All posts filed under: Meet Ups

My Great British Sewing Bee Journey – Week 1

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5 years ago I applied to be a contestant in the GBSB. I wrote a diary, and ahead of the first episode of series 10 I thought I’d share it with you to give you an insight of what it’s like to be on the Bee. Thursday 29th August 2019 An early start to get ready for my 9:45 train out of Leeds. It all went smoothly except when I got on the train I realised I’d forgotten my extension table for the sewing machine. Oh well, I shouldn’t miss it for this episode as I don’t think I’ll be sewing anything too big. Anyway, I left home at 8:20am to catch the 283 bus down to Birkenshaw bar. Only 5 minutes wait before the Leeds bus arrived and by 9am I was at Leeds Train Station – easy peasy. On my walk to the station from the bus I did my good deed for today and gave my bus ticket to a lady who was waiting at the bus stop, at least it saved …

Sewdowndewsbury Is Back!

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It’s been a long wait but finally I’ve gotten round to arranging another little meet up in Dewsbury! Sam from @frugalisma is co hosting this sewcial with me. I’ll keep this blog post short, mainly because I’m so rusty at writing them I don’t want to not finish it! Here’s what you need to know if you’d like to join in the fun…. Wednesday 9th September 2023 meeting at Cocoa Lounge (opposite the old Wetherspoons) at 9.30. The cafe doesn’t usually open midweek until 12 noon (11am on a Saturday) but he is opening early just for us! The number will be limited to 30 as this is how many the cafe seats. We’ll have coffee/tea & croissants (this is included in the price of your ticket) we’ll head out to the shops and market. There’s no set time for this, it depends how fabric hungry you are! We’ll meet up again at around 1pm at The West Riding Pub next to Dewsbury train station. You’ll be able to have a bit to eat if …

Handmade Harrogate

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Back in June last year I organised a meet up in Harrogate. It came about after I called in to Fine Fabrics of Harrogate and was chatting to Sandra about the possibility of and she kindly offered her place as place for us to meet, and there was the mention of cake. So it was a no brainer. Fabric + Cake + Lovely sewing pals = Fab day out And it was! We met about 10am, I think there was 18 of us. or there abouts. Sandra had organised coffee and chocolate brownies, and she also had a goodie bag for each of us! We said our good byes to Sandra and headed into town. Sandra’s shop is just on the edge of town, on Skipton Road. It’s walking distance to the train station. There are parking restrictions outside but if your calling in Sandra can lend you a permit so don’t worry about not being able to park close by. Our next stop was Bobbins and Bolts. I bought my Lander Pants pattern there …

#SewDownDewsbury 2019

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Yup, 2019. No, it’s not a typo! Last year I organised 3 meet ups – 2 in Dewsbury and 1 in Harrogate. I also attended Sew Up North in Leeds. But I didn’t blog and show you all the pics of the amazing times we had. Sorry! But with another little mini meet up this Monday I thought I’d post over the next 3 days and share with you what we got up to, and wet your appetite for this years’ sewcial meet ups. Our first one was on Wednesday the 6th March. Weekdays aren’t the best days for meet ups due to people having work commitments, but Wednesdays are a fab day to visit Dewsbury if fabric shopping is your thing. As well at the main shops we visit, it’s also market day. We met in our usual spot, Wetherspoons. There were new faces and old (old as in old friends!). And also the added surprise of Janet coming – Janet was on the 2019 series of the GBSB and it was being aired …

#sewdowndewsbury 6th March

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Hi Everyone! Sorry for the late update on our SewDownDewsbury meetup next Wednesday. We’ll be meeting at our usual spot – Wetherspoons – the area on the right as you go in.  I’ll be there from 9:30.  We usually hang around until about 10:30, before hitting the shops. If you haven’t been to Dewsbury or not sure where Wetherspoons is, there’s a map and photos of landmarks on THIS blog post from our 2017 meet up. There’s lots of cheap parking in Dewsbury (see the map on the link above).  Please don’t park at Fabworks for the day.  One it’s not a big car park, and two your car might get locked in as has nearly happened before!  No names mentioned! If you’re going to be arriving a bit late and need to know where we are, drop me an email ( thimberlina.blog@gmail.com ) or message me via instagram and I’ll give you my mobile number so you can contact me when you arrive. There will be a pattern and fabric swap if you would …

