Harrogate – Feltmakers Ireland

Recap: Knitting and Stitching Show 2023 – Part 3

Published on Nov 20, 2024Nov 17, 2024 by Feltmakers Ireland

Last November, several members from Feltmakers Ireland attended The Knitting and Stitching Show in Harrogate, UK. This is our third and final installation by long-time guild member Breda Fay. For information about this year’s event, visit the Show’s website – https://www.theknittingandstitchingshow.com/harrogate/

By Breda Fay

Visiting Harrowgate – Knitting and Stitching Show

My November outing to Knitting and Stitching Show 2023 in Harrogate (second year) was really enjoyable. I stayed at The Crown Hotel, very close to the exhibition centre.

A drawing of the Crown Hotel in Harrogate.

Lots of highlights – the company was great. Just like last year, it was lovely to sample life in an English town for a day or two – the retail therapy was great, especially in the Vintage shops! And well done to those who chose our restaurants – the fare was delicious and so different. I even got to Betty’s for my breakie on the last day – always a treat in Harrogate.

Exhibitions Seen

I thought the standard of the exhibitions this year was far superior to last year – or maybe they just appealed to me more – the one on Domestic Violence was particularly evocative: touching and emotive messages embroidered on everyday cleaning cloths/dusters. The ‘Women & Domesticity – What’s your Perspective?’ is a collaborative arts project, started by artist and academic Vanessa Marr in 2014. The collection is growing and is currently over 700 dusters.

More info on the Duster Project here – https://domesticdusters.wordpress.com/about-this-project/

The Embroidery Guild, as usual, had a wonderful display of both skill and creativity within their craft. The Quilt exhibition again was a display of their members’ interpretations of many current issues.

This year I intended to be very disciplined about my spending! – I had a list of items I definitely wanted to buy – attachments for my sewing machine, some Wensleydale curly locks and fabric scraps. I certainly bought more than that but was pleased with my ability to say NO.

I was not as happy this year with the range of the workshops and certainly planned to limit the number – last year I ran from one to the next with little time to catch my breath. So I chose 2 workshops.

Classes Attended

Machine embroidery – with Tyvek: It was the machine embroidery aspect that attracted me to this workshop. Unfortunately the emphasis was on tyvek – an iron on fabric which reacts to heat. It was interesting, but the limited availability of irons meant long times queueing. I’m not sure I’ll ever use it. I did get to try out machine embroidery; but actually learned more from a fellow student than from the facilitator.

Someone else’s Tyvek leaf as Breda’s got crushed in her luggage on the return journey.

Embroidery Techniques: A recently graduated embroidery student delivered this workshop – embroidering a Luna Moth using four basic stitches. The tutor was very well prepared this time, but I don’t think she factored in the different skill sets of the group. About halfway through the workshop she admitted that we would not complete the project, but she would show us the stitches – stem stitch and backstitch which I already knew. But it was great to see how finely she worked; goldwork and Turkish Rug Knot, which I’d never heard of. Luckily, we were given a wonderful little manual with which I was able to complete my Moth at home.

Butterfly from Breda’s embroidery class.

I think we in Feltmakers Ireland do very well in choosing well-prepared tutors with teaching skills.

Thank you, Breda for sharing your experiences at The Knitting and Stitching Show 2023 in Harrogate.

If you are a Feltmakers Ireland Guild member and have recently attended an interesting textile-related event or exhibition that may be of interest to our readers, please contact the blog – feltmakersie@gmail.com

Disclaimer for Feltmakers Ireland Blog

Feltmakers Ireland aims to share information about awards, education, events, exhibitions, and opportunities that you will find interesting. Our sharing is neither paid for by nor an endorsement of these individuals or organisations.

Contact Us: If you have any concerns about content, please email us at feltmakersie@gmail.com.

Questions: For questions about content, please follow the link to the organisation involved in hosting the event.

Recap: Knitting and Stitching Show 2023 – Part 2

Published on Nov 19, 2024Nov 17, 2024 by Feltmakers Ireland

This is the second of a three-part series about Guild members’ experiences at The Knitting and Stitching Show of 2023 in Harrogate, UK. Naturally, the exhibitions and vendors may be different this year! This year’s event in Harrogate opens on Thursday, the 21st and runs through the 24th of November. For more information, visit the Show’s website – https://www.theknittingandstitchingshow.com/harrogate/

By Lorna Cady

Feltmakers visit to Knitting and Stitching Show, Harrogate

Four of us – Annika Berglund, Lorna Cady, Dee Crofts, and Breda Fay went to the Knitting and
Stitching Show 2023, in Harrogate, North Yorkshire. We were there as visitors – rather than having a stall or running demonstrations.

We set off on Wednesday, 15th November, on a small Aer Lingus Regional plane departing Dublin at 06.40am to Leeds Bradford Airport! A bus journey took us to Harrogate. This is a beautiful spa town with elegant Regency houses, a Pump House to take the excellent Waters of the town, tea shops, parks, antique shops, and charity/secondhand shops whose wares rival the contents of Brown Thomas. On this first day, we saw Harrogate itself, as The Knitting and Stitching did not open till the next day. A glorious day was spent seeing a lot of the lovely town and finding some wonderful bargains, bearing in mind that we still had Knit and Stitch to come and considerations of baggage allowance on the way home!

