Fancy trying something completely different?

On Saturday 8th August, from 1.00pm to 3.30pm, I'm holding an Introduction to Silk Painting Workshop.

Don't worry if you've never tried it before—this workshop is aimed at complete beginners. I'll show you everything you need to know, and you'll go home with your own beautiful silk creation.

All materials are provided.
Just wear old clothes (or bring an apron) as the paints can stain.
£35 per person.

Silk painting is such a relaxing craft, and it's always exciting to see how different everyone's finished piece turns out.

If you'd like to come along, you can book here Why not give it a go? You might just discover your new favourite hobby!

This morning I went out and started shovelling soil into the Strawberry patch ready to level off in the middle of the walls.

I have to admit that my heart was not in it as my mind was on QR codes and new web pages!

I gave up and turned the puter on to work on them.

I am creating a new webpage to show progress on my Wearable Art jacket and creating a rainbow coloured QR to put on the jacket.

Trying to decide which size looks better. What do you think?

I am so pleased that you all chose the smaller QR code. Not only is that the one I prefer but the size is based on 14 count aida which I just happen to already have!

It did not take long to sort out suitable colours.

I have gone for slightly darker and richer versions of the traditional rainbow colours to give a little more contrast against the sky blue aida - although I will probably be stitching over the that later.

I have used 3 strands rather than the traditional 2, to make the colours pop and, you may have noticed, I could not resist a bit of thread painting!

I have been working ever so hard on videos and pdfs this week so that I can take some time off over Easter.

Last night I decided that I deserved a reward for all of my hard work so spent some sofa time working on my Wearable Art jacket.

I "think" I have finished the starry sky now.

The weather has been kind and let me out into the garden for 3 days in a row!

The front flower border is now cleared of weeds and last years dead stuff.

Planning on going out there again now that class is finished and I have run my errands.

More work on my Wearable Art jacket last night. It will not be long before this side is finished.

Plenty of sofa time last night after my rather busy day.

The stars have slowly been creeping down the sky on the Starry Night side of my Wearable Art jacket, a liitle slower than I had planned because I was sidetracked by sorting out my beads!

The two old and tatty cases that the beads were stored in have been replaced with this rather lovely set of drawers.

Some of you may recognise them as they were used in the shop to store felting tools and yarn for workshops.

Starry, starry, night!

Sofa time the last few evenings has been very productive.

I had no idea what this was going to look like as I can not "see" it in my head like I can with crochet.

However, it is coming out a lot better that I thought it would.

I have finished the Cypress Tree!

I did end up taking the beads off the couching which meant I could add lots more on the crochet cotton.

Loving the wobbly effect that adding the beads to alternate sides of the chain stitch creates.

I am about to turn the puter off so that I can start Slow Stitching the sky.

A busy day yesterday!

Class in the morning and then I finally finished the next pdf for the Build-A-Bag Workshop. This one has been a bit of a marathon!

I was hoping to start sofa time early last night but that didn't happen.

However, when it did finally happen, I made a lot more progress on the Wearable Art jacket.

A slight change of plan on the Slow Stitching.

I didn't like the beads sewn straight on to the fabric, they didn't create the effect I was looking for.

Instead, I have been using crochet cotton and chain stitch. I have added the beads to alternate sides of the loop as I create it and am loving the effect.

I may end up taking the beads off the couching, I haven't decided yet.

Last night I finished the couching the Cypress tree on my Wearable Art jacket and started on the beading.

I love how this is coming along and am looking forward to wearing it in the summer.

That sleet yesterday turned into HUGE snowflakes by lunchtime that were settling.

Fluffy Puppy went out for a wee and came back in as fast as her little legs could carry her!

Thankfully, late in the afternoon it was all gone.

I spent sofa time watching a film I found and Slow Stitching the Cypress Tree on my Wearable Art jacket.

So looking forward to being able to wear it.

In a change from rain, we have sleet today.

Just as well that we went out yesterday because we are not going out in this!

Thoroughly enjoyed Jason Momoa last night and managed to get more of the Cypress Tree stitched on the Wearable Art jacket.

After spending a large part of the day working on the puter, partly on pdfs and partly on scheduling posts, Fluffy Puppy managed to harass me enough to give in and take her out.

