Canberra 2012 – Order of Events

Friday Crafty Shopping Trip – Friday 8th June, 2012

Departing the Crowne Plaza Canberra at 1:00pm sharp, we’re off to Addicted to Fabric, Bison and the Shop Handmade. At Shop Handmade, we get some time to slow down, look through the store, shop, have a glass of nice cold sparkling wine and enjoy some delicious macarons. After a long day of travelling for many of you, it’s the perfect chance to relax. {Bus trip is full}.

Friday evening at your leisure.

Run/Walk – Saturday 9th June, 2012

Meet at the Captain Cook Memorial Globe at 7am for a 5km walk or a run (little bit longer). Let me know if you would like further details!

Handmade Market – Saturday 9th June, 2012

Make your own way to the Handmade Canberra market at the National Convention Centre (a short walk from both the Crowne Plaza and the YHA). The market opens at 10am.

Saturday Crafting Session – Saturday 9th June, 2012

Starting at 1pm at the Crowne Plaza Canberra, in the lovely Glebe room overlooking Glebe Park, is the main event, the Saturday Crafting Session.

Please arrive promptly – lunch will be served right at 1pm! If you arrive late from the market, I am not responsible for you going hungry!

Other than that little matter, it’s a relaxed day :-), with lots of opportunities to meet other craft bloggers, take part in some workshops, shop at the pop-up market stalls, do the infamous ‘Sample Swap’ dance, win a prize from the fabulous pool of prizes donated by our sponsors and, if you have time, do some of your own crafting!

You’ll receive a goody bag, with samples from our sponsors, and a name tag and lanyard.

Workshops will take place as follows:

• 2:30pm Beginner Crochet Class (all booked out)
• 3:30pm Sock Owl Workshop (book here if you’d like to participate)
• 5:00pm Granny Square Crochet Class (one spot left)

Mini Market Stalls will take place as follows:

• 1:30pm  – Suzy Hausfrau – yarn
• 2:00pm – Craft Schmaft – craft kits and patterns
• 2:30pm – Craft Junk – crochet and knitting needles
• 3:00pm – Chaletgirl – fabric de-stash
• 3:30pm – Possum Blossom – die cut papers and fabric for paper piecing
• 4:00pm – Polly Pratt – fabric and clothes
• 4:30pm – Silly Gilly – fabric
• 5:00pm – Clare’s Craftroom – patterns
• 5:30pm – The Red Thread – a huge range of crafty greatness
• 9:30pm – Posie Patchwork – fabric

Lunch, afternoon tea and all day tea and coffee is supplied at the hotel, and this year, dinner is also included in your ticket price. We’ll be breaking for dinner at 6:30pm and walking a short distance (for some fresh/cool/cold/freezing air) to the Tongue and Groove for a delicious meal (for more details, see here). Drinks are at your own cost, and can be purchased at the bar as needed.

After dinner, we have a Sew It Together first; late night sewing! We have the room at the Crowne Plaza until 11:00pm, so come back to the hotel for some more relaxed, late night, warm & cosy sewing time.

Midnight activities at your leisure 🙂

Fabric Stencilling Workshop – Sunday 10th June, 2012

Starting at 10:00am at the Corroboree Park Function Room in Ainslie, North Canberra, I’m going to  show you how to use stencils to print your own designs on fabric. You’ll receive a kit with all the tools you need to go home with a fabric panel printed with your own design, and you’ll be ready to keep going once you get home. Cost is $35 and you can book your ticket here. Please see this post here for details on transport for this event.

Sew It Together concludes on Sunday at 1:00pm at Corroboree Park in Ainslie.

Mini Market Stalls

I know you are excited about these!

I’m just finalising the actual timing for each stall, but here’s the list of stalls you can expect to find at the Saturday Crafting Session….

Suzy Hausfrau – yarn!

Craft Schmaft – patterns and kits!

Craft Junk – crochet hooks & knitting needles!

Chaletgirl – yes, I am destashing this year – please help find a nice new home for my fabric

Possum Blossom Patchwork – die cut paper pieces and fabric!

Polly Pratt – fabric and clothes!

Sew Vintage – fabric!

Clare’s Craftroom – patterns!

The Red Thread – lots of fabulous crafty stuff!

Posie Patchwork – fabric!

