Sewing for Pleasure - A Review.

"Sewing for Pleasure" is an annual get-together for anyone interested in sewing and shows a large exhibiton of works, along with retailers selling fabrics, trimings - you name it you will find it there!  It is held at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham alongside "Hobbycrafts" and runs for 4 days, Thursday to Sunday.

I have to apologise in advance because I forgot my camera and the pictures taken on my phone are complete rubbish....

I typically go on the second day, but this year I went on the Saturday and goodness me it was busy!  In fact it was so busy I couldn't get to some of the stalls. I know a few of the exhibitors and they confirmed that this year was definately the busiest for around 4 years; isn't that great news?  That means there are more people showing an interest in sewing and I noticed so many younger girls looking at fabrics and buttons which was so nice to see aged from around 11 to 20 and very excited about the size of the show

My main objective was to purchase fabrics for my wardrobe so I went with a list and stayed as focused as possible.  My first visit was to see my friend Alison who runs Alison Victoria School of Sewing and Fabulous Fabrics.  She had a fabric stand and was also running workshops.  It was lovely to see her and the girls as I hadn't seen them for such a long time.  I then went to Linton Tweed, but was a little disappointed as to what they had this year - perhaps they had been so busy they didn't have so much left!

Anyway, here's a summary:

Sewing with a Plan!! 
Linton Tweed green jacket, white and pale gree shift dress,
black, green and white straight skirt (last fabric from Gorgeous Fabrics)

Paul Smith cotton shirting, brown linen for a skirt and soft knit for a top

Mish-mash.  Black pattern for skirt, grey wool for blanket (you will not believe the
quality of this fabric) and pretty curtaining to make a new sewing machine cover

Tailoring tape, on-line catalogue, Gill Arnold course schedule and a
kit to make a fascinator (note the green theme!)

There was a fantastic exhibiton showing underwear from the corset through the ages, including a 1950's petticoat in lemon (which reminded me very much of one Gertie has made) and the most BEAUTIFUL costumes exhibition - think 15th century.
I always wanted to tackle Tailoring properly and like the idea of a combination between speed and tradional styles for my personal taste.  Gill Arnold runs classes in the Birmingham area so I thought it would try one out - it's booked for June so I may not tackle the Linton Tween until I've taken the class!

So, first on my list will be the straight skirt made with the red/black/cream print.  I'll need to buy a black t-shirt to so with it, and already have a red jacket to see me through the Spring.  All other fabrics are going through the washing maching (not the Linton Tweed!) over the next few days so it will be a case of slowly, slowly with these projects.

Happy Tuesday!