“Crafternoon Tee”

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Yesterday was our monthly Crafternoon Tee at the golf club. The Crafternoon Tea (or Tee as it’s a play with words – golf tee!)  came about as there’s quite a few of the ladies at the golf club who have gotten back into sewing after catching the bug.  There’s also a few who knit and crochet.  And there’s ladies who I know who don’t play golf who come too. We meet around 11am, (so it not afternoon!) and we are usually good and don’t have cake (so it’s not afternoon tea either!).  But there’s always lots of laughs and we usually wear something we’ve made and really inspire each other. Here’s some pix from yesterday… I did an hours speeding sewing first thing in the morning and made myself a new top to wear, another Mc Calls 6612.  I’m not sure of the patterns of what the rest of the ladies have made but I’ll add them when I find out. Karen wore a wool skirt the’d made: Lorraine modelled Jean’s newly finished hat: Gaynor …

#SewDownDewsbury 2019 & last years pix

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Hi Lovelies!  I’m like a bloody bus this week.  No posts for ages, then 3 in quick succession! For the 5th year in a row I’m  organising a meet up (or 2) in Dewsbury for those of you who live far and wide and enjoy some proper Yorkshire Fabric Shopping!   If you’re thinking about coming, no distance is too far. In 2017  Chris came all the way from Germany (her flights were cheaper than Anne’s train fare from Newcastle!!), and last year Sheila spent over 5 hours stood up on a train all the way from South Somerset!  In 2016 Manju came all the way from Carlisle.  In 2015 Corrine came 90 miles from Scarborough, not knowing a soul and not knowing what she was letting herself in for as it was the first Yorkshire Spoolettes meet up. About the meet ups …. They’re very informal, very friendly and very expensive! Only kidding about the expensive bit!  That’s all down to you!  But I’d compare shopping in Dewsbury with like going to Lidl instead …

#GBSBLIVE 2017 & The Japanese Asymmetrical Top

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The Great British Sewing Bee Live was fabulous and just what the doctor ordered!  I’ve been AWOL for the past few weeks, I won’t go into detail but I’m doing ok and hopefully there will be some action on the blog and in the sewing room very soon, and I’ll be back firing on all cylinders. I don’t know about you but the best thing to get my creative juices flowing is having a special occasion to attend.  As the date of #GBSBLive loomed and the days ticked away I was at loss as to what to make, and decided to have a flick through the GBSB books and patterns which accompanied the show. I’d left it to the last minute so I needed to make something quick and easy.  The Japanese Pattern Top from the latest book looked a fairly simple despite the odd shaped pattern pieces. I’d seen on Hila’s Vlog about this top that the pattern pieces were huge, and she wasn’t wrong! Lucky I had some Burda tissue paper which easily …

#SEWUPNORTH 2017

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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. …

#SEWDOWNDEWSBURY -a photo speaks a thousand words

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Hey there!   You all asked to take lots of piccies, so we did!  I’ll keep the words brief, or I won’t have time to post (I don’t watch much TV but Broadchurch is on in 15 minutes!!) First just a few thankyous!  To my lovely prefects for helping everything run smoothly….Hila, Karen and Karen.  I’m so lucky that these ladies live close to me and are real life friends now, as well as on the screen!   Karen and Karen – how crazy is it that these 2 discovered whilst doing their goodie bag duties that they were in the same class at high school!!  So as well as having a sewists meet up, little did I know that I’d organised a school reunion!! We took over a section of the pub, it seated about 28, but before long there was standing room only. The goodie bag swap went down really well – I’ll write a separate post for that as there’s the competition for you to win one too to announce!         …