I fell in love with this year's "Winter Wonderland" Christmas fabric from Dashwood Studio as soon as I saw it and ordered it over a year ago!

The reds and greens seem perfect to me for a Christmas project and the detail in each design has interest and festive appeal for both children and adults alike.

We usually run a Christmas Table Runner workshop and this year is no different, I knew I had to make one using this collection and here it is. I spent ages trawling through ideas on my Christmas Pinterest board and saved quite a few pins along the way but eventually I settled on a classic Patchwork Star design.

The stars are all made with half square triangles - an easy technique if you know how!

If you fancy making up one of these for your festive table or perhaps as a gift for a friend - you can buy the fabric here in our webshop or perhaps if you would like a bit more guidance you could come and make one in a workshop on either Wednesday 9th December or Tuesday 15th December

We will cover how to cut and sew Half Square Triangles, adding sashing and a border, layering, quilting and binding. That sounds like a lot but don't worry, mince pies will be provided!

I am looking forward to taking this one home although I think with my spillage prone little ones this will be removed from display for actual meal times...

Merry Christmas Making everybody!

Ali

x

Time for new beginnings

When I started Butterfly Bright life was less complicated, with a small premises in Swan Yard and a baby on the way. Since then the shop and workshops have expanded and I have three children under 7yrs, along with a very busy husband!

With my lease coming to an end at Digby Road I have decided to make plans for the future to accommodate all my babies (business, children AND husband) and I'd love to share my good news with you.

It has become clear that holding workshops and teaching new skills to enthusiastic makers is the area of my business I would really like to grow (and what it seems I'm good at) and so this is the part of Butterfly Bright I am going to concentrate on next year.

To achieve this, I am moving to lovely new premises right in the centre of Sherborne, upstairs above Abbey Brides in Cheap Street. It is a great space to work in, an historic building with high ceilings, (a spectacular chandelier!) and good light, and you will see a new and varied range of workshops being launched in 2016.

I will still be stocking the quality designer fabrics and yarns you need for all your making projects but will no longer offer every single haberdashery line.  Although there is still a call for knicker elastic in Sherborne, I've found it's not the kind of retail that empires are built on! A benefit of moving to the new premises (and lowering my overheads) is that I will be able to reduce my fabric prices and become more competitive online - this is an area I would like to expand on while my my children are young.

So I will bid a sad goodbye to 4 Tilton Court on Christmas Eve but look forward to new beginnings at 81 Cheap Street in the New Year.

In order to squeeze into our new home and make way for exciting new products, we will be having some amazing discounts on existing fabrics, yarns and other stock, all in time for your all important Christmas shopping - stay tuned for more details!

If you have any questions please do drop us an email at handmade@butterflybright.com or call us on 01935 817303.

We look forward to a Butterfly Bright future and for you joining us on the next part of our journey!