_BFi7Luid5HLsJ_kdhrI-TIJtifI3D5knB5fI9bavURyOUsMLwuXzNpP13DAabEcowE/s320/shop+day+3+017.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
A lovely white door too. Let's go in through and have a nosey around.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTrNp4rWVizRW7-qct9ryMcePoaQLPyHJTlefKSpLEDXmaiHh2rFYSapxq575NHbIkXCeHJY6zuRIQHuikTy8RCVmgyLnh1a-i20OtAakZYr5bzo_AfnljT-faig964J3phuNjjkaJ9vs/s1600/shop+day+3+018.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTrNp4rWVizRW7-qct9ryMcePoaQLPyHJTlefKSpLEDXmaiHh2rFYSapxq575NHbIkXCeHJY6zuRIQHuikTy8RCVmgyLnh1a-i20OtAakZYr5bzo_AfnljT-faig964J3phuNjjkaJ9vs/s320/shop+day+3+018.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />
Here are Sandra, my OH and Kiddie working on the floor. A total replacement is out of our price range at the moment and after the nice man yesterday said said cleaning the nasty black lumps off wouldn't be feasible. So we decided to lift dirty ones and swap them with cleaner ones from the back of the shop.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVoPDfqUEPHgU8tGBOTkMVRXtfFf47mc5aR8EG8FP1_ebkKym4qPynV7RleezrJwk55sKVe-AqVPrH32WTHZ4rBXRmW1mpTkP9q_ZTBXu8bpoFWM37Gs6IxI5c1EljRes1UWwt7tgPBpg/s1600/shop+day+3+003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVoPDfqUEPHgU8tGBOTkMVRXtfFf47mc5aR8EG8FP1_ebkKym4qPynV7RleezrJwk55sKVe-AqVPrH32WTHZ4rBXRmW1mpTkP9q_ZTBXu8bpoFWM37Gs6IxI5c1EljRes1UWwt7tgPBpg/s320/shop+day+3+003.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
While we're at the front of the shop, here's the kiddie priming the inside of the window frame. Child labour is a goooood thing. :)<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf0CPRMEYRzSqE6AwIfvaPlR45ZP8A3_QW0q7fJ5xojgrlgP2n5vrLDRriCLCO2DnaNDzaP2czw2beOMvPCQ2r54c6Y681ePoWO-07q2B42j8qa07Eo6V8TyLuUOMOfg_TSAc3ANcIL-8/s1600/shop+day+3+014.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf0CPRMEYRzSqE6AwIfvaPlR45ZP8A3_QW0q7fJ5xojgrlgP2n5vrLDRriCLCO2DnaNDzaP2czw2beOMvPCQ2r54c6Y681ePoWO-07q2B42j8qa07Eo6V8TyLuUOMOfg_TSAc3ANcIL-8/s320/shop+day+3+014.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
And this is Sandra's current favourite corner of the shop. The floor tiles all look nice and clean and gum-free and the walls have been painted. Perfick! (OK. Ignore the hole in the wall - it will be hidden by shelving so noone will know it's there).<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGd3e6hsjeGgguUGanFhQ8u1mjyIVuHkxGZhhiAtQxcw4GIAMgBB6eBFwMQHuAMeoseaw2Tz-ihPzAT3j6ZwW7-7RT_MGhUP_8LYAxwWEHPrhFvVkzjdFWx_CDtJxulk1eK_rTuY1hkSY/s1600/shop+day+3+013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGd3e6hsjeGgguUGanFhQ8u1mjyIVuHkxGZhhiAtQxcw4GIAMgBB6eBFwMQHuAMeoseaw2Tz-ihPzAT3j6ZwW7-7RT_MGhUP_8LYAxwWEHPrhFvVkzjdFWx_CDtJxulk1eK_rTuY1hkSY/s320/shop+day+3+013.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
And this is the back of the shop. Behind the yarn pigeonholes is the place where we swipe the unsoiled floor tiles from. We now have the fridge installed so can buy bigger bottles of milk and therefore can have more visitors/helpers to come and play.<br />
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Scattered on the floor are the contents of the kitchen and the fairy is in there hard at work again. Shall we take a peek?<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxlTOcC9k9x6iMPHMyA_bKsr3PenowLrjNHGG-Oi4s0zt9RMOK2up38aCsmK_Nh30Sr_cw566UtJxouFFHorOf5_ew6R1DtirK81wXw_8wb0WeLTpE1tKVYQwBykItz6I-CPS-7KmDRBI/s1600/shop+day+3+010.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxlTOcC9k9x6iMPHMyA_bKsr3PenowLrjNHGG-Oi4s0zt9RMOK2up38aCsmK_Nh30Sr_cw566UtJxouFFHorOf5_ew6R1DtirK81wXw_8wb0WeLTpE1tKVYQwBykItz6I-CPS-7KmDRBI/s320/shop+day+3+010.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />
Look there she is. Bent over her work - beavering away. But just what is she up to? <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLxdSyWLOoYBIKjC4Mcswk__D7InJtfDfSp9Ok0QNWU_tqia3r0A9VqH6pRn6wkUUctS1sj-pnD0-Hcbxdqcr3eahFpZy_pZIYqzjtR8Tb-ehCE1aIoumA_U9yUNtQPa568WQ753MDyDY/s1600/shop+day+3+011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLxdSyWLOoYBIKjC4Mcswk__D7InJtfDfSp9Ok0QNWU_tqia3r0A9VqH6pRn6wkUUctS1sj-pnD0-Hcbxdqcr3eahFpZy_pZIYqzjtR8Tb-ehCE1aIoumA_U9yUNtQPa568WQ753MDyDY/s320/shop+day+3+011.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjXldKIJE-T5WFGhnZvMGAckJEh0Dan8ooFyVHe8x25DC5UW9EbqEaJBYbwnPxMP-n0mjSfHZ4Hwn7N5civWHYFInWB36pzOW4dz_HbGd83Azz9Hgaqlo5oLKHSWvZMxLn0YP2rY6JIhc/s1600/shop+day+3+012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjXldKIJE-T5WFGhnZvMGAckJEh0Dan8ooFyVHe8x25DC5UW9EbqEaJBYbwnPxMP-n0mjSfHZ4Hwn7N5civWHYFInWB36pzOW4dz_HbGd83Azz9Hgaqlo5oLKHSWvZMxLn0YP2rY6JIhc/s320/shop+day+3+012.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />
Ta-dah!!! She's playing with sticky backed plastic. All those episodes of Blue Peter she watched weren't wasted on the fairy. In her youth she wanted to be Valerie Singleton when she grew up. <br />
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She has covered the stained worktop in Fablon which is actually cerise pink and lilac - what a strange camera distortion. Bleach and Jif sorry Cif weren't doing it but again a new worktop is much further down the line. It looks lovely now it's finished.<br />
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The next room across from the kitchen is the gents' loo. This has not been used as a 'facility' for a long time. It is a storeroom and cloakroom for all our coats and bags.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIYFSTcVVv_zcTzB1GzZykn4zrsEG85Zwd0J5hjGaKQZSOYTi52t3EaZNHMvN1OJ4WVZ9Y21x3dCWgb4aHBpqEvv-Y-3G_HQuULEKmJcllxrSz5km6W_-SBH_XcxSBB8xxgOGaHbVYtdk/s1600/shop+day+3+008.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIYFSTcVVv_zcTzB1GzZykn4zrsEG85Zwd0J5hjGaKQZSOYTi52t3EaZNHMvN1OJ4WVZ9Y21x3dCWgb4aHBpqEvv-Y-3G_HQuULEKmJcllxrSz5km6W_-SBH_XcxSBB8xxgOGaHbVYtdk/s320/shop+day+3+008.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div> Next to this is the stockroom. Empty at the moment but not for too much longer. Can't wait.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiT1RpK1yZ-c5aB4B92TAysw-l264KwcpGQc0IS5BQEC3GqVOzOpOl_zcc8C4cvNJzcpsPQDXzueGKvB7Xg9Cr4EHubwq2BGu5F_rnsbGoJwDudeuZEOBS7yQ4tpNIt3fqOtys0XtnOrQ/s1600/shop+day+3+009.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiT1RpK1yZ-c5aB4B92TAysw-l264KwcpGQc0IS5BQEC3GqVOzOpOl_zcc8C4cvNJzcpsPQDXzueGKvB7Xg9Cr4EHubwq2BGu5F_rnsbGoJwDudeuZEOBS7yQ4tpNIt3fqOtys0XtnOrQ/s320/shop+day+3+009.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />
And finally we move across to what will be the mail order packing and despatching area. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijbUyJWsd4WJnvl1V_fc-8OelIlh19nRZTVsAJ5W5E8eOV2G4MzuvJVjlnsRy4M2EfRAkEDu1THpcwDnZX_23M5-k18_IBhupB1_zd_p8_oOYh4t6-Tsuf1GbvoALlD3VZhCf_cZkL0z4/s1600/shop+day+3+006.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijbUyJWsd4WJnvl1V_fc-8OelIlh19nRZTVsAJ5W5E8eOV2G4MzuvJVjlnsRy4M2EfRAkEDu1THpcwDnZX_23M5-k18_IBhupB1_zd_p8_oOYh4t6-Tsuf1GbvoALlD3VZhCf_cZkL0z4/s320/shop+day+3+006.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
And then on to our office. It's starting to look quite grown up in there already. Quotes and invoices and a desk diary and everything. Before too long we'll have a computer in there too and then it will be really serious. :)<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpDPOvOk1R0GgfHr7D5xeT2ZyQk4gZcJsGe2KAYYAhA0dsmPMoEZ4O9mprhP6ROY9tJ2Pb41nr6wrPL5RHZeqCeTxMpGj9oj5VXKIKHV1qt7cLFPmvXZLaInBENZOV-SOr6fvBY7OpRoI/s1600/shop+day+3+005.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpDPOvOk1R0GgfHr7D5xeT2ZyQk4gZcJsGe2KAYYAhA0dsmPMoEZ4O9mprhP6ROY9tJ2Pb41nr6wrPL5RHZeqCeTxMpGj9oj5VXKIKHV1qt7cLFPmvXZLaInBENZOV-SOr6fvBY7OpRoI/s320/shop+day+3+005.