Inspired by our monthly meeting - Make, Do and Mend!

Hello there,

Welcome back to the Bake, Natter and Roll blog, we hope you're well today!

It's Rachel here, sharing with you a sewing project that I recently completed. If you popped by the blog recently you'll know all about our July monthly meeting, where we met Alice and Ginny and enjoyed a talk about make do and mend. I was really inspired by one part of the talk in particular - the bit where an old shirt was unpicked for the fabric. I was amazed at the amount of fabric that you got from just one shirt!

With this in mind I scoured the local charity shops in Farnham, looking for something I could unpick and upcycle into something new. I came across this shapeless dress in a fab tropical print, which cost me just £3.95. I wouldn't have picked the dress for myself, but I loved the fabric....

It's a size 16 dress in a light, floaty fabric that I thought would make a lovely summer top.

The first thing I needed to do was unpick the seams and see how much fabric I had to play with. I unpicked one of the side seams first, then I started on the bias binding that was attached to the neckline and also used for the straps. 

I wish I had been a little bit more careful with the bias binding, the majority of it came off really easily and was reuseable.....but in my haste a bit of it ended up with holes. 

I was really impressed with the amount of fabric I got.....this little lot would have cost me more than £4.00 if I bought it new....

I have a pattern for a simple, sleeveless top that I knew would work well in this fabric. I knew I could reuse the bias binding for the arm holes, so I just needed to add a little black bias binding for my neck line. 

So I got started, cutting my fabric out....with a little help from Steve the cat....

As mentioned above I reused the original bias binding for my arm holes....

...and used a little black bias binding from my craft stash for the neck line....

I had more than enough fabric for this top, and although it wasn't the easiest fabric to work with I was pleased with my finished piece and I've already worn this top out....

There is nothing better than making your own clothes....having something that no one else has and that tends to fit you better than shop bought clothes.

I also loved the challenge of taking something old and making it into something I would wear. 

My top tip if you wanted to do this yourself (and I would encourage you to) is to take your time when unpicking the seams. Less speed means less rips in your fabric!

I'll definitely be doing this again in the future - thanks to Alice and Ginny for the inspiration!

Thank you for popping by today!

Rachel - The Bake, Natter and Roll Committee

Our July Meeting .....Make Do and Mend

Hello there,

Welcome back to the Bake, Natter and Roll Farnham WI Blog!

This month Vice President Kate hosted the monthly meeting which included a talk and demonstration from Alice and Ginny and a clothes swish! The theme for the meeting was "make do and mend" and we enjoyed an informative evening, led by Alice and Ginny, which was followed by time clothes swapping...giving our unwanted clothes a new home!

Alice and Ginny is a collaboration of friends Alice Butcher and Ginny Farquhar, who provide fun, informative sewing workshops that focus on building good core sewing skills, enabling greater confidence for independent sewing. They offer sewing & craft classes for all ages in Hampshire & Surrey.

During the evening Alice and Ginny talked through the importance of the "make do and mend" movement and how we can all learn simple skills to prolong the life of our clothes or reuse them in an imaginative way.

We saw lots of tools of the trade during the talk and were given ideas and tips for upcycling clothes. Alice also showed us how much fabric you can gain from unpicking an old shirt!

We were also given some top tips for sewing on missing buttons....and we all got to have a go....

Once the talk had finished the clothes swap commenced. Each attending member was inviting to bring along good quality clothes that they no longer wanted, and then we swapped....

a fun way to share clothes, extending the life of unwanted items in your wardrobe!

Once again this was a very informative evening, which left our members feeling inspired to give their wardrobes a new lease of life!

We'd like to thank Alice and Ginny for joining us.

Thank you for popping by today,

The Bake, Natter and Roll Committee

Bake, Natter and Roll - Our Provisional Programme - Part 2

Hello there,

Welcome back to Bake, Natter and Roll - the Farnham WI blog!

Last week we took a look at the first half of our provisional programme for 2016, this week we are looking at July - December....

21st July - Make Do and Mend ....Or Swap

Advice on how to make our wardrobes more eco-friendly by mending, upcycling and re-using clothes rather than discarding them. We'll also be having a clothes swap....bring along two items of good-conditioned clothing that you no longer want and swap them for two other items!

August - TBC

Event or trip to be confirmed

15th September - Jam, but not Jerusalem

As autumn draws in and fruit is ready to be harvested it feels like a good time to get traditional with demonstrations (and hopefully samples!) of jam making, chutneys and maybe even home-grown champagne. Bring along the fruits of your labour if you've tried any of the grow-your-own tips from March's meeting, and enter your produce in our very own Freakiest Vegetable competition!

20th October - Think Pink

It's breast cancer awareness month and it's all about boobs! Wear something pink, eat pink cakes and drink pink fizz and make sure to bring along your loose change for a raffle in aid of Frimley Park Hospital's Breast Care Appeal.

17th November - Annual Meeting & Christmas Craft

Traditionally every WI holds their annual meeting in November. We'll have reports from the Commitee and other business to take care of, and then we will turn our attention to some Christmas crafting.

15th December - Mistletoe and Wine Cocktails

Let's round off 2016 with a Bake, Natter and Roll Christmas Party!

We hope you'll agree that we've got a great year ahead of us - full of exciting activities and opportunities to natter with new friends and old!

Don't forget - if you get crafty at home or have some home grown veggies you're proud of...take a photo and share it with us over on our Facebook Page!

Thank you for popping by today,

The Bake, Natter and Roll Committee