Exciting News! We are sponsoring our first event! Come and join our sewing swap event at The Maybury Centre in Woking (Surrey, UK). Part of cataloguing your sewing stash is likely to lead to discovering pieces that you don’t plan to use. We’re hoping this event will be a good opportunity to refresh your stash plus a chance to meet fellow local sewing enthusiasts!
Date and time
Sat, 4 Nov 2023 13:30 – 16:30 GMT
Location
The Maybury Centre
27 Board School Road
Woking
GU21 5HD
Click here for Map
The Maybury Centre is 5 minutes walk from Woking train station and has car parking and disabled access.
How it works
Bring sewing supplies you won’t use and take home items that inspire you – simple! We won’t be issuing tokens or anything, so it’s a great opportunity to pick up some new fabric for free! We’re planning to lay out different tables to hold items of different categories:
- Quilting precuts and fabric remnants
- 1-2m lengths of fabric
- 2-3m cuts of fabric
- 3+m cuts of fabric
- Sewing patterns
- Notions/Haberdashery including fastenings, thread, trims, labels
- Tools
Top tips for sewing swaps
- Label your fabric with the length, width and content if you know it – this helps other swappers make their selection. You could try the new ‘Copy Info’ button in Stash Hub to share details directly from the app.
- Use a ribbon or a fabric scrap to tie your fabric into a bundle. This helps keep the tables neater and makes it easier to browse.
- Only bring items that are clean and in good condition that someone else would be able to use.
- Don’t get carried away – even though this is an opportunity to pick up loads of great sewing supplied for free, be realistic and only take what you will actually use.
- Stick around! This swap is on from 1:30pm to 4:30pm and people may arrive at different times. Everyone will bring different things to the table (literally) so you may find your dream fabric arrives later in the afternoon.
- Get social. We will be providing tea, coffee and cake to keep you going through the afternoon. This is a great opportunity to sit down and have a chat with people who live nearby and also love sewing. You could make some amazing new sewing friends!
For a good cause
Mel runs weekly dressmaking sessions for refugees at the GRA centre near Guildford. These sessions are incredibly popular, so the project is always in need of more supplies. I have had the pleasure of attending a few of these sessions myself and the residents have such a joyful time creating wonderful things. The tickets for this sewing swap event are free, with the option to make a donation towards the GRA refugee sewing project – Mel’s saving up for an overlocker. Unclaimed fabric left at the end of the swap will be used for the sewing sessions too, so nothing will go to waste.
If you’re interested in supporting this project with financial or fabric donations, please get in touch. We have a previous blog post with details of what to donate.
Future events
If you’d be interested in attending future sewing related events in Surrey, send an email to yvette@stashhubapp.com and I’ll email you details of the next events. You can also follow me on Instagram @blossomsandwich as I share details there and I can add you to the #SurreySews group chat.