Hello and welcome to the July issue of the HotHive Textiles newsletter. We have had a busy month in June sourcing new products to add to our kits store. We now have over 400 products available from a whole spectrum of crafts including beadwork and jewellery, embroidery, patchwork, tapestry and feltmaking. To take a look at the kits available please click here.

We have also been working on a feature about weaving and spinning, which you can read here. The article includes some great tips and freebies as well as advice from the countries best weavers and spinners on how to get started so is well worth a read!

Don’t forget to keep in touch with the team here at HotHive Textiles to tell us what you’re up to as we may well be able to feature you! We are always open to suggestions for stories and articles to publish on the website and have lots of opportunities for artists, designers and makers to sell their books, kits and patterns through us – so do get in touch! We can be reached at the usual places – by email at textiles@thehothive.com or by telephone on 01386 760406. We look forward to hearing from you!

Best wishes
HotHive Textiles (textiles.thehothive.com)

A basic listing in the directory is absolutely free and there are some fantastic low-cost packages available for those of you who would like to promote your business even more.

On 4^th July 1776 America signed a Declaration of Independence that meant the thirteen American colonies then at war with Great Britain were now independent states and no longer a part of the British Empire Since then the 4^th of July has become a national holiday in America and a very important date to those who live there

HotHive Textiles has joined up with artists and designers who specialise in a range of crafts to bring you some great projects to make in celebration of Independence Day We will begin our craft projects with a selection of tea cosies celebrating the importance the Boston Tea Party had in America reaching independence from Great Britain

The Tea Party was an action of protest by American colonists in Boston against the British government who had imposed taxes on them, including the Tea Tax In early December 1773 three ships from London sailed into the Boston harbour loaded with tea and the American colonists, unhappy about the taxes, prevented them from unloading their cargo

On the evening of 16 December patriots disguised as Native Americans decided they would raid the tea shipment and throw it overboard into the Boston harbour The act of destroying the tea was intended to show the British Parliament that they could no longer take advantage of the American colonies and was one of the factors involved in the start of the American Revolutionary War, which resulted in America signing the Declaration of Independence

We have spoken to a number of artists and designers who specialise in a range of crafts to bring you the perfect accessory for your kitchen – whether you have a passion for crochet, knitting or feltmaking there is a pattern here that will be perfect for you

We will begin with our felted tea cosy featuring the American flag This pattern was designed by feltmaker Emma Jackson, owner of Silversoles, who you can read more about here This is a great pattern as it not only teaches you how to make the cosy but it also shows you how to make the felt from scratch if this is something you haven’t tried before We would definitely recommend you have a go! For this pattern you will also need templates for the shapes used in the tea cosy, which you can download here Emma has also provided a template to help you when making up the tea cosy, which you can download here To download the instructions to make your Boston Tea Party cosy please click on the link below Have fun!

Boston Tea Party cosy

Now that you have all had a go at felting, how about making a knitted tea cosy as well This one was supplied to us by Barbara at the The Wool Shed and is made using their very special Albayarn, which has been produced specially for them It is Shetland lambswool spun and dyed locally in colours which mirror the landscape in North East Scotland, so this tea cosy will have a very special feel to it The yarn can be purchased from The Wool Shed website here and we would thoroughly recommend giving it a try There is also a comment box at the bottom of this article, so if you get stuck at any point then just leave a message and our community of knitters will be happy to assist! To download the instructions please click on the link below:

Knitted Albayarn Tea Cosy

The final tea cosy pattern we have is for the crocheters among you and is a red, white and blue striped pattern, created by Sharon Kearley As with the knitters please do leave any comments or questions at the bottom of the article and we will be happy to help you! To download the crochet tea cosy instructions please click on the link below:

Crocheted Tea Cosy

The next pattern we have for you is still on the red, white and blue theme but this time will show you how to make a gorgeous knitted corsage to adorn your Independence Day outfit or any outfit for that matter! This pattern was created specially for HotHive Textiles by artist Claire Montgomerie and is a great pattern to use for any occasion Claire says, "This pattern need not be knitted in red, white and blue but made in one colour You could also make a highly striped corsage using up oddments of stash yarn" To download the instructions to make your own corsage please click on the link below:

Knitted corsage

As you will have seen when you made the corsage, the knitting is twisted to create the look of petals on the flower Claire suggests creating different looks with the flower to suit the outfit you are wearing She says, "You can play around with how many rows you knit before you rotate the work around the needle to cause the twists, which can change the look of the petals" So why not have a play and make a range of different corsages Don’t forget to send us your photos so we can see what you come up with!

