On Friday 26th November I was lucky enough to go to the Christmas fayre held by Craft4Crafters at the Bath and West Showground in Shepton Mallet. I drove from my home in South Gloucestershire and was accompanied on my journey by gorgeously dramatic bright sunshine peeking out of the dark clouds, illuminating the green patchwork of Somerset countryside and the sheep and cows!
I’ve never been to this crafters’ craft fayre before although I’ve often wanted to. I just never had the time or spare cash. This year however, I was determined! Please indulge me in my photo dump and ramblings 🙂
There were many great craft retailers displaying their wares:
This was The Sewing Sanctuary. As you can see, they were giving sewing workshops. They also sell beautifully printed fabric, including some Beatrix Potter-inspired designs (LOVE) and rolls of waterproof material They were also selling gorgeous children’s clothes made of their fabric.
Some dreamy quilts on display. Fun fact: I started making my first patchwork quilt in 2016 and I still haven’t finished it. It’s a long story but I will go into it here at some point 🙂
Overhead view of all the stalls – more upstairs!
Brilliant retailer of cross stitch kits and supplies.
I particularly liked the farm animals and owls!
Their blackwork was what I loved the most!
I honestly think Pinflair should come with a government warning. Surely it’s illegal to have that many amazing panel fabrics of every subject imaginable? You can just about see on the left that they sell gorgeous quilted advent calendar kits. I was sorely tempted to buy one but decided to wait until I have kids! I had to be so strict with myself at this place!
I had to cave and treat myself to these 2 cotton half metres from them. Just look at how pretty they are!
Check out this buttony queen from The Button Box Devon!
I had a go at some crafts while I was there. They run short workshops all day which is the really awesome thing about it. You do have to pay £10-20 for most of them but I think they are worth it. First I did a wire angel using galvanised steel wire, taught by the wire artist Melanie Deegan.
Under the pliers you can see Melanie’s beautiful original celtic angel design. Here is my attempt! :
It’s a bit of a mess but I’m proud of it because I made it really quickly. Although I had help, I’d never worked with wire before so did a lot independently. I’ve been wanting to work with wire for ages and I immediately felt an affinity with this medium!
And then I made a beaten copper wire star with Holly Berkley. I was lucky enough to be the only student at the time (she was teaching this workshop nonstop to lots of people all day) so I had a one-to-one lesson with this great teacher and artist! Here was my set-up. Look at the cute lil anvil! I may have to buy one…
And this was the result! I found this workshop easy, even for me, and fun.
Last photo, a spinner from the Avon Guild of Spinners, Weavers and Dyers. I could watch her all day!
So that was my wonderful afternoon at Craft4Crafters in Shepton Mallet. Have any of you been to something like this? What did you think of it? Also, have any of my fellow stitchy bloggers tried wire work before? I’m definitely going to do more of it in the near future.
SheePearls 