Our sister store, Loop, is always having amazing guest teachers come to visit. With Loop being a yarn shop, these classes involve knitting. No surprise there, right? Well, get this - Leigh Radford, author of One Skein, Alterknits, and now Alterknits Felt, will be teaching a class at Loop with no knitting skills required! Her Felted Ornament and Jewelry Workshop is perfect for the non-knitting, yet super crafty fiber lover. Sound like anyone you know? I thought it might! Leigh was the Art Director for Interweave Knits for many years, where her designs were regularly published. Now she writes, designs, and teaches across the country. This is a rare opportunity to learn from someone whose interdisciplinary approach to crafts is inspiring, beautiful, and incredibly creative. Check out this class description:

Felted Ornaments/Jewelry Workshop $70

Session 1: Friday, October 31 from 6 to 9 PM
Session 2: Sunday, November 2 from 2 to 5 PM

Learn to transform colored roving into beautiful felted balls that can be joined together to create one-of-a-kind ornaments, garland, jewelry or perhaps a pincushion. Students will also learn needle felting techniques to embellish felted balls with contrasting colors. Alternatives for incorporating beads and/or embroidery will also be covered. Class materials are included.

So fun! Acquiring a new technique can bring a whole new dimension to your crafting. I know I’ll be there Friday night, and if you want to be too, please call Loop at 215-893-9939 to reserve your space. Leigh will be with us all weekend and you can see her full class offerings here. See you soon!

With this chill in the air, it’s no secret that summer is over. Awww, sad! The upside is that our summer hours are over too. Spool is back to being open 7 days a week, from 11-6. We’ve just added new sessions at our class page, giving you sewing options nearly every day in November. As always, we welcome you to use our spacious studio, big cutting tables and sewing machines during our Open Sewing Sessions. Explore your creativity and come sew with us!

Jill handquilted this beautiful pillow cover! Isn’t it fantastic? She has been a wonderful student at many of our sewing classes. I love it that she took what she learned from her beginner’s quilt and made something so lovely and all her own. This is exactly what I hope will happen when people take our classes. You can see another (slightly blurrier) photo I took of the whole cover here. Kudos, Jill! Thank you for sharing this with us.

If you want to learn to handquilt, new sessions of Beginning Quilting are starting in the next few weeks. New Learn to Sew dates have also been added to the schedule. Classes are a fun way to expand your skills and meet other crafters. See you there!

How pretty is this pillow?! Our friend, Megan, patchworker extraordinaire, whipped this up with the new Daisy Chain fabric from Amy Butler. I love it! If you been looking for simple ways to incorporate your sewing projects into your home, these pillows are a great place to start. They are fun to make and make great gifts!

Megan will be teaching a class to make this 9-patch pillow cover on Saturday, October 18th from 11AM-2PM. The cost is $24 plus materials. You will learn to use rotary cutter, construct a nine patch, and make an envelope style backing for the pillow. Please call the shop to reserve your space.

The first day of school outfit and new Fall clothes are firmly ingrained in my mind. When the leaves start changing, I start imagining new clothing combinations that inevitably involve new skirts! The A-line skirt has a classic shape that is flattering on everyone. Our new home dec weight fabrics are perfect for warmer skirts in cooler weather. They have a lovely drape and the fabric designs are fresh and fashion forward. This wood grain skirt would be so cute with knee-high boots and a sleek turtleneck sweater. Fall clothes are the best!

Round out your Fall wardrobe by learning to make a new skirt of your own in our A-line skirts class. Learn to use a pattern and get a well fitting result from your sewing. Class starts Sunday, October 19th. Please call the shop to reserve your space.

My friend, Cathy, made these lovely pillows from Amy Butler’s latest home dec collection, August Fields. Each one has it’s own pretty block design, and I can’t decide which is my favorite! Pillows are a great way to try new techniques, like making cording and block piecing. Plus, they bring a punch of cheerful color into your living space. Cathy will be teaching a class on these pillows October 19 & 26. Please call the shop the shop to reserve your space. See you there!

Now that September is here and school has started, it’s time for the morning ritual of packing lunch! The little ones totally prefer homemade meals to school lunch, and the grown ups are trying to resist the temptation of fast food on the go. Eating from home is healthier and more economical. I know I always SAY I am going to pack lunch everyday, but it never quite happens. A girl needs a little incentive, don’t you think? We’ve got just the thing with the Apple-a-Day lunch bag. You can make these eco-friendly bags for the whole family with our Apple-a-Day kits. Each kit contains the pattern, apple fabric combination of your choice, interfacing and velcro to close it up. If you just want the pattern, you can download it here. If you’re in the Philly area, we are having a class to make the lunchbag this Saturday at 2:00. Please visit our class page for details.

Since I made one, I have been packing my lunch (almost!) everyday. Carrying it makes me smile and it feels good to have something pretty and fun to take out at lunchtime. I hope it does the same for you. Enjoy!

Sandi Henderson’s Farmer’s Market is one of the best new collections this Fall. This line has a lovely vintage feel so, with that in mind, we made this fun retro-style apron in super cute apple fabric! Aprons are a great way to use wild fabrics that you might not wear everyday, and make great gifts. In our apron class, starting next weekend, you will learn your way around gathering, making pockets and applying binding. Plus, it will put a smile on your face every time you wear it!

This Brick Path quilt from Amy Butler has been quite popular around the shop! We chose 2 fat quarter bundles with our favorite oranges and and a touch of teal; it positively glows! This quilt is 55″ x 65″, a great size for a picnic blanket or for snuggling up on the sofa. It’s machine quilted with the simple “stitch in the ditch” technique. We are offering this class over the course of 4 Thursday evenings in September. This is a great intro to rotary cutting, strip piecing, and machine quilting.

This our Beginning Quilting Sampler Quilt. Beginning Quilting is starting up again the second Saturday in September, and running for a total of 5 Saturdays. In class, you will learn to rotary cut and piece 6 different blocks, using 5 coordinating fabrics. After you have pieced the top, you will learn to quilt by hand, and how to do the binding. The finished quilt measures 45″ x 36″. If learning to hand quilt and making different types of blocks sounds fun, this is the class for you! You can see some our past students’ beautiful quilts here.

Please call the shop to reserve your space. See you soon!

This is our third ( but I’m sure not final!) project using Modern Flora fabrics. Michael was especially taken with this graphic blue fabric, so he made up an extra sturdy version of his Grocery Tote. He adapted this pattern from a vintage one, and it is has become one of our favorites. You only need 2 half-yard pieces of fabric; one for the outside and one for the inside. It’s a great size for fitting in all your snacks, and has a nice wide strap for a comfortable walk home. Perfect!

This is the same tote we make in our Learn to Sew Class. If you’ve been thinking of starting to sew, you can get a little inspiration from the fun fabric combinations our students have put together here. If you already sew, you can download the free pattern pdf from our left sidebar. Enjoy!