Back to school!

September 20, 2026 Bianca Silva

Hello, hello!

After 10/11 months of waiting, plus an interview along the way, last Thursday I went for an enrolment appointment, only to get there and be told there was no space for me anymore.

Sad is an understatement, but there was nothing I could do.

I got told that I would be contacted within the next 2 weeks if spaces became available, but we all know what that means.

On my way home, the only thing I thought to do was message the person who had interviewed me about what had just happened.

Then I put it out of my head.

The next morning I got a call from the person I messaged!

She called me to say that another date was added and there was space for me to jump on if I got there to enrol within a couple of hours.

I dropped what I was busy with and went into the city centre.

I got there 10 minutes before she was leaving for a meeting, so that was good timing!

And I managed to get myself enrolled.

So what are you talking about? What did you enrol on, you may be asking?

I’m starting college! 😂

I’ve enrolled on a pattern cutting course!

This week was my induction and we ran through all the units that are going to be covered this year.

I have done most of the things that are going to be covered on the course, like drafting blocks, dart manipulation, slashing and spreading, understanding fabrics etc., but I want to learn more.

And since I can’t carve out the time in my schedule to learn by myself, going to college will give me that time.

It is an evening course which is going to be very tiring plus a 2 hour return tram ride, but that’s what’s available for what I want.

Also, I do want to get onto the next level of the course, and the best way to get there is doing this level first.

I will keep you updated with what happens at college every week!

For now, I’m super excited to get going. I hope I get to learn lots of new things!

In workshop news, the Make Your Own Trousers is fully booked, the Make Your Own Dress/Top only has 2 spaces left and I have just launched the Trick-or-Treat Bag: Parent and Child Halloween Sewing Workshop.

For more information, click here!

Stitches of the Week

BeeSilva - New Pattern

I mentioned last week that I was starting to work on a new pattern. This week, I’ve continued working on it.

It all started with an A4 piece of paper.

I want the new design to fit an A4 booklet and have lots of space to carry around some sewing supplies. Maybe to hold everything needed for a project, maybe to hold all your sewing supplies, or anything that you see fit really.

I’m busy making a sample, taking photos and writing down instructions as I go.

Since this is the first draft and there may be lots of things that need adjusting, I’m using a pack of fat quarters that I don’t particularly like.

I have run into a miscalculation already in one of the panels, but for the time being I’ve just sewn the missing measurements on so I can continue to work out the rest.

It is going to be a booklet format that is closed with a zip and I want it to have pages on the inside for more storage.

Currently I have the front cover finished and I’m working on the back cover.

After that, I’ll work on the pages.

Materials: Cotton, foam stabiliser and zips.

Size: Big enough to fit an A4 booklet in

BeeSilva - Halloween Trick-or-Treat Bag

I’ve been wanting to run a parent and child workshop for some time and I thought Halloween would be a good time to try it out.

There aren’t any sewing related workshops like this in the area, at least that I’ve seen. But I do want to give parents and children the opportunity to bond and be teammates in making something that can be used year after year.

So many children go trick-or -treating in shop bought plastic buckets and although there is nothing wrong with this, they could be doing it in style with something they’ve made themselves.

I drafted the bag to be square and have a boxed bottom so when the children open the bag, they can see all their sweets inside.

I also made it fully lined because I think it’s easier than doing french seams, and the handles are going to be cotton webbing. It’s softer than making your own handles from fabric and I rather let the parent and child duo be creative with their bag panel than worry about making handles.

Surprisingly, I had my first go at using an iron-on patch for this project!

It had never come across my mind until now to use these and it was super simple.

So I placed it in the centre of the bag and sewed orange and white ricrac on opposite corners because that is what I had in my mind at the time.

I think it turned out quite cute! But now I have to make another because one of my girls is going to be sad if I don’t. 😅

The workshop for this is going to be on the 24th of October, so if you know of any parents and children who want to be creative for a few hours, please let them know.

Materials: Black cotton poplin, rainbow pumpkins polycotton, black cotton webbing, ricrac and iron-on patch.

Summer Lee - Luna Socks from The Sock Project book

I got quite a bit done on these this week! 🎉

We went to a friend’s house for lunch yesterday and while we spent the afternoon chatting, I was knitting away too.

The heel gusset is finished in red, and I’ve finished knitting the ankle decreases.

Now I'm just knitting the length of my foot and I’m praying I have enough yarn for it.

I have about half the foot to go and I can feel my skein is reaching the end and I have no more of the speckled yarn left.

It’s the one I got from my Portugal trip so I can't get a skein that easily now.

Let’s see how it goes, I don’t really have another choice to be honest. But I would prefer to not have to have half my foot and the toe in red. It will just look odd. 😵💫

Yarn: Rosários 4 Meia

Size: Started with an L for the cuff and decreased to an M for the foot.

Needle Size: Cast on with 2.5mm, knit one row and transferred to 2.25mm for the rest.

The Drama: Will I have enough speckled yarn to finish the foot?

The Win: Lots of knitting happened this week!

Skill Builder of the Week

Iron-on Patches

Having used iron-on patches for the first time this week, I’m sharing the steps I took because there may be more of you that haven’t had the chance yet to use one.

These are the steps I took:

- I chose a location on my fabric.
- With the back of the patch facing the fabric, I centered it on my chosen location.
- Put a piece of cotton poplin fabric over it.
- Lastly, I put a hot iron over the top and counted to 8.

I checked a few spots to see if it was all stuck and then I flipped it over and ironed for a few seconds on the back of the fabric where the patch was.

The patch is still fused to my fabric, so that’s a good sign! 😂