Manchester's Stitching Sewing and Hobbycraft Show Haul

Morning readers! It's that sporadic blogger again, the one who is trying to juggle establishing a brand, completing a postgraduate degree at Masters level, and fighting off germy fluey germs. 

As you may have already gathered from previous posts I have inherited the crafting bug from my darling Momma-Bear, who I am unsurprisingly very close to. So, way back at the start of the year we kept seeing ads for craft shows across the country and were toying with the idea of going to one. Unfortunately we never really got round to it so for her birthday I bought her a ticket to the one in Manchester, 6 months in advance! 

Now, due to my lack of blogging time the show was actually a month ago, but all too sadly I haven't actually made anything with my haul so (almost) everything is still intact. 

The show as a whole was brilliant. Seriously, us crafters are the friendliest people ever. The show was packed and yet everyone who bumped into me apologised and looked so sorry. You wouldn't get that on a Saturday on the Headrow! 

There was a wide range of craft stalls, but the majority were fabric and paper crafting. My mum, being a cross stitch addict only had a handful of stalls to choose from, but made some good connections and got a wide range of patterns. (As well as an amazing Victorian sampler to make for me). 

I went a bit mental with money that I don't have. But I'm seeing is as an investment for the year, everything I've got pending right now will see me through until next September so I don't have to spend my precious and modest student loan on fabric, unless it's for a present. 

First of all I found a nice wee haberdashery stall packed with shoppers and goodies and went a bit mental. At the start of the day I'd budgeted £20 for myself, that was nearly gone at one stall....

I absolutely loved the vintage style of this. I got a fat quarter's worth and think it may become a purse or a head scarf. It's too cute.

This is printed denim from somewhere called "The Denim Company". I would have loved to buy more but I was really pinching the pennies. This is a perfect example of my love for fabric, no plans but I had to have it!

We all know I love to flaunt my sewing and dressmaking skills, I just wish I could have afforded more of this to make it into a top, but it was quite pricy and I could only stretch to a half metre, maybe it'll be a sewing bag? Or travel sewing kit?

I don't think I've mentioned this before, but I am totally and completely obsessed with penguins. Penguins are my true love, sorry Danny. Only a fat quarter again as the fabric was quite thin and I didn't want to make it into clothing. Ideas for it's uses are welcomed!

My current obsession is foxes, and I am actually almost finished making something with this one! I bought two metres and am making a English Tea Dress (previously made here), sans sleeves! Full post on that to come ;)

I fell in love with this cotton from Abkahan fabrics and stretched to buying a metre of it. I have a cami pattern in mind for it, or maybe some lingerie. The colour is so rich and I have always had a fascination with birds. So in love and it's great quality cotton!

So there we are, all in all it was a fab day at our first sewing show. We met some lovely people, got some good stuff and totally exhausted our feet! We slept well that night :) The tickets, bought in advance, were £7 a piece, which for a good day out was pretty good. I'd definitely recommend going one. For one in your area, check here http://www.ichfevents.co.uk/

If you have any ideas for what I can make with any of this stuff please let me know! Especially the fat quarters, my stash is huge and needs to be worked at. Share your ideas, let's make Sew Well Travelled an idea forum!

Til next time,

The Stressed Out Student that is Kat xx

Pattern Hack | The Elephant Allure

Hi Blogisphere! This is an old make, one of my first pieces, but it was my first hack and I was happy with how it turned out :)

The title makes it sound like an odd one, but my mum and I often joke that when I undo the top button of a dress or shirt, or wear a v-neck I'm switching on the 'allure'. So this is my Elephant Allure top. 

It's a pattern hack from the GBSB sleeveless shell top pattern (which I made here) but with a v-neck and sans facing. It was a bold move and I was kind of sewing in the dark so to speak,  but I do love it and get lots of compliments on it!

It has a precarious dart right in the middle of the V however, as there was an inexplicable fabric issue which resulted in what looked like a third nipple. I do not have a third nipple.

All I did was use the basic template for the shirt then cut a V out of the front and back. I wish I could say I did more than that....


(So, I was going to airbrush and edit the following pictures to make myself look slimmer. Shameful, I know, but I wasn't at all happy with how I looked in them and I've always been self conscious of my weight. But you know what? No. I'm a size 18 "plus size" woman, and yes I am trying to lose weight but this blog is all about handmade things and real life. This is the real me, flabby top-heavy me. So here you go. So there!)

Not all that adventurous but I do love it and its fit!

Til next time,

Kat