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;">So there we have it. Things are trundling along nicely. All the walls are emulsioned. All the woodwork is primed ready for paint. A few floor tiles need gluing in place then we can have a good go at hoovering and maybe hiring a carpet cleaner just to give it a 'once over'. Early next week we'll be able to start and move in all of our fixtures and fittings ready to take delivery of some stock.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Lots of lovely customers keep coming past and waving and popping their heads round the door to tell us how glad they are that we've taken the shop on and they can't wait for us to open. Neither can we - wait that is. There's still a great deal to do but it's going to be fab.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Right. The Chinese is smelling gorgeous and the sofa is calling my tired body to come and vegetate in front of the telly. We're having a day off tomorrow so I'll post again on Monday.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">ttfn</div><div style="text-align: left;">xxx</div>Lindseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00322044656860713430noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2707194627077231188.post-69653250629059125002012-01-07T11:14:00.000+00:002012-01-07T11:14:43.380+00:00Day 2Today, or least most of this morning, was swallowed up by the bank. Our 10am appointment just went on and on and on and on and... Still, at least we now have a bank account and we'll be able to buy some stock once our debit cards arrive. <br />
We got back to the shop just in time for the man from the floor cleaning company to arrive. Sadly he told us that carpet tiles and chewing gum dissolving chemicals don't mix so we're a bit scuppered on that score. New flooring is a bit beyond our budget, so I think tomorrow may find us lifting and switching gummy carpet tiles for unsoiled ones. <br />
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So now here's a quick mini tour of the premises as it was on Day 1.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgJfkmMW9zgwvaFUnxzVSWs2gCkc5bf4O50_zLmXTJwlX_QNYMU1piveCMcP295rux5x714lx8tnnxom-FgPzA3xC7-Hd0OAw_Fbi4luWw3Kum_fyNyjhHJxQlaKREwUYpQR-F9Y2uwcg/s1600/Elkie+Brooks+doll+056.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgJfkmMW9zgwvaFUnxzVSWs2gCkc5bf4O50_zLmXTJwlX_QNYMU1piveCMcP295rux5x714lx8tnnxom-FgPzA3xC7-Hd0OAw_Fbi4luWw3Kum_fyNyjhHJxQlaKREwUYpQR-F9Y2uwcg/s320/Elkie+Brooks+doll+056.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />
This is the front of the shop - the front door and the window looking out onto Tamworth Street. Note the lovely gingham "curtain" hanging at the window.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDCSoTGawWVE2JN5Vrozw_2jQqPxWzXmpdWzRqPO8q1loX9vdFPhmad3gK-K1ZWLGOkzrMc4WybpPa-SkZG_cctyU4nmZxBMWKWublAZALzKZjSHzvq5yVYQTSj-WoZ7gORJDWJJWYORE/s1600/Elkie+Brooks+doll+053.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDCSoTGawWVE2JN5Vrozw_2jQqPxWzXmpdWzRqPO8q1loX9vdFPhmad3gK-K1ZWLGOkzrMc4WybpPa-SkZG_cctyU4nmZxBMWKWublAZALzKZjSHzvq5yVYQTSj-WoZ7gORJDWJJWYORE/s320/Elkie+Brooks+doll+053.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
This is the main area of the shop with random pieces of slatboard on the walls and yarn pigeonholes just in shot. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRIJogcGa6UAlbUphvO1gKe7MzdhX-dI8gQW9aLlyPNlsdqcIrB_wz5H8j1mOcCjjpMyhVFx3U2x1imwvyebdjVwnaiBCd_VvWgk5ceGyEBaoFuxc2GQG9aRCg4qoXlNJx2DNWGC4wurI/s1600/Elkie+Brooks+doll+036.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRIJogcGa6UAlbUphvO1gKe7MzdhX-dI8gQW9aLlyPNlsdqcIrB_wz5H8j1mOcCjjpMyhVFx3U2x1imwvyebdjVwnaiBCd_VvWgk5ceGyEBaoFuxc2GQG9aRCg4qoXlNJx2DNWGC4wurI/s320/Elkie+Brooks+doll+036.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
