Stitch & Craft London 2012 : Highlights

There is a definite theme running through this years Stitch & Crafts Show. From London 2012 to the Queen's Diamond Jubilee  - it's all very British.

There are regal cross stitch cushions (this one was designed by Emma Bridgewater for CrossStitcher magazine)...

Capital themed tapestry...

Londonium inspired printed cotton & ...

...Jubilee themes from Fabrics Galore and

Patriotic ribbon from Crafty Ribbons.

I even tried my hand at some Jubilee Cross Stitch - well two royal guards anyway!

Speaking of Cross Stitch, Mr X Stitch has his own gallery space at the show. As well as his own stitch finery, there's another gentleman of stitchery exhibiting...

Lord Libidan who here is demonstrating one of his XStitched moveable Transformers and standing beside the most magnificent XStitch I've ever seen - 3D - which you wear with glasses to appreciate. Genius!

On the Olympics front Quilts 4 London was set up three years ago - a campaign to make 15,000 hand-stitched pennants (individual flags). They have been donated by stitchers from all over the world and will be placed inside the goody bags so EVERY single competitor will get one. Before that, some of them are on display - infact this is the only place you'll get to see them as the deadline to fill Paralympic goodie bags is only two weeks away. The good news is they have met their targets and they'll be a few spares for Olympic organisers too.

The flags were exhibited along with Olympic quilts .......so many of them I didn't know where to look! There really is some amazing handiwork to appreciate (but far too much to photograph.) Luckily a book is available featuring all the designs which you can buy at the show.

A big crowd puller was the miniature knitted village exhibit. You can still contribute to it, by knitting village themed goodies. The entire village (possibly a town by then) will be on display at the Knitting & Stitching show in October.

 

My favourite buy of the day was a hand-carved Indian Block for printing, £6 from Colouricious. They had so many gorgeous Indian themed designs, I wish I could afford to buy more so I could have printed my own saris!

Finally here is Linzi Upton with the patchwork yurt she made, used as the HQ for the Mollie Makes magazine team.

There are lots and lots of stalls throughout the show where you can stock up on supplies and an excellent choice of workshops where you can learn new skills. All in all; a good day trip for a craft fan. I think the only downside is the venue. It's not Olympia's fault, they are currently celebrating 125 years, it's just that so many of these exhibition halls are dark and dingy with no natural light. I wish someone would build a nice exhibition centre that didn't feel so clinical where the true colour and creativity of a craft show could be represented. Hopefully one day I will be reporting from such an event on this very blog, fingers and stitching crossed!

The show continues until Sunday 18th March. Tickets are £12 on the door for adults. If you're thinking of going down, I hope these highlights were useful - enjoy the event and happy shopping : )

London's First Renegade Craft Fair

Designs by Tee & Toast

I’m desperate to go to America…for crafting purposes. It’s home to huge mega craft stores, houses oddles of indie crafters, craft celebrities (Martha Stewart, Crafty Chica) and new crazes and products you can’t get over here. When I first saw images of the Maker Fair in Craft magazine (one of the fabulous US craft mags that is distributed in good book stores on these shores) I was amazed by the standard and originality of the work being sold. Then a couple of years ago I was first in the queue when Bust magazine came over and hosted their first ever Craftacular (another great American craft fair.) It was held inside York Hall, Bethnal Green and was HUGE!

The renengade queen

This Autumn (last weekend) it was the turn of Renegade to visit us and bring their quirky indie craft vibe to bustling Brick Lane, east Londen where crafters from around the globe gathered to sell their wares. I was so excited, I visited (and shopped) both days!! Pictured is one of the organisers who insisted on looking anonymous. Renegade started back in 2003 in Chicago and focuses on DIY craft culture of the highest standards. Any old crafter, can’t just pitch up a stall, they have to prove their work is original, unusual, and carries with it the full DIY ethos. The selection of work is balanced offering prints, textiles, fashion, jewellery, interiors and papercrafts.

Milliner Janine Basil

I was soooo happy to meet Janine Basil in person, she is a milliner extraordinaire who’s Batman inspired work I discovered in her Etsy and Folksy stores. As regular readers of my blog will know, I am Batman obsessed and I treated myself to a beautiful glitter Bat hat from her stall. Image to follow when I wear it out. (Someone invite me to a Halloween party please!!). Check out her work online, it’s fabulous!

Art collector Matt

In tow I had Art collector Matt who is always on the look out to extend his ever growing collection of fine art and prints (he nearly owns enough to fill a gallery and has been known to queue for 'buying' at 4am in the morning on more than one occasion.) Completely overwhelmed by the standard of the work, he was super excited but found it hard to decide. In the end he opted for three pieces. The first one is to remind him he should buy a dog one day.

Artist Katie Mac

Then it was on to another wonderful print stall where Katie Mac’s colourful creations including one about fidgeting, were on his list.

Artist Todd Stewart

Finally he bought a screen-printed poster (the Man Man one) designed by Todd Stewart. I suspect he would have bought plenty more if he’d brought extra money!

Illustrator Kate Sutton

Inspired by the feeling that maybe I should own more ‘art’ and not just crafts, I bought this adorable hedgehog picture by Kate Sutton. Oh my! Her work was outstanding, I wanted to buy everything! If someone wants to buy me a present, you can get me anything she has designed. (Thanks!)

My free alpaca bag!

Kate was very sweet and gave me a free alpaca tote bag to carry it home in.

The Make Lounge crafternoon

London’s crafty hub The Make Lounge were one of the stalls running free workshops where  needle felted woodland animals were the order of the weekend.

Janine felting an Ecuadorian bird

My craft pal Janine and I couldn’t get into the British 'woodland' mood (she had just returned from Ecuador so her mind was filled with tropical images) and I was drawn to bright pink felt so she made a jungle bird and I felted a flamingo.

