Sew It Together 2011

The dress I rambled on about yesterday, was made for me to wear to a very special sewing event - Sew It Together Sydney. Basically over 50 bloggers, sewers and crafters got together in Sydney for a massive weekend of talking, eating, socialising, shopping and a little sewing.

I was lucky to sit at a table with a few bloggers that I've been following for a while, but still hadn't met like Jennie, Becky, Karen, Lara and Kylie. As well as pre-bloggy friends Rach and Dolores and also the lovely Belinda. It was wonderful to talk so many people that I know quite well through their blogs, comments or emails. The conversations were incredibly varied, from business experience, opportunities and feedback to family, school and education, to philosophical discussions about the reasons for blogging, critiquing blogging, enhancing or protecting blogs and even a little gossip for good measure (C'mon lets be realistic. It was a room full of ladies, there's always going to be a little gossip. But what's discussed at SIT, stays at SIT).

Now, to the goody bag. My was I pleased to receive this little bag of fun. I was a little shocked to receive it at the beginning of the day. I guess I'm used to kids birthday parties where the goodie bag comes at the end. Here's a run down of the goods:

The fabric:

We all received 2 yards of scrap fabric courtesy of Hawthorne Threads. I  should point out that while it's called 'scrap', there's certainly nothing scrappy about it. All the pieces are lovely and quite large. I actually swapped my green based scrap pack with Lara, she's more of a green liker than me.

There's also a teal fat quarter there from Retro Mummy with the cutest little Eiffel Towers and a couple of key fob kits from Earth Girl fabrics. I received the green one in my goodie bag and won the second one. I think the green one may find a new home with one of my green loving friends.

There are also a couple of smaller scraps of Saffron Craig fabrics there, which will certainly be put to good use - thanks Saffron - t'was lovely seeing you!

The patterns

There was also a good selection of patterns in our goodie bag from Vintage Ric Rac, Chasing Cottons, Pink Chalk Studios, Clare's Craftroom and my favourite, The Red Thread. I can't wait to make this super cute birdie cushion and have already gone through my scrap stash to collect my favourite fabrics to feature on it!

Now to the swap.

I scored a great haul from my swap buddies including the sweetest little flower pin cushion ever!!! from Sandy, lovely coasters from Jen, lavender bag from Susan, a sweet little patch worked bag from Leah (you can see I've already filled it with sewing bibs and bobs) and a pot holder from Wendy.

The purchases

A sewing get-together wouldn't be complete without buying a little extra fabric. These half meter pieces were purchased from Saffron Craig herself. The three bug prints, from her Beetle Bugs collection, have already been assigned to quilts for the boys and I've just received a fourth Saffron print to go with them. I'm not sure what I'll do with the other two, but I'm sure they won't go to waste.

I may have also just 'accidentally' purchased some coordinating fabric for the boys quilts from Hawthorne Threads with the last of my PlayPal money. I've been told it will ship tomorrow....

I also purchased a stack of goodies from Lisa of The Red Thread. I've been eyeing off the Ooshka pattern and Sweetie Petites for like, forever now. There's nothing like a discount and a little spending money in your wallet, to get you over the line with a purchase. The boys are super excited about their super hero toys and have already starting picking out fabric. Adele doesn't really care.

In between the sewing fun and the dinner fun, we stopped in to Kinokuniya book shop and I purchased this book. I've flicked through many Japanese sewing books, but this one by far, is the most adorable ever! Hopefully Adele will be big enough next summer to use some of these patterns. You can see more of the book here.

Lastly, how could I forget this....

It may look like a messy, scribbled on piece of tracing paper, but it's actually one of the things I'm most excited about from the event. One of the attendees of Sew it Together brought her treasured copy of the Village Frock. When I first saw it my heart skipped a beat. Who owned it? Could I trace it? What could I trace it with? I contemplated using my A4 Set It Together agenda, but thankfully Belinda offered her tracing supplies. In return, I traced her a size 3. Now I need to decide what fabric to use.....

So that's pretty much it. Thanks to all for the great day and a great dinner (forgot to mention we also went to the Belgium Beer Cafe for dinner - yum!). Thanks to Sheridan for organising and hope you're all rested up after all of the festivities. Check out the flickr page for more photos. Clearly, I didn't take my camera :)