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Beautiful Things HQ

Sewing and Craft Classes in Brentwood, Essex

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Why I LOVE My Vintage Singer Sewing Machine

Ok so she’s not a beauty but my ‘Phyllis’ is beautiful on the inside.

Yes it would be nice to have a shiny black and gold stunner, but Phyllis does the job better than any other machine I have owned.

I’m all for a nice shiny Janome (My more modern favourite) but if your after a love affair of a machine that will very rarely misbehave then it’s vintage all the way.

When I first acquired Phyllis (named after my Grandma who was her original owner) she was a tired old girl who had been stored in my Mums loft for a good few years.

My Sewing Machine man Martin came to give her a house call and proclaimed that she was indeed a stunner, sturdy and built to last. After a good service and a replacement cog or two which had gone brittle over time,

she was as good as new. Maybe not to look at but certainly on the inside.

Martin is a wealth of knowledge on machines and is a huge fan of vintage. His words were “These machines were built to last Claire, no melted down car parts and old bits of cold pressed steel in these babies”

Give him a bank of old Berninas any day!  His next job is to service Iris who is another singer I have acquired complete with sewing table.  She was just £10 and works very well but her feed dogs are a bit poorly.

It’s true though. As much as I like my shiny white janome, it jams up a lot more than Phyllis. It cant cope with any kind of thickness without the help of different needles or special feet and there are far too many knobs and dials to fiddle with.

I can honestly say that a good vintage machine and a proper service is well worth the spend. I just wish I could make new customers who walk into my studio understand this, but alas, they are on the look out for the shiny white machines of the modern age.

Therefore Phyllis remains at home and allows me to enjoy some selfish sewing every now and again.

p.s. She is awfully good at inserting an invisible zip perfectly without a silly invisible zipper foot. Another perk of having a fully adjustable needle and a skinny zip foot. If your lucky I might film you a tutorial shortly.

Previous Post: « Pom Pom Crazy!!!!
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Look at this stunning table runner Alison has been Look at this stunning table runner Alison has been working on at BTHQ over the last few days.

We just love the colours and how she's tried out all of the embroidery stutches on the @janomeuk DKS100SE machine.

This class is available to book in the studio over 2 days or 4 half days and is coming out as an online workshop for next year!!!

Platinum members of our VIP sewing club will get it this summer!!
Laura & Wendy will be twinning on their way to wor Laura & Wendy will be twinning on their way to work in these fabulous @sewoveritlondon Eve dresses

Made against the recommendation of a woven fabric (ssshhhh) in cotton jersey from our shop.
Purchase any plain cotton jersey and a patterned j Purchase any plain cotton jersey and a patterned jersey + order some A0 printing and we will throw in a free pack of stretch needles.
We had a lovely Heirloom Club this morning, but se We had a lovely Heirloom Club this morning, but seem to have done more talking than photography of our makes!
Freddie Fox is very pleased that he finally has an outfit underway, just need something special for his cravat
We've had another lovely fabric delivery and have We've had another lovely fabric delivery and have some fabulous new prints to share with you.

Join Claire LIVE on her YouTube channel at 11am on Wednesday 15th March when she will show you them all individually and make her pattern suggestions.
We have made the decision to no longer stock print We have made the decision to no longer stock printed patterns and focus on using our wonderful A0 printer (Colin the Canon).

We have a small stock of Tilly & The Buttons printed patterns in stock at the moment and have therefore reduced them all on the website by 25%

If you are a printed pattern fan and like a good old instruction book then grab yourself a bargain before they are all gone.

https://www.beautifulthingshq.com/product-category/fabric/patterns/
Would you like your own handmade holiday wardrobe Would you like your own handmade holiday wardrobe to rival Sandras? Join our free dressmaking journey challenge starting Monday 13th March and we can help you with a plan of action.
If you were not one of the lucky winners of our St If you were not one of the lucky winners of our Stitch Festival tickets but still want to go along, then we are pleased to be able to offer you a discount code:

BEAUTIFULTHINGS23

The discount is £2 off standard adult / concession tickets booked before 11.59pm Wednesday 22nd March 2023. Offer not valid on Sunday 26th March. Booking fee applies. 
 

*Save £2.00 on adult and concession tickets when quoting discount code at checkout. To purchase tickets, visit www.thestitchfestival.co.uk. Not valid on child, VIP or group tickets and cannot be used on Sunday 26th March. £3.50 transaction fee applies per e-ticket order (for any number of e-tickets purchased), and a £3.95 transaction fee applies per postal ticket order. T&Cs apply. Discount expires 11:59pm 22nd March.
If you are like me and have an ever growing 'colle If you are like me and have an ever growing 'collection' of fabric then why not release it from the shelf and turn it into something?

The perfect opportunity for it's release is to book a day or two at our BTHQ retreat in May.  Time dedicated purely to crafting and no external distractions.

Holiday Inn Brentwood 13th & 14th May 2023
CONGRATULATIONS We've drawn our winners for the S CONGRATULATIONS

We've drawn our winners for the Stitch Festival tickets. 

Katie Cope, Wendy Murphy, Donna White, Jane Richardson (facebook) and essex_girl_knits (Insta)

Please get in touch via email to beautifulthingshq@gmail.com to claim your tickets.  You must be able to attend on one of the days that the show is open and will be allocated 2 tickets each so you can bring a friend.
This is my final holiday post, it’s a stretch ve This is my final holiday post, it’s a stretch version of the Sew Over It Eve dress. Thanks so much to my sister Julie for taking loads of photos (and it was great fun!)
If you would like to build up your holiday/summer wardrobe then give us a call/email/message or head to BTHQ and we can help you get started!
Todays holiday outfit is the Sirocco jumpsuit by D Todays holiday outfit is the Sirocco jumpsuit by Deer and Doe. When Claire picked this pattern for her #sewoutofmycomfortzone I decided to take the leap too - and I love it!!!
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