We hope you've all had a great Christmas and New Year and that you've made lots of new years resolutions for some exciting sewing projects in 2015!!

After all the excitement of the festive season, January is a really good time of year for a new stitch project. During the holidays we decided to make up one of the knicker kits and were so thrilled with the results that we re-used the pattern to make these lovely knickers, pictured below, in the Grey Mitsi Liberty fabric and trimmed with black lace.

Stitching the elastic trim does take a bit of time and patience, but worth persevering with as we're sure you'll agree. We used scraps of fabric and plain elastic from previous projects to practise on initially, before stitching the actual knickers.

 A few hours is all it takes to make a pair of pretty knickers like the ones above. The pattern can then be re-used again and again to create whatever colour and combination you fancy!

Whatever sewing project you decide on, happy sewing!!

These fantastic Heather Lins Stitch Calenders make great stocking fillers and are now a bargain at just £10, reduced down from £17.50! These fabulous stitch kits have been sourced from America, and are new to the British market. Now sold out in the States, we've only got limited stock left so don't delay and order today!

Chose from The Year in Stitches, above, which is a modern take on the cross stitch sampler or Stitch the Stars, pictured below, which uses "glow in the dark" embroidery thread for you to sew each months constellation! Both are really easy to sew, with no sewing experience required.

Why not check out our other lovely gift ideas while you're browsing?

With only 16 days until Christmas we thought we'd share our favourite stocking filler ideas and gifts for the "sewist" or "stitcher" in your life! We've carefully selected gifting ideas for £10 and under, under £20 and £40 and under, they all make perfect presents for the modern maker.

Now at only £10 we have these beautiful stitch calendars by Heather Lins. All the way from America, The Year in Stitches, shown left, is a modern take on the cross stitch technique, whereas  Stitch the Stars, on the right, uses embroidery stitches sewn in a glow in the dark thread! No sewing experience is required, making them an ideal gift for all.

Haberdashery always makes us happy! From Merchant & Mills we have a lovely range of beautifully branded and packaged sewing accessories including baby bow scissors, sewing pins, beeswax and needles in a wooden case. All great gifts in their own right, or you could select a few items and present in a gift box, or a vintage jar as we've done below, to make a unique bespoke gift.

Falling into our £20 and under category, we have some lovely embroidery kits from Nancy Nicholson. Nancy, is a designer and textile artist living in Kent and she's created a fabulous range of stitch kits, including The Cat pictured below, check out her other designs too.

Finally, at £40, we have the What Delilah Did Cross Stitch Cushion Kits. These beautiful kits by Sophie Simpsons, are a modern take on traditional techniques, and include designs such as The Bee which we have in both Olive, as shown below, and black.

We hope we've given you a flavour of the products that we've lovingly selected over the recent weeks and months; and that we've also given you some inspiration for your shopping? Do remember that we also sell gift vouchers which can be redeemed online at a future date!

We’re very excited to have just taken delivery of a select range of Colette dressmaking patterns to compliment our Merchant & Mills Range. And there's still time to get making before Christmas!!

A big thank you to everyone who came along to our launch event last night at the Oxmarket Centre of Arts in Chichester, a fabulous venue for a great evening!

It was really good to see so many people there and to get such great feedback. We’re thrilled that so many people made it out on a cold Monday night!!