Winners Galore!

The lovely Alice Blackledge, editor of Sew Hip, kindly drew the winners of our launch competetition for us.  As per the cheesy photo below!

The list of winners can be found here if your name is on the list please e-mail your full postal address through to fiona@thesewingdirectory.co.uk so we can send your prize out to you.

If you didn't win this time then don't forget that any unclaimed prizes will be drawn again next Wednesday so check back and see if you have won the second time around. Also you can enter our new prize draw here.

Did you know....

That these logos on the bottom of our site take you through to our blog, facebook group and twitter account.

Click on them to load and if you follow them you can get unique content that is not on the website, details of competitions and giveaways and be kept updated with details of what is happening on the site, new additions, changes, how to use the site etc.

We welcome feedback so please give us comments and feedback on any of the above or through the contact form on the site.

Focus on.....

Focus on....sew make believe


Sew make believe is a ‘superclub’ for people with an interest in all types of crafts, be it quilting, patchwork, softies, clothing, embroidery or paper crafts. Not only do they have a physical club that you can attend (£7 per month) in Warwickshire, but they also run a virtual club so people can participate all over the country. They also run a book club too. Sewing and books...what more could you want!

Sew make believe also welcome submissions to their blog, giving you the opportunity to share patterns, show others your creations or to talk about any crafts that interest you. Please visit their blog - http://sewmakebelieve.wordpress.com to find out more.

Their regularly updated blog a great mix of news, craft projects, tips and informative articles. Subjects covered include dressmaking, felt brooches, books, sock toys, embroidery and much more. So if you are feeling creative, looking for inspiration or just want to find a good book to read sew make believe is the place to go.

Free Patterns

Wouldn’t it be great is someone spent hours on end searching through all the sewing related sites on the internet to find free sewing patterns and projects? Wouldn’t it be even better it they put all those projects and patterns on one site, sorted by topic so you can easily find whatever you wanted?


Well the great news is that someone has! Not just one person either, there are now a few sites out there with hundreds, sometimes thousands of free patterns and projects so why not save money and use a free pattern today?

Here are our top 3 free pattern sites:

1) Free Needle – http://www.freeneedle.com/

Free Needle currently have over 1,700 free patterns and projects broken down into multiple categories making it easy to find what you need. They are constantly adding new patterns and test the links of the existing patterns to stop you clicking on dead links.

The categories are detailed on the front page, you then select the desired category to bring up a list of links. You also have the option of viewing the most recent or most popular links.

This easy to use site also allows you to rate the patterns or comment on them to help other users. You can also add patterns to your favourites or add your own personal notes to it. The site links you through to the website that contains the free pattern.

2) Angel Fire – http://www.angelfire.com/planet/mcshelpsite/sewingstuff/freepatterns.html

Slightly less user friendly than Free Needle as all the links are on the front page making it look a bit jumbled, angel fire still offers a huge range of free patterns.

Some of the links take you through to the websites containing the pattern, the others open up the pdf pattern, which makes it easy to save to your own computer, or to print. All pdf patterns are clearly marked.

There is also a section of links that take you through to help guides to give advice on patterns, fabrics, fitting, machine tips and more.

3) About.com – http://sewing.about.com/od/freeprojects/u/freepatternbyskilllevel.htm
Patterns and projects are sorted by expertise level as well as a few other broad categories eg. Home decoration, children’s etc. Unlike the sites above the patterns do not link through to another site, they have all been contributed to about.com by the authors so you remain on the same site throughout. There are photos to help guide you through each stage of the process.

For those of you who are also looking for free knitting patterns or crochet why not try:

Crochet

http://www.afghansnmore.com/free-crochet-patterns/

http://crochet.about.com/od/freepatterns/Free_Patterns_Directory.htm

http://www.crochetpatterncentral.com/directory.php

Knitting

http://www.knittingpatterncentral.com/directory.php

http://www.knittinghelp.com/patterns

http://knitting.about.com/od/knittingpatterns/Knitting_Patterns_and_Instructions.htm


If you have come across any other good free pattern site please let us all know in the comments on this article.

