Newsletter from The Eye Of A Needle – October 2023

Newsletters

October 11, 2023

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Hello Lovely Ladies
Welcome to our Spring newsletter, and welcome to all our new subscribers who have visited us at our new shop or subscribed online. I aim to write a newsletter at the beginning of each month – this one has been brewing for a couple of weeks now, and in this edition I hope to give you an overview of what’s going on at our place for the rest of this year and heading in to 2024.
The past few weeks have been pretty huge for us. Moving shop is like moving house, but we’ve also been running classes and serving customers in amongst it all, trying to find a place for everything to fit in this grand old house. I think I’ve broken the back of it now, but we still have a few more tweaks to attend to. Yesterday we picked up two new flat packed shelving units which will be going into the main sewing/fabric room once David has assembled them. Because we need to clear the decks and lay everything out on the floor, the shop will be CLOSED this Saturday. David gets to do that lovely job while I get to travel to New Plymouth to meet my new granddaughter. Sadie arrived last Friday on her big sister Lucy’s second birthday. I’m looking forward to a short weekend break away with lots of cuddles with the little girls, and hopefully when I return on Monday the shelving will all be up and looking fabulous!
We can then use our original shelving in some of the other rooms for displays and storage. The house has filled up quite quickly and with a new CLOVER display unit and our first shipment of dressmaking fabric now unpacked, the rooms are starting to look quite full. Please remember when you come and visit that there is more than one room you can shop in!

This is the house from the entrance

This is my view outwards from the counter

For those who have visited us, you will be aware of our BERNINA signage on the fence, so I think we are quite easy to find now. We hope you will drive in the gate off Miller St to park your car so it’s off the street. I have a wonderful view of TeMata Peak from my elevated corner by the counter and I can often see who is coming in and out the gate. I have also noticed some very interesting parking behaviour! If you are coming for a class, we suggest you veer left inside the gate and fill up that area first. Casual shoppers can park behind my car at the side door. There is plenty of room to park if you are smart, rather than driving around the block several times to find a park out on the street. GOOGLE seems to be directing people to our new address; we are aware that the Avenue Rd East address can be a tad confusing when the main gate entrance is in Miller Street.

Here are a few photos of the shop interiors

Top left – the main shop/classroom

Top right – By Annie display

Bottom left – the lunch room

Bottom right – the BERNINA room

LODESTAR TREE TOPPER

We had a great first class making the Lodestar and there was a very diverse range of colour choices using the lovely merino wool felt we stock. A new box of glitter felt has arrived today so the ladies can now finish off all their stitching before a second assembly class which will be held on Saturday 25th November. I know this won’t suit everyone, but November is always a busy month and trying to squeeze everything in to the last few Saturdays of the year has been a bit of a juggle.

There has been lots of interest in the ”12 Days of Christmas” wool felt ornaments hand stitching class held on a Tuesday morning from 10am – 12:30pm. A couple of spots are still available this term – the joy of this class is you can start in the middle, as there are over 12 different patterns, and stitch at your own pace. Each pattern costs $20. You purchase your own felt and threads.
Come along and stitch with a lovely group of ladies – you pay a class fee of $5 every time you attend.

BABY BLOOMS CUSHION by Wendy Williams

Ladies who have been working on the Baby Blooms cushion – a Wendy Williams pattern – are nearing completion of their project. They are ready for a new challenge this term, so we will continue with this Felt & Stitch class on a Thursday afternoon from 1:30 – 3:30pm with a few other options.
There will be a range of patterns you can choose from to hand stitch and make your own felt creations. Buy your pattern and choose your own felt colours and threads for your project from The Eye Of A Needle. The class will cost $5 each time you attend.

CIRCULAR FLOWERS CLASS
WITH BARRIE ASHTON

There are still several places available for this class with Barrie Ashton from Wonderfil threads. Barrie will be our guest tutor at a workshop on Saturday 18th November 9:30 – 3:30pm.
You will make a sampler (table mat size) in the workshop which will look similar to the photo below, learning how to use techniques like pin tucking, cording and circular embroidery.
The class fee will be $65 + fabric/threads of your own choice. A full list of requirements is available on registration.

CHRISTMAS PROJECTS

All our Christmas fabrics have now arrived and a new table runner is in order using some of these lovely fabrics.

We will hold 2 classes to make a French Braided table runner, either on Saturday 11th November, OR Saturday 9th December from 10am – 3pm.
The table runner looks great as a Christmas feature, or you may just want to jazz up your table with an all year round table runner in other lovely fabrics.
Class fee for this class is $40 + your fabric requirements

A DAY IN HAPPY LAND – BOM starting February 2024

Due to popular demand, I have decided to go ahead with stocking the kits for the latest BOM by Anni Downs from Hatched & Patched called ‘A Day in Happy Land’.
This quilt is easy to make with simple woven wool applique and stitchery. A little bit quirky and a whole lot of whimsical. There are many images you could use again and again to not only make the quilt, but you could make bags, cushions, pincushions, needle cases, and more!
This quilt uses linen, Japanese taupes and hand-dyed woven wools, and has a finished size of 55″x56″.

A Day in Happy Land consists mainly of wool applique and stitchery. Each month there are at least 6 applique images to create, each being stitched on a natural linen background. These are then stitched down onto a background fabric, giving the illusion of the blocks floating around together.

The techniques are very simple, using fusible web applique and a whip-stitch for the woven wool applique, and mainly backstitch for the stitchery component.

Our BOM will cost $50 per month, plus postage. This will include the pattern, all hand-dyed woven wool, linen, Japanese taupe and fusible web. Please note this does not include threads, backing or batting. I am currently sourcing the fabric and threads for this project, which will be a combination of Valdani, Aurifil Lana wool thread and DMC threads with natural linen and Japanese taupe as the background fabric.
Since some of the recommended fabrics will not be available until December, we will make this BOM one of our main 2024 projects. This will give me the time I need to source everything we need, so it makes sense to start Block One in February 2024, and the 12 months will finish in February 2025 (eeek!)
Please register your interest with a $50 deposit which will cover the cost of your first block.

I anticipate this will be a very popular BOM, so the absolute final cut off date for registrations will be 31st October. Patterns and kits will then be ordered.

BERNINA go into SPRING CLEAN SALE from Monday 16th October until Sunday 5th November.
If you are in the market for a new sewing machine prior to Christmas, then this may be your chance, while stocks last!
You can save up to $1500 on some of the bigger machines. More images will be up on our Facebook page towards the end of this week once they become available.

DRESSMAKING FABRIC DROP!!!

Our first drop of dressmaking fabrics have arrived and are now unpacked, priced and ready to sell!
We have some gorgeous linens, linen/tencel mix, ginghams & checks, broderie anglaise and a couple of chambray denims to start with. Most are priced between $30 and $40 per metre.
I hope to get these fabrics posted online this week. We are starting with a small amount, just to get a feel of the market for dressmaking fabrics – but as the only supplier in the Hastings area of good quality cottons and linens, my supplier thinks they will rock out the door! Please tell all your friends – the more fabric we sell, the more I hope to supply!
We will work on sourcing dressmaking patterns over the next few months. I would like to make a few samples first so we can give you first hand recommendations of how certain patterns sew up. At this stage I will stick to stocking natural fibres and see how well they sell. I would love to try a few stretch knits in the future if there is enough demand. Watch this space!

Our maximum class size currently is 8 people; otherwise it’s a bit of a squash, especially when sewing machines are involved. Please register early for classes to avoid disappointment.
To summarize everything that I have written above, here is an easy calendar for you to check off in your diary for classes you may be interested in.

Tuesdays 10am-12:30pm: 12 Days of Christmas wool felt decorations (space available)
Tuesdays 5pm-8pm: Night class (FULL)
Wednesdays 10am-12:30pm: Drop in class (space available)
Wednesdays 1:30-4pm: Dressmaking class/confidence building (space available)
Thursdays 10am-12:30pm: Drop in class (space available)
Thursdays 1:30pm-3:30pm: Wool felt cushions and embroidery (space available)
Fridays 10am-12:30pm: Drop in class (FULL)

SATURDAYS – ONE OFF FEATURE WORKSHOPS:
Saturday 14th October – CLOSED
Saturday 21st – Labour Weekend – open for shopping
Saturday 28th October – Catch up weekend
Monday 30th October – Lodestar class 1 in Taupo
Saturday 4th November – Crazy Colour Mystery Quilt
Saturday 11th November – Christmas Table Runner Class (space available)
Saturday 18th November – Workshop with Barrie from Wonderfil(space available)
Saturday 25th November – Lodestar Assembly class
Saturday 2nd December – Crazy Colour Mystery Class
Saturday 9th December – Christmas Table Runner (space available)
Saturday 16th December – Finishing UFO projects

TUESDAY 31st OCTOBER – cut off for ‘A Day in Happy Land’ registration

Looking ahead to next year we have the following projects that I am currently taking expressions of interest for – more information will be available in the next newsletter:
* Cushion Upholstery Classes
* In House BOM – 16 pieced blocks in blues and greens (sample almost complete)
* More specialised dressmaking classes
* Sashiko/Boro/Japanese stitching

I hope that’s enough to whet your appetite. Get your diary out, make up your wish list, then contact me to tell me what you would love to do the most!

Happy Stitching

Kay

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