The UK’s favourite TV sewing show has completed its eighth series, with a host of contestants passing through its doors all vying to be crowned Britain’s best Sewer. Some of the most talented sewers from the popular series can be found at the Juki Sewing Celebs workshops, passing on their passion and expertise to visitors. Showcasing their expertise at the show this spring will be past contestants; Mercedes Ferrari-Plumridge, Jen Hogg, Mark Francis, Adam Brooks and Janet Poole.

As well as picking up hints and tips, visitors will also have the chance to see the experts sewing skills up close and personal, with a collection of the competitors’ favourite makes from the series.

Also joining the show this year for the first time is sewing extraordinaire, Clive Bruder’s ‘We Sew Too!’ was born out of the shared experience for the love and passion of sewing. Inspired by the movement of Boys Sew Too, ‘We Sew Too’ aims to challenge the gender stereotypes attached to craft and sewing world, by encouraging everyone of all ages to pick up a needle and thread. Clive will be running workshops throughout the show.

Packed with the latest stitching supplies, fabrics, yarns, patterns and threads Sewing for Pleasure, and sister show Fashion and Embroidery, is the destination for needlework beginners and experts alike. Other specialists in the world of sewing joining the show include:

Shree Desai is a textile designer and workshop leader who is dedicated and passionate about teaching. Her background includes a Master’s in Textile Design in India, after which she experimented with the construction of fabrics in order to create unique pieces of artwork.

Bex Oxide-Tucker is an award-winning textile artist and tutor. She is an avid environmentalist and works with natural processes and dyes plus textured yarns, unconventional materials, and various weaving and dying techniques to create innovative fabrics.

Elnaz Yazdani is an embroidery artist and educator based in Yorkshire. She is dedicated to sharing her skills and promoting the importance of embroidery as an art form for the future and for wellbeing.

Jessica Grady is a mixed media embroidery artist based in West Yorkshire. Her colourful and creative works uses combinations of recycled materials to create hand stitched wall art and sculptures. She teaches workshops and gives talks across the UK and beyond.

From macramé, silk painting and lace making to quilting and needle felting, visitors can find features and get involved with demonstrations and bookable in advance workshops offering the chance to try something completely different or extend their skills with specialist crafters. 

As regulars to the show will know, The Creative Craft show is a haven for paper crafting, art materials, jewellery, ribbons, floristry, and other hard crafts including willow weaving and pottery workshops, so there are plenty of opportunities to gain advice from industry experts, as well as the chance to try something new in the Creative Den workshops. From needlefelt animals to paper quilled earrings, to Peaky Blinders style baker boy hat making workshops, the show is packed with every type of craft only limited by imagination.

Visitors to the shows get 3 shows for the price of 1 with their tickets, giving them access to Sewing for Pleasure, Fashion & Embroidery and The Creative Craft Show. For more information visit www.creativecraftshow.co.uk

Hope to see you there!

Sal xx

The post The Creative Craft Show, Sewing for Pleasure and Fashion and Embroidery<br>Birmingham is back at the NEC, 16th – 19th March 2023. appeared first on The Yorkshire Sewist.

About the Show

The Knitting & Stitching Show promises inspiration and ideas for every style and stage of stitcher, from complete beginners to experts. There are over 220 hands-on workshops and demonstrations. Wow, that’s a lot!

Workshops

There is a dedicated dressmaking programme and festive, seasonal makes like knitted Christmas gnomes, felted wreaths, fabric baubles and embroidery Robins. I am tempted to book onto the felt wreath workshop, as I’ve not made one before. A first time for everything eh?! 

Supplies!

If craft supplies are on your Christmas shopping wish list or anytime list for us Crafters, there are hundreds of specialist companies under one roof, selling haberdashery, fabric and patterns, sewing machines and equipment, thread and yarn, craft kits, accessories and more, with on-stand demonstrations and show offers to enjoy.  I am excited to see Ethel & Joan, Felicity’s Fabrics, Jencreates, Little Rosy Cheeks, Emporium Fabrics and Crafts.

Galleries Galore

Spectacular galleries by internationally acclaimed textile artists and groups are a highlight of The Knitting & Stitching Show each year.

This year’s show is no exception with exhibitions by Aran Illingworth (Hanging on the thread: Portrayal of Poverty), 

Archana Pathak (Mapping Transience),

Maggie Scott (Five Times More),

Marcia Bennett-Male (Moments to Myself),

The 62 Group at 60 (Essence),

Vivienne Beaumont (Seeds, Flowers and Flowing Hair), James Fox,

The Quilters’ Guild Collection and Jess Blaustein, the 2022 winner of The Fine Art Textiles Award, supported by The Open College of the Arts. 