Enter now...

Our launch competition is now open!!

We launch next Thursday at the Sewing For Pleasure event and will be taking entries to the comptition there but for those of you who are not able to attend we are now taking online entries to the competition.  Please e-mail the information below to fiona@thesewingdirectory.co.uk before 8pm on Saturday 27th March

Name:
E-mail:
Town/City:
Preferred type of sewing: eg. embroidery, quilting etc

Rules of entry:
You can enter online or in person at the Sewing For Pleasure event. To enter online please send the information above by e-mail or through the contact form on the site. All online entries must be received by 8 pm on Saturday 27th March 2010. Entries in person must be received by 4pm on Sunday 28th March 2010. Prizes will not be shipped outside the UK. Prizes are limited to one per household. Friends and family of the owner of The Sewing Directory are not eligible to participate in this competition. No multiple entries please!

Winners will be drawn at random at the Sewing For Pleasure event on Sunday 28th and winners details will be posted on the website (name and location not e-mail address) the next day. If you have won one of the prizes you need to claim it by sending through your full address so we can ship the prize out to you. You need to e-mail it from the e-mail address you gave when entering the competition so we can confirm we are sending the prizes to the correct person. Any prizes not claimed by midnight on the 5th April will be re-drawn so if you don’t win the first time check back a week later and you may still get a prize.

Competition prizes

You can enter our launch competition as of today, above are the details of how to enter.  We have so many prizes up for grabs I thought it best to summarise them here for you:

Janome BCC-30 sewing machine – provided by The Sewing Machine Shop

Sewing basket full of goodies –provided by Abakhan

Annual subscription to Sewing World Magazine – provided by Sewing World

Sewing Kit worth £80 – provided by Korbond

Kids Learn to sew kit- Cute Cupcakes– provided by Stitchclub

Kids Learn to sew kit- Love Hearts– provided by Stitchclub

Kids Learn to sew kit- Tiny Teddy– provided by Stitchclub

Selection of fabrics – provided by Makower

How to Make a Pleated Skirt – provided by DIY Couture

How To Make a Cloak –provided by DIY Couture

How to Make a Gathered Dress – provided by DIY Couture

Fabulous Bags to Stitch & Make by Jenny Rolfe – provided by Search Press

Sew Liberated by Meg McElwee – provided by Search Press

Compendium of Sewing Techniques by Lorna Knight – provided by Search Press

The Sewing Bible-Curtains by Wendy Gardiner – provided by RU Craft.co.uk

The Sewing Bible-Slipcovers by Wendy Gardiner – provided by RU Craft.co.uk

Home Sweet Sewn by Alice Butcher & Ginny Farquhar – provided by RU Craft.co.uk

Free & Easy Stitch Style by Poppy Treffry – provided by RU Craft.co.uk

Fast Fabric Gifts by Sally Southern – provided by RU Craft.co.uk

We would like to say a big thank you to all companies who have kindly provided the prizes for this competition.

Plenty more prizes will follow in our regular competitions through this blog so why not become a follower now and make sure you're kept updated.

Launch competition

More prizes for our launch competition have kindly been donated by Stitchclub - http://www.stitchclub.co.uk/ - one of our site sponsors.  Stitchclub will be providing 3 kids learn to sew kits - Cute Cupcakes, Love Hearts and Tiny Teddy.

As sponsors Stitchclub will also be donating regular prizes throughout the year so check back for your chance to win more in the future.  Visit Stitchclub's website to find a great range of sewing kits, equipment, accessories and books as well as details of sewing classes.

We will be releasing details of all the prizes that can be won in our launch   competition along with details of how to enter in the next couple days and will be taking entries from then until the end of the Sewing For Pleasure event (28th March). 

There is a great selection of prizes up for grabs so make sure you get your entry in before the deadline.  If you don't win this time, don't worry our contributors and sponsors will be providing prizes on a regular basis to make sure you check back to take part in our regular competitions.

