January Newsletter
Fiery skies through my frosty window in the first week of 2026
Now then, January was something wasn’t it?!
What a start we’ve had to 2026! We were a little late getting back to clubs and classes this year, because the weather had other ideas. Heavy snow, gale force winds, cancelled boats and delayed deliveries meant we were forced to cancel our first week of activities, but I’m glad to say we’re now back with a bang. Lerwick UHA has been and gone, the days are getting longer and I can see the first shoots of spring. Brighter days are ahead, folks!
In this month’s newsletter we’ll be looking at some of the successes of Stitch Club Class Alumni, and looking ahead to what we have planned for the Summer Season.
We sampled two types of buttonhole during the class
We hosted our first Technical Tuesday, and it went so well that I blogged about it!
The first planned lesson, Darts, was cancelled due to snow, but we did all manage to get to Buttonholes and it was an absolute treat! True to form, I was so swept up in the excitement of the class that I failed to take a single photo on the night. Classic.
I was joined for the night by Juliet, Joanne and Eleanor. All of them are accomplished sewists, but lacked confidence in that most daunting of skills - buttonholes. It was a really informal, low-key lesson with a mix of demonstrations and sampling. One of the lovely things about working with such a small group is that I’m able to respond to what they want to learn - so in addition to the skills of Simple and Bound Buttonhole sewing, we also looked at button placement and transferring pattern markings at the class’s request. They’ve all booked to come back, so it must have gone well!
In fact, I was so pleased with how it went that I decided to publish some of the post-class resources as a tutorial on my new blog - so if buttonholes still give you The Fear but you couldn’t make it along, you can give it a try at home. I’d love to hear how you get on!
There are three more Technical Tuesdays planned for March, and I have a few places still available for each:
Louise proudly shows off her finished quilt
Celebrating our improving sewists…
Nothing gives me more joy that seeing learners suddenly find the confidence to keep sewing - and I feel like I’m seeing this more and more.
Take lovely Louise, pictured above. You might recognize her, because she’s always in the newsletter! We first met when she came to a Sewing Machine Taster Class back in August, and she told me then that her sewing goal was to make a quilt. She absolutely excelled in the beginners class, and came back to our four-week class to make a tote bag - again, she nailed it! After finishing the one she made in class she made another in her own time… And then she became a familiar face at our Sewing Socials where she’s been making - you guessed it - quilts! The one pictured above was "just a practice” - but we think it looks so good it’s worth keeping. A second quilt in a similar style is well underway, and should be finished in the next couple of weeks. I can’t wait to see what she makes next!
And then there’s Amanda, who started coming to the Sewing Socials back in December. There, she started by making some Christmas decorations with scrap fabrics from her stash, before deciding she wanted some more technical knowledge and booking herself onto our January Sewing Machine Taster Class. Amazingly, she’s sewn for 10 of the 13 days that have passed since then, and is going from strength to strength as she practices making project bags in different styles (handy, because she’s also a highly skilled and prolific knitter!). She’s tackled boxed corners, quilting, linings and zip insertion - not bad for someone who told me she “couldn’t sew” only two weeks ago!
Amanda will have to do more knitting to fill up all her new project bags!
And not forgetting the fabulous Ingrid, who came to our 5-week Quilted Waistcoat Class before Christmas. Prior to than Ingrid had made some lovely bags and accessories, but had never made a garment before. She won’t mind me saying that she struggled with sewing confidence but stepped up time after time, surprising herself with new skills every week.
So imagine my delight when this month I got a message from Ingrid with photos of her finished waistcoat! (This class is slightly unusual in that the final step requires a lot of hand-sewing, so you don’t actually go home with a finished garment - instead you leave with something nearly finished, and the skills you need to polish it off in your own time.) Well done Ingrid - it’s just beautiful, and I’m so pleased you’re proud of it!
Ingrid’s waistcoat is so beautifully finished!
Five good reasons why Beginner’s Classes might just be my favourite…
This month saw another beginner’s taster class, and as always, we had a fine time. Linda, Natalie, Julia, Melanie and Amanda were just absolutely brilliant - they zipped through the work in no time, produced some of the best beginner’s samples I’ve ever seen and went away full of crafty optimism.
So this caused me to reflect: of all the classes I teach, I think the Beginner’s Taster Class might just be my favourite. Here are five good reasons:
Beginners have sewing goals, but often lack confidence to make them happen. Almost every conversation I have at the start of those classes begins with “I’d like to make my own clothes/quilt/new curtains, but I’m SO bad at sewing because… [insert non-sensicle reason here]”. And then everyone sets out to convince me that they will in fact be the most useless sewist I’ve ever seen. But guess what? They never are!