A gallery of winning quilts from The Festival of Quilts 2022 competition includes the stunning Handi Quilter Best in Competition Award winning quilt, Impresión. Tramonto en Venecia, by Inmaculada Gabaldon. 

The Embroiderers’ Guild will be celebrating emerging needlework talent with a platform for the country’s most innovative newly qualified designers. The Graduate Showcase features work selected from Fashion, Textiles and Embroidery final degree shows from colleges and universities across the country. They will be hosting an exhibition of items from its own collection, from the early twentieth century to the present day, including pieces from its most recent member challenge.  

A must see is Hawes Yarnbombers’ Knitted Shrek. 

The group’s members meet every week at their local pub. To knit and chat withouthout distractions, sounds like bliss!

After a great deal of hard work, and with a different theme every year, they have created a collection of delightful  characters from the popular movie to raise money for Yorkshire Air Ambulance and Swaledale Mountain Rescue. Hawes Yarnbombers will be encouraging other knitters to give yarnbombing a go, in aid of raising money for charity while having fun. I wonder if they could teach me to knit as my Nanna told me I’m unteachable hahaha!

They will be on hand with some top tips for first-time yarnbombers. A must see in my opinion!

Refreshments

Hot and cold refreshments are available throughout the venue, with seated areas for visitors bringing their own picnics. Harrogate town centre offers a wide range of cafés and bars to enjoy. Including the famous Betty’s Café Tea Rooms.  Please pass the cake!! 

Ticket Information

Standard adult advance tickets for the Show are:

£17.00 (concessions £15.50, children under 18 £8.50) with VIP ticket packages starting at £36.00. With my special discount code use TYS22 which saves £3.00 off adult advance tickets / £3.50 off concessions. Please note that the discount code expires at 23:59 on Wednesday 16^th November 2022

Full ticket information is available at The Knitting & Stitching Show website www.theknittingandstitchingshow.com/harrogate/. It is wise to book in advance to avoid disappointment, nothing worse if you aren’t able to get in!

Now for the giveaway details! Yay!

I have 5 pairs of tickets up for grabs. Tickets are valid after 10am onThursday 17th, Friday 18^th, Saturday 19^th or Sunday 20^th November 2022.

To enter, all you have to do is head on over to my instagram account @theyorkshiresewist and find the post and follow the instructions, easy peasy!

Giveaway is open worldwide as the tickets are via email. Yet, feel free if you want to make a special trip to see the UK’s biggest textile event. Giveaway runs from Friday 7th October to Sunday 30th October 2022. Winners will be drawn on 31st October 2022 and will be announced on my blog and Social media accounts.

Happy Sewing!

Sal

xx

The post Giveaway time! Knitting and Stitching Show is back at Harrogate! appeared first on The Yorkshire Sewist.

Well from my last post I told you I was having a nasty flare up of Fibromyalgia. I’m having a couple of good days instead of all bad ones, still waiting for Pain Management appointment though. But, the few good days had let me get on with a bit of sewing and craft. As sewing does keep me sane!

From my last post Sewing Goals 2021, I mentioned to pace myself and break down sewing tasks into smaller steps. I have achieved this by setting myself an hour a day at most for crafting and checking off my task list.

My husband suggested that I use Trello which is an app that is the easy, free, flexible, and visual way to manage your projects and organise anything.

It is great, I’ve added each project that I want to work on and within that project card a checklist which steps to complete said project. It even has a deadline function to it and reminds you nearer to end date which comes in handy for my sponsored blog posts.

Crafting

I really enjoy using my Cricut Explorer Air 2. I’ve been experimenting with vinyl along with cardstock.

The boys really enjoyed having their belongings personalised. Ethan and I have the same phone case, so this was ideal to tell which one is which.

Rhys has a favourite mason jar which he uses for juice and has a soft spot for Stitch from Lilo and Stitch. In all fairness, I do too and really enjoyed creating this one. I have put this through the dishwasher and it has survived!

Sewing

In January, we only have one birthday which is my niece Millie who turned 9. After having a chat with my fellow Felicity Fabrics Blogger girls. I decided to make her Made by jacks Mum Explorer T-Shirt. I raided my stash, found this gem that I bought from Like Sew Amazing last year. With all good intentions, the fabric was going to be a Tee for me but never got round to using it. So this was an ideal time to get it used.

Thankfully, Millie and Rhys are nearly the same age, only a couple of months between them. I made her a size 9 going from Rhys’s height. It was whipped up in no time at all when using Mrs Singer aka Singer overlocker 14SH754 and used Mr Singer aka Singer Quantum Stylist 9960 for the twin needle hem.

Here is the finished present along with some handmade tags and card I made with the Cricut too.