We are now going to take a break from the red, white and blue theme to look at another item that is associated with America – the rose The rose was passed as the national flower of America by the House of Representatives in September 1986 and each state has selected a different variety of rose to represent them, including the Oklahoma rose in Oklahoma, the Cherokee rose in Georgia and the wild prairie rose in Iowa and North Dakota This pattern was taken from the book The Handbook of Silk Ribbon Embroidery, published by Search Press and will teach you how to make a beautiful bouquet of roses embroidered on silk dupion, which could be used as the decoration for a greetings card, embroidered to a bag or purse or just framed and hung on the wall as it is!

For this pattern you will need a template for the bouquet of roses, which you can download here It is helpful to tack this template onto your fabric so that you can lay the roses out as they are in the pattern Each of the roses are numbered to help you identify them and these numbers will be referred to in the step-by-step stages in the instructions The pattern assumes that you have a knowledge of some embroidery stitches including French knots, ribbon stitches and fly stitch These stitches are explained in the book with diagrams to demonstrate how they work if you are not familiar with them You can buy a copy of the book here

If you don’t have ribbons in your sewing basket already then we recommend you take a look at the Crafty Ribbons website wwwcraftyribbonscom where you will find all the ribbons you need to make this project and a lot more besides! Be warned, the amount of ribbons available on the site is quite staggering so you may find that you lose the rest of your day to browsing!

To download the instructions to make your bouquet of roses please click on the link below:

Bouquet of roses

For those of you who would like to celebrate Independence Day, but don’t have the time or skills to make the items featured in this project our artists have very kindly offered to make up the patterns for you, and a few other items besides Please click here to visit our Independence Day shop and treat yourself to something special!

We would love to hear your comments about this article and any other suggestions for American-themed projects you may have Please login to the website and leave your comments in the box below

It is coming to that time again when we dig into the back of our wardrobes and pull out all the clothes we bought last summer but didn’t get chance to wear as the sun rarely shone! Well this year we are promised will be different! With the weathermen predicting some gorgeous sunny days let HotHive Textiles show you how to jazz up and revive last summer’s clothes, rather than splashing out on new ones

The high street is full of brightly-coloured clothing this summer so the quickest way to bring last year’s clothes on trend is to jazz them up with fluorescent trims and ribbons We spoke to Michelle Pye at the English Couture Company for her tips: "Bright pinks and lime greens are the fashion for this summer and these colours look great teamed with classic blacks and navies If you want to introduce these colours to your clothes then lace trims will look great and bring some added sparkle You could also try adding a lace trim to your kaftan to help you cover up on the beach" The English Couture Company stock a wide range of lace trims in every colour you can think of If you are not confident wearing bright colours why not add a splash of colour to your beachwear with a red or burgundy trim

A fabulous way to revamp shirts and blouses is to simply replace the buttons Carol at Duttons for Buttons told us, "Buttons can make a big difference to your clothing – gold and nautical designs seem to be popular at the moment, also anything brightly coloured" This is not only effective, but also a cheap way to give your clothing a new look Duttons for Buttons offer a great service where you can send them a sample of your clothing with an idea of the size of button you are after and they will send you a selection of buttons to choose from – so you can’t possibly go wrong!

Our next top tip is for the more creative among you – using beads and sequins to embellish your clothing to give it that sparkly unique look If you are going to use beads in this way then take some time to ensure that the beads you choose are suitable for this purpose – are they hardwearing Can they stand up to being washed The last thing you want is to spend an afternoon applying an intricate design only for it all to come undone in the washing machine!