That night, we dined in an Indian Restaurant, which was like a Mughal palace with dishes to match. We had a mixture of hotel accommodation and a neat little Airbnb near the town centre.

The Knitting and Stitching Show

The next morning, it was Knit and Stitch!! The Conference Centre, where it was held, was open from 9 AM – 6 PM, and we were there for every minute! Annika and Breda had booked workshops for that day, and the next, Dee and Lorna went around the show all day, albeit we could gather for refreshments from time to time, to ensure we did not collapse.

The stalls were many and varied, selling fabric by the yard, wool, exotic buttons, embroidery
materials etc. In addition, they had a large exhibition space where artists, weavers, and other makers could exhibit their marvellous works. There were also displays of amazing works from students at local art colleges. We were all tempted to buy a few lovely things!

Some of the Artwork Seen

More Fun

We were about the last to leave the show and went to a lovely pub across the road from the Conference Centre with its own microbrewery. We then ate at an excellent Italian restaurant next door, which had Venetian cuisine, which was really good and quite different from most Italian Restaurants. That night, back at the house, we just about had the energy to have a glass of wine – the first night, after the early start – we were dead on our feet at 9 PM.

On Friday, Annika and Breda headed off to more workshops at The Knit and Stitch, Dee to
explore more of Harrogate, and Lorna headed to Leeds to begin the grand tour of restored Mills in the North of England to get ideas for Kilmainham Mill at home.

Thank you, Lorna, for sharing your experiences at The Knitting and Stitching Show 2023 in Harrogate.

Disclaimer for Feltmakers Ireland Blog

Contact Us: If you have any concerns about content, please email us at feltmakersie@gmail.com.

Questions: For questions about content, please follow the link to the organisation involved in hosting the event.

Recap: Knitting and Stitching Show 2023 – Part 1

Published on Nov 18, 2024Nov 17, 2024 by Feltmakers Ireland

This year’s Knitting and Stitching Show in Harrogate opens on Thursday, the 21st and runs through the 24th of November.

Back in November 2023, several guild members attended The Knitting and Stitching Show in Harrogate.

Member Annika Berglund brings you today’s post from her visit last year. In the following days, we will have two additional posts from members. Naturally, the exhibitions and vendors may be different this year! For more information about the event, visit the Show’s website – https://www.theknittingandstitchingshow.com/harrogate/

By Annika Berglund

Knit and Stitch in Harrogate

Harrogate is a lovely little town with friendly people and an astonishing array of second-hand and vintage shops to browse in when you are not at the Knit and Stitch show.

At the Knit and Stitch, there are lovely exhibitions of textile work, endless shopping opportunities and a range of workshops.

Fun with Favourite Feet

I did one sewing workshop. It was about different presser feet for the sewing machine and how they can help improve your sewing.

These feet have little inbuilt guides that help you sew at a precise distance from an edge or support the edge of the fabric to make zigzagging the edge of the fabric neater. During the workshop, we got to play around with the different presser feet and see how useful they can be. After returning from the show, I have used a wider selection of feet in my sewing, and I can see the difference.

Barking Mad

This mixed media and embroidery workshop, Barking Mad, was taught by Alysn Midgelow Marsden and inspired by the tree bark.

Her art website – – https://www.alysnmidgelowmarsden.com/
Her courses and supplies website – https://www.takingtextilesfurther.com/

Mixed media textile sample made during the workshop.

We cut bits of fabric and dyed paper, adding them to a fabric background. We also used scraps of light metal from Nespresso coffee pods and cat food packets, where we scored patterns into the metal and dyed it with alcohol inks. Then, we made beads from the metal scraps or sewed the scraps directly onto the piece we were working on. I found this workshop very interesting, giving me ideas to incorporate more mixed media into my work going forward.

Thank you, Annika, for sharing your experiences at The Knitting and Stitching Show 2023 in Harrogate.

If you are a Feltmakers Ireland Guild member and have recently participated in or attended an interesting textile-related event or exhibition that may be of interest to our readers, please contact the blog – feltmakersie@gmail.com

Disclaimer for Feltmakers Ireland Blog

Contact Us: If you have any concerns about content, please email us at feltmakersie@gmail.com.

Questions: For questions about content, please follow the link to the organisation involved in hosting the event.

Event: Knitting & Stitching Show Harrogate

Published on Jul 31, 2023Jul 20, 2023 by Feltmakers Ireland

Ticket sales for the Knitting & Stitching Show in Harrogate, UK, have opened up.

The event has textile-related merchandise from over 200 exhibitors, textile exhibitions from international artists, over 200 crafting workshops, and free demonstrations.

The event runs from the 16th – 19th of November, 2023.

For more information, visit their website – https://www.theknittingandstitchingshow.com/harrogate/