Just Sew's Print Making Class

On Sunday I went along to one of the classes at Just Sew; a lovely little craft studio right in the heart of Brighton. Run by the same folk who run the lovely Brighton Sewing Centre, Just Sew offers loads of different sewing classes and last weekend they were running a Print Making class.

The idea was to experiment with heat transfer dyes and produce a scarf and a cushion cover.

The class was the perfect size, 7 lovely ladies and 2 teachers (the fabulous Jo and Sam) meant there was always someone on hand to help out or ask advice.

First of all we experimented with the dyes - painting pieces of paper, cutting out shapes and ironing them onto the material.

Next the group were split into two - half to work on scarves and half to work on the cushion covers. There were several ways you could work with the dye - either painting the dye onto sheets of paper and cutting it out, or painting out a picture and transferring the whole thing. 

For my scarf - I decided to use a teapot design (the same teapot design I love and used to make this tote bag) and cut out my stencils. 

I was really happy with how the print came out - and mixed it up using both blue and a reddy pink. I really like the tiny little pink top on the blue teapots. Funnily enough that was an accident too!

The great thing about this class was the mix of different craft techniques. To finish off the scarf we were taught how to use an overlocker. I'd never used one before, and now I am massively in love and want to buy one! They are so easy to use and really make an amazing finished product. 

Next I moved on to my cushion cover design. I decided (in true Fran fashion) to do a flamingo design. I sketched out the design and then painted on the dye. 

Once the dye was dry I simply ironed it on to my cushion and voila!

I loved the design, but felt it definitely needed more detail - so instead of sewing mine up into an envelope cushion in class I decided to bring mine home to hand embroider detail onto the birds. I'm getting started on this tonight so will be sure to post pictures once it's complete. 

Here are some of the other designs by the lovely ladies in the class:

The great news is that the amazingly talented Jo and Sam are planning to run a "Craft Club" every month - featuring a different skill and also maybe using mixed arts. I really hope this goes ahead because it was such a good day. I not only learnt a bunch of new skills, but met some great people and was continuously fed tea and cake!

Sam and Jo - our lovely teachers for the day

So if you fancy doing a crafting class, I can't recommend Just Sew enough. Fantastic value for money and a day well spent. You can check out all the other classes they run here.