September at Seamstar-

For my September visit to Seamstar I am going to use one of the website features to take a colour  journey through the shop linking one fabric to the next link.  I am using the Find Similar Fabrics by Colour: links

I was drawn to the Dashwood Prairie prints to start my journey.  Starting with Prairie Spirals by Rebecca Stoner.

Which looks like it would play very nicely with, Monaluna  Marin Poppies.

Which takes me to Enchant, Birdies in Celery

Leading on to Michael Miller, Birds of a Feather

The grey in this print lead me on to this Studio E Robots Print

And then on to a favourite, Lecien Sunbonnet Sue Cross Stitch Alphabet (which is on offer too!)

The grass green took me on to Hello Tokyo Flowers,

And on to the autumnal Norwegian Woods Mushrooms, 

Next, to the very pink elephants, Ann Kelle's Zoologie

And ending with this incredibly cute Timeless Treasures Yeah Sushi print- haven't ever noticed this one before!

There are lots of handy link tools- collection, colour, group which make some lively and fun fabric combinations rather than just buying from the same range.   There is also an ideas page to inspire you with lots of links to free patterns and projects.   Enjoy the journey!

August at Seamstar

I was going to do my August visit to Seamstar next week but as a newsletter pinged into my inbox with news of offers- 25% off all fabric (exception of the already reduced sale fabric) for a very limited time with the code 25fabric - I thought now was the time before the offer runs out! 

You could chose one of Courtney's kits.  I like her Giant Denim Cushion Kits with their pops of colour:

Available in yellow, cyan (blue) and shocking pink.  Suitable for the bedrooms of teenagers male and female- not usually an easy age group to make for!

There is a limited edition quilt kit to make a Moda Bake shop project- great idea and a total bargain with the discount. This features a layer cake of the V and Co simply Color Me Happy:

The kit also includes 1 metre of plain white cotton and 6 metres of ready made polka dot binding in mint- bargain!  You can see the Moda project here, Scrappy Chevron Picnic quilt.

You will need to supply your own backing fabric and wadding/batting. 

If you want binding for a project, Courtney has just put this polka dot colour selection up in the shop:

All you need to do is choose your colour.

For those of you into Kawaii cute, there is a Hello Tokyo range in Seamstar, from iron on badges (reminding me I have blazer badges to sew this week for my daughter and friends)

to fabric bundles:

You can buy all these prints individually too.  And there are also adorable shiny buttons:

And ending my selection with some vibrant autumnal colours and prints.  Firstly Norwegian Wood by Michael Miller.  This print is called Patchwork:

I really like the Leaf print in this collection too.

Here's another woodsy print, this is 'Twig' from "Annali by Stephanie Thannhauser.  I think this would play nicely with Norwegian wood too.

And lastly, this felt bundle 'Daylight' as I loved the colours and it reminds me that summer hasn't gone yet.

If you want to be an earlybird and get first news of discounts at Seamstar, you can sign up to Courtney's newsletter here.

July at Seamstar

It is hot hot hot in the UK at the moment so I am thinking summery thoughts on this month's visit to Seamstar, with a little hint of what's to come in the next few months- and by that I mean that we are starting with September Blue by Susan Driscoll for Dashwood. This is the bundle option which includes all 10 prints. 

Dashwood are a UK based fabric studio and their collections are developing nicely. I love the colour palette for these prints.   My favourite print, and I suspect this might be shared by one or two of you is this one, Main Floral:

And I am also rather keen on this one, 'Gold Bud'; the little pops of colour elevate it from the usual blender.

Looking at the summer prints at Seamstar, this one jumped out at me, 'Enchant: Daisies in White'.  I had totally missed it before and you don't see the pattern properly until you view it at a decent size.  Its a really pretty, quiet, vintage style floral.

If geometrics are more your thing, I was drawn to the sketchy horizontal lines of Leah Duncan's 'Plentiful Earth'.  It reminds me of felt tips- anyone remember DoodleArt posters?  I had a peacocks one and was loved it.  The felt tips were are rather exotic colours compared to the usual selection.

This is another print from the same range by Leah Duncan(for Art Gallery Fabrics).  This is called 'Freshly Cut Hyacinth', great for dressmaking as well as quilting.  There is the bonus that if you do both, your dressmaking scraps will be used up in quilts!  The slightly vertical but flowing lines in this would make it rather flattering for clothing.

Cotton lawn is lovely to wear in hot weather.  I tend to find that lawn is a little more opaque than voile and I can get away without lining it.  Lighter shades are a borderline issue for this- but for tops this should work nicely!  Or even as a light and luxurious quilt backing? This is 'Flower Meadow' in Cyan:

Courtney has written a handy guide to lawn here.  A darker print is this lovely Meadow Purple. 

 I made a shirt in this print a while ago and I really like the purpley grey colour.  If I was making a dress with a full skirt (gathers/pleats) I think this colour would be safe without lining.

Thinking of other crafts?  Maybe these summery sorbet coloured ribbons- the selection included 10 x 1 metre cuts of grosgrain ribbon.

For something a little brighter and out there, anyone for neon loop fringing?  I saw some shorts (aimed a teen girl market) with the hem trimmed with these in Miss Selfridge the other day! 

There are sale bargains to be had here.  I noticed this pretty Lecien bundle:

A felt 'Sunset' bundle feels like a good place to end this month's visit. 

 The sun is going down a little right now and the heat has thankfully reduced a little.  Whatever your summer crafty pursuits, enjoy!

