It has now been a week since this year’s Sew Up North which took place last weekend in Leeds. It was a fantastic day and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. It was so fantastic to be a part of such a fun and supportive day, raising money for charity and chatting to loads of fabulous ladies.
The day was organised by Becca of RedWSews and Sally of The Yorkshire Sewist and what they managed to organise is truly incredible. 150 women descended on John Lewis Cafe to eat, drink and talk sewing while Becca, Sally and their helpers sold lots of raffle tickets for The Yorkshire Air Ambulance charity. I absolutely loved this part of the day, it was so fun to see people again that I have met before and fabulous to meet some sewists that I have been chatting to on Instagram and have been hoping to meet for a long time! I honestly had so much fun spotting fabrics and recognising patterns people were wearing and it is truly hilarious being in a room where it is totally acceptable to go upto people and start stroking their clothes!
After a mooch round the haberdashery department in John Lewis we sort of split into smaller groups and headed into Leeds – we went to the Market first and whilst I didn’t buy anything, plenty of people bought lots of lovely fabrics from the several fabric stalls there. I was tempted to buy a few things but as I have lots of autumn sewing plans already (autumn is my favourite season!) I really didn’t want to add to my project to-do list unless I really fell in love with a fabric.
From the market we headed to B&M fabrics which have such a brilliant selection, again I felt tempted by a few things but nothing I couldn’t leave without. So once again, I didn’t buy anything. I am moving house in a few weeks and the new house is smaller than our current one so my main priority was actually to use Sew Up North as an opportunity to destash. I lugged a huge tote bag full of fabric and patterns all round Leeds for me to add to the fabric and pattern swap tables when we got to the final venue.
By the time we left B&M, I was getting hungry and a bit fed up of lugging my bag of fabric round so we skipped a visit to Samuel Taylors and went straight to the final venue. This was a lovely place called the Boathouse and I bee lined for the fabric and pattern swap so that I could unload my bag of stuff. I did pick up a few things from the swap that I couldn’t resist.
I picked up a piece of this gorgeous Lewis and Irene Oak Leaf cotton that I have actually had in my online shopping basket a load of times. I also chose this forest green cotton and three patterns. Considerably less than I took so I am counting that as a win!
Whilst finally getting some food, I was thrilled to watch Becca and Sally draw the almost-50 prizes for the raffle! It was impressive to watch how smoothly this ran, even though we were spread over two floors! Sadly, I didn’t win anything but I was so happy to donate to a wonderful cause and help them raise over £1000 for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance. A truly impressive sum and a real tribute to all of the wonderful women who donated raffle prizes, organised the day and helped out on the day.
I have my fingers crossed that Becca and Sally will want to do it all over again next year!
Making and Books 