Sewing Sewcial: Sew Brum 2019

Hi everyone! Another wordy post today due to lack of photos... Having just started a new job and the winter darkness coming in is making things hard, but I'll try and have another for you soon!

In other news, while not much sewing has been getting done due to work, much planning and fabric shopping  has been happening. I went last weekend to SewBrum, a fabric shopping event/meetup all the way up in Birmingham! I am so grateful to Chloe (@chloemontrose) for bringing it up at the pub and inviting me along. I definitely don't think I would have travelled that far on my own to a city I've never visited to meet up with people I don't know, but we stuck together, travelled on the same trains, and generally looked after each other which was super lovely.

I was a very organised girl and came prepared with a list for the day. On my list were: some kind of adhesive to help me with my bikini making, fabric for a Kelly Anorak, lining fabric for the Kelly Anorak, fabric for a new Linden sweater, fabric for a toile of the Ginger jeans, fabric for a long winter Carolyn pajama set, fabric for a short summer Carolyn pajama set, and the Cottesloe swimsuit pattern. I didn't expect to get all these, or to not buy things that weren't in the list, but I wanted to go in with some kind of guideline so that I could be as prepared as possible. In the end, as you can see, I did pretty well at getting a few things on the list but I also got a couple of others.

We were on the 7:45am train, which I thought when we booked it was wayyy too early, but in retrospect turned out to be perfect. There was a closure on the line, so we were dropped off at a town not even a regular stop (Nuneaton?) and told to change platforms and trains. We were scheduled to be a whole hour early, but given our delay and other factors we were only early by 5 minutes!

The meet up started in John Lewis above New St station, which was a very central location to meet and eat breakfast. Chloe and I didn't know many other people but eventual we got to talking to some others, and of course admiring (and fondling) their clothes! I was especially admiring of the Kelly Anoraks that I saw during the day, as I have plans to make one soonish myself.

After about an hour, people started moving out to the rag market. I was surprised by this, thinking it would be more obviously fabric, but there was a small fabric  section and mostly other things like a more general market. There was, however, a few stalls selling 100% viscose in a wide range of gorgeous colours for the bargainous £2/m. So naturally, I bought one length, even though it wasn't on my list, in a gorgeous dark red which is exactly the kind of colour I'm trying to add into my wardrobe!

After that we went to the Fancy Silk Store nearby, where we ogled all the beautiful coating fabrics - we'll be back when it's time to sew a coat! I did buy something from my list there - I found a lovely striped denim which will be perfect for my first toile of Ginger jeans for £7.99/m. In fact, the man who sold it to me was wearing jeans made it off the same fabric!

Next up was Barry's, but it was a short walk away. On the way Chloe spotted a gorgeous wall painted with flowers and suggested we stop, so we did and took many photos for everyone's instagrams! It was the perfect spot. There were a lot of meet up people at Barry's and so it was quite busy. We browsed through as best as we could, and in the coating section after Chloe stopped to admire a different fabric, I stopped the one underneath - part virgin wool, part silk, it was absolutely gorgeous, soft and lush, and £11.99/m! I have no plans for anything like it, but I bought 2m (and it's wide), figuring with it I could make a pinafore/blazer/winter dress/something else. Weirdly enough, they had the same fabric at Guthrie and Ghani, only more expensive, so I'm glad I bought it there.

After that, already laden down with fabric, we made it on the bus to Moseley and the highlight for me: Guthrie and Ghani! I have bought from Lauren several times, online and in person at Knitting and Stitching shows, but never been to her store in person. It did not disappoint! Beautifully curated, everything was so lovely! First thing I spied was the wonder tape which would be the adhesive I so needed to continue making my bikini (and now it's just over a week until we go away and I want it finished for then!). Then I decided on my other fabric purchases before heading upstairs for the charity raffle.

In the raffle I actually got lucky! I won a £50 bundle of fabric from Girl Charlee, which was actually quite a good prize for me given I don't sew knits very much. It'll give me a chance to explore and play with new patterns! The fabrics are all about 1.5m, and include this French Terry, a few solid cotton spandex fabrics (here and here), this lovely navy floral double brushes jersey spandex, and this funny cotton jersey spandex blend which is sage green with pineapples on it! The pineapples are not really me, but the others are lovely and pineapples will work for a toile (maybe the Sirocco?).



After the raffle was all done, I made my purchases - a length of turquoise knit fabric (from their cosy cottons range which I have bought and sewed with before) for a new Linden sweatshirt, and the biggest purchase of the day... Navy softshell fabric which will eventually become a Kelly Anorak! I had originally planned to get some of the Millerain waxed cotton, but it was 28.50/m which is a little out of my budget, especially for a first jacket. But I am excited to make that up soonish. I also got a Pink Coat Club pin which I am excited to put on my me made trench!



Then the fabric shopping was done! We headed to the pub down the road to get some dinner (and lunch for me as I hadn't had time to eat since John Lewis), then back to the train. It was a bit of an adventure getting back as well, as our original train had been all the way to Euston but by the evening was only going to Northhampton! With no knowledge of how we'd get home from there, we caved and got on the earlier direct train instead, which meant that at least we'd know when we got home.

It was such a fun day and I met so many new sewists! I will definitely go again next year.