The Show - Part 1

Typical, just as I get this blog started things get chaotic and I don't have time to post.

Six weeks ago now I found out that there was going to be a needlecraft show in Bakewell, hosted by Wye Needlecraft, so I went for a nosey at their website to find out more. It transpired that the idea behind the show, was that Wye were inviting all their suppliers along to take a stall at the show. I'm not one of their suppliers (yet) but having chatted to Dean (shop owner) in the past as a customer, I knew he wouldn't laugh at me if I asked about the possibility of taking a stall myself. So I made the phone call and he couldn't have been more keen!

My initial enquiries were just about the possibility of doing it, and the costs involved, but after a quick call to Wookiee to make sure he'd be ok with taking a couple of days off work to mind the munchkin, I called Dean back and put my name down.

That gave me 5 weeks in which to prepare for the show. That was the point at which I turned into a headless chicken and went into full panic mode. You see I don't keep stocks of fabric ready dyed, I keep small stocks of undyed fabric and dye it to order. However, for a show I needed stock, and display pieces.

The next few days were spent doing a stock take and then creating a huge spreadsheet, with colours down the side and fabric options and piece sizes across the top. Into the cells went the quantity of each option that I'd like to have. Various calculations were then set up to work out how many metres of each fabric I would need to have in order to produce all this stock, and how much that was going to cost. Next I rejigged the quantities down to figures that I could a) reasonably expect to dye over a four-week period and b) I could afford.

Dean had already offered to supply the raw fabric that I would need as he deals direct with Zweigart and would be able to chivvy them along to get the fabric out asap, so I called him up and placed an order for almost 90 metres of fabric!

TBC...