samantha molloy | Mr X Stitch

Welcome to another Tooled Up column where we aim to give you reviews of fun products from all over the crafty world. Today we review the Spool of Thread Free Motion Embroidery kit by Stitched Up By Samantha aka Sam Molloy. The beautiful kit design Free motion embroidery is really fun. It’s the art of making pictures by using your sewing machine with the feed dogs down and a darning foot attached to draw any kind of shapes you desire. The world is your oyster! Sam creates amazing works of art from Bowie to landscapes. Just a few of Sam's amazing portraits I was lucky enough to have a lesson from Sam a few years ago and attend a few of her classes since then. This kit is advertised as a “workshop in a box” and that’s exactly what it is. The kit contains all the fabric you need for the project - in fact twice as much as you need for the spool so you can pick your favourite - Bondaweb, the hoop to frame it in, the cute heart button, metallic threads for the needle and pin and instructions. And the spool fabric enclosed is all gorgeous Liberty print. An amazing array of contents in the pack, including fabric colour choices The instructions provided with the kit are brilliantly detailed and contain photographs to show you step by step how to put the kit together. It’s like having Sam right there with you all the way. She even explained things so well that I didn’t cock up the Bondaweb, which I have a real phobia of! Well thought out instructions It had been quite a while since I had done any free motion, and before that I had only made a few pieces, so this was a proper challenge for me. I found it a really fun project. I even had a lovely cup of tea as I sewed thanks to Sam enclosing a tea bag in the kit too! Cuteness overload! The attention to deal in this kit is top notch. From the beautiful envelope it is packaged in, to the tea bag gift with a note attached, to the neatly packed contents, to the beautiful way it was wrapped on arrival. Who wouldn't want to receive this in the "happy post" I spent a lovely relaxing afternoon putting this kit together. The instructions guide you through the process really well and it worked perfectly. Here is my finished kit. My finished product - I can't wait to hang it up! This kit retails at £15 including postage on Etsy and if you don’t fancy stitching it yourself you can buy a fully made up version of the kit for £16 including postage here. Sam also sells kits to sew up free motion portraits of David Bowie and Adam Ant to name but a few, as well as cards, pouches and lots of other items. You can find her Etsy shop here and read more about her and her “Adventures in Free Motion Embroidery” on her website here and in Instagram here.