As it was not enough for her to just have muddy paws, she managed to find a muddy patch to roll in as well!

She is fast asleep under the desk now and I am about to turn this lot off for sofa time with Jason Momoa and do some Slow Stitching on my Wearable Art jacket.

I did not get a lot of work done on the pdfs done yesterday but I did schedule everything that has been tested in the morning before an impromptu walk with the dogs.

Class in the afternoon followed by working on the next pdf then puter off to work on the Wearable Art jacket.

I didn't get much stitching done as I was mostly cutting strips of fabric for couching.

After changing the way I made the houses and windows, it was so much easier to do.

I tacked the fabric on the back following a rough outline of the houses.

Next I embroidered the houses and the outside of the window frame using the tacking as a guide.

Finally I very carefully cut the window out then finished it off with buttonhole stitch.

Very pleased with how it is coming along and now need to work out the next stage.

Sunday morning class finished ....... and breathe.

Yesterday was very full on with Potato Day in the morning and the Entrelac workshop in the afternoon.

It was supposed to be 2.5 hours but, as I told the students that they could stay until they had finished, it ended up being 4 hours! I need to learn to plan these things better. By 6pm the adrenalin had worn off and I was shattered!

However, I did managed a little more Slow Stitching. On Friday I finished the last leaf on the Sunflowers side of the jacket. Last night I started the Starry Night side.

This afternoon has mostly been spent tacking brightly coloured bits of fabric to the back of the Starry Night side of the jacket.

After creating the first 2 windows, I decided it would be easier to tack the fabric in and embroider the house through it so that it was held firmly in place before cutting out the window.

This Slow Stitching is definitely time consuming but surprisingly relaxing!

I was ever so good today, I finished everything on my list by mid afternoon!!!!!

The Entrelac pdf is ready for tomorrow, I fulfilled and posted an order, banked the cash and completed the end of month accounts.

Then I decided I deserved a treat so, instead of working on the puter, I did some Slow Stitching on my Wearable Art jacket.

Do I feel guilty? Not in the slightest!

While I may not have achieved as much as I had planned to yesterday, I am pleased with what I did achieve.

The star patterns are ready for testing, I am half way through a tutorial pdf that I need for Saturday and I recovered over 7000 photos on a MicroSD card that I thought had been lost forever!

I really did deserve to turn the puter off at 7pm and so that I could work on my Wearable Art jacket. The 1st pic is where I left it Monday night and the second is after last nights sofa time.

If you compare these with the one from Monday, you can see how much was stitched in a total of 7 hours over the 2 evenings.

It is obvious where the name Slow Stitching comes from!

After being inspired by yesterdays workshop with Market Place Artss, sofa time last night was spent Slow Stitching.

I cut the Bee embroidery into a slightly wonky hexagon and used Buttonhole Stitch to sew it to the jacket, then I did some more couching and Beading on the Sunflower centre.

If I can finish the other work that needs to be done today, I will be repeating this tonight!

My mojo for pdfs has disappeared the last few days so, instead of trying to work and failing dramatically, I have taken a few days to do some "me" stuff.

While some of this involved crochet, some of it involved going to a workshop at the KEC and taking a workshop with Steph Norwood.

While I didn't learn anything new, I did have a nice time sitting, stitching and chatting.

The puter is going off extra early tonight!

I would really love to be doing more Slow Stitching on my Wearable Art jacket but, not only do I have lots of crocheting to do, the jacket is a bit damp as I used my Inktense Pencils to add a bit more detail to the Starry Night side of it.

I now need to wait until it is throughly dry.

After spending most of yesterday working on videos, I turned the puter off early and spent the evening on the sofa, infront of the TV doing more Slow Stitching on my Wearable Art jacket.

The top and bottom flowers are finished, just the middle one to do - which also happens to be the biggest!

I was ever so good yesterday and finished another 3 videos for the Build-A-Bag Workshop!

I am now up to part 15.

This meant I could treat myself to some more Slow Stitching last night and have beaded a few more petals on my Wearable Art jacket.

It's a rather Blustery Day!

It is on days like this that I am so pleased that I now work from home.

Fluffy Puppy and I are settled on the sofa, watching the rain through the window while I work on my Wearable Art jacket.

I have enlisted Kansas to keep us company this morning.

