Fimo miniatures class with Helena Wilton

Have you ever fancied taking a Fimo/Polymer cay class?  Well, if you have (or even haven't) I would really like to recommend a class with Helena Wilton from Heevis Miniatures.

I attended her 'Fimo Miniatures' class in Hobbycraft, Carlisle on Friday night. I've worked with Fimo before, of course, I even teach bead-making in it myself, but having seen Helena's tiny cupcakes, cheesecakes & macaroons I really need to have a go at miniatures.

I learnt how to make a cheesecake, we could choose our own fruit - I picked kiwi,  and how to make the biscuit base look biscuity as well as how to make the jelly topping.

Cute little cheesecake :)

We then went onto cupcakes, I could tell you how to make these but it might be a trade secret, so I better not :) they are smaller than my little fingernail!

The one thing we didn't do was the actual cane that becomes the little fruit slices, but Helena has agreed to return to HC to do a cane class, so can't wait for that one!

Some of the class mates.

(It's on the 1st November if you're interested :) )

Weaving Class Day 2

What a lovely day today at weaving school, it's such a nice course to do and Jan is a wonderful teacher.

Today we learned to dress our looms - well, what a job that is!  It took quite a long time.  Apparently it takes Jan about 45 minutes per loom, but it took us about 3-4 hours.

After sorting the warp thread out, it was a case of pulling, untangling, threading, more threading, knotting, winding and tying.

I chose a very dark navy blue yarn with a silver sparkle to it, as I had something quite specific in mind. At first it was proving to be a bit of a nightmare as it has a bit of a slippy texture, but Jan, bless her, persevered with trying it help me sort it out & we got the loom threaded up, or 'dressed' to use the correct terminology.

Adding some colour, but you'll have to wait until tomorrow to see what it is :) (or can you guess?)

Lunch today was Beans on Toa.....well, bun!

After lunch we had a fabulous our around the mill, which is over 100 years do and still going strong. Linton Mill produces fabric for Victoria Beckham and Harrods, amongst others.

Let me share some photos with you....

It's our last day tomorrow, the time has flown by, as it does when you're having fun.

I forgot to take a photo of yesterday's weaving, so I'll show you that tomorrow along with todays efforts. Here is Lezley's amazing colour-scheme though - ***yarn envy***