Brother Sewing UK

Black Lace Watson Bra The garment I've got to share with you today has been a long time coming! Bra sewing has been on every one of my project lists for years now as well as goal-setting challenges like #makenine on Instagram . Sadly, other garments seemed to continually jump ahead in the queue, pushing back any plans to make Lingerie. I think my delay was partly due to the fact that this is a project out of my comfort zone, and when sewing time is limited and I'm tired, it always seems easier to sew something that feels familiar and that I can complete satisfactorily without too much thought. As well as this, I was initially really put off by the thought of gathering all the different supplies I needed for this project. The list seemed mammoth in size, and with numerous elastics, fabric, lining, hooks, eyes, straps and sliders on the list, I never felt like I had quite all the right matching bits and pieces for a bra. However, in the end I decided my first bra wa...

This not-so-scary monster is perfect for kids to cuddle up with during this time of year, and with Halloween just around the corner, it is a very easy, spooky sewing project that your children will love getting involved with! Kids will really enjoy being part of the process, helping to pick out the fabric colours, sit on your knee and help guide the fabric as you sew, and what we find especially is that they love to help stuff their new toy. For younger children, it’s a nice idea to make the monster rattle by popping a rice-filled container into the stomach of the monster. And for babies and small children, you can easily replace the button eyes with felt circles to make it completely safe to play with. For this project we used the Innov-is 20 machine by Brother. Just like the many other Brother machines we’ve tried, tested and loved, the Innov-is 20 is a pleasure to use and we couldn’t recommend it more. For this fang-tastic project you will need: 25cm sq of purple fleec...

Hello again Brother fans! Jen here, from sewing blog The Gingerthread Girl. I just wanted to stop by to spill the beans on my latest adventures with my Brother sewing machine. I have been having a blast up in the sewing room, getting to grips with gathering.  I love how this simple sewing technique takes a straightforward seam, and gives it an oomph of girly ‘flounciness’ - perfect for floating through the summertime in!  The pattern I chose was the Deer & Doe Myosotis dress (version A). I was immediately drawn to the tiered ruffles of the skirt, and those gorgeous sleeves!  I had this lovely linen/viscose blend lilac fabric from Sew Me Sunshine in my stash, and I decided this would make the perfect summer dress. The perfect pairing for this pattern!  When it came to the gathers themselves, I decided to opt for the classic method of sewing 2 rows of long stitches in order to pull and create the gathered-up bunches of fabric along...

This project is the one thing from my handmade holiday wardrobe wish list that I regret not getting finished back in January. I had the pieces all cut out but sadly ran out of time before we flew to South Africa. The pattern is the basic bikini Well's Bay   from Halfmoon Atelier and I absolutely adore the clean and minimal aesthetic of it. The most exciting thing about the pattern is that it is completely reversible, so you are effectively getting two bikinis in one! There are no fiddly fastenings to contend with either, as it simply ties at the back. The minimalist design is perfect for showcasing a special swimwear print, which is exactly what I chose with this Argyll print swim fabric from the Liberty range at The Fabric Store . There are some amazing prints on their website, and I have at least one more squirrelled away! What I love about them is the quality of the fabric base, which is dense and matte, and that the print retains its vibrancy and clarity when stret...

Located near Leek in the Staffordshire Moorlands, The Lorna Knight Sewing Academy offers countless sewing machines, haberdashery, fabrics and workshops in a picturesque location. Workshops, machines and haberdashery near Leek After running sewing workshops in church halls, museums and shops for over 15 years, I decided it was time to have my own base, so in July 2014 I opened my studio in a barn we renovated in the Staffordshire Moorlands. Starting with six Brother sewing machines and four tables for workshops, the studio filled up quickly with even more sewing and embroidery machines, haberdashery and fabrics - so much so that now, five years later, we are busy converting the next part of the barn so we can spread out further and increase stock. My husband, Stephen, joined me in the business 12 months after opening the studio. As well as ordering haberdashery stock and buying fabric he received excellent training from the Brother engineers and is now qualified to repair a...

In my last blog, I mentioned how much I enjoyed making bags and purses of all sorts. I like to create with all sorts of materials, and that means – like most sewists – I have a lot of scraps to show for my work!  I'm a firm believer in using scraps, and above you can see some Abraham Moon tweed offcuts which I have made into a couple of little zip top coin purses with the aid of my trusty Brother XP1/Luminaire. I hope this brief tutorial inspires you to have a go too! Step one Select your scraps – for the purse on the right, I decided to use some of the one-inch pieces I had and applique them on to a five-inch square of tweed. The left-hand purse was another scrap of blue tweed which I decided to applique along the top using a heart design. Step two So, off to the Design Centre to select one of the built in shapes. I selected a simple circle but you could use a heart (as I did in the second purse) a leaf, a square – whatever you like. As I look at this picture n...