This is our compacy and bijoux office complete with desk and shelves. We've moved this around already but I'll post better quality photos tomorrow.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT6vAMwuPuSHqClSLzJvoBs0h62H6fmrxZVUhPxcI0HzgcGdwJSaKStk8xgmc3Z0xE1jPflRv4sQRAZ90rKgS3ApkfO7PLqbJcGX7zb7WoH82zpZYINqYQywr373fXtIURyie3GqV6_Kg/s1600/Elkie+Brooks+doll+047.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT6vAMwuPuSHqClSLzJvoBs0h62H6fmrxZVUhPxcI0HzgcGdwJSaKStk8xgmc3Z0xE1jPflRv4sQRAZ90rKgS3ApkfO7PLqbJcGX7zb7WoH82zpZYINqYQywr373fXtIURyie3GqV6_Kg/s320/Elkie+Brooks+doll+047.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>This is the kitchen area which I believe the cleaning fairy aka my mum is going to blitz tomorrow. Yay!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKBrAQNlGQjoZ-8ItKzVTBz7CfwSvt6Uvb4Q_-pluTw5_tQU68qQhOPOjkfluTaCGnU36U_UbbiaorzIYpZF6TXjcrufhoVq14xh7WoXNntjziJw_DZGR3cYsOxuoMRg6PVg0erw2Pl0c/s1600/Elkie+Brooks+doll+051.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKBrAQNlGQjoZ-8ItKzVTBz7CfwSvt6Uvb4Q_-pluTw5_tQU68qQhOPOjkfluTaCGnU36U_UbbiaorzIYpZF6TXjcrufhoVq14xh7WoXNntjziJw_DZGR3cYsOxuoMRg6PVg0erw2Pl0c/s320/Elkie+Brooks+doll+051.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />
As I said, I'll take more pics tomorrow and do a proper guided tour so you can see how things have progressed in just 3 days.<br />
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Our home computer has been playing up, hence the not very intersting post but tomorrow will be better.<br />
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ttfn<br />
xxxLindseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00322044656860713430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2707194627077231188.post-6677152027461169552012-01-06T07:51:00.001+00:002012-01-06T07:52:53.966+00:00Day 1WOOOOOOHOOOOOO!!!! Today we picked up the keys to our little (or not so little) shop. We have 15 days to get it all shipshape and Bristol fashion before we start paying rent.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QGSrfZ2UiHc/TwX7oZ3OBSI/AAAAAAAACEA/eHtXWmcInEc/s1600/Elkie+Brooks+doll+032.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" rea="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QGSrfZ2UiHc/TwX7oZ3OBSI/AAAAAAAACEA/eHtXWmcInEc/s320/Elkie+Brooks+doll+032.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We have warned the locals that we are coming so now the work begins.</div><div align="left" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2kzYPiyR1cU/TwX7tJbspJI/AAAAAAAACEI/02t6W_bXTEQ/s1600/Elkie+Brooks+doll+061.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" rea="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2kzYPiyR1cU/TwX7tJbspJI/AAAAAAAACEI/02t6W_bXTEQ/s320/Elkie+Brooks+doll+061.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Here is a little sneaky peek of the inside of our domain. We were kindly left some fixtures and fittings by the 'shop clearing fairies' and we have been accumulating bits and bobs ourselves.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JdMuFBOUIS0/TwX7vhM46tI/AAAAAAAACEQ/eg0wqcjAxvU/s1600/Elkie+Brooks+doll+035.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" rea="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JdMuFBOUIS0/TwX7vhM46tI/AAAAAAAACEQ/eg0wqcjAxvU/s320/Elkie+Brooks+doll+035.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">When I came back from my holidays in November I had no idea what was awaiting me. The past 2 months have been a whirl of sleepless nights and heads full of shop and stock and partnership agreements. But now at last it's all coming together and becoming <span style="color: #38761d;">REAL</span>!! Who'da thunk it?! Me - a shop keeper?!! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So today was the first day with the keys as I said. I whizzed (as quickly as my trusty Bongo camper van will allow) round to pick up Sandra, the lovely Megan (her daughter and our Saturday girl), a table and chairs and a box containing the all-important tea, coffee and mugs. The mugs didn't make it! I lifted the box to put it in the van and <span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"><strong>$*%</strong></span><span style="color: red;"><strong>CRASH<span style="font-size: small;">*!