What a day!! Even bigger, and dare I say it better than last year! Sally and Becca really pulled out all the stops and were super organised!
It included a pattern and fabric swap, a huge gathering at Costa, lots of shopping and chances to mingle, and a raffle of amazing prizes at the end of the day which raised over £750 for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance!
Well done ladies!!
Here’s a couple of jersey fabrics I took to the swap……
And a few patterns…….
Meeting up with our 2 hostesses with the mostess! Becca was not impressed with my tan!
And the lovely Wendy who you might remember from my last Sunday Sevens post.
Wendy made the actual garments on some of the knitting patterns for sale in John Lewis! How cool is that!?
We made John Lewis our first stop as there was a sale on, Wendy bought some gorgeous silk, I just did lots of stroking.
A random fella took a pic for us in the new arcade outside John Lewis. How amazing does Hila look in her Anna dress?!
Envious stroking of everybody’s purchases went on everywhere!
After much browsing (I never bought any new fabric 🙈) and sewcialising we headed to belgrave house for pizza, coffee, more mingling, the swap and the raffle!
The swap was the biggest I’ve ever seen, but very civilised.
We eagerly checked our tickets as the raffle was drawn.
It was all very exciting….especially when my ticket was drawn and I won a £30 voucher for Sewisfaction! I’ve nearly taken the print off their website and just can’t decide what to buy!
Some attendees don’t have many brick & mortar shops near them and made the most of their trip to Leeds. I’ve no idea how Joanne got this little lot home 🤔🤣.
Here’s my spoils from the day…. all from the swap table.
The pattern I’m most excited about is the Simone from victory patterns.
And this looks like it could be a real show stopper..,,,
I picked up this wool skirt length which I’m hoping to squeeze a Cleo out of.
And this soft stable knit which I thought would make a fab play suit. This was kindly donated by Emma from Emma and her Machine.
But then I decided to make shirts and a top which together made a faux playsuit. I used vogue 8888 for the shorts and simplicity 8337 for the top.
The next fabric is a John Kaldor ITY knit donated by Ruth from Ruth Creates 247 – Thankyou so much!
And here it is….a super speedy hack of simplicity 1613 – a free top pattern that came with the current edition of the dressmaker magazine. I’m wondering whether to shorten it to a top after a couple of wears, and make some wide leg pants and have another illusion of an all in one. I think it could look quite funky!
And last but definitely not least, Wendy bought me a little gift! A leather silver bracelet marked up as I tape measure! I just love it, thanks Wendy! 😍
So that’s another meet up under my belt. Its fantastic meeting people in real life who you feel you already know, and meeting new faces too.
I really love attending meet ups I’ve not organised myself, but I will be organising another #sewdowndewsbury and will let you know when I set the date.
T H I M B E R L I N A 
I was most impressed with your tan, just also very jealous as I will never, ever go that colour! 😂
Glad you had a good day, hopefully see you soon? X
It was really such a fab day, thanks again! You 2 really have something to live up for the next one, I’m assuming there will be a next one! 😁
Definitely!
Oh my you have done some great sewing, and did that lady make it home with her haul?
She did, but if I remember her train was delayed and alcoholic beverages were needed to pass the time as all the fabric shops were either closed or sold out! 🤣
Wow -t his sounds like a great swap. I am not sure how it all works. Could you explain it in a future post? It might be fun to organize something.
For the swap everyone brings unwanted fabric and patterns, there were books too, and I’ve seen notions at other swaps. Then everyone has rummage and helps themselves to whatever they like! And no one minds if you’ve not brought anything as there’s delays plenty to go round! You just need someone who is will to take what’s left – usually for a school or a charity/thrift shop.
Oh wow – impressive! How do you prevent people from bickering or behaving badly if many people want something?
They don’t, sewers are naturally lovely and polite….it’s all quite civilised.
What a fabulous day! Love your faux play suit and that dress pattern is gorgeous. You can make me one when you have a bored moment 😉 I can feel some sort of yarny southwest meetup/swap growing in the ether of my mind. I know we’ve discussed meetups before, but a swap/shop might work better in our rural area. Thanks for the inspiration 🙂
please don’t shorten the dress – it looks fabulous just as it is – very chic!
Aw Thankyou… ☺️☺️
WOW!
I am so impressed with everything the fab three organised, and your photos and write=up are super. (So envious, too…) Love what you chose, and do think you will end up with another pant/blouse combo of that glorious blue ~ but do get a bit more wear out that slinky dress before the scissors start chopping! 😉
(When’s your next day off/sewing spree?)
Hi Del, I’m off this Saturday and Sunday, having a meal out with the slimming club on Saturday (wonder if we’ll all make healthy choices 🙀) but I should be about Sunday afternoon if you fancy a chin wag x
Deal! ☎️ You’re in my diary for Sun AM (since I’m behind 5 hrs).
👍👍👍👍
Looks a fab day, I was so disappointed I couldn’t come this time, I will look forward to the Dewsbury one, hoping to get to Sew Brum this time as Helen is at Birmingham uni 🙂
I was looking at train prices yesterday…£62!! Thought it was a bit steep, but can’t remember what it was last year. Do you usually go on the train?
Thanks for such a lovely blog post with lots of pictures, it felt almost as good as experiencing the day again! What a fab day we had, and although I was really nervous about meeting so many new people, I needn’t have worried and had a fab day. Love what you’ve made with your fabrics, too. I’ve finished a dress but need to get cracking with a top and another Cleo now….and I appear to have bought more fabric from CottonReel studio, too. Oops!
It really was a great day, glad you enjoyed the post! I think everyone is nervous at these meet ups but it’s just crazy now everyone just gets on and has lots to talk about. And no one mind’s you stroking their clothes!!
I absolutely loved it! I was such a good day and I really enjoyed spending the day with people who are as happy to chat about fabrics all the time as I am. I found the swap very civilised too and really enjoyed giving my fabrics in as well as receiving some. How strange that we took each others! I’m so glad you used that fabric so well when it’s been sitting in my stash for so long! I have the jersey cut as a Moneta hack I’ll be working on this weekend! I don’t how you resisted buying fabric – you did so well to do that!
I only resisted because I have far too much already! I know that maybe there isn’t just a thing as having far too much, but at the minute my sewing queue is just far too long to justify any new additions to the stash….well bought ones!! Looking forward to seeing your moneta hack! 🙂
I wish I could be that firm with myself!! 😂
Reblogged this on Yarnsage.
Joanne’s face is a picture – she looks really sheepish with all those bags! LOVE your faux playsuit! I’m just toying with the idea of making a Colette ‘Laurel’ dress using some cow print velour, lol. I wish there were meet ups down here as they always look like great fun and I’d love to meet more bloggers. Love the blue and white dress, too. Fab post!
I think you need to organise a meet up down your way Sheila – it’ll give me an excuse to head down the M6 and meet you!! You’d be surprised how far people will come to meet up with sewing buddies. And you don’t need sewing shops to have a meet up, I think the majority are there for the social side of things and the fabric/pattern swap goes down really well. Go on…. you know you want to! x
What a great meet up! I hope I can make it there some day from Germany! I just have to make it look like a family vacation and then I could escape for a day… 😆 I loved the patterns you choose at the swap table, can’t wait to see them on you! 😉
You never know…one day you might head over. When Chris came from Germany earlier in the year her flights were cheaper than some of the train tickets!! 🙂
Love the playsuit – looks great on your new figure. I think you should leave the dress as it is though – it’s lovely as it is.
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