It’s just that, almost always, something has happened along the way, and they’ve taken that as evidence that they must be rubbish. It might have been a very strict teacher, or an impatient granny, or a project gone wrong. It might be that you made something but didn’t actually like it, or that something went wrong with your sewing machine and, unable to fix it, you decided you must be useless and gave up. This does not make you a rubbish sewist. It just makes you a beginner. Like with any skill, it just takes a bit of time a patience to learn. Think about when you first learned to drive. You’ll have forgotten your left and right, mounted kerbs, and stalled in inconvenient places (turn off for the M25, anyone? Or was that just me?!). But you persevered because it’s a vital life skill, and you probably had a supportive teacher helping you every step of the way. Sewing is no different. And seeing learners realise that one of my favourite parts of the job.
There’s a moment in every class where everyone goes quiet, and you realise that everyone’s TOTALLY absorbed in their work. No worries, no small talk - just quiet concentration. In teaching, we call this Flow State - where the mental cogs are in motion, and learners have found the skill and agency to tackle the task ahead of them.
Towards the end of the class, learners are starting to resolve problems on their own. I see them reach for their notes and systematically check the settings on their machines, and at this point I know they’ll be fine to do the same when they get home.
It’s very low stakes, and it really doesn’t matter if you go a bit wrong. You’re not making a “thing” - it’s just a bunch of samples, so it’s not a drama if you make a mistake - just grab a new bit of fabric and have another go! Mistakes are just learning opportunities, and that’s really liberating!
And everyone leaves so proud and excited! Boosted by their successful samples, learners realise that they AREN’T the hopeless sewists they thought at all. Talk quickly turns to further classes, and beginner-friendly projects - and at this point, I know I’ve done a good job!
If you’re thinking of trying a taster class, I have just two sessions left before my maternity leave - these are on Tuesday 24th March and Tuesday 12th May. Get in touch if you’d like to know more!
Amy and Juliet at the Sewing Social
Upcoming changes to the Sewing Socials
Sadly I’ve had to review the Sewing Socials, as numbers have dwindled over winter. On reflection, that’s not altogether surprising - the competing demands of Christmas, bad weather, flu season and the various Up Helly Aas have meant that it’s not always easy to find the time to venture out on a Monday night. The Socials don’t make much money - in fact, if I sell out every Monday in a month I can just about cover the fees for the room, tea and tabnabs and the repayments on the loan I used to buy the sewing machines - and without consistently selling out each week I’m at a point where they’re no longer financially viable.
But here’s the thing - they’re great! Everyone enjoys them, everyone gets along, and there’s real value in working alongside other sewists and making time and space for your hobby together.
So, here’s the plan: we’ll continue as planned through Feb and March, but then after Easter the Sewing Socials will only happen once a month - every second Monday. My hope is that this will allow us to keep connecting with one another, but also make it more of an “event” and increase attendance. It’s called The Social after all - the more the merrier! That will also allow me to host more formal classes each month, which I’m seeing a demand for.
We’ll see how that goes, and review it again when I return from maternity leave.
My heartfelt thanks to all of you who come to the Socials, and especially the regulars - I get SO much enjoyment from them, and I really hope there’s a way we can continue to make them happen in future without needing to increase prices. If you have any other thoughts or ideas on how we can make it work, feel free to get in touch - I’ll be very open to suggestions!
Our popular Waistcoat Class will return this Summer
A Sneak Peak at our Summer Season…
And finally - I have some new events on sale! There will be more to come (expect more Technical Tuesdays, and a NEW two-night class for beginners) but I’m pleased to confirm the following:
Design and Make Your Own Quilted Waistcoat is returning for a second run! Perfect for improving sewists, this 5 night class will take you through a number of higher level skills - from pattern cutting and alterations, to using darts, making bias binding and quilting in 3D. You’ll leave with a totally bespoke garment and the skills you need to design your own patterns in future.
Beginner’s Sewing Machine Taster Class - our ever-popular intro class will run again on 12th May. Come along to build your confidence, learn new skills and meet some lovely people. You won’t regret it!
The Summer Sewing Socials are already on sale - with fewer of them, I’d expect these to get snapped up quickly. Book early to avoid disappointment.
Lastly - Looking ahead to Summer…
Finally, I’ve been thinking a lot about the Summer Shows (yes, I know, I’m mega early! But I have a lot on between now and then - mostly having a baby - so I’m planning ahead!)
And my main thought has been this: it would be SO great to see more sewing entries in the Craft Section. Cunningsburgh has a class for Machine Sewn Item, as well as Dressmaking, Quilting and Recycled Material Item - all of which lend themselves well to a Stitch Club skillset! Voe doesn’t have so many relevant classes (I think they used to have one specifically for sewing but there weren’t many entries so it was omitted). But with so many of us sewing up and down Shetland, wouldn’t it be great if we could change that?!
The thing is that week after week I see how much talent and passion there is here. And there are sewists sewing all the time. I’m not asking for anything in particular - just that we all have a think about it. I bet most of you already have something you could enter. Wouldn’t it be great to really showcase it to some of Shetland’s biggest crowds?
Anyway - thanks for sticking with it if you’ve read this far! If you’ve enjoyed the newsletter, you can revisit it at any time on my new blog, where it’ll be saved shortly!
Until next time!
Helen x x
