Let me introduce you to our June Sewing Room hero Emma Prestidge from Wellington. Emma is not only a skilled sewer but also an Artist, Blogger @emmas_atelier, collector and organizer of events. A special mention here of Emma’s husband Paul whom she sews for as well. Paul was very patiently waiting for us to finish filming so he could whisk Emma away to a Beer Fest, thank you Paul for sharing. You will hear in one of the videos that Paul even has his own label.
Spending time in Emma’s sewing room was a real treat readers. As we know the sewing room is our fav place to hang out in but Emma also shares hers with Paul. Emma at her trusty sewing machine and Paul at his gaming computers. Emma is super organized with lots of containers, shelving and cupboards so that's why it works for them both. She cuts out her fabric upstairs in her kitchen, on a cool fold up board she made that tucks away into a laundry cupboard. (I will post a video of this later.) Emma has a system that works along the lines of: Cut one day, sew on another day.
I was also treated to a peek at some of Emma’s makes, always good to get inspiration from fellow sewers. Emma was so accommodating with her time that I managed to film quite a lot of footage which I'm not normally able to do. I can't show it all at once but will upload to Instagram throughout the glorious month of June. Stay tuned.
You get the feeling that Emma's sewing room is the hub of her home. Lots of time is spent here, she even has a chill out nook. Emma immerses herself in different projects, not content with just sewing her and her husbands’ wardrobe, she makes her own lingerie too! This lady organizes retreats for sewists in her community twice a year AND now she’s involved with Frocktails. Plus Emma has a full time job! Admittedly she is a young thirty something but it’s fair to say she’s a pretty busy person.
Biggest takeaway from Emma for me was: Get projects ready for when you have time to make them. Place the fabric, pattern, bobbin, thread, zip, fusing etc, whatever is needed for the project, into one bag. Then put this on a shelf or in a cupboard in your sewing room. Everything is now ready to go when you have the time.
I’ve already started to do this and I have three projects lined up already. Great tip Emma, I had never thought to put it all together like that, I normally just have fabric stash sitting there taunting me. Make Me…Make Me…Make Me!
Thank you Emma for allowing us all to take a tour through your sewing room. There was so much video footage readers that I had to be ruthless. But don’t fear, I will drop some into Instagram throughout the month as it’s all good stuff.
As I watched Emma and Paul dash off to the Beer Fest I did kinda feel like….Was it a bird? Was it a plane? No it was a couple of Super Heroes.
Watch the video tour here: