11 Feb 19'
"I am so glad I came on this course. It felt very indulgent to leave the 3 children behind and disappear for some "me" time on Saturday, but it was the best day out I have had in a long time. I would love to come back for another session.
Dawn made us all feel very welcome, and showed us her treasure trove of threads, bobbins, scissors and fabrics. We set the machines up and set about choosing what kind of things we wanted to try.
I had so much fun! My usual style is to find a pattern/tutorial which is exactly like the object I want to make, then follow it to the letter. It ends up very neat, but not very "individual". It was so liberating to sit in front of a machine, without a plan, and watch a dragon appear out of my random doodles and swirls. I do not consider myself to be an artist, and nobody was more shocked than me when he appeared at the corner of my frame. I had so much fun building him up into a picture, making a fire out of lovely fabrics for him to be holding.
We had a lovely lunch break where we could chat and relax - and the home made cake was delicious. There was tea, coffee and water throughout the day - and biscuits too.
In the afternoon I tried a piece that was a bit more planned, and Dawn showed me how to make it work when it didn't go quite as I wanted and later when I wasn't sure about some of the colours I had used. That seems to be the amazing thing about free motion - that if you don't like something, you can just put another piece over the top until you are happy with the result. I am so happy with how my design took shape and evolved, (with Dawn's help!) and I ended up with an embroidery of my dad's dog which I have framed and am going to give to him.
I have a long to do list today, but have slipped out to the fabric shop for some shimmery fabric scraps and velvet which I just can't resist having a go this morning.
Thank you Dawn, it was a fabulous day, and has inspired me to try a more informal approach to my sewing and project design."