My first sewing meet-up at Sew Essential

Sewcialism: the social networking of sewists primarily characterised by friendly online interactions, chatty offline meet-ups, and cake. Lots of cake.

A wee while back, the lovely Charlotte tweeted about a sewing blogger meet-up that was to be hosted by the team at Sew Essential in Leicestershire. I've heard loads of great things about the good times that are had when sewists get together, so I'd been dying to sort myself out and get along to a meet-up. The dates worked for me with this one, and so yesterday morning off I went (wearing my drama dress). 

About 12 of us descended on Sew Essential HQ yesterday, where we were met with smiles by Lucy and Angela of Sew Essential, along with co-hosts and fellow-bloggers Kat and Sam. First on the agenda was tea, chatting, and munching our way through the piles of delicious pastries that were waiting for us. Lucy welcomed us on behalf of the Sew Essential team, letting us know the background of this lovely family-run business. Angela who started Sew Essential has such an incredible personal sewing history and is just a fount of knowledge! After some chatting, we were invited downstairs to the Sew Essential warehouse where we were able to do some shopping (what sewist doesn't love that?!) It was such fun - like we were backstage or we'd been trapped in a mall after hours! Sew Essential is primarily an online shop and they stock tonnes of stuff. Fabric-wise they specialise in John Kaldor fabrics which I've long ogled online, but haven't ever had the chance to touch first-hand (you know what I mean...once you start sewing, you go from shopping like a normal person, to shopping by touch - every bolt of fabric must be fondled for drape and hand-feel! It's a bit odd, but I know I'm not alone in this!!). I ended up buying 3 beautiful pieces of fabric that I'm super excited to sew with - and we were given a 10% discount which didn't hurt one bit! After shopping we went back upstairs and admired Angela's quilts and the Epic embroidery machine (epic by name, epic by nature...epic by price-tag!!), and then Kat and Sam helped us all do some hand-embroidery using some of the freebies in our goody bags. From there our sewing convoy tootled off for afternoon tea and a good natter over plenty of tea (or coffee in my case) and of course, more cake!

Thanks to Lucy for these great 'action' shots of our day!

Lucy had very kindly prepared an amazing goody bag for each of us, and what a haul I got to bring home!! Check it out! 

Loads of patterns (that Kwik Sew dress looks like it's got 'comfy work-from-home wardrobe' written ALL over it!) and other fun things. The can of adhesive intrigues me...if it works, that's going to be a Game Changer! You can also see two of the fabrics I bought in the top of the above picture. On the right is a deliciously soft John Kaldor cotton lawn in pink and navy - it almost looks like its got paint splashes. It's much brighter than my norm, but I think with the navy I could pop a cardy and some tights and balance it out a bit. I got 2.5m so I have this ear-marked for my first Emery dress (another pattern bought pre-embargo). On the left is a buttery soft poly fabric, also from John Kaldor. I really like this - I'd eyed it up online before going yesterday. I'm not sure what you'd call the fabric - peachskin or lightweight crepe maybe? I don't know, but I'm not bothered - it'll make a gorgeous summer top or dress. Possibly both. Or maybe a pussybow blouse? That could work, actually. Hmm. Some thinking to do yet! 

The third fabric I bought was thrown in the washing machine for its pre-wash about 2 minutes after I got home. Can't wait to sew with this! It's John Kaldor again (there's a theme here!) and it is sitting on my bench right now ready to be cut out and sewn up into a Washi dress! I'll have a blog post on that soon hopefully! 

All in all, I had a lovely day. I knew Charlotte beforehand, and had chatted on Twitter with Rach, but we'd never met in person, and I didn't know any of the other lovely ladies until yesterday either. Now I've met some great like-minded people, and made some brilliant sewing connections. I love that. It never ceases to amaze me how easy it is to meet and chat with sewists. That shared interest and understanding of sewing (of the obsession, the pleasure, the planning, the shopping - all of it!) seems to make for fast friends. 

Another thing you'll notice if you ever go to a sewing meet-up yourself (or if you've been) is how bright and beautiful such gatherings are! I don't mean the people - although they are too! - but I mean the clothes! It was so striking to be in a room surrounded by women wearing completely different styles and shapes, but all in beautiful colours and patterns. I've personally noticed how much more colour I wear since I started sewing. Yesterday the room we were in felt bright and cheerful with all the individual styles and splashes of colour that were present - and that just has to make everything feel happier I think. Well done everyone for rocking such gorgeous handmade clothes!

So. My first experience of sewcialism offline. But not, I think, my last...!

Huge thank you to Lucy, Kat and Sam for organising yesterday, for taking such good care of us, and for all the lovely treats! x