Welcome to the second edition of the Honey & Rose Backstitch blog - how fast a month can fly by!

New pattern instruction writing & photography 

I'm so excited to be working towards the testing phase of the next sewing pattern for Honey & Rose!

Our new pattern is all drafted and graded and I'm in the final stages now of taking all of the step-by-step instruction photos to send out for testing this month.

It was a big decision to decide whether to use colour photography or illustrations for instruction steps. After dabbling in a bit of both I settled on photograph instructions. The main advantage I found with photography is that you truely get a sense of what the fabric can look like when you're at that particular step, rather than a flat drawing.

Matching threads now available!

One of the trickiest things I find to buy online is matching thread for my sewing projects. Very soon after we released the fabric I thought it would be amazing if we could also stock matching threads for the fabric releases.

So I took some little fabric samples down from our fabric store range to my local Spotlight with an excited toddler in tow. After picking up other necessary items such as glittery pink paint and novelty buttons, we picked out the perfect matching colours!

I'm so excited to have launched the notions and accessories part of our store this month and can't wait to expand our range!

We took a holiday!

In what was leading up to three years between holidays we took a break to attend my cousin's wedding up in the beautiful Northern Rivers region of NSW near Yamba. The region was recently devastated by floods and by some miracle, my Aunty and Uncle's macadamia nut farm where the wedding was hosted dried out just in time. Although it ended up raining on the day - it was an unforgettably beautiful wedding!

Other people in the surrounding areas have not been so lucky, if you would like to contribute to the local humanitarian support visit redcross.org.au/floodsappeal.

That's a wrap from me this month, I hope you enjoy the last minute sewing lead up to what is going to be a fabulous #memademay!

Happy sewing ~ Rose