Huge blooms decorated the walls

For such a huge space, the fair was smaller than I expected (not on the same scale as the Bust Craftacular) but this had it’s benefits that you could properly focus on each stall. It certainly set the bar for craft markets in the UK to measure up to, it really was ‘high end’ DIY crafting yet extremely well priced. 

Renegade: you're welcome back

Until Renegade come back and see us in the UK again you can either attend one of their fairs in the states or shop for art and craft by their favourite designers in their online store. 
Thank you for visiting the UK! 

Highlights from The Knitting & Stitching Show 2011

 1. Crafty Celebrity Spot: Mr XStitch

He's the UK's male role model for crafters and runs the informative contemporary embroidery and needlecraft blog Mr XStitch. If you like your crafts full of thread then check it out! Jamie (as he's also known as) was signing copies of his new book Push Stitchery.

2.Friendliest stall holder: Zeena Shah

Zeena's hand printed textiles feature cutey pie things like owls and birds and she has the warmest smile ever. I met her in July when I did the Snapfish Stamping work shop at The Make Lounge. Zeena's stall was 'nominated' by Craft Guerilla who support emerging artists to get more exposure...supporters get to choose designers they think are worthy so that's three reasons to drop by and say hello to her.

3. Most impressive installation: Woman's Weekly

As featured in the Guinness Book of World records, on display in the foyer is the longest ever knitted bunting, sent in by readers of Woman's Weekly. It looks incredible but at the same time the ceilings of Alexandra Palace are so vast that it looks quite small, but I'm guessing if it was a normal room, it would be a total woolley wonder.

4. 'Wow I want everything on that stall' award:Eternal Maker

Fabric lovers be aware, you will spend money! There are lots of tempting fabric filled stalls. This was my fave specialising in Japanese prints. I bought several cuttings including this brilliant sewing themed one which is too good to cut up!

 5. Best dressed stall holder:Akleriah

Akleriah have no description in the programme and the stall is unlike anyother. Anna Kamaniets who made this intricate bodice and wins 'best dressed stall holder' sits in the centre working away on sewing something. She and Akleriah are performance artists and bring a new level of creativity to the show.

6. Best stock: Aartij

Finding gorgeous Indian trims is really hard! When I wrote Bollywood Crafts I scoured the streets of Southall and Green Street but for the average crafter who can't get to Asian shopping areas, few haberdasheries stock decent colourful, sparkly trims. Aartji are a welcomed addition to the show. The Leicester based studio (I'm told you can make appointments to visit) had a beautiful stall with gem studded, mirror encrusted, glittery trims. Highly recommended...if you're wondering what you can do with them, check these ideas out!

7. Best break...

Just one hour of wondering around feels like five hours, it's soooo tiring and it's not like I'm one of the more mature visitors, clearly they must have more endurance than me! You can take part in paid workshops (they costs around £9 an hour and include felting, applique, beading etc) but just as appealing was the activity laid on by this company who specialise in Decoupage (and who's name I can't work out!) where for £2.50 you can decoupage a cardboard object. Hobbycraft are really promoting this craft at the minute, it's super easy and is fast! It's nice to do a crafty activity at a crafty event without breaking the bank.

8. Yummiest pocket money goody:Kniting4Fun

Felt is a common site throughout the fair and where there are beads there are always gaggles of teens. These ones by Knitting4Fun were 30p each and I bought a batch  because they looks look enough to eat.

9. Loveliest stall: Clothkits

Filled with lovely sewing kits (they still sell gorgeous Rob Ryan skirts) this stall was just so welcoming and thoughtfully merchandised.

10. Good use of time:

It looks like a historic tapestry and it is...kind of! The Battle of Prestonpans Tapestry was made by just 250 Scottish volunteers in 18 months and measures a staggering 104m in length. It tells the story of the Jacobite Rebellion in 1745. You will need to pencil in about 1/2 hour minimum to go around and appreciate it.

YARN!!!

Of course it's not called The Knitting & Stitching Show for nothing! Yarn is everywhere, all types, shades and textures, stuff you won't find in your average knitting shop so it's well worth doing some impulse purchases of interesting balls to add to your collection.

Get your diary out!
If you can't make it this year (it's on until Sunday) there's always next year. You don't need to be a Londoner - I met visitors from Ireland, Norway and the US....people come here for a holiday and use it as an opportunity to enjoy the Big Smoke while they are down.

Tips for surviving a visit to The Knitting & Stitching Show:

1. Take lots of snacks! The food at Ally Pally isn't great AND it's surprising how wondering around can tire you out so much. Energy foods are a must!
2. Sit down! Don't wonder the whole event without stopping to catch your breath and take it all in.
3. Take cash...most stalls take cards but for smaller purchases you will need to have dough on you.
4. Try techniques at the Guild stands...whether you want to have a go at batik or lace making they all do demos and will let you have a go. It makes a great break from being on your feet too.
5. Collect cards from stalls you like so you can contact them after the show if you want to purchase (more?) things from them.
6. Get your bearings, before you do any shopping or start looking at exhibitions, have a wonder around to take in the scale of what's ahead of you and get to know where key things are....like directions to the loo!
7. If you spot something you really want, buy it immediately, it could sell out (that happened to me twice this visit!) or you just may not find the stall again because it's soo huge!
8. Get there early, as close to opening time a spossible, by lunchtime it's so packed you can barely move. 
9. Look out for freebies..things like lollies and the odd chocolate will keep you going.
10. Carry a bottle of water....shopping, crafting and looking at exhibitions is thirsty work! 

The show moves to RDS, Dublin 10-13 November 2011
International Halls, Harrogate, 24-27 November 2011
www.twistedthread.com