June at Seamstar

This month is flying by and I am in a super busy period as always happens around this time: it's just before the summer holidays so my day job is busy, there are lots of family birthdays coming up, lots of hops and stuff that I have made/am making things for so I am taking a little time out to stop and have my monthly browse at Seamstar.

Let's start with some cotton lawn, the perfect summer fabric and there are some new arrivals that I hadn't seen before.  This is Lennox Gardens by Robert Kaufman 

The same print is also available as part of a bundle:

The dark floral in the bundle is Floral Blue, also by Robert Kaufman.  I'm not sure if that is black or navy in the background but I really like it.  It is harder to get darker lawn prints and this one is a beauty!

The plain prints are Cambridge lawns, also by Kaufman.  They come in a selection of pastels and are handy for lining, binding etc on dresses/tops/skirts and for clothing generally.  They are all very useful and I particularly like the Nude colour way, it's a very pretty shell pink.  All the Kaufman lawns are 110cm/42" wide.

Lawn is lovely to quilt with too.  These solids would be a luxurious backing or contrast fabric for prints.

With Glastonbury coming up along with a zillion other festivals, I chanced upon a few suitably themed prints.  There is this cute 'Tents' print from Dear Stella  which I couldn't resist getting a fat quarter of for for fussy cutting.

There is also a bundle which features this print along with some  Lotta Glimma.

If you wanted to take this theme further, there is a Camping Chairs 3 fabric bundle that will play nicely with the tents- the chairs are Dear Stella and are also available individually.

Pushing the theme a little further, you could arrive at the festival in a Mini.  

This Mini print is by Dashwood.  Courtney has put together another bundle with this print in too.

I bought a stack of supplies at Seamstar last month so I thought I would give those a mention- this is the sort of stuff that doesn't look very exciting in photographs but is the basics I need in stock for bags, pillows etc.  Starting with Vilene Quiltex fusible fleece:

If you've used Vilene H630 low loft fusible fleece, this is very similar.  It is the same weight, lightweight and thin but the main difference is that it has a pre printed diamond grid which is the adhesive part that fuses.  I've just used this on a Oakshott pillow tutorial that will be on the blog next Monday and I really liked it.  Lighter than batting and because there is less to fuse, the ironing/adhesive process is a little faster and less stressful.  It adheres lightly as only the grid fuses and if you then want to use the grid lines for fast quilting, that's handy too.  I also used this to make some softy toys to give some light lawn a little weight for hand sewn details and it was good for that too.

I also tried some Ultra Firm and Flex double sided fusible interfacing for a 3D box type project that I am making for a magazine.  Wow, its very interesting stuff, great for providing stiffness (no sniggering there at the back), perfect for fabric boxes and baskets and it is easy to put under the foot of the machine and sew.  I didn't fuse it very successfully- the double sidedness wasn't suitable for what I was making.  Instead I used it as a sew in and it was wonderful.  You could use it with fabric to make wrist key fobs instead of canvas strapping.  I also fancy it for bag, wallets and passport holders if you a want sleeker look than fleece/batting and instead have firmness and structure.  Great stuff.  It is sold at 30cm/12" wide and by the metre.

If you fancy a taster pack there is an offcuts bundle for only £2 which is a great chance to try different sorts of interfacing for future use.

I also stocked up on zips.  There are general use standard zips from 4" to 22":

as well as invisible/concealed and chunky plastic zips. 

Enjoy!  I will be enjoying Glasto on the telly and radio next weekend, especially looking forward to Elbow although the best thing is the unexpected amazing performance that crops up each year- no knowing who that could be!

May at Seamstar- Craft Club Offer and Giveaway

 This month at Seamstar, Courtney has come up with stack of offers including a giveaway and a half price offer for verykerryberry and Seamstar followers.  It's all about the Seamstar Craft Club.  Each month, Craft club members receive a new craft box with a monthly makeable kit that can be sewn by hand or machine. The usual cost is £9.99 plus £2.99 p+p (£10.99 plus £3.99 p+p for Europe) but this month you can buy it for £5- half price, plus postage with a no quibbles cancellation

Here's some further details about the patchwork cushion kit (see pic below).   It looks like a great skills builder with piping and invisible zip details- all very handy to learn.  You can see previous Craft Club packages here (scroll down).

The colour fabrics look like part of the V and Co new 'Color me Happy' range.   My favourite in this collection is this wonderful floral, 'Flower Garden'.

To buy this box at half price, you can do so online here quoting the code ssCraftClub50 or ring (see number in pic below.  A bargain and a great way to try out the craft club box.

GIVEAWAY CLOSED

In addition, Courtney has arranged for 4 boxes to be given away on my blog and 1 on instagram- I am @verykerryberry.  To win, comment here saying what sort of kit you'd like in a future box and state your country- UK/France/USA etc.  For additional entries leave further comments here for each of these:

- Following me

-Signing up for Seamstar newsletter

-Sharing the give-away elsewhere on social media- Facebook/pinterest/twitter- use hash tag #ssCraftClub/IG use hash tag #ssCraftClub- a comment here for each share

I need to be able to contact you so if I can't find your email with a couple of clicks you will miss out- include it in your comment like this if needed kerrykit (at) yahoo (dot) co (dot) uk.  Giveaway will close Monday 12th May 6am GMT, winners will be randomly chosen and informed by email.  Prizes will be sent by Seamstar.

Of the 5 total boxes on offer to win, one will be international, four will be UK.  Look out for another chance to win on my @verykerryberry Instagram feed.  There will be other chances to win through Seamstar so check out their blog, Facebook page and newsletter to hear more