Craft Fairs in March/April 2018

I made a decision not to do any craft fairs this year, to take a break and concentrate on making and selling online.

I'll still be visiting a few though, to check them out as possible venues for the future and to review them on here. I'll be reviewing them as both a potential seller and customer, looking at the venue, facilities, number of stands, customer numbers and demographic, quality and diversity of crafts, whether goods are handmade or not, and the general atmosphere of the event.

The first one I plan to visit is the Contemporary Textiles Fair at Landmark Arts Centre in Teddington. It starts on Friday 16th March, open in the evening from 6-8.30pm, and 10-5 Saturday & Sunday 17th/18th March.

"The Contemporary Textiles Fair 2018 brings you over 70 stands featuring the best contemporary textiles in the UK. This annual event is almost unique in its focus on textile artists and makers, unencumbered by suppliers and other craft disciplines. Our exhibitors show and sell a vast range of contemporary textiles, from needle-felted wool portraiture, to silk-knitted garments, stitched mixed media canvases, to geometric weaving."

 I've thought about selling at this event for the past couple of years, but wasn't sure whether it would work for me or not, so it will be interesting to see what it's like.



Other events in March/April that I've sold at previously, and might do again, are the Lancing College Craft Show on Saturday & Sunday 7th/8th April and the Farmers & Makers' Fair at Architectural Plants, near Pulborough, on Saturday 31st March.

Both of these are 'handmade-only' events, so there shouldn't be anything bought-in or mass-produced, and sellers/goods are carefully curated and checked by the organisers when booking.

I've sold at Lancing College for a few years, mainly at the October Craft Shows, and really enjoy it there. It's well-organised, friendly and usually quite busy. It's certainly one that I'd consider doing again.

Architectural Plants started their Farmers & Makers' Fairs last year, with the first one in September 2017. I had a stand there and did very well. It was busy, with a good visitor demographic, and had obviously been well-advertised. They followed up with a Christmas Fair in December, which I didn't go to, and they have three more fairs planned for 2018. I hope to visit at least one of them to see how they're doing now, and whether they're still as well-attended as the first one.

Hotham Park Country Fair 3/4 August 2013

Next weekend you'll find me under a gazebo at Hotham Park Country Fair, in Bognor Regis, where I'll be selling my textile accessories and other bits and pieces to the milling crowds! Hopefully the weather will be back to 'warm and sunny' - and not too windy - for the weekend, and I'm really looking forward to being out and about in it for a couple of days.

We'll be at stall number B37, just a couple of spaces from the main craft marquee, so I hope a few of you will be around and will come and say 'hello' to us.

The Hotham Park website gives more details of the event as well as directions and information about parking, transport etc.

Serendipity and Silk Dyes

I've been busy again, this time playing with gorgeous silk dyes and scarves. I love silk, it takes these French dyes beautifully and they look even brighter after they've been steam-fixed. I did a mix of habotai and chiffon scarves - both are lovely - and used three different colourways. I usually select three colours for each batch and mix them to create shades and hues that work well together. Some of the scarves have been shibori-dyed and some space-dyed - both techniques are unpredictable, hence the serendipity in the title. The most exciting bit is unwrapping them after they've been steamed and seeing the final result - always beautiful, but not always as expected!

Here's a photo showing some of them dancing in the sunshine yesterday.

Is it May Already?

Wow, where is the year going? (I must be getting old as I remember this is something that all old people say every year!) But seriously, it's May already and it still feels like Spring is only just kicking into action, so it's hard to believe four months have passed by while I've been huddled up in my winter woollies and stitching away in my little sewing room.

I haven't exactly been hibernating, but I do feel that it's now time to come out of my 'burrow' and start enjoying the Spring sunshine and hopefully a bit of warmth.

I've done a few craft fairs in the past couple of months, with varying degrees of success, but am really looking forward to my next two fairs over the weekend of 11th/12th May, both of which are new to me. The first one is in Midhurst, at the Grange Leisure Centre (Saturday 11th May), and the next day I'm at Denbies Wine Estate in Dorking (Sunday 12th May). Both are a bit further afield than my usual fairs, so it'll be interesting to see how well my work is received 'up-country'.

What have I been making lately? Well, after feedback from buyers, I designed a new cross-body bag and made it up in four different versions, one of which I kept for myself (actually, it was the prototype, so that's my excuse!). Two were in lovely faux-suede fabrics, which work really well. Here are a few photos for you...

Arts Trail Again!

The second weekend of the Arts Trail and the weather is being so much kinder to us. My studio is only open tomorrow (Saturday) but many of the other venues are open over the whole weekend, so it's not too late to feast your eyes on some fabulous artwork, right here on your doorstep (if you're local that is!).

We had a great write-up in the local rag this week - even got a picture of me in there! - so hopefully that will spread the word a bit wider and they'll be queuing up in the morning (well, I can dream). Pick up a copy of the trail map at the museum or at any venue on the trail...and don't forget the 'fringe' venues too, well worth a look!

Another Day, Another Bag

I spent yesterday sewing and came up with a new bag, larger than usual, with just a single shoulder strap. It's made from a lovely fabric called 'Grassmere', by Moygashel, full of meadow flowers and very summery. I teamed it with a plain, heavy brushed cotton fabric in soft green. I was very tempted to keep it for myself, as I haven't had a new bag for a while, but it's now on Folksy...if it doesn't sell after a few months, I may give it to myself as a birthday treat! Anyway, here it is...what do you think?

'Grassmere' large shoulder bag on Folksy

This morning I had to go to Arundel to 'dress' a window for the RNLI. It's Lifeboat Day on 27th January and the RNLI have the community window in Martin Steel's opticians for the next two weeks...I was 'volunteered' to do the honours this year and make an eye-catching display. Hopefully it will catch everyone's money too!

Christmas is a-coming!

I finally got into the Christmas spirit and started writing my cards today. Tomorrow the tree will go up too, so it will really feel like Christmas...at my house anyway! I also spent hours listing things on Folksy (still struggling with the new site, but it gets there eventually) and even longer doing the ironing, but we'll gloss over that!
The weekend was good - I spent both days at the craft fair and sold some of my stock, mainly smaller items such as phone cases and a couple of larger items too - but it was quieter than we hoped, especially on Sunday. However, I sold a lovely silk scarf on Folksy and something from my Etsy shop too, so not a bad weekend.
The textile exhibition is still on at the museum (until 23rd December) - no sales as yet but there's still time.
My next project is a dress for me for Christmas...it's years since I did dress-making so this could be interesting. I also plan to make a belt to go with it...if it looks good, I'll put a photo on my next post. In the meantime, here's one of my latest hand-painted silk bags (available on Folksy).

'Sunflower' hand-painted silk bag on Folksy