E17 Designer Spring Market

Come and see me at the next E17 Designers Market on Friday 13th may at the Asian Center in Orford Road between 7 and 10pm

Create Place new ventures

Sew Cafe at the Create Place

I will be running sewing drop ins (Sew Cafe) on the first Wednesday of every month between 6.30 - 9, starting on 4th May at The Create Place, 29 Old Ford Road, Betnal Green E2 9BJ http://www.thecreateplace.co.uk 

There will also be a special Easter Sew Cafe on Saturday 23rd April between 10 and 5.Family craft fun activities available too on the day, check out the website for more details.

During the Cafe you can hire a machine for £7 or hire advice and a machine for £15. Please contact me first to discuss what you are working on if you want to book me for a slot so i can coordinate bookings.

Sewing Machine repairs

I will also be running a sewing machine hospital during Sew Cafe. Bring your poorly or unused machine and I will fix and service it. 

Cupcakes and Sewing!

Sarah from Hardy and Scott will be providing cupcakes at all my classes from now on, free of charge. Her cakes are scrumptious and will certainly make sewing even more fun (is that possible?)

Here are some gorgeous things I covet...

Miso Funky

I love Sewing

 Cassia Beck Prints

Felt Bird Brooch


Cassia Beck Prints

Dea Beale

Sewing classes this weekend

Laura's cushion

Beata, Laura and Yolanda hard at work cutting out their cushions

Polly and Claire's finished cushions

Beata and Yolanda's finished cushions

this weekend I ran several sewing classes and a crochet class. Here are the gorgeous results. I am so proud of my ladies and their work!

New ventures

The craft classes are running and proving to be very successful - and enjoyable!

From March I will be teaching quilting workshops at The Create Place in Bethnal green on Wednesday nights.

They run lots of cool and cheap classes in a fantastic venue, check out their website http://backtobasicsartsandcrafts.blogspot.com/p/workshops.html

I am very excited to be involved with them.

We will also start offering a sewing machine repair service from there. You can drop off your machine and I will take it home to repair it, or you can come to the monthly repair clinics. Alternatively I can repair machines at your own home. Prices tbc but likely to be in the region of £15 an hour plus £15 call out to your home. Generally most machines can be fixed within the hour. Low cost alternative to an expensive repair shop!







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Great craft books

As I have a very serious craft book buying habit I was incredibly pleased when I was contacted by Iain from New Holland Publishers asking me to review some of their crafts books, none of which I owned or had read.

Yesterday I received a box full of goodies and hereby are my reviews. Can I just say I was very impressed with all the books! And that readers if my blog can get 20% off these books plus free p&p if they enter Cheeky at the checkout!! Website is www.newhollandpublishers.com/craft-and-hobbies.asp




Make a monster (using fleece). Right up my street. Colourful and fun, with clear instruction and full size patterns. I want to make them all!




Love sewing



Another winner. Great projects, very clear instructions, nice photography.









A cupcake doorstop! First thing I am making tonight. I love it! Patterns are printed but not full sized and not loose so need to be photocopied.


Love crochet




Excellent instructions on starting to crochet, some of the clearest I have seen (and I have seen a few!) and some fantastic patterns.


These gorgeous fingerless gloves are begging to be started today!



And more guilt free cupcakes:





Crafts with kids



Too scared to show Max as he will instantly want to make everything in it (and I have cupcakes to make first!). Rockets, finger puppets, games, lots and lots.
Love this book.



Beautiful knits for heads, hands and toes




The cover looks a little dull but there are great ideas in this book.







Strangely divided up into different colour ways, there are more than just gloves and hats as there is a cute capelet, some lovely bags and wraps too. Using everything from thick wool to whispy mohair there is projects for everyone in here.

Cannot wait to start some chunky socks!




Am loving these books and hope you do too




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crafting classes

SEWING/ KNITTING/ CROCHET CLASSES

SEWING/ KNITTING/ CROCHET CLASSES

I run several different sewing classes. I specialise in small and individual classes to really give you lots of attention. I can very much tailor each class to your level.

I own some gorgeous vintage sewing machines, from 1890’s treadle Singers to a cute 70’s flowery number and feel these machines are ideally suited to beginners. They are simple to thread up, simple to look after, sturdy, and often make the most beautiful straight stitch you have ever seen. I have hand cranked and electric machines and you are welcome to use any or all of them during your lessons. Of course if you already have a machine for Christmas or have inherited one from a parent or grandparent I am more than happy to teach you on that machine so you get confidence using that.

I can teach at my home in Walthamstow, E17, in a nice informal setting, with tea and biscuits supplied and a huge stash of fabric for you to buy for use in your class or outside, or for a little extra I am happy to travel to your home (within reason!. I am looking into a venue for bigger classes and longer courses.

You are very welcome to bring your kids to classes, I have plenty of toys and DVDs to keep them occupied and although there won’t be childcare on hand, just by you being in the same space you will probably find they are happy to let you craft. Of course slightly older kids are welcome to join in.

Class descriptions, prices and a schedule are on my new website www.cheekyhandmades.co.uk

Contact me jenniec777@gmail.com to book a class. I am very flexible and am happy to dedicate any of these slots to a class of your choosing if you pay for a one on one class or bring some friends along. This is just a guideline. Am happy to combine classes or teach a custom made one.

10% discount if two or more classes are booked at the same time

SEWING MACHINE REPAIRS

I am a little bit clever when it comes to fixing sewing machines. Obviously if it has been dropped on it’s head and it rattles when you shake it I may not be able to help but for basic tension problems or an inability to form stitches without creating nests under the needle or a machine having seized up or anything other you are scratching your head over, please drop over with your machine and I will have a look. I have a pretty good track record (not been defeated yet!) and it is a lot cheaper than taking it in to a repair shop. And you can eat cake and drink tea whilst I fix it or just leave it and pick it up when it is feeling better. £15 an hour, if I cannot fix it I will know within half an hour. Also good for when you have bought a machine on ebay or you have inherited a machine without a handbook, we can work it out together and you can get to know your machine at the same time. Call or email me to book it in.

I am always happy to provide advice on decent machines to buy new or second hand and I will be glad to help you source a cute vintage machine and have some great websites I use for reviews and history.

I am also available for advice on fabrics and good places to buy fabrics, and knitting needles and yarns etc.



10% discount if two or more classes are booked at the same time