CategoriesFit to Flatter, Workshop by

Fit to Flatter – A How To with Lindsey Rae

Lindsey is back to teach at Kimz and we are super excited!Lindsey is an amazing teacher, and her knowledge of garment sewing and sewing machine know how is exceptional.

Sewing patterns dressmaking patterns tailoring guides Sunshine Coast

Lindsey is the founder of Sew To Grow and is passionate about sewing and education in the sewing industry. She has already been to Kimz teaching her "Urban Outlook" tote, teaching our ladies how to work with leather. You can check it out here.

This time Lindsey is coming in to teach you how to make your garment fit to flatter. Doesn't that sound great? With 4 designs to choose from including dresses and tops, you are sure to get noticed for all the right reasons and best of all feel comfortable and confident.

Dress sewing patterns Sunshine Coast

The Sweet Summertime Dress features no zippers, a fitted waist and cap sleeves this pattern is sure to be a wardrobe staple all season long!

Dress sewing pattern dressmaking Warana

The Noosa Shift features two sleeve options (sleeveless and flutter), pockets, t-shirt hem and elasticized waist.

Top sewing pattern fit to flatter Lindsey rae

The Sweet Summertime Peplum features no zippers, a fitted waist and cap sleeves. So on trend!

For all the information you need on this weekend workshop including dates, price and requirements, click here.

We can't wait for Lindsey to again inspire and work her magic in our classroom. Places are limited so please ensure you register to avoid disappointment.

Happy Stitching! Kimz Team x

CategoriesInspiration and Projects by

What A Team! Janome + Anna Maria Horner

Looking for some great ideas for projects using your Janome machine?  Well Janome has teamed up with the very talented Anna Maria Horner to bring you delightful projects including The Right Turn Bag.
I just love that you can use up strips of fabric and use the great decorative stitches on your Janome machine, and with Anna Maria’s instruction, you’ll have yourself a unique tote bag that will turn heads.

Some of our ladies decided to give it a go and here are the results.

Above is Erina’s front and back of her bag using her purple and orange fabrics. 

Helen and her daughter on the left decided to have a day together making the bag.  Helen is not a fan of straight lines so she did wavy stitching and used lots of embellishments.  Helen’s daughter Gemma made the large version of the bag.  Deb on the right wanted to use up some of her vast stash of spotty fabrics.

Christine used some scraps of Kaffe Fassett fabrics and used some coordinating solids for the stitching detail.
Check out Janome + Anna Maria collaboration projects here and get stitching today.

Happy Stitching! Kimz Team x

CategoriesTula Pink by

Seeing Tula Pink

What a privilege to meet the super talented Tula Pink last month. Tula is an illustrator, a fabric designer, a quilter, an author, a maker and a generally great person. A small group of us Tula fans decided to travel to the Gold Coast to meet and greet, Trunk Show and lecture.  Such an inspiration!

So happy to have met Tula Pink and be inspired by her talent.  Can’t wait to see what she comes up with next.


Happy Stitching! Kimz Team x

CategoriesInspiration and Projects by

Stitching Leather Bags with Sew To Grow

 It was such a pleasure to have Lindsey Rae of Sew To Grow do a Leather workshop here at Kimz in May.  We will definitely repeat this workshop with many more ladies wanting to learn how to sew with leather.  Lindsey is such an amazing tutor and all of our ladies had a wonderful time and went home with a fantastic Urban Outlook tote.

Teflon feet help when stitching with leather as the metal from standard feet can stick.  Also pop in your machine a leather needle so it pierce the leather with its chisel tip.

Danielle loves making bags.

Here is May and Judith sporting their new totes.

Ellen, Susan, Danielle and Cindy 

Ellen, Danielle, Lindsey and Cindy 
Lindsey has some amazing patterns and great tutorials on her website to check out.  Stay tuned for the next workshop we have with Lindsey, as I’m sure spaces will go fast. 


Happy Stitching! Kimz Team x

CategoriesWorkshop by

Tuffets with Terri

What a great weekend making Tuffets!!!  Terri Ahrens joined us for a fantastic workshop where our ladies made their very own patchwork furniture.

Terri helps Jackie making this stunning Kaffe Fassett tuffet.

Cindy is giving her tuffet the sit test.

Tori also played with her Kaffe Fassett stash and made this exceptionally beautiful tuffet. 

Carol (who is a lover of orange) made herself a very modern and funky tuffet.

