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Tuesday 15 December 2015

HH HQ Creating Crafters since 2009!

 As 2015 comes to an end it's only when looking back over photos taken throughout the year I can see how busy it was - we saw the launch of the farm magazine that Barry puts together and somehow makes sense of all of our contributions! In 2016 I'll be adding a cake recipe to each craft feature, I have added a few new ones this year...
 Still finding a few of our old favourites on the 2016 workshop list but inbetween you will find some exciting new things to try!



 Just because you sometimes need a photo of a handsome pig in amongst all the crafting loveliness...
 Adding to the children's workshops which are held in the school holidays there is also now a Saturday Children's Sewing Club!
A small project is worked on between 12 and 3, ideally for children 8years and up who must be accompanied by an adult. The dates for next year are 
March 12th
April 9th
May 7th
June 11th
July 9th
August 13th
September 10th
October 8th
November12th
December 10th
and the cost is £15 per child with everything included - please note that we do use sewing machines and sharp scissors! Booking ahead is essential to save your space.

 Our shy Christmas Crafters hiding behind their Rag Wreaths...and who could forget Stevie the Monster who also had a pet carrot who lived in a Carrotvan? One of my favourite monsters from Draw a monster, make a monster workshops!
 So if there are any workshops on the list you would love to come along to then book early as we usually only have very small numbers on many of the courses. 

As a special thank you any Early Bird bookings are at the prices charged in 2015 (usually £35) as next year there will be a small increase unfortunately. If circumstances mean that you are unable to attend just let me know as soon as possible and your deposit can be moved to another date.
February
6th Knitting for absolute beginners
13th Needle Felting - Valentine Theme
14th Crochet for unleashing your inner crochet goddess...
20th, 27th and March 5th Socks £70 in total
21st Free Motion Machine Embroidery
28th Print fabric and make a lampshade
March
4th Skirt making £50 *
11th Silk Flowers, beautiful blooms with Scarlett Valentine Millinery
13th Needle Felting Easter Delights
19th Child's pop-over dress £50 *
20th Fun making stuffed toys
April
2nd Scandi-handicrafts, working with paper, wood and paint!
8th and 15th Corset making £75 *
10th Broomstick Crochet
16th Saori Weaving £55 *
17th Polymer Clay Jewellery Making
23rd Crocheted Granny Bunting
24th Quilted Cool Bag
30th Tunisian Crochet
May
8th Print fabric and make a lampshade
14th Fantastical Headpieces with Scarlett Valentine Millinery
15th Free Motion Machine Embroidery
21st Saori Weaving £55 *
28th and 29th Indigo Batik $40 per day or book both for £70!
June
4th Natural Dyeing with plants
8th, 9th and 10th A Millinery Master Class with Scarlett Valentine Millinery Price TBC *
18th Zips, buttons and bits
19th Fleece preparing and spinning Price TBC *
25th Polymer Clay Jewellery making
26th Green Walnut Workshop
July 
2nd Free Motion Machine Embroidery
9th Wet Felting Day Price TBC*
10th Knitting in the round, stretchy cast on and offs...
16th Polymer Clay Jewellery making 
16th and 17th Raku firing days Price TBC
24th Saori Weaving £55*
August
14th Saori Weaving £55 *
20th Polymer Clay Jewellery making
21st Raspberry Wine, Country Winemaking Price TBC
28th Natural dyeing with plants

Unless stated all workshops are £40 per person and run from 11 am to 3pm the days marked with a * will have different start and finish times. A deposit of £20 on booking will hold the space and if booked before Christmas the old pricing will apply.

 


Message me via twitter @halfpennyhome or FB Halfpenny Home Haberdashery - alternatively call in to the shop to book and have yourselves a lovely Christmas!
Nic x

Thursday 10 September 2015

Autumn 2015 Workshops List

 A day playing with maps and paints with Milliner Scarlett Valentine has naturally led to some more workshop dates being added to our 'leading-up-to-Christmas' list!
Sarah's workshops have all been pretty amazing and what's not to love about hats, stars and flowers?

 Some of the hats from the upcycling workshop held earlier in the year...


...a lot of fun and a hat that can be worn again!
Oh my! The polymer clay jewellery workshops we've just started at HH HQ are so much fun and the finished bling make perfect Christmas gifts!
Jackie Daly has been dazzling us with delights like these and is now sharing the joy with a beginners class on Saturday 24th October and an advanced masterclass on Sunday 15th November using resin to give that high gloss finish!


It's been a busy summer with some private dyeing sessions and one-to-two upholstery day lessons which have both been very productive! If you are interested in either of these please email me for dates.

The ever popular Needle Felting workshops are back with an autumnal themed session on Sunday 25th October and a Christmas one on Saturday 19th December.
 With some whimsical Free Motion Machine Embroidery days and a few new workshops with some exciting new people this autumn looks like being even more fun than last year - come along and make all your Christmas presents! Almost complete list below...