There will only be one stall open at a time, but unfortunately they will overlap with the workshops. No way to avoid that I am afraid. Please be considerate to your workshop host, that’s all I am asking!

And please understand that this has taken the longest of almost anything to organise…juggling the times…..trying to fit them before/during/after workshops….who is free at what time……so please be gentle with me if you are not happy with my decisions!!

Not long to go now!!

And a few bits of housekeeping!

• Here’s the final list of times for the mini market stalls at the Saturday Crafting Session. I have changed things around somewhat to try and fit everybody in around the workshops….

1. 9:45 – 10:30am    Sew Vintage
2. 10:45 – 11:30am   Craft Schmaft
3. 11:45 – 12:30pm   Posie’s Handmade Living (with EFTPOS), see more info here.
4. 1:30 – 2:15pm       The Red Thread (with EFTPOS)
5. 2:45 – 3:30pm      Saffron Craig

• Shopping at Prints Charming: I would like all shopping to be done before the Stitching Session, please! The ladies on the shopping trip who are not staying for the Stitching Session, you can do your shopping before the bus takes you back to The Menzies. Stitching Session ladies – please do your shopping before the Stitching Session starts. And there are 4 of you who are doing the Stitching Session but not the Shopping Trip. If you could arrive at about 4:00pm and purchase anything that takes your fancy before the stitching starts at 4:30pm, I’d be very grateful. There is transport organised to take the Stitching Session ladies back to The Menzies, but there will be no time for shopping at the tail end of the evening. Thanks!
• Kathy from Material Obsession is bringing a few things for her own mini market stall on her table. You’ll be able to purchase those at any time during the day.
• Last call for Saturday Night Dinner bookings tonight please – I will close off numbers (again) first thing in the morning. Please pay tonight for dinner if you would like to come (and you haven’t already paid, of course!).
• If you have previously advised that you would like to come for Sunday brunch, Cass has been ever so kind to arrange a booking for us at the Museum of Sydney Cafe at 10:00am on Sunday. Thank you, Cass!
• If you are coming on the Friday Fabric Shopping Trip, and you think it might be doubtful that you will be at The Menzies promptly at 12pm, then please email me your mobile phone number ASAP (if you haven’t done so already). I may have to leave without you, but if I can contact you, we can easily sort out a way to meet up.

Lastly, safe travels everyone. Some of you are coming a loooooong way. May your journey be smooth and hassle free and I am very excited to see you all in Sydney on Friday or Saturday!

Special Dietary Requirements?

I haven’t heard from any vegans, vegetarians or others regarding special dietary requirements for The Menzies…..if you have forgotten, please email me urgently at chaletgirl13@gmail.com.

Thanks!!

Mini Market Stalls

Following on from the announcement that Claire will open a mini Craft Schmaft stall at the Saturday Crafting Session, I am delighted to tell you that Lisa from The Red Thread and Saffron Craig have also offered to open mini stalls for you as well!

So during the Saturday Crafting Session, each of these lovely ladies will be dropping whatever they are working on, and open up a mini market stall so that you can have the opportunity to have a great look at their products, and purchase them as well. If you’re not from Sydney (or even if you are!), this is a great opportunity to check out these marvellous crafty products.

So, keep an eye out for them at the following times:

• 11:45am to 12:30pm – Craft Schmaft
• 1:30pm to 2:15pm – The Red Thread
• 2:45pm to 3:30pm – Saffron Craig

Lisa from The Red Thread will be bringing along kits and patterns, including some seconds, samples and bargain stuff! And she’s bringing her EFTPOS machine too!

Saffron is bringing along pre-cut 50cm pieces of her fabric……and if it’s anything like the big box of fabric that arrived today, full of the packs of Saffron Craig fabric for your goody bags…..eeeek! Gorgeous!!!

Thank you ladies for contributing to our mini market at the Crafting Session!!

Updated info, important stuff…….and something new!

First up, at the sticky post at the top, you’ll find two new links!

One is the timetable for the weekend, with all the relevant times, places and addresses that you will need. You can find it here.

The other is the blog list of everyone that is coming, and you will find that on the right hand side of the blog (in tiny writing), or the link is here.

Next, I have updated the list of prizes with our latest sponsors and giveaways, and you can also find that on the right hand side, or the original post here.

