Growing sewing group move venue for first anniversary

The Material Girls, a group of stitchers from Portsmouth, will be meeting for their first project evening of 2016 at their brand new venue on February 25.
Material Girls members with some of their creationsMaterial Girls members with some of their creations
Material Girls members with some of their creations

The group celebrated their one-year anniversary in January with a change of venue to the Best Western Royal Beach Hotel in Southsea.

Pam Lander Brinkley, founder of Material Girls, said: ‘We had an amazing year in 2015. We grew our membership to over 40, had many regular visitors and received great praise for our novel approach to meetings.

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‘This year, we are keeping with the same format, welcoming some very famous and exciting members of the sewing community to come and speak to us and making Christmas decorations to donate to The Rowans Hospice towards the end of the year.’

Last Christmas, the group contributed to a collection of over 120 home-made bags that were sold by the Rocky Appeal, a charity that maintains services at Portsmouth Hospitals, at Queen Alexandra Hospital.

For its first meeting of 2016, Material Girls welcomed internationally-accredited sewing machine expert, Wendy Gardiner, ex-editor of Sewing World magazine.

‘We were delighted that Wendy was able to find the time in her busy schedule to come and see us,’ said Pam.

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‘Now we can channel the inspiration she gave us all into our project of making Christmas decorations to sell in aid of The Rowans Hospice.

‘We have kept the theme really broad so that people can make any type of decoration they want, using whatever kind of materials and techniques they prefer.

‘If people know what they want to do, they can bring their materials and kit, but for those less sure, we will be having demonstrations, sharing ideas and people to give advice and support.’

Material Girls meet on the fourth Thursday of the month from 7pm-9pm.

Visitors are always welcome for £5 on the door.

For more information go to facebook.com/MaterialGirlsPortsmouth.

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