A couple of weekends ago we had the pleasure of welcoming Tamara Melvin from The Great British Sewing Bee fame to Tea & Crafting . This was her first workshop at Tea & Crafting and we were so excited to have her! The workshop sold out and it was a great way to spend what was a rainy and cold Sunday afternoon. There are still a few spaces left on Tamara’s March workshop click here for more information. You don’t even need to know how to use a sewing machine either for some of the workshops!

Everyone got stuck in straight away!

Julia (bottom left hand corner) had never used a sewing machine and whilst she didn’t finish the blouse in the class she didn’t have much to do at home. With some help and excellent tips from Tamara, Julia got sewing pretty much immediately.

Tamara has always been inspired by upcycling, and this came through on the GBSB, and true to form she arrived armed with gorgeous used fabrics in the form of old shirts, duvets and curtains even. If upcycing isn’t your cup of tea no problem we can let you know how much fabric needed for the class beforehand, but everyone wanted to get involved in re-using some of Tamara’s fabric and I wasn’t surprised…. Tamara’s stash is brilliant and included some vintage 60’s prints, fabric she used on the show for her haute couture piece and the wonderful curtains! All of these were used on the day.

After cups of tea, some cake, time at the machines, calling Tamara over for some SOS, the afternoon was coming to an end. Tamara started a countdown with the sewers just for some added pressure like the show :-).

Just have a look to see what some of our lovely budding GBSB’ers made:
    
Nikki used old curtains and added in an exposed zip for an extra glam factor (you’ll notice Tamara’s blouse is also made from the same fabric) whilst Grace opted for curtains too with big, bold prints.

 
Theresa (above, left) went for some Marimekko-esque print and Matsya (above, right) didn’t waste any time in securing the floral print Tamara used for one of her final pieces on the GBSB.

Below is a variation on the blouse using a men’s shirt! The ruffles were made from the sleeves and no hemming was needed either as the shirt had its own hem! I’m itching to get sewing now!

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