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For those of you who will need to vote on Saturday 26th March in the NSW State Election, you will be able to vote at the Sydney Town Hall, which is about a 10 minute walk from The Menzies Hotel (and it is right opposite Kinokuniya if you fancy a visit). I’ll find out the opening hours as soon as they are confirmed, but usual polling hours are 8am to 6pm. Kinokuniya is open from 10am to 7pm, so you could combine both with a walk after the Crafting Session finishes if you wish. Legally, you are not permitted to vote via a postal vote or a pre-poll vote because you will still be in NSW and you will be close to a polling venue. But I’ll leave that with you  🙂

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Lots of you haven’t responded to the post about the Sample Swap, so if you haven’t, please do so here ASAP. Thanks!

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I’m thrilled to tell you today that Claire from Craft Schmaft is going to have a mini market stall at the Saturday Crafting Session!

We’ll set up a little table for her, and the ‘shop’ will open for just 45 minutes, starting at 11:45am. This way, Claire gets to relax and enjoy most of the day and yet you’ll be able to have a great look at her kits and maybe take home your very own owl kit or owl mobile kit.

It’s like a little bit of Mathilda’s is coming to us!

If you’re coming along to Sew It Together, and you sell kits, supplies, fabric, patterns or other supplies that craft bloggers might be interested in, and you’d like to have your own little mini market stall for 45 minutes at the Saturday Crafting Session, please email me ASAP at chaletgirl13@gmail.com. I am sorry for the short notice for this offer – it’s something I had in mind, but just never got around to organising. I’m grateful to Claire for reminding me, and taking me up on the initial offer!

Sponsors, gifts and prizes!

I’m somewhat overwhelmed by the amazing support from all of the sponsors this year, and thought I would start a master list of what’s on offer this year!

What you’ll find in your goody bag (your Innergreen Corn Bag, made from 100% corn!):

• A fat quarter of gorgeous Retromummy fabric
• Something fabulous from Ric-Rac
• A fabric badge from Posie Patchwork
• 2 yards of scrap fabric from Hawthorne Threads
• Pencil Roll pattern, quilt size card and discount coupon from Pink Chalk Fabrics
• Quilt pattern from Chasing Cottons
• Sample pack of fabric from Saffron Craig
• Surprise pattern made especially for SIT from Clare’s Craftroom
• Hello Birdie Pillow pattern from The Red Thread
• Jayne’s Love quilt pattern from Clare’s Place
• Key fob kit from Earthgirl Fabrics

Prizes for the Friday Fabric Shopping Trip:

• 3 gift vouchers from The Remnant Warehouse

Prizes for the Saturday Crafting Session:

• 5 x 500g bags of Innergreen Toy Fill
• 5 x 50cm Innergreen Cushion Inserts
• (possibly) 5 x large quilt squares of Innergreen Quilt Wadding
• “Material Obsession” book from Material Obesssion
• “Material Obsession Two” book from Material Obsession
• 4 x Material Obsession Dolly Quilt Kits
• $50 gift voucher from Kelani Fabric Obsession
• Large bundle of fabric from Saffron Craig
• 5 x pretty bundles of fabric and patterns from Sew Vintage
• 6 x patterns from Clare’s Craftroom
• 3 x felt owl kits from Plushka’s Craft
• 7 x $10 gift vouchers from The Oz Material Girls
• 2 x $30 gift vouchers from The Oz Material Girls
• 3 x Wendy dresses from Polly Pratt
• A set of 5 Sweetie Petite kits from The Red Thread
• A set of 7 quilt patterns from Clare’s Place
• 2 x Owl Mobile kits from Craft Schmaft
• 3 x Baby Owl kits from Craft Schmaft
• 4 x Woof Woof patterns from Craft Schmaft
• A Heart Embroidery pack from Prints Charming
• A Pack of Useful Fabric Scraps from Prints Charming
• Patterns and kits from Nicole Mallalieu Design

Which adds up to over 50 prizes! FIFTY!

If you can think of anything relevant to say to all this, other than THANK YOU to everyone, then feel free, because I am rather speechless at the generosity of our sponsors right now……

Shop Update!

I’ve made a few changes to the shop this morning.

