Things are hotting up, Up North

Hi there!

Today’s blog post may be slightly light on sewing, but it’s very full of plans.

Sally and I met up today to get some more detail into our plans for Sew Up North, 3 whole weeks away!  And it’s all starting to look pretty good.

We will start the day out with an all important coffee stop at Costa Coffee on Briggate (currently hidden behind lots of scaffolding).  The shop has a large seating section downstairs, so if you head down there, we will be there between 10 and 10:30, allowing time for caffeine, cake, goody bags and chat!

We will then head out into the fabric shops of Leeds! Obviously, Sally and I have been sampling these for you to ensure that they are suitable for ladies of taste and we can happily report that there are rich pickings to be had.

Our main source of entertainment will be Leeds Kirkgate Market.  The main market holds Fletchers Fabrics, Jacks Fabrics, Rita Nyarko (where african wax print can be bought), a huge haberdashery stall along with the large B&M Fabrics stall, where we have organised a discount for Sew Up North attendees for the day.

The outer edge of the market has the bricks and mortar B&M Fabrics shop, where more delights can be found (including some gorgeous jersey and blingy sequins, judging by today’s haul!)

Further afield, for the broader crafter, we have Fred Aldous, where a large range of craft and art supplies can be bought. Samuel Taylors stocks fabric, patterns and haberdashery in their store near House of Fraser.

And we have very high hopes of the brand new John Lewis store; as it’s one of the largest outside London, we’re hoping it may have a sneaky little (big?) haberdashery department to play in.  It opens its doors for the first time this week so, in the interest of informing you, I’ll go have a nosey before the 5th!

By 1:30, we’ll head to Fabrication.  The store in The Light is letting us use their in store classroom for our meet up, allowing us to do a fabric and pattern swap, so bring your less loved items along, add them to the pile and find some new beauties for your stash.

It also gives us the chance to do a little good.  We’ve decided to run a raffle in aid of the Yorkshire Air Ambulance.  We are sourcing raffle prizes as we speak, but have already amassed a small collection, so please bring your pennies and prepare to do some good!

Fabrication will be serving tea, coffee, cake and possibly a cheeky prosecco in return for a small contribution, so we should be well set up for a very civilised end to the day.

Your goody bag will also include a little discount code to use at Sew Essential, thanks to the lovely Lucy (thank you!) so if you do fail to find anything in particular in Leeds, you should be able to get it online afterwards!

We’re really looking forward to seeing everyone; if you haven’t let us know you’re planning on attending (here, on one of the many Instagram posts or on the Facebook page), please do just give us a shout so we have enough goodies for people!

See you soon!

Becca x