Craft Arena

The winner of Tantalising 2025 is Ann Choat with her crewelwork and goldwork piece Spring  Garland which is based  on a Brenda Saltwell design. Congratulations to Ann who receives a voucher to spend at Craft Arena. The winner of our voter draw was Alicia Huxtabie who also wins a Craft Arena voucher. We have also donated £80 to St. Luke's Hospice. I'm pleased to announce that our Tantalising open art competition is back again this year. Tantalising 2025 has an open theme, so that you can choose the subject yourself - whatever inspires you!  The competition winner will be voted for by visitors to the exhibition in The Alchemy Gallery at Craft Arena.  There is a nominal entry fee with the total amount raised from the exhibitors being split between the winning artist, a prize for one of the visitors who voted at the exhibition, with the rest going to St. Luke's Hospice, Basildon & Thurrock . This year the exhibition runs from Saturday 4th to Saturday 31st May and I'm...

 Craft Arena are now stockists of Bernina sewing machines. Contact us to arrange a personal demonstration. Accessory of the Month 15% Off in January Gathering Foot The fabric to be gathered is positioned underneath the Gathering Attachment of your overlocker, whilst the fabric that remains flat is added on top. The fabric is gathered with differential feed while it is sewn and neatened together with the flat fabric. Let us know the model number of your Bernina so that we can order the correct part for your machine. Please contact us if you need any more information. We currently have the following models in store: Bernina 570QE Including a 8.5 inch throat, colour touch screen, adjustable presser foot pressure, programmable foot control, BSR stitch regulator foot for free motion sewing and jumbo bobbin, the 570 is designed for quilters, but is idel for anyone who takes their sewing seriously! See it in the studio and find out more here. Bernina 335 The 355 has 5.5mm stitch width fo...

We have curated some of our favourite links here. Some could be for you to participate in and some just to inspire you! We can take no responsibililty for links that no longer work, but do let us know so that we can remove them. Behind the scenes in Conservation: The Virgin and Child with Saints Louis and Margaret  from the National Gallery Caravaggio’s ‘Boy bitten by a Lizard’  Picture of the month from the National Gallery Do you see the same colours I see?   Stories in Colour Podcast S1 Ep1 from the National Gallery My Crafting Life  on Spotify - a series of interviews from Make it At Market Friday Feature Artist from Fibre Arts Take Two: Nicola Bennett Fibre Arts Take Two Friday Feature Artist: Pat Pauly Take a look through the pages of one of Victor Hugo's sketchbooks and get an insight into the creative universe of one of France’s most famous writers. Fibre Arts' Take Two Friday feature Artist: Robert Lee Davis From London to Kyoto: How to embrace collabor...

If you would like us to include your group on this page and in our newsletter, please use the contact form on our website to send us the information. Southend Seaside Stitchers Southend Seaside Stitchers (formerly South & East Essex Embroiderers Guild) meet twice a month in Westcliff-on-Sea with a mixture of mini workshops, speakers and bring your own project sessions. They welcome all stitchers and textiles enthusiasts to their meetings. For more details, please see their  Facebook  and I nstagram   pages or email    southenendseasidestitchers@yahoo.com Romford Embroiders They meet monthly on a Saturday afternoon at the United Reformed Church, Western Road, Romford Find out more about Romford Embroiderers here. Essex Silk Painters Essex Silk Painters is a vibrant local chapter of the National Guild of Silk Painters. They meet in Toot Hill near Ongar on the first Saturday of every month (except January) for day-long workshops. Some days have ...

We offer free patterns as we come across them. Please note that we can take no responsibility for links that do not work. Assuming the sun lasts, this reversible bucket hat from the Brother Sewing Room could be very useful! You can download the pattern here. We have a pretty macrame bracelet for you this week from DMC. The design uses DMC Soft cotton, but you can substitute another thread if you wish. You can download the pattern here. I've found a pattern for a simple beach bag on the Brother US website and thought you might like to give it a go. You can find the instructions here We have an embroidery design from Brother for you this week, this simple but effective design can be used on garments, napkins or a bag for a touch of Spring! Download your design here The third in our series of textured embroidery designs, Fruit lights, from DMC uses perle thread, This design uses a range of stitches to create texture and colour. For the intermediate stitcher. Download your pattern here...