• There is no longer an option to pay a deposit for the Saturday Crafting Session. If you wish to come along and join us (and please do!) you will need to pay the whole cost upfront from today.
• You can now book and pay for your Saturday Night Dinner. Numbers are unlimited for this, but you must have attended the Saturday Crafting Session to come along for dinner (excluding Mathilda’s stallholders).
• You can now pay your final payment for the Saturday Crafting Session (if you have previously paid a deposit). Please pay this by February 20, 2011 or your deposit will be forfeited.

And that’s about it! You can still book a place on the Friday Fabric Shopping Trip and the Prints Charming Stitching Session (just a couple of seats left) if you haven’t already done so.

Thanks!

Crap Stuff

Over the last couple of days it has been brought to my attention that there are two other events scheduled for Saturday 26th March, 2011 that unfortunately will have an impact on the Saturday Crafting Session.

I will assure you now that the date for Sew It Together will not change. Unfortunately we are just going to have to work around these problems, although I am afraid that many of our favourite bloggers will not be able to attend as a result. I’m so sorry for that.

Firstly, it seems that Saturday 26th March will be the date for the NSW State Election. This will not affect our interstate visitors, but it will require our NSW bloggers to vote at some point on the Saturday. It appears that you cannot send in a postal vote beforehand, since you will still be in NSW, and you will surely be within 8km of a polling place in the CBD. As soon as the polling places are identified, I will find one very close to the Menzies, and so, as you duck out to visit Tessuti, you might also have to go and vote.

Secondly, it seems that Mathilda’s Market have now set their dates for 2011, and they have chosen Saturday 26 March for a market at Paddington. Lots of our bloggers who have craft businesses rely on Mathilda’s for their livelihood, and I am devastated to think of how many of you who have signed up to come to Sew It Together will now have to pull out. I can assure you that I did check Mathilda’s for their dates before I finally confirmed with The Menzies for the date, but Mathilda’s hadn’t finalised their dates, and I took a chance. Poop.

I will not be changing the date for SIT. Lots of you have made travel bookings and I just won’t do it, as much as we will miss those of you who need to pull out. Please let me know ASAP if you’re pulling out due to Mathilda’s and I will refund your deposit (less Paypal fees). I am happy to talk to you separately about coming to the dinner on Saturday night if you wish. I know I said no exceptions, but I think that these are extraordinary circumstances.

I’m sorry everyone. I try to think of all potential problems, but I can’t get around plain bad luck!

Sew It Together Sponsor – Silly Gilly/Sew Vintage!

Here is some more great news for those of you coming along to Sew It Together in Sydney: Gillian, and her new business Sew Vintage are sponsoring Sew It Together Sydney 2011!

You might know Gillian from her blog, Silly Gilly, or from Flickr where she often hangs out under the alias gidgetstarbaby!

Gillian is another of our fabulous stay-at-home mothers who has started up a small craft-based business from home. She loves 1950s design, fabric, fashion and homewares, and loves to stock fantastic retro Michael Miller prints at Sew Vintage. Gillian enjoys a good hunt for rare and out of print fabric, and she plans to increase the range at Sew Vintage very soon, stocking some co-ordinating fabrics, ric-rac and other haberdashery.

Gillian makes lots of one-off, unique items, and loves to make custom orders. She does markets, works with kindergartens, and offers an individualised service and fast postage (and you know how much I love fast postage!).

I don’t think I have ever seen vintage patterns on sale on an online store, but you can find them here at Sew Vintage! Gillian even checks each and every pattern to make sure that every piece is included – brilliant!

If that doesn’t keep Gillian busy enough, she also designs her own patterns! Here’s Gillian’s gorgeous Gingerbread House pattern that was published in Homespun:

How sweet is that? Gillian’s also planning on designing and releasing more 1950s-style patterns this year, and I can’t wait to see what she comes up with.

And the exciting news for the SIT 2011 girls, is that Gillian is not only coming all the way from South Australia to join in all the SIT fun in Sydney in March, but she is also sponsoring Sew It Together with FIVE prize packs to be given away at the Saturday Crafting Session!

Each prize pack will have 4 half yards of fabric from Sew Vintage, a pattern for the Gingerbread House, some vintage style haberdashery and even some vintage patterns! Awesome prizes!

Thanks Gillian for your generous support of Sew It Together! Thanks for the fabulous prizes! We wish Sew Vintage all the best as you grow the business, and we’re looking forward to meeting you in person in March!