Sew Saturday: Behind the Seams

We stopped by for a cuppa with Coast & Country Crafts & Quilts to chat about Sew Saturday!

For those of you not in the know, Sew Saturday is an exciting annual campaign that supports the craft industry's independent retailers. On 6th October, shops from all across the UK will join the event by holding their own stitchy celebrations alongside dedicated customers and new visitors! Our exclusive unicorn mascot is going to be galloping around each store, and some shops will be whipping up a batch of goodies for customers to delve into on the day. Amongst those taking part is Sally Snapes, the owner of Coast & Country Crafts & Quilts which is located between Truro and Falmouth. We chatted to Sally to get the low-down on what this event means for her business and the importance of shopping local.

In 2009, Sally took her pop-up shop to the next level when she set up a permanent store: “I started as a mobile shop in 2003, and at the time, I had young children, so it was easy to organise the business around school and holidays.” One of her regular pop-up locations was in a church room near Penzance and, because her parents lived nearby, Sally's mum would serve tea and coffee to the customers. Sally tells us how far her business has come over the years: “My first shop started with just seven bolts of fabric and three baskets of fat quarters, and now it has over a thousand bolts! My store started off as a small 'country style' shop, but now we stock a huge range of fabrics, patterns, books and buttons from all around the world!”

Customers are what makes Sew Saturday so special; to help sewers choose their fabric and share sewing wisdom is a heart-warming experience for the shop owners as well as the customers, and Sally agrees: “I like that our customers can be local shoppers or ones from further afield – people from Australia, Canada, USA and New Zealand have visited us before! We often receive notes from customers from all walks of life thanking us for our fabric and service.” Coast & Country Crafts & Quilts also offer guidance, expertise and a friendly atmosphere: “We have eight regular groups running every month where ladies come to meet like-minded stitchers and sew with our help if required. Some of these women have made strong friendships – you'd think they had been best friends for years! It's the support of these wonderful customers that stores will be able to continue offering people a place to fulfil their 'quilty' pleasures!”

With Sew Saturday just around the corner, we can barely contain our excitement and neither can Sally: “This stitchy event is a great day for treating our customers – we will be offering 10% off our products, a goodie bag tombola, limited edition kits, a raffle in aid of Cancer Research UK, live demonstrations and so much more!”