We are thrilled to introduce our guest blogger for this month – Liz from Sew What!
You will read about how her love for textiles and her being a dab hand at crafting novel artistic creations led to the setup of her shop ‘Sew What’.
She started out by collecting pins and is now thriving with making beautiful and original decorative hoops. Whatever Liz makes, at the heart of it all lies sustainability and being friendly to the environment, which makes her shop highly original and unique in both its content and backstory!
Read all about her journey to setting up her delightful shop and scroll down for pictures of her hoops, including innovative suggestions on how to use them as novel displays to decorate your home or even show off your cherished BTS pins and photo cards!
{Because of her special ability to create stunning home decor objects whilst being environmentally aware, we couldn’t wait to collaborate with Liz for this month’s giveaway!
**THIS GIVEAWAY HAS NOW ENDED**
Please do carry on scrolling down - Liz's blog makes a wonderful read!
The theme of it is 'Cherish ARMY' where we celebrate ARMY and that ARMY life!
Read on to find out what you could win and the rules to enter!}
Good luck and thank you for entering!
We Purple You!
LKS Team
'SEW WHAT'
- by Liz
Hi everyone! Welcome to my Sew What blog!
I figure I should start with a little bit about me! I’m Liz, and I started ‘Sew What’ (you have to love a punny name!) back in June 2020 after being encouraged by my bestie, Bernice, from @sopeworldpins
I started collecting pins in early 2019 as a fun way of showing my love for the BTS boys! I found that I was quickly running out of ways to display my pin collection so pin hoops seemed like the perfect new venture to embark on.
I studied Textiles at university, and then at art school, I loved sculpture and making things so a ‘hands-on’ designing degree really spoke to me!
INTRODUCTION
I started making hoops in the midst of our first UK National lockdown due to the pandemic and I was completely in the dark as to where to start. I was desperate to get into a shop to see and feel fabric rather than looking at an image on a screen! Luckily for me, my Textiles degree meant I knew what to go for. I started by working with some beautifully crushed velvets, which, still to this day, are some of my most popular sells!
My degree allowed me to develop an interest in design and sustainability, and I decided to use my online shop as a way to make creative and artistic objects from waste fabric! To date, almost all of my hoops are made with this ‘deadstock’ fabric, i.e. fabric from designers and manufacturers that would otherwise end up in a landfill. I thought that creating hoops would be a perfect way to use these discarded and unwanted fabrics and give them a new lease of life! Admittedly though, I sometimes use fabric that isn’t deadstock, but still too beautiful to resist using!
Because I try to not produce much wastage myself when creating my hoops, I only buy half or one metre lengths of fabric at a time, and since deadstock is usually found at the ends of rolls, the remaining fabric is very limited, and therefore the number of hoops I can make with any fabric also ends up being limited!
SEW WHAT SHOP HOOPS
My shop is currently on Etsy, but I hope to one day have my own online store.
I make 8”, 6” and 4” hoops as standard and occasionally I have huge 12” hoops on offer too, which I call ‘boards’!
For a while, I even made pinboards out of upcycled photo frames. I think I’d like to bring these back to my shop eventually or venture into other ways of displaying pins and photo cards!
When coming up with my hoops I usually start by scouring the internet for fabric, then decide on a hoop colour that will work perfectly, paint and cut and glue, and hey presto, a pin hoop is born! My specific K-Pop hoops are my Mic series hoops based on the BTS mic colours! I try to keep my hoops open to a wide range of collectors with a universal appeal.
My most popular hoops have been my first ever Sew What creation ‘Serpentine Silver’ which I’ve restocked several times, followed closely behind by the ‘Moonchild’ hoops which are a personal favourite!
I wanted to make my hoops a bit different and while doing my research, I discovered that no one else was painting the outer hoop and I felt that if I were to do this, I’d be offering something a bit different to set myself apart from other makers!