As pleased as I was to see the rain has stopped, I have to admit to thoroughly enjoying the enforced hibernation yesterday.

I crocheted most of the day and settled on the sofa in the evening for some Slow Stitching on my Wearable Art jacket.

Today I decided to do an hours sewing each morning on my Wearable Art jacket.

I sat on the sofa in front of the window for the best light, enlisted Billy Idol to keep me company and started.

I had forgotten how long this hand sewing takes!

However, I have done a little more and it will gradually be finished over the next couple of weeks.

Now I need to carry on with the Dragon Scarf.

Some days, not everything goes to plan!

I had to frog the hood for the Dragon Scarf and start a again. It's a designer thing - it wasn't quite what I wanted.

That was not in the plan.

However, I also started the Sunflower centres on the Wearable Art jacket.

That was in the plan.

This morning, I have not done anything I was supposed to have!

Instead, I spent it on the sewing machine.

I have finished all of the machine sewing on my Wearable Art jacket and the machine can go away.

Next I need to carry on with the hand sewing - and all of the other things I should have done this morning!

Yesterday, after realising it was not as late as I thought it was, I sewed some of the petals on.

I had to clear the table for class this morning but put the sewing machine straight back on to it after the students left and have now finished the 3rd Sunflower.

I am using the machine to applique the petals on and have been playing with some of the embroidery stitches to do it.

Really pleased with progress this afternoon.

I made quilted leaves and sewed them on.

I sewed quilted petals on top of the flat ones on the half flower, made a stem and green back bit for it.

I cut a hole in the denim and covered the edge with some red fabric then sewed it all in place.

Very happy with how it is all looking - but now my eyes are tired!

I had a plan! As no classes on Friday or Saturday, I was going to get the sewing machine out and work on my Wearable Art jacket. Didn't happen!

Yesterday I went out for food shopping and coffee with a friend in the morning then got home with just enough time time to put the shopping away before meeting up with another friend for a lunch date - which lasted most of the afternoon.

I was too tired to get the machine out then.

This morning I was up early, filled the slow cooker and finished another video.

I finally got the sewing bits and pieces out at lunch time but have not yet actually switched the machine on, I forgot how much time all of the preparation takes and I have had visitors.

On the bright side, I have ironed the first layer of petals in place ready to sew

One of todays jobs was to wash my Wearable Art jacket.

After heat fixing it yesterday by ironing it, I decided to go the the "Belt & Braces" approach and use the hair dryer as well.

Then this morning it went in the washing machine to make sure that the paint was fixed and wash away any excess that wasn't.

Happy to say that the whole process has worked perfectly!

Between working on videos yesterday, I went to pick up my Wearable Art jacket.

I am really pleased with how it has come out.

Leaving to to dry naturally allows the paints to finish spreading and blending.

It creates a totally different finish than if it had been dried with a hair dryer.

Another messy silk painting session today.

I wanted to be a little more precise this time so laid it out on the floor.

However, these paints have a mind of their own and "precise" is not a word associated with them.

Photos are from before and after a coffee break and you can see how the paints have done their own thing in that short time.

I added a some darker colours to some of it and will show you the results when the jacket is dry.

While I was picking up the silk yesterday, I took a quick photo of the jacket.

You can see the way the paints have merged and changed as it was drying.

I could have kept it looking like the first picture if I had used a hair dryer to dry the fabric and fix the colour but I chose to leave it dry naturally, giving the colours the opportunity to find their own space.

Today has been manic but productive despite not being able to carry on with the wall!

I edited and scheduled 2 more videos.

Next I went to pick up the piece of silk I painted last week then set the colour, washed it and dried it.

Then I made some more videos.

I was just sewing ends in ready for the next video when my friend came to pick me up to go shopping. I hadn't been watching the time and did not realise how late it was!

When we got back I had to charge my phone as it was shouting at me while I finished sewing the ends in. The next video is going to have to wait until tomorrow.

You know when, occasionally, you do something that you have not done in a while and it makes you happy because you had forgotten how much fun it was? Well I did that this morning!

Photography By Rob Morris let me use his art room to do some rather messy silk painting and I had a whale of a time!

This is just the first step in a series of Pimp Your Jacket workshops that I am planning for next year.

Before I can show you how to pimp yours, I need to pimp mine!