#TheBigSimplictyBlogMeet in Manchester

I was lucky enough recently to be one of the attendees of The Big Simplicity Blog Meet that took palace in Manchester on the 21st of May 2016.

I was a bit late to find out about it, and when I sent my email to express interest, I thought I might not get on it. But I got lucky and I was selected to go. I was so excited.

I got me meet May Martin! Can you believe that? Me and Gemma went there together (although she could not stay all day), we even had a plan to get some pictures of us and May Martin.

On the day I wore my dress that I made from a Simplicity pattern – Cynthia Rowley 1802 – which I blogged about here. I am really pleased that the dress still fits me Smile .I have to say this, May Martin is such a lovely person! We thought that she might not be as friendly as she is. She actually approached us before the workshops started and talked to us. WAW! I’ve learnt so many tips from her. I was making a list for stuff she talked to us about and I filled a page!? The whole experience was an interactive one, so we were able to ask May questions at any time. The meeting was informal and felt like I was meeting old friends.

Through the day May demonstrated techniques and:

told us about the five patterns she picked from Simplicity patterns to share with us
gave us some tips on how to deal with jersey and how to avoid the usual problems (wavy seams, skipped stitches), not to be afraid to use decorative stiches on hems
told us about how to make straps and turn them easily
shared a few tips on how/when to use the overlocker other than finishing seams
told us how to deal with curved seams and how to use interfacing
stressed the importance of using the right tools and quality materials
showed us how to insert an invisible zipper so that it looks prefect as well as how to set in a sleeve without having to use gathering stitches.
explained how to use bias tape instead of facings on some projects.
gave us a few tips on how to make covered buttons and sew them into our projects, etc.

I am really impressed with how much I was able to learn from May in just a few hours.

As well as meeting May Martin, I was glad to meet with some old friends such as Amy Thomas or Birdie. I finally met in person a few ladies, I knew from social media such as Colleen G Lea , @englishgirlathome, @helensewstylish or made new friends like @Harnatt , @rachel_wain or Gemma to name just a few.

And if this was not enough, to make the day even better, we received a bag full of patterns, a few haberdashery items some magazines (last issues of Love Sewing and Sew Magasine – I did not get the magasines as I already have the issues gifted, due to my subscriptions) and had some tasty cakes. On the day they launched a competition #SimplicitySewingChallenge (for details follow the link www.simplicitynewlook.com/sewingchallenge ). I chose to take three of the patterns in the competition. I am having a hard time deciding which one to make. Maybe all three? Hmm… The good thing about this is that I have plenty of time to decide before the deadline is up end of August.