Trip to Abakhan Fabrics

I spent most of last week with one of my site sponsors, Abakhan Fabrics, in Chester.  Despite working with them for almost 4 years I had never actually been to any of their shops there are none near me.  I've only ever bought off them online or at shows until now.  So it was very exciting to finally get to visit, I started off small with their Chester store and still managed to buy lots of fabric. I think if I hadn't had to carry it back with me on the train I probably would have ended up with an awful lot more.  Afterwards Will from Abakhan Fabrics told me they could have posted it down to me, probably a good thing he didn't tell me that before...

I think I need to work up to their biggest store, the Mostyn one, I gather I could easily spend a whole day (and probably several months wages) there!

I was amazed to see that you could buy fabric by weight rather than by length, and that in amongst their cotton prints there were loads of designer fabrics.  So by taking the time to pick through I managed to get around 15m or so of designer fabrics for just £60!  There's a pic of my haul below.  I'm quite into textured prints at the moment so although some of these look plain in the picture they are actually textured but some are quite subtle so don't show well in photos.  My favourite is the lovely book fabric, I think it'd make a great Kindle cover.

 

I wasn't just there for the fabrics, that was a lovely side benefit.  I've started delivering social media, SEO and marketing training lately (more news to come about that soon) so Abakhan asked me to come spend a few days training them.  We came up with some really great ideas so do keep an eye on their Facebook and Twitter over the coming months to see the changes.  

This picture is of me with their social media team from left to right Beth Abakhan, Will Abakhan, me and Lisa Reece.  I promise we didn't do all the training in the pub....

I've got a few more training gigs lined up over the next few weeks in Exeter and London which I'm really looking forward to.  It's great to get out and about as I run The Sewing Directory from home so tend to be stuck in the house most the time.  Plus it's so much fun coming up with creative ideas for businesses other than my own, I think I've found a new passion.

What would you make with these fabrics?

Minerva Crafts want to see what you creative bloggers would make with these 3 fabrics from their site.

  

We will select a few lucky bloggers to receive the goodies they chose in exchange for them blogging about what they make and allowing us & Minerva Crafts to share pictures of their creations on our sites or social media.

The product for this challenge is a choice of 3 stretch cotton canvas designer dress fabrics.  What would you make with them?

   

How do I join in?

If you have a great idea of how to use this month’s product comment send us an e-mail on challenge@thesewingdirectory.co.uk giving us:

·         A link to your blog.

·         Details of what you plan to make.

·         Tell us which fabric you want, and how many metres you need for your project.

·         Details of which country you are in if you are outside of the UK; this won’t exclude you but allows us to calculate the postage.

Please get your entries in by midnight on the 15^th.  Don’t worry if you don’t get picked this time there will be plenty more chances to take part. 

FAQS

• Can I submit more than one idea?     Yes you can but please send each one separately.
• Can I use the supplies to make up a commercial pattern or project from a book or magazine?  Yes you can.
• Can I enter if I am outside of the UK?  Yes but please tell us what country you are in
• Can I enter if I’ve already been picked in the past?  Yes you can.
• What do I have to send you if I am chosen?  A link to your blog post & a couple pics of what you have made.
• When do I have to blog/send pics by?  Within 2 months of receiving the supplies.

London Meetup

Last weekend I held the second Sewing Directory meet up in London.  We had the lovely Jenna from Sew Happy Geek teaching us to make embellished notebook covers and Susan from Sewbox provided loads of beautiful Liberty fabrics for us to use, and take home too.  Plus she kindly gave goodie bags for all attendees which included mini sewing kits, pretty pin wheels, tape measures and other habby.

Liberty Fabrics from Sewbox

 We had a table full of embellishing supplies for people to help themselves to and it was great to see what different designs people came up with for their notebook covers.  The pictures of the notebook covers below are courtesy of Ellie from Never Forget.

Embellishing supplies

Whilst we were waiting for the last few people to turn up Jenna suggested that being as we were in the YMCA building we had to have a YMCA photo...

But we also did a more sensible group photo at the end of the session.

I also took a few photos of everyone hard at work sewing their embellishments on.

 We were also given some lovely raffle prizes by Thank you to Korbond, Search Press, Sew La La Fabrics, Celtic Fusion Fabrics and Never Forget , Undomesticated Scientist,   Nel Whatmore and Rainbow Disks.  

Amazingly we had enough raffle prizes for every single person to win one so a big thank you to everyone who gave a prize. 

  I was in London for a couple of days before the meet up so decided to go to the Kaffe Fasset exhibition in the London Fashion and Textile Museum.   It was a total explosion of colour which showed the inspriation behind his work and how his designs have evolved over the years.  The photos below are of his quilts on display at the museum.

I also managed to squeeze in a morning at Liberty (my first ever visit), somehow the hours just flew by whilst I was in there. Such an amazing building full of so many beautfil things.  I managed to buy some Kaffe Fassett fabrics and some Joel Dewberry Notting Hill fabrics.  

I also went to the V & A and was in awe at the size of the place as well as the treasures displayed inside.  I didn't take many pictures whilst there was I was too busy looking at everything but I did have to photograph the amazingly opulent cafe! Definitely a place I need to go back to when I have more time.

Cafe at the V & A

Several people have already been asking when the next Sewing Directory meet up will be.  If you look at the tool bar above you'll find the details of the Exeter Meet Up in September.  I'm also working on a possible meet up in Bristol towards the end of the year.  If it can be arranged I will share the details as soon as they are ready.

A huge thanks to everyone who came to the London meet up, or sponsored/provided prizes, it was an amazing day. 

Fiskars dressmaking shears winners

Thank you all for your entry into our giveaway with Fiskars, it's great to see how many of you remember Fiskars from your childhood.

Hope you all enjoyed The Great British Sewing Bee, do you think the right 3 made it through to the final?  I'm voting for Lauren to win although I'm also really warming to Sandra.  Can't wait to see the final!  Shame it's all ending so quickly, I hope there's another series soon.

If you are looking for any of the supplies, patterns or techniques featured in the show do take a look here. 

Anyway onto the Fiskars winners...

Congratulations to Stacey Catlin and Cathy Medlock.  I'll be in touch with you shortly to get your address for the prizes to be sent out.