The Stitching, Sewing & Hobbycrafts Show, Birmingham NEC

Last Saturday, I went to The Stitching, Sewing & Hobbycrafts Show in Birmingham – and it was so much fun!

I gleaned so much crafty inspiration from the various stands and even tried out a few crafts I’d never done before. I thought I’d give a brief overview today on some of the exhibitors that I came across that really stood out for me, not to mention a fantastic blogger’s workshop that I was invited to attend!

Mindful Crafts

The first exhibitor I want to mention is Mindful Crafts. I came across their beautiful display of Distinctly Decopatch projects and this magical unicorn simply took my breath away. My six year old daughter was pretty obsessed with it too! Isn’t it gorgeous?

Decopatch is a major brand of decoupage products. The lady on the exhibition stand explained that decoupage is great for mindfulness and relaxation and I definitely agree! We bought a small unicorn decopatch kit and some decopatch paper.

As soon as we got home from our trip to the show, my daughter wanted to try this out. We’d literally only been in the door around 3 minutes! We spent a good hour or so tearing up little scraps of the patterned paper and gluing them onto the unicorn! We’re not yet finished which is why I haven’t included a photo of our creation – but watch this space!

The Willow Barn

As a dog lover, any dog will catch my eye – and this one was no different. This amazing canine creation above is made from willow! I watched some sculptures being made over at The Willow Barn’s stand and after looking on their website, it seems they run willow weaving workshops! Definitely bookmarking this site for later!

The Southampton Bead Shop

I was hoping to find a few bead suppliers at the show and I loved browsing The Southampton Bead Shop’s stand because they do a range of Miyuki Delicas! As you probably know if you’re a long time reader of this blog, Miyuki Delicas are my favourite beads to work with!

I ended up buying a few packets of Delicas, a magnetic bracelet clasp and some very shiny bicone beads to satisfy my bead addiction (which by the way is getting worse!).

Sew La Di Da Vintage

Oh my gosh, will you take a look at these adorable children’s dresses above? The only reason I didn’t buy one of these sewing patterns from Sew La Di Da Vintage right there and then is because my machining skills are somewhat lacking.

But once I improve, I know where to go! I loved how some of their sewing patterns are actually printed onto the fabric, so all you have to do is cut out the fabric and sew away. Note to self – must take time to get to grips with the sewing machine again!

Cool Crafting

As you can see, this photo is taken at home but we got the sewing pattern and beautiful fabric for this poncho at the show from Cool Crafting. I’ve just admitted my lack of sewing machine skills, but luckily for me, my husband is a dab hand!

He saw this poncho pattern on the Cool Crafting exhibition stand, whilst I was eyeing up the contemporary fabrics and buttons they had on display. He promised me he’d whizz me up a poncho in no time (he made it during the evening when we got back!).

I’m so happy with this – it looks like a very expensive poncho – I have seen some very similar to this for over £200! I think in total, for this DIY version, we spent just over £40, including the fabric, buttons and pattern.

So what happened during the blogger’s workshop?

Glad you asked! I was thrilled to be invited to try out some new crafts and get the chance to mingle with some other bloggers. I met the very talented fibre crafter Corrie from Plutonium Muffins and her friend Ricky, who blogs over at 9087 miles about his move from Perth to Bristol and adventures in between.

First up was a paper craft project, where we could make a little box cottage out of paper. I haven’t done many paper crafts before, other than the odd bit of card making. Actually sitting there cutting, folding and embellishing paper was a whole lot of fun! I haven’t take the time to cut along lines that neatly since I was at school!

I was guided through the process by Cathie Shuttleworth, an amazing paper craft pattern designer. This is a pic of me, heavily concentrating, as you can see below…

Following on from the cottage box project, I was able to try out a little tapestry. Again, this is a new craft for me and I loved it. Tina Francis, who is a fabulous tapestry artist, was running the workshop and she showed me some basics and gave me a pattern for a tapestry brooch.

I was glad Corrie was sitting next to me as this type of craft is right up her street, she gave me some really good pointers on how to follow the pattern. I didn’t have much time on this project but I was able to bring it home to complete – can’t wait to get stuck in again!

Finally…

So these are the highlights from my time spent at The Stitching, Sewing & Hobbycrafts Show. I’m a beader at heart, but I really did love experiencing new crafts like this and I took away so many ideas for future projects. I just need to work out which one to attempt first!

If you have time, please do check out all of the craft companies and bloggers I’ve mentioned here, they are definitely worth a look.

Thanks for reading! Before you go, why not check out these other inspiration posts on Craftaholique below:

• 8 Brilliant Crafty Reads from Around the Web
• Where to Find Gorgeous Fonts for Craft Projects
• 10 Bestselling Crochet Books for Crochet Lovers

All images © Craftaholique.