7 reasons to book a trip to The Stitch Festival

Did you hear the news? The Spring Knitting & Stitching Show has had a revamp – and as if by magic, The Stitch Festival will be born. We’re busy planning our trip – not lease as it’s an excuse  to shop for new craft supplies (yes, yes we DO need more fabric). With exhibits, workshops and demos from leading names in the craft community, you can expect to be wowed and learn something new while you’re there.

Here’s our 7 top picks for this year’s Festival, plus scroll down find out how to save money on your tickets with our reader offer. Main image above: Sewyeah! Social Club will be joining Mollie Makes to inspire you to have fun with yarn at the Festival.

The Stitch Stage will be offering up a delicious dose of daily demos, presentations and Q&A’s famous faces from the knitting and sewing world. You can go along to any of them for free (once you’ve bagged your ticket of course) and the line up is pretty impressive! Among our top picks are The Great British Sewing Bee’s Esme Young, Sewing Quarter’s John Scott, Papershades founder Rosalind Freeborn and Ruby Lee from Made and Worn. We’re especially excited about the Upcycling challenge which will see makers turn an old outfit into something new.

If you can’t wait for this year’s new series of The Great British Sewing Bee, never fear! Get your sewing room fix with the Festival’s Dressmaking Competition. The show organisers have thrown open the invite to sewists to submit their me-made garments and they’ll be three categories of work on display at the show – Evening Wear, knitwear and Sustainable wearable art.

The Festival will be hosting 250 textile workshops, with the specialist The Dressmaking Studio showing you how to make your own clothes. Learn how to use an overlocker, needlefelt a fox, insert invisible zips or try crochet. Meanwhile the knit working lounge will offer you the chance to cast on and unwind.

Our top tip to look out for is the team behind new stitchery magazine Love Embroidery,  who’ll be holding workshops on how to master basic embroidery stitches and use your skills to make a pincushion.

Over 150 specialist craft exhibitors will be filling the show with haberdashery, thread and tools to boost your stitching space. Shop from over 150 specialist suppliers selling hand-dyed yarn and colourful hand printed fabrics, alongside many major brands and manufacturers. Treat yourself to a new sewing machine, stock up on embroidery threads, add to your fabric stash and load up on haberdashery.

We can’t wait to get stuck into the collection of costumes by The Great British Sewing Bee’s Esme Young  – she’ll be showcasing her costumes and designs which include the pyjamas from the first Bridget Jones movie. Find out more here.

Nothing brings us greater pleasure (it really doesn’t) than whiling away a few hours exploring textile exhibitions, and there are some gems lined up for Stitch Festival-goers. See a taster of the line up here. From Kaffe Fassett quilts to Olga Prinku needlework that wows, get ready to see some of the best craft showcases from the world of modern making.

The team behind Mollie Makes will be hosting displays from some of their most popular crochet contributors in the Curated by Mollie Makes zone, including Katie Jones, Sewyeah! Social Club (main image, above) and The Fibre lounge. Take part in a giant embroidery challenge, learn to make pom-poms or drop in to a handy crochet clinic.

The Stitch Festival takes place from 27th February – 1st March at The Business Design Centre in just 2 weeks. Kids go free so it’s a great excuse to gave a fun and colourful day out with your little ones and introduce them to your love of making.

Head to our Craft Events page for more upcoming diary dates!