#Yoghurtgate!

I have to say this has been one of the most surreal weeks of my life!

It all started with a frightening incident with a yoghurt pot and a simple tweet -

The Western Gazette then duly printed a story about my ordeal after asking me for a quote

The Central Somerset Gazette also printed the story on their website

before I knew it the story was being picked up by more and more journalists, bloggers and celebrities who re-tweeted and shared the increasingly bizarre headlines.

The Telegraph talked about the "drive-by-yoghurt chucker" and named me as the "West Country haberdasher"

Friends in London started texting me pictures of the article printed in the London Metro - a paper I used to read every day on the way to work in the City.

The "Drive-by yoghurt attack" headline also started a host of Bugsy Malone style attack tweets, almost as many as the tweets correcting their geography as of course Sherborne is in Dorset not Somerset as they stated.

A lovely student from the Bournemouth Buzz called me for a further interview and published another story promptly afterwards

Yahoo news picked up on the story adding their spin on the events calling it "drive-biotic"

First thing Monday morning I was interviewed live on the BBC Devon breakfast show by the charming Simon Bates who was very sympathetic about my experience. I was also interviewed by a journalist for Radio Somerset who was most insistent I should have called the police by now.

It was rather extraordinary that Andy Comfort's (@andycomfort) Radio Humberside drive time show was dedicated to the event on Monday, asking listeners to send in their suggestions for songs relating to the incident.

Celebrity bloggers added fuel to the fire with @panoparker getting over 2.5k retweets for calling it "The most British headline ever"

@ReporterBoy's vote for "headline of the week" brought much amusement to many

 - even the boys at BuzzFeed where

Alan White upped the anti and went straight for "Headline of the Year"

Simon Singh (author of The SImpsons) @SLSingh voiced his concern about an upcoming trip to Sherborne!

and so it went on....

Although all of this media attention has been quite amusing it doesn't take away from the original act of nonsense that started all of this.

Being targeted by anyone with anything when you are alone in the dark at night is really frightening and I would urge anyone who knows anything about this incident to come forward to ensure the idiots at large are brought to heel asap.

I would like to thank the two boys from Sherborne School who stopped to ask if I was OK at the time and all of my lovely customers, contacts and friends for their messages of support this last week

I am still waiting for my advertising deal with Petits Filous but until then it's time to get back to my crochet!

Many thanks

Ali

The West Country Haberdasher!

It seems I now have a few more updates to make to this article!

on 3rd Feb 2016 actually included this darstedly crime in an article entitled "21 WTF Crimes that could only ever happen in Britain" - I made it to no 12!

finally on 22 February 2016 it was mentioned on "The Poke" Facebook page - it attracted one or two comments and several likes too!

Will this story ever end?!

Workshops in 2016

I think we all have a long "making" wish list and adding ideas to it wont get the projects done, my Pinterest board has over 1000 pins and those are just the ones you can see - not the ones hidden away on secret boards. If I just dedicated the time to making rather than browsing for more ideas I would feel so much more rewarded.

So many customers of mine say they don't have time to start let alone finish a project - but if you come to a workshop you will get results faster than staying home and constantly putting your crafting time to the bottom of the pile of things to do.

We have taught hundreds of people over the years and nearly every one admits they would never have done the project in their own time and they are always so thrilled with what they have produced.

Whether it is sewing, crochet, patchwork, embroidery, knitting, drawing, dressmaking or needle felting we are sure to have something to interest you more than netflix.

So, stop what you are doing, book a day off, arrange a babysitter, do whatever it takes just book a workshop and find some "me time" to do what you have always said you would do!

Today is the tomorrow you talked about yesterday - just do it!

Churn Dash Quilts

I am a huge fan of modern versions of the churn dash quilt design. I am forever adding new ideas to my Churn Dash Pinterest board hoping to one day find the time to make one!

I really love this pastel rainbow design by CrazyMomQuilts

and this one by Mixiheart

We are starting a course to learn this quilt pattern on Tuesday 19th January, during the 4 week course we will learn how to sew half square triangles, create the blocks, add sashing and a border, and then layer with wadding, quilt and finally bind the finished quilt.

Here is another lovely example by Material Girl Quilts

The course would be suitable for beginners as we will teach you everything you need to know about cutting fabric and sewing up the patchwork top.

To get 10% off the Churn Dash quilt course use code "churn10" at the checkout.

There was a brilliant article in Country Living website this week about how "crafting is good for you" and we can't agree more!

Our workshops are going from strength to strength with lots of customers signing up to learn new crafts in 2016 and we look forward to teaching more and varied crafts as the year goes on. I have heard so many customers say how they "don't have time" to do craft but then they come on a workshop and find the time and don't look back.

We also have regular craft groups each week, Crochet Club meet on a Wednesday night from 7.30-9.30 and we also run a free YarnBee each Friday morning from 10am-12pm.

We look forward to seeing you soon!

Jane Makower - Wildlife fabric collection

We have recently started stocking Jane Makower Fabrics and we just had to get this fabulous Wildlife collection in!

The Rabbits and Hares print has a bit of "Watership Down" about it - a childhood favourite of mine and I think this would be lovely used in a project for any age group.

We have this print in a brighter green colourway too:

You could pick out the red flowers using a mini print in the same colour

As well as the striking "wildflowers" design

We have several filler fabrics to go with this collection and some of the other Jane Makower collections that we have on the way!

View our range of the Wildlife collection here.

Jennie Maizels Sketchbook Club training day

On thursday I spent a truly amazing day at Jennie Maizels' studio near Winchester!

Jennie was hosting a franchise training day for new tutors to run her amazing sketchbook club.

Firstly it was an honour to be in the presence of such an incredible lady after following her on social media for so long, check out Jennie's inspirational Instagram feed here. I have always admired Jennie's work and after being tempted to join her online sketchbook club I was thrilled when the opportunity came up to actually go to her studio for a day to get tuition from her directly.

I love the idea of being able to draw and paint but haven't ever had the confidence or knowledge on where to start!

Jennie takes all the fear away firstly talking us through all the materials we might use on our sketchbooks, from paints and pencils to newspaper and old maps. We are surrounded by materials all the time and really anything goes.

The whole studio is so inspirational too with sketchbooks, drawings, books and clothes plasters decorating every available wall and surface. We barely stopped for lunch as we were so keen to try out all the different modules for the first term starting in January (although we much appreciated the freshly made salmon sandwiches and other delicious offerings!).

So now we are all prepared to host one of the first of Jennie's franchised "Sketchbook Clubs" here in Sherborne, Dorset.

As you know we will be in new premises from January and the beautiful new surroundings will be the perfect place for launching Sketchbook Club in 2016

Why not book your place now!

If you would like to watch a video about Jennie's sketchbook club please do visit her website, the video describes the online version of the sketchbook club but we of course will be hosting the club and providing all of the materials that you need including a sketchbook, pens, paints and pencils and of course the printed materials for each week's module. Working with a group often provides the encouragement and support that a lot of people desire when it comes to having the confidence to try something new!

The course will be 10 weeks long, with a two hour session each week during the term, with a break for school half term. Modules are all different to the online course so even if you have done the online version this course will be different.

I am going to start by offering a day time course but if you would be interested in an evening course please do email me at handmade@butterflybright.com

You know what to ask Santa for now!

Book your place here: January 2016 Sketchbook club

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!