'Behind the scenes' in Craft Land Workroom

Long Arm Quilter

Hello everyone from Christel and the ‘behind the scenes’ team, Amir, Jocelyn and Ailyn, in the My Craftland workroom. We are based in Al Khor, where we make some of the items for the shop to help inspire fellow crafters.

Latest Quilt hanging in Jumeirah hop
 

For the quilting ladies, we prepare the Layer Cakes, Jelly -, Mini and Maxi rolls and some of the beautiful quilts you will see hanging on the walls in the Jumeirah shop.
 
This is also where we sew quilt top, batting and backing together on the long-arm quilting machine for our customers and at a request can finish the quilt by sewing the binding.





Jocelyn and Amir making Jelly Rolls for the shop
 




Another part of our responsibilities are to assist Danielle and the teachers in the shop by making kits for the clubs on Wednesday mornings and also more Embroidery kits that you can choose to buy in the shop and either make at home or come to a class or clinic.



Amir has inspired us all with this quilt he made mostly by hand stitching!



Big Hello from Sue, our new Floor Supervisor

 

 

"Welcome to Craftland. Is there anything I can help you with?"  These are the words you’ll hear when you come to Craftland and be met by me, Sue, the new Floor Supervisior. I am new to the shop, but have been with Craftland since November 2012, working at the warehouse as manager of our sewing room.  Im pictured here at our demonstration table in the shop in Jumeirah featuring some of our recommendations for knitting and crochet, including beautiful yarns, introductory kits and samples of patterns available in the shop.

I not only here to greet and help you, I also co-ordinate classes and help book private classes. If you’re a club member, I also host all our clubs on a Wednesday morning. I work Sunday to Thursday and Monday evenings. So if you have any questions about anything in the shop or want help booking a class, please do not hesitate to ask for me. I look forward to meeting and greeting all of you.

Embroidery at Craftland

Today I'd like to introduce myself to you all, I'm Jessica Aldred, the embroidery teacher and general embroidery guru at Craftland.

Canvaswork class sample

I trained to be a professional designer and embroiderer at the Royal School of Needlework (RSN) in the UK, and over three years I learnt 30 different hand embroidery techniques as well as restoration and conservation and art and design. After graduating I went to work in costume at the Royal Opera House in London where I bought and maintained the materials used to make the costumes. I worked on operas such as Madame Butterfly and Tosca and also for The Royal Ballet . After three years there I returned to the RSN where I spent four years working as the education coordinator. During that time I was hugely honoured to be a member of the team who produced the embroidery for the Duchess of Cambridge's wedding dress and veil. In 2011 my first book was published- Adventures in Needlework- which I co-authored with Emily Peacock who is well known in the UK for her bright, contemporary needlepoint kits.

Last year my husband and I moved to Dubai as a result of his job, but it was a timely move for me- I was ready for a fresh start. I soon discovered Craftland and was very impressed with their shop, classroom and team of experts, so I was thrilled when they offered me a job! Since I started I've been busy teaching, helping to select new stock for the shop, developing classes, designing and making samples and preparing for the embroidery clubs. In addition to the photograph above here are some of the new class samples I've created;

Goldwork class sample

Stumpwork class sample

Our classes start up again on 15th September and for embroidery there's now a clear path of progression from classes for complete beginners up to more complex and advanced techniques. If you're not sure where to start or what the different techniques are pop in to the shop, give us a call or email our class coordinator iman@mycraftland.com.

Our embroidery club resumes on 2nd October and for those of you who don't know about our clubs they're held once a month and bring together groups who like to share their enthusiasm for a particular form of craft. During the clubs there's a 'make and take'- we provide you with a kit for a small project which introduces you to a new technique or product. There's also guest speakers and a show and tell- we love to see what you're creating at home too!

And last but not least embroidery clinics are on Monday evenings from 7pm to 9:30pm and Tuesday mornings from 9:30am to 12noon. The clinics are for you to bring your own project and get expert help and advice, although if you just fancy hanging out and stitching with like minded people you're always welcome.

You can see our class descriptions, prices and full schedule here. If you'd like to know more about me and my work you can visit my website here. Thank you for reading, and I hope to see you at Craftland soon.

Crafting Is Cool!

Need help keeping busy over the hot Dubai summer? We're presenting a fun & varied set of classes throughout July & August.



many of the summer projects on display in the window



During the regular season, our classes run weekly over several weeks, but during July and August our workshops will take place during one week - very convenient for those of us traveling for part of the summer!

As a special treat, Brother sewing machines will be sponsoring two of our classes, Sewing Zakka Style and Quilting Whirligig. Brother will be providing the fabulous new V7 machines for students to use, a Brother specialist will be on hand to help use the machines, and they will offer a fantastic discount on the machines at the end of the class so that when you fall in love with it you can take it home with you!



try machine embroidery with the Brother-sponsored Sewing Zakka Style class

discover the fantastic quilting features on the new Brother V7 with the Whirligig Quilt class

use this superb machine for free in the Brother-sponsored classes!

  We've got some fun classes for kids - Kids Can Sew intro and part 2 classes for machine sewists, and Kids Crafting for hand work. Kids ages 8 and above can learn to sew, knit, crochet and hand embroider.

Kids' Crafting - hand embroidered cloud pillow



Kids Can Sew! Part 2 - My Own Backpack


We're holding 2 sessions of our Beginners' Quilting class over the summer, as well as three different quilt project classes.

detail from the Floral Applique quilting class



Double Wedding Ring Mini quilting class

  Learn to hand embroider and improve your skills with our summer embroidery classes - an interesting variety of ribbon and classic embroidery styles.

learn Canvas Work hand embroidery in the Bunting Sampler class

take your hand embroidery 3-D with the Stumpwork class

hone your knitting skills in Knitting Part 2 - Baby Knits

knit these cute puppy slippers!