DISPLAYING YOUR HOOPS
I’ve had a few people ask me how they can display their hoops and you’d be surprised at the many ways there are to do this!
I usually attach some pretty strings to mine and hang them from a coat hook on the back of my door. I also have them leaning against books on my shelf. You can buy mini easels for them or hang them from a tiny nail in the wall (please ask permission if you aren’t the homeowner!!!!).
VISION FOR THE FUTURE
Since starting my shop last year, I’ve discovered a renewed passion for all things artsy.
I’ve started drawing and making things again. I’ve bought a bunch of paints, clays and canvases. And the added bonus of all this has been how great it’s been to make friends with other makers on Instagram.
I recently started including embroidery on my hoops and am currently trying to find fun ways of using my scraps from finished hoops! I just made a bunch of tiny 3” hoops using the largest scraps and they turned out so cute!
I hope in the future to expand further from just creating hoops into making other types of pin displays and creations using waste fabrics! Watch this space!
Additionally, my degree was specifically in knitted textiles for the home, so, looking ahead, I would really love to make cushions or things of that nature again. But first I’d have to find the right yarn and make them as eco-friendly as possible!
MY ARMY LIFE!
I first heard of BTS around five years ago because a really good friend of mine was into them and so they were on my radar, but I wasn’t really paying attention (silly me!). The first song I heard on the radio by BTS was ‘Fake Love’ while I was driving home and I thought to myself, ‘holy ****, I’ve been missing out on this?!’, and there started the slippery slope through the BTS rabbit hole. My first step was to learn their names and we all know where this eventually leads to! I’m an avid collector of Tae and Jungkook pins and photo cards, but I’m OT7 to the core…..RIP my bank account!
Because of my love for BTS and ARMY I made a cute little embroidered hoop set for this giveaway with LKS! Hope you enjoy using it for your displays as much as I enjoyed making them!
You can find me and my shop on:
Twitter & Instagram: @sew_what_shop
**THIS GIVEAWAY HAS NOW ENDED**
Thank you to all those who took part and for supporting our accounts!
The winner will be announced in a few days on IG & Twitter
BTS GIVEAWAY!
We want to celebrate being ARMY and help you reminisce about the first time you heard about BTS and the special journey you've now embarked on called 'Army Life!'
We want you to smile as you recall the past and embrace the future with this 'Cherish ARMY' International Giveaway where ONE LUCKY WINNER can win ALL three prizes below (worth over £25)!
Giveaway Prize Bundle:
1) Handmade ARMY Hoop Set by Liz
2) BTS Album - 2 Cool 4 Skool
3) Surprise Prize!
RULES TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY DRAW
You can enter through Instagram or Twitter or both (to increase your chances of winning!)
All steps below must be completed to be eligible for entry into the giveaway draw.
Giveaway ends: Friday 5th March 2021 at 6pm GMT
**Please read the rules and T&Cs carefully to avoid disqualification! GOOD LUCK!
- LIKE the giveaway post on BOTH @londonkpopstreet and @sew_what_shop
- FOLLOW us BOTH @londonkpopstreet and @sew_what_shop
- TAG 1 x ARMY friend on BOTH @londonkpopstreet and @sew_what_shop
- LIKE the giveaway tweet on BOTH @londonkpopst and @sew_what_shop
- RETWEET the giveaway post on BOTH @londonkpopst and @sew_what_shop
- TAG 1 x ARMY friend on BOTH @londonkpopst and @sew_what_shop
**T&Cs**
- This is an international giveaway
- Postage to be covered by the winner
- Please make sure you follow/retweet from a public account
- The winner will be randomly selected and contacted by Instagram/Twitter, so keep an eye on your inbox! If this winner doesn't respond within 24h, then another winner will be selected randomly
- The winner will be announced on our Instagram & Twitter accounts
- People who unfollow after entering the giveaway will be removed from the entries
- Please follow the rules above to avoid being disallowed to enter future giveaways