Welcome Makower

Makower fabrics are now sponsors of The Sewing Directory and have provided fabrics as prizes for our launch competition.  Makower offer a great range of 100% cotton fabrics for quilters. As well as providing us with a prize for our launch competition they will also be providing fabrics on a regular basis as competition prizes.

You can find out more about Makower here: http://www.makoweruk.com/

Focus on.....

Each week we will be choosing on of the businesses/groups listed on the site to feature in more detail on the blog.  Allowing you to find out a bit more about what they do and to see pictures of their products/work.  This week we will be focusing on Injabulo.

Focus on....  


Injabulo provide fair trade South African buttons, beads and sewing/knitting accessories. Their unusual name is the Zulu word for happiness and that is what they bring to the artists who design and produce the products sold through the site.

Their products include a great range of quirky buttons, my personal favourites being the pictured handmade ceramic Fun Navy Cat Buttons a bargain at only £4.25; they would jazz up any outfit.

You can also find ceramic hearts, silk flower corsages, a range of baskets, beautiful handmade beads plus cross stitch and patchwork patterns and kits all at affordable prices.

The company was formed when founder Chrissie Sherwood and her husband returned after living in Johannesburg for three years.

Wanting to help fight back against poverty and spotting the intrinsic creativity out there the idea of Injabulo was formed. Ensuring that they pay a fair price for their products Injabulo are helping people in South Africa and Botswana learn new skills and support their families. In addition Injabulo is a great supporter of children’s charity Pebbles and sponsors two children as well as running other initiatives to help the children.

There is a great section on the site that allows you the read about the people who create these inspirational products, and see the faces behind the products. Furthermore by looking through the gallery section you can see the creations that other customers have made with their Injabulo purchases to help inspire your own projects.

It’s good to know that you can buy such beautiful things and do good at the same time!

Welcome Korbond

We are happy to welcome another site sponsor, Korbond.  http://www.korbond.co.uk/

Korbond supply a wide range of haberdashery, craft and sewing supplies to retailers and consumers.  Each Korbond product has been carefully selected from expert manufacturers across the globe, with the sole purpose of providing quality products to ensure complete consumer satisfaction, at the best possible prices.   Find out more by visiting Korbond's website - http://www.korbond.co.uk/

Korbond are kindly donating an £80 sewing kit for our launch along with several other kits throughout the year as competition prizes so you will have plenty of chances to get your hands on one of these kits. 

Welcome Abakhan

We would like to welcome Abakhan as our new site sponsors, joining the ranks of Sewing World magazine, ICHF, Stitchclub, Makower and The Sewing Machine shop.  Abakhan have kindly donated a sewing basket filled with sewing supplies for the launch competition and will be providing more prizes on a monthly basis.

Abakhan supply fabrics, patterns, sewing accessories, haberdashery, hobby supplies and kits, knitting yarn and accessories and much more.  They also offer workshops and courses.  They sell online and through their 7 shops in North Wales, Lancashire and Cheshire.  Please visit their site - http://www.abakhan.co.uk/ to view their full range of products.

You can find out more about all of our sponsors on the sponsors section of the website.

Thank you David & Charles

More sewing books have kindly been given as launch prizes, this time by the lovely people at David and Charles (http://www.rucraft.co.uk/)

For you chance to win a copy of Fast Fabric Gifts, The Sewing Bible: Curtains, The Sewing Bible: Slipcovers, Home Sweet Sewn or Free & Easy Stitch Style keep and eye out for details of our launch competition or come and visit us on stand P11 at the Sewing For Pleasure event.  Only 3 weeks to go...

To see the full range of David & Charles' sewing and craft books please visit http://www.rucraft.co.uk/

Thank you Search Press

The kind people at Search Press have agreed to provide a book per month for us to giveaway to one of our lucky followers.  The books will tie in the subjects covered in the articles on the site and discussed on the blog,Facebook and Twitter.

Not only that but they have provided 3 books for our launch competition on 25th March and later in the year they will be giving away £40 worth of books to celebrate their 40th Birthday.  Please visit their website http://www.searchpress.com/ to find out more about their range.