#!!</span> </strong></span><span style="color: black; font-size: small;">the bottom fell out along with all the lovely new mugs. :( Not a good omen. One or two survived but four are in little pieces in the bin.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We dropped Meg off at college without further incident and drove to the shop. I confess, if the knees and ankles had allowed us to we would have skippied to pick up the keys and running was almost on the cards for the return journey.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">WE WERE IN!!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We now have a two weeks grace period before we commence trading so no time to lose. We off-loaded the stuff we'd brought with us...<strong>without</strong> any breakages this time...and I took the van home. There is roadside parking outside the shop but only for 30 minutes and the traffic wardens are vicious!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Our first visitor (apart from the many friends, ex-customers of the shop and other people we know in Lichfield who popped their heads round the door to wish us well), was Mr Swift - the haberdashery agent. After a catch-up, a bit of therapy and several Jaffa cakes we gave him our first order. YAY!!!! There will be stock. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The lovely Tina came a-calling next. She is the rep from Gutermann threads and sorted us out with the all-important sewing threads. Well you can't have a sewing shop without thread can you?! She came bearing gifts of cake and biscuits. Other reps who visit us please take note! It'll be touch and go as to whether the thread fitments will get to us in time for opening as they have to come all the way from Germany. Tina has promised to put the hard word on them and we've ordered some separate reels just in case so we won't be totally threadless.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Once they had gone we decided to tackle the cleaning. Sandra plugged in her vacuum cleaner which promptly started to smoke and smell of burning!! Luckily my mum had popped in and, although she claims to be retired, she is secretly the vac-cleaning fairy. With screwdriver in hand she took it to bits and cleaned out a whole warren of dust bunnies. Sadly, the demon parking warden interrupted proceedings and the vac fairy had to leave to avoid a ticket.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">OK. No cleaning. So we went to buy paint instead. White or magnolia...? Decisions, decisions.... We came back with rollers, paint trays, undercoat, primer and a huge tub of magnolia. Well the walls are that colour already so we thought it would mean only one coat was needed. :)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In a final flurry of activity Sandra, Meg and I decided to move a few fitments around and look at the space we have to work with. It's soooooooooooo exciting as you can now begin to get a glimpse of what the shop will be like when it's up and running. *SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEAALL!!*</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">On that high note we decided to call it a day. I did however pop back with my OH and DD to show them our handiwork. We also dropped off our old fridge so now we'll be able to keep our milk, sarnies and any other goodies cool. My fantastic OH also sorted out the 2-year old problem of the improperly flushing loo! Halellujah!! At long last we don't have to hold down the ballcock or use a bucket to make it flush properly. Little things.... :)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">xxx</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div>Lindseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00322044656860713430noreply@blogger.com5