Autumn 2015 up to Christmas

Saturday 24th - Polymer Clay Jewellery, beginners - 2 spaces
Sunday 25th - Autumnal Needle Felting - FULL
Saturday 31st - Beginner Crochet - 2 spaces

November

Saturday 7th - Christmas Crochet 1 - FULL
Sunday 8th - Cold Process Soap Making - spaces
Saturday 14th - Christmas Crochet 2 - spaces
Sunday 15th - Polymer Clay Resin Workshop - 3 spaces
Saturday 21st - Tags with Scarlett Valentine - 4 spaces
Sunday 22nd - Container Candles - spaces
Friday 27th - Paper Flower Table Centrepieces with tea lights- 4 spaces
Saturday 28th - Saori Weaving * Full
Sunday 29th - Rag Wreath - 2 spaces

December 
Friday 4th - Upcycled Hats - 3 spaces
Saturday 19th - Christmas Needle Felting - 4 spaces

All the workshops listed above apart from those marked with a * are £35 per person and run from 11-3 with a short break for lunch. * is £55 per person and starts at 10 am. Book by calling in to the shop in person, by telephone 01449 721123 or by email - halfpennyhome@googlemail.com

As promised, more workshops have been slotted in...
 We have tags!
 Visitors to HH HQ will have seen the wonderful Christmassy display put together by our resident milliner including these brilliant tags using paper, lace and other mediums - Saturday 21st November is 'Tag Day' spaces are going quickly! Make all your gift tags and Christmas tree place markers in great company using gorgeous materials!
 These paper lotus flowers make amazing table centres, especially when lit up with a battery tea light - add in some paper covered baubles and dress your home for the festive season! Friday 27th November is the day for paper floral fun. *ahem* Jenny and I both would like to do this one...
It's been quite nice having a break from all the preserving this time of year demands, my hands are stained with elderberry juice but (luckily) everyone assumes it's dye!

Looking forward to seeing you all, did I mention the cakes?
Nic x

Tuesday 25 August 2015

Summer Holidays!

 We've had a lot of fun with the children's workshops this summer, monsters, foxes, owls and cats have emerged from under the red hot sewing machines!

 More fuzzy needle felted sheep appeared after a morning with Jenny Tidman...
 ...we even had a couple of unicorns, complete with wings and glittery horns!
More indigo dyeing in the rain, this time with Jess who has always been a fabric fan and stitching on a sewing machine since she was six - now she has the tie-dye bug! 
The children are so creative and pick up skills like using a sewing machine and pressing *carefully* with an iron. There is just one more sewing workshop this summer so don't miss out on a day of fun with felt and fabric!
Draw a Monster, Make a Monster is on Tuesday 1st September 11-3 £25
Next school holiday workshops will be announced soon but until then we have Sewing Club on the following Saturdays
12th September
10th October
21st November
12th December

All 11-3, pre-booking essential and the cost is £15 per session.

Looking forward to seeing what they come up with next! Nic x

Thursday 30 April 2015

Piglets, posh frocks and posies!

 If you've visited Alder Carr Farm in the last week you may have noticed some activity around the pigsty (if I'm not at HH HQ you will most likely find me over there...) these two adorable piglets come from Baylham Rare Breeds Farm, they have been enjoying all the attention and apples!
It makes a change to be cleaning out pigs and not chickens, one of the piglets bit the OH on the toe meaning he WILL remember boots....
 Sarah AKA Scarlett Valentine has settled in nicely with some fantastic workshops featuring felty floral corsages, working with Sinemay and other millinary related delights! The rest of the time Sarah creates amazing headgear and accessories, we are often in awe of how she manages to keep coming up with new designs! 
We're teaming up with Sarah on Saturday 16th and Sunday 17th May when we will have a hat sale running alongside a mini fashion show of Colette dress patterns - there will be designs made up in some gorgeous fabrics and worn by some of the growing number of Colette 'fans' dressmaking questions and queries about these vintage style patterns are welcomed. Tea, coffee and cake will be available along with 10% off patterns and 10% off any fabric purchased that weekend!


