There was also a little bit of added pressure because our booth won "Best Small Exhibit" at last year's Fair, so we felt like we had to make it even better this time.

It was definitely a team effort. Alison's long-suffering husband Greg took care of the logistics of getting everything to the convention centre, and he only complained mildy ;-)

As well as working on the stand for 4 out of the 5 days, Jenny (Alison's Mum), also sewed the fascia cover for us out of end of bolt pieces, as well as all our bunting & tablecloths. She also made the two gorgeous dresses that were hanging up at the end of the fascia.



The fourth person manning the booth was Ari, who regularly helps us in the Studio packing orders. She also came in at the last minute on the day before load-in to cut and fold a gazillion fat quarters as we were a little behind. She's pretty awesome like that!

This year we had two more paper patterns from Emmaline Bags - the Spring Sling & the Butterfly Sling. One of our lovely customers Beverley from Beverley Power Handmade whipped up the Butterfly Sling display bag and she also also finished off my Spring Sling which I ran out of time to bind.

We were lucky to have very talented Rachael from Sew Today, Clean Tomorrow create some great quilt patterns for us, so we had lots of display quilts to pretty up the walls, as seen below. The quilt kits for all these are now available through our website too.



One of the best things about the Craft Fair is seeing customers from last year come back and show off the items they made from patterns they bought from us previously. I was blown away by this Necessary Clutch Wallet, the customer made the fabric herself! So detailed and so beautiful. I'm disappointed I didn't get the lady's name. If you made this wallet, or if you know the person that did, please let me know so I can credit her!



I spent a lot of time on a new hardware display board, spacing out and labelling all the items evenly. Halfway through the first day there were multiple gaps on the board - we had sold out of several items already! And it continued that way for the rest of the show with gaps appearing everywhere on the display. Lesson learnt - when you think you have enough hardware for a Craft Fair, double it - then add 10 more of each just in case...

I'll leave you now with a picture of Alison and I smiling awkwardly in bad lighting. Doesn't the fabric look great? :-P

Wowee, we have received over 10 entries already! So much fun seeing the photos of all the pretty wallets coming in.

Seeing as so many of our wonderful customers make these purses to sell and/or have a sewing blog, we are adding a second category for business/blog entries. There is also a prize for this category, a $50 gift voucher.

I just quickly want to clarify a few conditions, in answer to some questions we've received:

Category #1 - Personal entries

- One entry per person in this category.
- If you have a business/blog you can still put in a personal entry, but no logos, watermarks or any obvious references to your business/blog are permitted on your photos.
- If you become a finalist in this category you are welcome to share on your personal social media accounts, but you are NOT allowed to share asking for votes on your business social media/blog etc. This is to make it fair for other finalists who do not have access to a huge audience to request votes from.
- Finalists will remain anonymous on the voting pages until after voting has closed.

Category #2 - Business/Blog entries

- One entry per person in this category
- Logos, watermarks etc. permitted on your photos and we will link to your page/blog on the voting page if you become a finalist
- Share as much as you like on your business/blog social media. Don't forget to use the has tag #sewandtellcomp

I hope that covers it. The contest is still open for entries until the 10th May, so it's definitely not too late to start. Don't forgot you can use the code SEWANDTELL to get 15% off your twist lock until 3rd May. To browse our twist locks click on the image below:

We are very excited to introduce Sew + Tell Sewing Contests!

Do you love sew?
Do you have a competitive streak?
Would you like to win a $75 voucher to spend in our store?

If you answered yes to all three questions, read on.

For the first contest you need to sew an NCW (Necessary Clutch Wallet by Emmaline Bags). The only requirement is that it must feature one of our twist locks.

Slight modifications to the pattern are permitted, it does not have to be exactly as per pattern (e.g. you can add/change pockets, remove the border etc.)

Don't already have one of our twist locks? Use the discount code SEWANDTELL to get 15% off a twist lock, valid until 3rd May. Browse our range of twist locks here.

Need to get the pattern? We have the paper version in our store (please allow 3-5 days for postage), or you can purchase a downloadable PDF directly from Emmaline Bags.

Entries close Sunday 10th of May, so still plenty of time to get sewing!

Please send clear photos of the exterior and interior of your NCW to sewandtell@sewcreativesupplies.com.au. You can also enter using the hash tag #sewandtellcomp via Facebook or Instagram. Entries close Sunday 10th May.

**UPDATED : We've added a second category for business/blog entries. You may enter once in each category.

Business/Blog entries are allowed to have your businesses logos/watermarks etc on the photos.

Personal entries are NOT permitted to have logos, watermarks or any obvious references to your business on them**

Feel free to post a sneak peak on Instagram or Facebook using hash tag #sewandtellcomp.

We will select 6-10 finalists. Finalists will be announced on our Facebook page on Monday 11th May. Voting will take place from 6am Tuesday 12th May until midnight Thursday 14th May (AWST). The winner, as voted by the public, will receive a $75 gift voucher to use in-store at www.sewcreativesupplies.com.au.

**UPDATED : We will select 6-10 finalists in each category:

Category 1: Personal Entries
-If you become a finalist in this category you are welcome to share on your personal social media accounts, but you are NOT allowed to share asking for votes on your business social media/blog etc. This is to make it fair for other finalists who do not have access to a huge audience to request votes from.
- Finalists will remain anonymous on the voting pages until after voting has closed.

Category 2: Business Entries
- If you become a finalists in this category you may share as much as you like on your business/blog social media.**

If you have any questions regarding contest rules, please contact us at sewandtell@sewcreativesupplies.com.au.

Can't wait to see what you create!

Happy Sewing xx
- Shelley & Alison

The pattern is the Ladies Skater Skirt from Pattern Emporium. Fabric is Joel Dewberry's Birch Farm in Cotton Sateen in Hydrangea Egg Blue & Sage. Despite the cotton sateen being a slightly thicker fabric, it drapes beautifully as you can see.

The skirt on the right uses our Teal-Blue Soft Waistband Elastic. Co-incidently it is a perfect match for the fabric (don't you love it when that happens)!

Oh, and look - this one even has pockets! This pic is also a good example of how crisp and vibrant the colours are on the cotton sateen.



Unfortunately, we could not convince Nanna J to model the skirts herself, but I can assure you, Nanna rocks in her skater skirt!