Like last year, we’ll be holding a raffle at the SewBrum meet-up on 31st October. Raffle tickets are only on sale to attendees on the day of the meet-up and the raffle will be drawn in the afternoon at Guthrie & Ghani.

All money raised by the raffle, along with donations in exchange for tea and cake at Guthrie & Ghani, will be donated to the Made Up Initiative. Given that the sewing community is already backing the Initiative it seemed like the perfect charity. Made Up has already raised £2500 for the National Literacy Trust. Hopefully we’ll be able to help Karen add even more money to that total. If you’ve made a garment or accessory as a Made Up pledge why not wear it to the meet-up? It would be great to see some of those pledge garments in person.

Lots of companies have generously donated raffle prizes:

♥ Janome have donated an Overlocker! The model donated is the lovely Janome 6234XL Overlocker. The overlocker will be sent to the winner’s home so you don’t need to lug it home either:)

♥ Sew Essential have donated an Adjustoform Supafit Standard Dress Form. The dress form comes in four sizes so the winner will be able to select their preferred size.

♥ Lutterloh will be providing a demo of their pattern making system during the meet-up, and have donated a pattern making manual including tailor and designer curves and two rolls of drafting paper. Invented in the 1930s, the system uses the Golden Rule Principle to take key body measurements and scale different sewing patterns.

♥ Minerva Crafts have donated ten separate fabric bundles (approximately £20 each). Photos of a few bundles are below, and each one is different:)

♥ Girl Charlee UK have donated a bundle with 10 metres of assorted fabrics. (Fabrics included in the bundle are: Black Mustachio on White Cotton Jersey Blend Knit Fabric, Licorice Black Cotton Jersey Sweatshirt Fleece Knit Fabric, Turquoise Aztec Glyphs on Ivory Ponte de Roma Fabric, Grey Red Euro Floral Cotton Jersey Knit Fabric, Quatrefoil Samba Red Cotton Jersey Blend Knit Fabric, Black Mauve Scattered Spots Baby Hacci Sweater Knit Fabric, Mint Green Solid Cotton Spandex Knit Fabric, Deep Forest Cotton Modal Lycra French Terry Knit Fabric, Maya Stripe Azulon Coral Cotton Jersey Blend Knit Fabric, Heather Charcoal Grey Solid Cotton Spandex Knit Fabric).

♥ Dragonfly Fabrics have donated a Fat Quarters Bundle of Westfalenstoffe printed cottons.

♥ Tuttle have donated their two latest Japanese sewing books (two copies of each book), by Yoshiko Tsukiori, and by the Violette Room. I’ve already sewn a dress from my copy of Stylish Party Dresses and I’m a big fan.

♥ Clover have donated three sets of haberdashery supplies. (Each set contains one of the following: 9581 Flex ‘n Glide Bodkins, 9582 Clip ‘n Glide Bodkin, 9583 Elastic Lock Set, 3180 Wonder Clips (Neon Green/10 pcs.), 464/18 Bias Tape Maker (18 mm), 464/25 Bias Tape Maker (25 mm), 4713 Chaco Liner Pen Style (Yellow), 463 Seam Ripper).

♥ TOFT have donated two places on their ‘Learn to Crochet Amigurumi’ course. On the course you’ll learn the skills to crochet an animal from the Edward’s Menagerie collection, and will be supplied with tea and a cake;) TOFT have a number of possible dates coming up which the winner could select from, subject to availability (Sat 7th November (AM), Sat 9th January (AM), Sun 24th January (AM), Sat 6th February (AM)).

♥ Craftsy have donated a free class of the winner’s choice.

♥ Prym have donated sewing boxes filled with a range of sewing supplies.

♥ Quadrille Craft have donated two recent publications: by Amanda Riley, and  by Erika Knight. Simple Colour Knitting has some gorgeous home and accessory patterns – pictures below!

♥ Laurence King have donated four amazing books: by Samantha Elliott, by Anette Fischer, by Josephine Perry, and by Drusilla Cole. There is so much inspiration in these books!

♥ Pavilion & Batsford are donating five recent sewing books: , by Mariko Nakamura, by What Delilah Did, by Jane Brocket, and  by Lena Santana.

♥ Brityarn have donated one of their awesome printed canvas bags. Perfect for transporting your knitting or sewing project!

♥ Tickets to Crafts for Christmas, Stitching, Sewing & Hobbycrafts and Art Materials Live at the NEC, Birmingham. These pairs of tickets can be used any day of the show, which takes place 5-8 November 2015. In addition to lots of lovely stalls, the show will feature the world’s largest knitted Christmas tree (25 feet tall!) created by Allison Murray and 700 volunteer knitters, and a knitted Gingerbread Grotto, which includes a knitted bed, dresser, chairs, pictures, table and stove. 500 knitters around the world contributed to create the grotto to raise money for Great Ormond Street Hospital.

♥ Pompom Quarterly Summer 2014 issue I’m a Pompom subscriber and big fan. The donated issue includes 7 knitting/crochet patterns (including shawls, tops and a blanket), plus a tee sewing pattern.

Pictures of some of the prizes are included below. If you fancy joining us, you can sign-up for the meet-up here.

Janome 6234XL Overlocker

Images courtesy of Janome

Sew Essential Adjustoform Supafit Standard Dress Form

Minerva Crafts fabric bundles

Girl Charlee UK fabric bundle

Image courtesy of Girl Charlee

Tuttle by Yoshiko Tsukiori. My review of the book can be found here.

by the Violette Room.

Clover haberdashery supplies.

Quadrille Craft by Amanda Riley.

by Erika Knight.

Laurence King by Samantha Elliott.

by Anette Fischer.

by Josephine Perry.

by Drusilla Cole.

Brityarn printed canvas bag

Dragonfly Fabrics Fat Quarters Bundle of Westfalenstoffe printed cottons

Pavilion & Batsford 

by Mariko Nakamura

by What Delilah Did

by Jane Brocket

by Lena Santana.//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js