Hand’s up, who has the Billie sewing pattern since it was released back in November and only got round to making one till now. That’ll be me! I’m sure I am not alone in hoarding sewing patterns as well as fabric?

It was well worth the wait. I used this now sold out animal print jersey in aqua from Felicity Fabrics also Liz aka thatbakerwhosews used this jersey too. Here is Liz’s Billie with the balloon sleeves, how awesome it is!

Mrs Singer came into play to get this sewn up in speedy time. No garment isn’t complete without a garment label from KATM.

I made a size 5 from the shoulders, grading out to a 7 for the hips. With help from Felicity girls, I got the size just right for my frame.

Coming up in February

I’m a guest blogger for Crafty Sew and So. So here is a sneak peak on what I have been working on.

All will be revealed on 7th February 2021. So keep your eyes peeled over at Crafty Sew and So

I’m hoping to have a Buddy Sew a long with Laura aka Missmadeitmyself via Zoom to make the Nina Lee Picadilly PJs using this fabulous fabric from xxstitchedupxx . I have 2.5m and its extra wide too, so I have plenty to make whichever version I decide to make. Now, what buttons do I go for?

I did toy with the idea to make a dress out of it but thought I will get more wear out of them as PJs!

There you go folks, a round up of my January makes. What have you been sewing this year so far?

Happy Sewing

Sal

xx

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Hi All! I’m back for my 2nd year with The Sew Crafty Design Team and kicking off my 1st Project for 2018 showing you how to make your own Passport Cover! Honestly, It is really easy as i say it is!

List of Supplies:

• Pattern Ruler
• Pins
• Medium weight fabric for the outer and the inner – I’ve used the ever so gorgeous Blend Faraway Forest Dream a Little Dream in Grey
• Medium weight woven fusible interfacing
• Chop stick/Skewer! I ain’t that fancy to own a point turner but if you have one then use it.
• Tailors Chalk
• Scissors
• Gutterman Thread and Full Bobbin
• Sewing machine Needles 80/12

Let’s make your Cover!

Fold the Fabric Right Sides Together.

I calculated for a UK Passport that i needed a rectangle of 31cm wide and 16cm high and includes a seam allowance of 1/4″ (o.6cm). It’s all written down in my Sew Crafty Journal, which is a fab tool as it had plenty of room to add my notes and calculations instead on a scrap piece of paper which i would end up losing!

I drew on the fabric using my tailors chalk and my Pattern ruler and tried my best to get it straight with the aid of the Ruler and my mat but i am only human after all!

Cut all the way around the fabric, following the outline we just drew.

Lay one piece of the Cover onto lightweight woven fusible interfacing. Pin and cut out one piece. I cheated a little, i folded my piece in half and then did the same for interfacing and pinned in place and cut out which meant less cutting! So now you should have 2 pieces of the fabric for your cover and 1 piece of interfacing

Sewing it all together!

Fuse the interfacing to the outer layer of the fabric with the glue side of the interfacing facing the wrong side of the fabric.

Place the two layers of fabric right sides together. Pin around the entire piece leaving a section about 2″ wide marked to be left unsewn for turning the piece right sides out.

Sew around the perimeter of the pieces using 1/4″ seam allowance starting at one side of the opening and remembering to Pivot (That word always reminds me of the episode of Friends with Ross and Chandler are moving the sofa to Ross’s apartment!!) when you reach each corner. Then back tacking at the otherside of the opening.

Trim the corners to reduce bulk. I trimmed at a 45-degree angle and also shaved off a little bit on either side of the corner to create nice corners.
Carefully turn the entire piece right sides out through the opening left in the bottom. Use a point turner or chopstick like i have to form nice corners after turning right side out.

Fold the seam allowance into the opening left in the bottom of the fabric and press the entire piece.

Now to finish the Cover!

Measure and fold each end of the fabric 2.1″ (6cm) into the inside. Pin in place all the way around the entire piece, and press.

Edge stitch the hole closed and the flaps in place all at the same time by stitching the perimeter of the cover at 1/4″ (0.6cm) seam allowance. Be sure to pivot at each corner. Press the entire piece after sewing.

Slip each end of your passport into the end flaps (hahaha!) sorry i am crude at times, and you’re ready to go!

So here is my lovely cover with 2 other covers!

Of course the boys needed one a piece doing! Ethan went for Star Wars Darth Vadar Fabric and Rhys went for Spiderman Comic Fabric – which are both are currently on sale for £3 per half metre, bargain!!

Mr K had already bought himself one from Amazon so it saved me a job! So my fist lot of Holiday Sewing! Can’t believe it’s only 10 weeks away till we go away to Florida!! Best get a wiggle on on sewing my holiday wardrobe then!

Happy Sewing!

Sal xx

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