We also hold clinics during the summer months, where you can bring along your current project and a teacher is there to help.

You can see the full schedule on our website, click on "Schedule" for the calendar and "Descriptions" for all the juicy info on pricing, class content and timings.

Mid-Summer update

We're having a full summer here in Craft Land, with classes going strong, and quite a few days left on our Summer Offers promotion!

Check our full schedule on our website for class detail, www.mycraftland.com

This week, we have a fully booked beginner's quilting class, a third week of learning to sew for our younger crafters, and a fun afternoon quilted pillow class. Next week's our last week of sewing classes for the summer, so sign up now before it's all over! We have one more session of learning to sew, another fun project (quilted tote bag) for intermediate sewists, and in the mornings, some hand work with a full week of Silk Ribbon Fairies, what could be better?

Noa (with her mom) modeling the dress she made

Once August starts, we're all about the hand crafting, with beginners classes in Knitting and Crochet (some are full or filling fast, so sign up soon!), and Crafting camps for kids 8+ and even craft mornings for tots 4-7.

We've added a few general clinics for those of you who are missing our clinic sessions...For July, they're Sunday and Wednesday 4-6:30pm, and in August they'll be Monday and Tuesday 9:30-12noon. Join us for help with whatever you're working on! You can call first to confirm who the teacher will be (and to make sure your fave craft will be covered), but no need to pre-register. Check out today's fun clinic in the photo at the top!

Our Summer Saturdays all-day quilting classes are also popular, check the schedule to see what's being taught each Saturday. The first two sessions were very fun, with lots of happy sewing going on!

Some of the kits on offer this month

SUMMER OFFERS
Don't forget, the Summer Offers continue through July, with 20% discounts on a whole bunch of things:

• Jelly Rolls & Layer Cakes
• Pre-Cut Quilt kits
• Craft Land packaged Knitting kits
• Craft Land packaged crafting kits for kids
• Addi Click interchangeable knitting needle sets
• Permin cross-stitch kits
• Craft Land packaged Ribbon Embroidery Fairy kits
• Latch Hook kits

Addi click interchangeable needles...20% 0ff!

Fabulous Felting Classes

Introducing specialty classes in felting with guest teacher Caroline Lindsay of the UK. Using roving wool and scrap fabric, threads and ribbons, create beautiful felted artworks of your own!

Classes are on offer this coming Monday, April 11th at 12:30-3pm, and again Monday May 9th at 12:30-3pm. Take one or both classes! You can sign up in the shop.

See our website for more information: http://www.mycraftland.com/classes.html

Happy Birthday to Craft Land!

Cupcake anyone?

We're celebrating our first year anniversary the last week of January with a cupcake extravaganza! Join us all week for demos, classes, a cupcake parade and even some edible cupcakes.

On Sunday, we will Embroider a Cupcake -  On Monday, we will Knit a Cupcake -  On Wednesday, we will Cross-stitch a Cupcake -  And on Thursday we will Felt a Cupcake! Demos in each technique will be running all week from 11 am to 2 pm, and the class will be given from 4pm to 6:30 pm.  The class is free; the materials kit is 50 Dhs and includes everything needed to make a number of Cupcakes.  

how cute is this cross-stitch cupcake?

Anyone who completes their Cupcake is invited to enter it in the Cupcake Parade, a display of crafty Cupcakes on display all day Saturday.  Shoppers will be given voting slips, and the Cupcake with the most votes will win a Viewer’s Choice prize!  Participants may collect their Cupcakes after the prize has been awarded at 4:30 pm.

From 3-5 on Saturday, we will be singing Happy Birthday, admiring the lovely crafty cupcakes and toasting Craft Land's first birthday with edible cupcakes - All Are Welcome!

See our website for specific class information & sign up in the shop.

Another Lovely Saturday

Jennifer sharing her quilting wisdom

Yesterday we had another lovely Summer Saturday class, with another lovely group of ladies, and we even had a fellow helping out.

The class spent the day cutting and piecing the quilt Fat Quarter Frolic by Larissa Key Designs. It's been one of our more popular quilt classes since we've opened the shop. The full-day workshop is a great format for this quilt, as  you spend the first hour or two cutting, then get to the piecing in the afternoon.

Happy quilters having a carrot cake break

There are still three more Saturdays in our series, see our website for details: http://www.mycraftland.com/
The remaining classes are Random & Lovely, a very simple quilt that is great for showing off pretty printed fabric; Petit Fours, a pattern that's wonderful for stacking and slicing; and Summer Evening, a more traditional quilt with four different pieced blocks that is made with Jelly Roll strips and looks fabulous in whites and blues. The Saturday classes are a fun way to spend the day sewing and meet some new friends!

Quilting Class

Craftland continues to hold regular classes through the summer, and through Ramadan.
Today's class was day two of Layer Cake Quilt - Beginners' Quilting. Last Sunday, the first day, we looked at the Layer Cake squares & discussed options for putting it together: random? in a pattern? We had lots of fun shuffling the squares, and then sewed them together to make the main quilt top.

Today was Border Day. We spent some time choosing fabrics & talking about border widths. After playing with the bolts of fabric, we settled on three borders. Here is Diane pressing her first border strip open.

Check out the cool cutting mat and ironing surface! The Foldaway portable cutting & pressing station is made by Omnigrid & folds into a convenient case to carry to classes. Very handy for classes, or to use at home.Thanks, Diane, for modelling it for us so well!

If you're interested in this or any of our other classes, see our full schedule at http://www.mycraftland.com/