You may have seen, or hear, that we've been nominated for a National Sewing Award for our Learn to Sew: Back to Basics course and more recently, Annie has also been nominated in a West Country Women Phoenix award.  This latter award is about identifying a person who has risen from the ashes of the pandemic and has worked hard to help change our lives, communities & economy for the better! 
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Many industries have some form of recognition or award scheme to acknowledge and celebrate outstanding work or contribution to the industry or business.   The Oscars and the Grammys, the Brit Awards and  TV Soap Awards ... to name just a few of the more well known ones. 

What does it really mean to be nominated for an award?
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To be told you have been nominated means that someone has taken the time and made the effort to complete the nomination process, this means that person has been inspired by you and what you do and wants to tell others about you. 

2022 has been a very busy time at Start to Stitch HQ, but being nominated for these awards made us look back and reflect on how far we have come and how proud we are of the work we have done.   Sometimes building a business, producing courses, marketing, social media, responding to queries, writing newsletters and all the other 101 things that are required can mean you lose sight of just what you have achieved, and these nominations have meant we have taken some time to actually consider this and recognise just how much Start to Stitch has grown, but above all how proud we are to have kept that personal, kind and friendly ethos that informs our business values. 

​To think that people have appreciated what we do enough to nominate us is actually very humbling. 

These nominations mean that the work we are doing at Start to Stitch is being recognised both regionally and nationally, and this makes us very proud of our work and our business.  It tells us that we have produced courses and created a sewing community that people are engaging with and learning from and most importantly want to be a part of. 

We often get feedback from members of Stitch Sewcial and students on our courses about how friendly and supportive we are, and how much they are inspired to learn more and progress their skills.  But -  we also hear from people who tell us their own very personal stories about the positive impact that being part of our sewing community, and learning to sew, has had on their lives and mental health.

Running Start to Stitch is about so much more than providing online sewing courses, our core values are about being kind and creating community, so when we receive feedback like this it really makes our hearts sing and our eyes leak a little. 
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Having taken time to reflect on what these nominations mean to us we have also realised that being nominated is another form of feedback, a very positive a public feedback, that will introduce others to what we do and help to spread the very positive benefits of sewing that are so much more than a needle and thread. 
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The people who have nominated us may well be reading this blog, and we would like to say thank you so much for believing in us and taking the time to do this.  We also want to thank our truly wonderful students and sewing community who continue to inspire us every day with their comments, questions, support for others and makes. 

​You are all all sew lovely and are without a doubt what makes running Start to Stitch so very special. 
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And finally If we were to win these awards it really would mean the world to us and enable us to take Start to Stitch to the next level.  So if you would like to vote for us we really would be so very grateful.  You can vote for us in the British Sewing Awards here.  You can find us under the EVENTS category, and then TOP WORKSHOP, then BACK TO BASICS - START TO STITCH ( this is where you put your tick please!!! ) The next round of the Phoenix Award is Judge led only! So keep everything crossed for us... 

AND if you haven't yet done one of our courses and want to find out what we're all about you can sign up to our FREE mini course for a take of what we do and how we do it. 

It's summertime here in the UK 🌞and we thought it only right to celebrate this with a beachwear and accessories #getsetsew for August.  For our lovely followers in the southern hemisphere, where it isn't currently summertime, maybe think of this as an opportunity to get ahead of the game for your summer season! 😊
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The scope of this month's challenge is wide open.  Anything goes, from swim wear, changing robes, beach bags, hats, sunglasses cases, espadrilles, the world of beachwear and accessories really is your oyster! 👙😎👒👜
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.The brilliant Foldline have done an amazing round up of swimwear patterns here, including one of my favourites  the Vernazza Two Piece Bikini pattern from Friday Pattern Company.  Hello Sewing also have a great round up of free sewing patterns for women, men and children and have some great choices.  Peppermint Magazine has free patterns for a beach coverup and for a robe that would make  perfect beachwear.
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There are some gorgeous swimwear fabrics around at the moment from the likes of myfabrics, guthrie-ghani and sew me sunshine.  Etsy and Ebay are also good places to look for more unusual designs or cheaper fabrics. 
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Textile express have a pattern download and video tutorial for making a Toweling Robe and also have a lovely choice of bamboo toweling.  Of course you could be super thrifty with this make by using old towels you already have at home!
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Sunhats can be a great scrap buster and are fun to make.  If you have any Ankara left over from last months #getsetsew then a hat could be a perfect use for this fabric.  There are lots of great patterns around and a google search will bring up lots of choices.  Two of my favourites are from Elbe Textiles, the wide brimmed Serpentine Hat and the Sorrento Bucket Hat.  The Patterns for Pirates Adventure Hat is a free cap pattern that looks fun and a really great scrap buster. 
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Again a google search for free glasses case sewing patterns will bring up a plethora of choices, from drawstring, to padded, to zipped, to folding.  Another great scrap buster and a quick make. 
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But obviously all these things need to be carried to the beach along with all the other beach paraphernalia....sun cream, bucket and spade, goggles, books.....etc...etc.  So why not have a go at making a roomy beach bag to do the job?  Those of you who subscribe to any sewing magazines will probably have patterns for beach and tote bags in your own pattern store, but again there are lots of choices online too.  A good place to start for lots of choice of free patterns is eknitting stitches who have some great ideas, including an extra large bag and an up-cycle project. 
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So there's lots of choice and lots of fun to be had with this month's #getsetsew challenge.  Don't forget to use the hashtag #getsetsewaugust and post pictures of your makes in the Stitch Sewcial Facebook group and tag us on Instagram @starttostitch we love seeing them.  

Have fun with this one and happy summer sewing 🌞