The Show

It just so happened that Mum was in town during the week of the Stitches and Craft show. So we set off to explore, as it has been several years since we went to one of these shows.

My main tip if you are heading there over the weekend would be to go straight to the top level. This is where all the beautiful things are. It is full of hand printed fabric, indie patterns, beautiful crafty goodness. I felt that the organisers should have given these stall holders larger areas, there was plenty of space and all of the stall holders were squished together which made browsing harder than it should have been. And I could have easily browsed double the amount of these stalls.

Unfortunately alot of these pieces were out of my price range (the poor student that I am) but I built up a big collection of business cards with plans to check it out over Christmas holidays(when I get more work and therefore cash). I did pick up two mixtape zines, and got lots of helpful tips from Nicole of nicolemdesign (check out her bag patterns, they are beautiful) - she explained how to use Vilene s520 to make bag bases, which I put an order in for.

We then ventured downstairs. After the top floor the rest was a bit of a let down. There were too many people and it had a more generic feel about it. I sighed over some over lockers, got a replacement blade for my rotary cutter, and Mum got a collection of fat quarters. There was a craft book stall I would have loved to browse but too many people pushing and shoving. We escaped back to level 4.

I'm amused to see how my crafting tastes have changed. I barely glanced at the scrap booking stalls, where as a few years ago I would have spent hours collecting different paper. I also wasn't that interested in the quilting fabric. I much prefer the hand printed linens, unique patterns which you don't see anywhere else, and being able to chat with the people who design and make all the bits and pieces.

I had been looking forward to seeing Handmade Nation, but apparently there were 'technical difficulties' and it didn't play. Becasue of this we ended up heading home at 12:30, which was alot earlier than we planned. It was nice to spend some time with Mum, and I did get lots of inspiration - which is the real fun of craft shows.