And here is Juanita with her tuffet made in batiks from our store.
As you can see by those smiling faces we had lots of fun and everyone went home with their finished piece of furniture.  We will definitely be having another of these workshops.  Stay tuned for our next dates available so you don’t miss out on all the fun!


Happy Stitching! Kimz Team x

CategoriesInspiration and Projects by

2015 Park Bench BOM

Last years Block of the Month was the lovely Park Bench quilt designed by Jaybird Quilts.  Each month we created a hexagon block using Jaybirds Hex N More and Sidekick rulers.  These blocks were fantastic as they had no Y-seams making piecing painless.


Here are some of the finished quilts from our ladies who Park Benched with us.

Libby made her Park Bench using Tula Pink fabrics.

 Patsy made two Park Bench quilts.  The above with a select collect palette.

The second of Patsy’s Park Bench quilts has a different layout and she has used batik fabrics.

Pam made her Park Bench quilt a little shorter. 

Angela also made 2 Park Bench quilts.  This one is her eclectic with grey.

Barbara also shortened her quilt and used a blue and brown colour palette.
(There are a few quilts still to come as some of our ladies are still finishing them off ,so I will update with those as they come in)

Happy Stitching! Kimz Team x

CategoriesJanome by

Built In Bunting

 The Janome Memory Craft 500E is full of fantastic built in embroidery designs including bunting.  That’s right… I said bunting.  I decided to have a little play and here’s how I went….

I combined the bunting design with lettering that is also built in to the machine making it a very simply proces.

Here they are.  Ready to be made into bunting for our display.

This was so much fun.  Instructions are included in the manual that comes with the machine to put your embroidered bunting together.


Happy Stitching! Kimz Team x

CategoriesWorkshop by

Where The Cool Kids Go

School holidays mean kids sewing classes and we were super impressed with the enthusiasm of 8 young sewers who came along to Kimz eager to sew.

Rhonda had our sewers making the above funky coaster and placemat which involved them sewing straight lines, changing threads, using decorative stitches and quilting.

Our kids were hard at work for 3 hours stitching.

 Well done to all of our sewers who came along and completed their placemat and coaster.  We can’t wait to see you all again for our next school holiday kids sewing class.


Happy Stitching! Kimz Team x

CategoriesInspiration and Projects by

Round The Garden With Wendy Williams

What a pleasure to have the delightful Wendy Williams from Flying Fish Kits come back to Kimz for another wonderful wool felt applique workshop.  We had 10 ladies join in on the fun on getting started with their very own Round the Garden quilt.  Over the 2 day workshop the ladies learnt lots of techniques and got a great start on their linen backgrounds.  Below are some pics from the class as well as some close ups of Wendy’s work.

Appliqueing the felt tree


Below is some eye candy from samples Wendy brought along with her.

Sandra dropped in to show Wendy a quilt she has made using Wendy’s pattern Cat’s Away

A huge thank you to Wendy for coming back to us with this excellent workshop.  We hope to have you back soon.

CategoriesInspiration and Projects by

Thread Flower Tutorial

Here is a fun little Thread Flower for you to try.  They are simple, fun and can adorn just about anything you desire.

 You will need the following to make Thread Flowers:

An assortment of threads (variegated and metallic look great)  and if you have one, a Thread Stand will make this task all the more smoother.

A washer and a brooch back.  Your BSR foot for your Bernina machine (for other brands, use your darning foot).
Not shown but required are a Stanley knife, a business card with hole slightly larger than the washer size, sticky tape, your sewing machine and needle and thread to attach the brooch back.

Take your washer in one hand and your threads in the other. 

While holding onto your washer also hold onto the start of your threads you are using.  With your other hand start to wrap the threads around the washer.

Rhonda is super quick at these (I couldn’t get a clear picture as she is lightning fast)

You should have something that looks like this.  

 Tape your flower into the middle of a business card securing your thread ends.  This makes your flower easier to handle under your machine.

Using your BSR foot (or darning foot) decrease your foot pressure and stitch in circular motions securing the threads in the centre of the flower.

Your centre should look similar to this one above.

Now using your Stanley knife, cut the thread around the edge of the washer.  You may like to use two washers instead of one to run the knife in between when cutting the threads. 

Remove your flower.  The washer you use will determine the finished size of your thread flower. 

Now simply attach your brooch back using needle and thread and pin onto anything you like for a gorgeous whimsical look. 
If you have any questions regarding the making of these cute Thread Flowers please don’t hesitate to comment, email, phone or drop into our store.


 Happy Stitching! Kimz Team x