 Still loving teaching people to love their sewing machines...
 ...and welcoming Melanie from Silverclay Workshop!
 Melanie ran her first workshop at HH HQ last week and did Jenny Tidman add her name to the list? 
 She did and above picture shows her finished pieces, lovely!
Chris couldn't stop burnishing her silver pendant even as she was wearing it, an email from her the following day said it all 'Melanie was an excellent tutor and the other gals on the course were great fun' we had rhubarb, apple and white chocolate cake...Melanie will be running some more classes at HH HQ so if you're at all interested in the alchemy of silver clay working then do let me know!
 Another first was Catherine Armitage's skirt workshop, Catherine AKA Lulumama is pretty amazing at making sense of dress patterns and the mystery around sizing! It was lovely to see the ladies getting the fit of their skirts absolutely right...
 ...a finished skirt! The group of ladies have promised to send over some glammed up piccies! Catherine is teaching a few classes over the next few months and places go quickly as we only have four spaces on each course, details in the list below!
 Workshop list, get to the end and there's more cute piglet pictures! Mostly £35 per person and run from 11-3 unless otherwise stated.
Saturday 2nd May - Drum carding batts with Jenny Tidman, whether you're a novice fleecer or a spinner!
Saturday 9th May - Crochet
Sunday 10th May - Natural dyeing with seasonal plants
Saturday 23rd May - Sinamay flowers with milliner Scarlett Valentine
Sunday 24th May - Fabric printing
Saturday 30th May - Needle felting
Sunday 31st May and Saturday 6th June - Dressmaking, an A line skirt £70 10am start and you will also need two metres of pre-washed fabric. Pattern, notions and sundries included
Sunday 7th June - Kansashi flowers, the kind Geisha girls wear!
Sunday 28th June - Rag rugs and weaving
Saturday 4th July - Needle felted sheep
Sunday 5th July - Get to know your sewing machine a little better!
Saturday 11th July - Bunting!
Sunday 12th July - Cushion making, zipped, piped or envelope, it's up to you!
Saturday 18th July - Advanced needle felting, The Green Man
Saturday 25th July - Dress making, a simple blouse. 10am start, £45 includes pattern for Sencha by Colette Patterns, you will need to bring along pre-washed fabric
Saturday 15th August - Polymer clay jewellery with Jackie Daly
Saturday 12th September - Wet felted bowl, moving forward with felting, not a beginners class £50
Saturday 19th September - Introduction to machined patchwork
Saturday 3rd October - Drum carder day, get your batts ready for some autumn spinning!
Goodbye from the piglets, hope to see you soon! Nx

Tuesday 10 March 2015

2015....

 ...is Marching ahead!
It's March already and after a January rest from workshops at HH HQ we're back on it! Milliner Scarlett Valentine has managed to squeeze in TWO workshops already - bringing a touch of glamour to this retired windmill/dovecote. The first saw us making flowers from fabric using different techniques and the second one was a fabric collar or bib necklace made with felt, gems and precious vintage notions!
 During January I rediscovered a love of Colette patterns and decided that it was high time to stock these gorgeous dress patterns - each instruction booklet is a work of art in it's own right and with a couple of coats, some blouses and more than a few skirts now boosting my wardrobe I decided it was time to tackle a dress I've had a view to making for five years or so...
 I feel very lucky to have persuaded Catherine Armitage to come along to HH HQ to teach dressmaking, her first couple of sessions were really good fun and so interesting - we have more in the pipeline...
*watch this space*
 *inserts random gorgeous yarn photo just because.....*
 Joining us this year is Jackie Daly who has become a polymer clay whizz producing mini works of wearable art - I had one of Jackie's necklaces for Christmas from Mr HH and I LOVE it! The range of patterns and colours is right up our street, we love a bit of colour as you can see from the photo below...another glamorous hat from Scarlett Valentine, this one with the re-fashioned feathers we'll be learning about later this month!


My finished felty dahlia has found a home on my lovely new Lady Grey Jacket, I will get some good photos of it and it's monochrome lining for a blog post soon but for now here's the much promised and as up to date workshop list I can muster - enjoy and booking as usual either by telephone 01449 721123, email halfpennyhome@googlemail.com or calling in to the shop! Unless stated all workshops are £35 per person and run from 11-3 with a short break for lunch - all our cakes are gluten free!

March
Saturday 14th - Needle felting
Saturday 21st- Feather flowers
Sunday 22nd - rag rugs
Saturday 28th - Fleece prep
Sunday 29th - Free motion machine embroidery
Tuesday 31st - Children's needle felting 11-12.30 £15
Children's knitting 1.30-3 £15

April
Saturday 4th - Vintage style frame bag
Fridays 10th and 17th - Indigo batik teepee £70
Saturdays 11th and 12th - as above
Sunday 19th - beginners knitting
Friday 24th April - Silver clay £95 10-4

May
Saturday 2nd - Drum carder day
Sunday 3rd - Indigo batik
Saturday 9th - Beginners crochet
Sunday 10th - Natural dyeing with plants
Saturday 16th and Sunday 17th - Colette weekend - FREE, meet the makers and see the patterns brought to life!
Saturday 23rd - Wet felting £50

June
Saturday 6th - Spinning
Sunday 28th - Rag rugs

July
Saturday 4th - Needle felted sheep
Sunday 5th - Get the best from your sewing machine
Saturday 11th  - Bunting
Saturday 18th - Advanced needle felting, the green man

August
Saturday 1st - Screen printing
Saturday 15th - Polymer clay jewellery