Christine at Spellbound Beads has some great advice for those of us turning to embellishment "There are some fabulous colours out there but they won’t always be suitable," she warns "Delicas, for example, were specially created for loomed pictures in Japan and as such have a wonderful range of colours to create the nuances necessary for pictorial work, but many of them have dyed surfaces to achieve this Generally speaking glass beads are preferable for clothing as they tend to be more durable and have good colourfast finishes in cold water washes"

Don’t let this deter you however, as the amount of stylish glass beads available in the Spellbound shop is quite staggering They have everything from classic round glass beads to stars, hearts, animals and leaves, alongside traditional glass pearls in a multitude of colours And with prices starting at just a penny this is a technique that you can afford to have a few attempts at!

For those of you wanting some extra help with embellishing and customising your clothes there are some great books in the HotHive Textiles Bookstore that do just that One such masterpiece is Details Details £1699, by Lucinda Ganderton This fabulous book will teach you how to bring couture style to your wardrobe by adding eye-catching detail to your clothes and accessories Adding detail is a very effective way to emphasise the features of any garment, as well as being a means of reflecting individual personality and style In this fabulous collection of step-by-step designs, both subtle additions as well as more flamboyant items are shown There are plenty of ideas to inspire – and some of the projects don’t even require the use of a needle and thread The book will show you how to apply everything from beads and sequins to ribbon and lace, and even scraps of flowers and leaves Projects covered include making a corsage to pin to a jacket, attaching ribbons to the edge of a cardigan, beaded motifs to a sweater and diamanté studs to jeans – all of which will help you look great this summer

For those of you who love to create that unique signature look and bring some personality to your clothing, then Embellish your t-shirt £1299 and Generation T £999 are the books for you

Embellish your t-Shirt shows you how to turn your plain t-shirt into a unique design that you’ll wear with pride Requiring no specialist skills, choose from 35 stylish step-by-step projects to create a range of trendy styles There are projects for girls – funky flowers, butterflies and bird motifs; tees for guys – slashed and studded tees – and sweet tees for children, from an appliqué astronaut to cats and little pirates There are motif galleries throughout the book to give plenty of ideas and inspiration and all designs use inexpensive craft and sewing products that are readily available in the HotHive Textiles shopping directory

Generation T will demonstrate 108 ways to transform your old t-shirts into customised tees, tank tops and tube tops If the t-shirt has gone beyond saving this book also shows you how to turn it into a handbag, patchwork blanket, iPod cozy and leg warmers, among others More than one third of the projects require no sewing, meaning anyone who can wield a pair of scissors can put a personal stamp on her wardrobe

Fancy having a go and getting creative Here are some great projects and kits to help you make the most of the summer months:

Felt Jewellery Sewing Kit – £8 for the kit, including materials and instructions

This is a great kit for the little girl in your life and includes all the materials needed for her to make two holiday hairslides and two brooches Featuring summery flowers and butterflies these felted accessories can be made by gluing the pieces together by younger children or embroidery thread is also provided for the older or adventurous! To take a closer look, please click here

A day at the beach or by the pool can be a fun-filled experience or a disaster, depending on how your supplies get there This season, travel in style and confidence with our fully organised beach bag tote pattern Vinyl pockets on the outside allow you to keep your suntan lotion, water, sunglasses, and keys right where you want them The sky’s the limit when it comes to the size and number of pockets you can add to this bag Make a beach bag for a friend too – it’s a great gift! To download the instructions please click on the link below:

Terry Towling Beach Bag

There is nothing better than walking along the beach feeling the sand beneath your toes and the waves lapping the shores The Polka Dot Skirt pattern we have for you is the perfect accessory for this scene Made using a light and breathable cotton fabric this skirt is not only fashionable but it will keep you cool too! To download the instructions to make the skirt please click on the link below:

Polka Dot Skirt Instructions

Now that you are armed with all the tips and advice you need to create that chic and trendy summer wardrobe all that is left is to get outside and enjoy the sunshine – but be careful not to spill your ice cream down your new wardrobe!

English Couture Company

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