What exactly are swaps?

Hi Anne, welcome to the site! =]

Basically you team up with a partner and make them something according to the swap theme, then post it to them and they do the same for you. It's loads of fun and you can make many new friends that way. The best swap to start with is the <a href="http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/board/swapping/swap_shop/4913-newbie-vs-vet-swap-new-again/page/1?ref=ts">Newbie VS Vet Swap</a>, as many other swaps require you to have participated in this one first.

There is usually a deadline for sending out, but for the Newbie VS Vet Swap you decide because you are new to swapping, and you also don't have a specific theme. You speak to your partner to find out what they like, then make them something you think they'll like.

I hope this helped! Feel free to ask any questions if you still don't understand something about swapping. =]

Thanks for the clarification! As someone who's also new to CO+K, i was really unsure on this too. And thanks Anne for posting the topic in the first place (:

Tyvm Rawr Rawr! That was super helpful. But, I do have a question, how exactly do you send? PM your address or do you actually have to meet in person?

You simply PM your address. I've had a partner in Hawaii and in Seattle so there's not way I'd be able to meet with them lol. I don't think there's a large chance of meeting someone on this site but perhaps on one of the larger swapping sites...

Ah great thanks. I think I have it figured out now. If I went and asked for a pokemon swap, then I might make a hat for someone, and they might make a wallet for me, and then we swap emails and send the creations. Sounds fun, hope I can do one someday!

I was going to host a Pokemon Swap in the middle of September actually =] If you want to wait until then, I'll gladly be your partner! Otherwise you can post in the Newbie VS Vet swap thread when you sign up that you want a Pokemon themed swap

Caution to everyone!
Swapping is addictive
Joss I would totally be interested in the pokemon swap your thinking about hosting! Sounds like fun!

Thanks Pam! I was thinking of making signups until 30 September and the semd-out dare around the 20 November because my AS-Level final exams start on the 10th. Do you think that's okay?

Thanks rawr for the offer but I need to get better at my crafting first... My designs are sketchy at best D=

People on this site don't judge anyone on their crafting abilities, we love anything we receive!

Spoken like a true crafter Rawr.Rawr!
We only see the thought & love & care & swearing at yet another stuck finger thats been poured in to the thing we've received - it makes us blind to the wonky seam and the offcentre button...lol

I'm sure everyone worries about their swap items not being good enough at some point (I know I regularly do, especially when I'm paired with someone who obviously knows what they're doing ;) but please don't let nerves put you off Anne. Give it a go, you might surprise yourself! I putoff signing up for swapping for ages, then when I finally did it, everyone was lovely. I've "met" so many wonderful people and picked up so many helpful tips and ideas, its a great site to be part of!!

I hope we can convince you to join in with the swaps! A word of warning though: its addictive!! I now have to hide my postage receipts from my OH....

OH, AND COUNT ME IN FOR A POKEMON SWAP!!

Aw, thanks guys. You make me feel so much better about my horrible sewing =P

I'd love to do a swap but, well, I doubt my dad would want me to. I'd be sending out my address, and he'd be saying its not very safe, even though it seems fairly safe..

Besides, I can't really make anything other then felt creations, so I should try to branch out before I ask. Maybe if I make enough examples I can convince him, it seems so much fun..

What would be some beginner fabrics to work with other then felt?

Anne, I'm not sure exactly what age you are, but you sound like you're round about the age of my kids (12 & 16).
I'm glad you're sensible enough not to just hand your address out and I'm sure you're dad will respect your responsible attitude on that.

I can only suggest what we tell our two : never give out personal details unless an adult oks it first.
Perhaps when you feel like you might be ready to swap you could show him around the site and explain what you'd like to do? And tell him that you understand that you do have to be careful. You could even introduce him to the idea now by showing him some of the cool projects and swaps going on.
Perhaps you could get him to agree some rules with you, like he has to ok a swap before you can do it, or that you'll only swap with kids your own age, that sort of thing.

In the meantime, keep crafting, keep posting on the boards and keep sharing your projects

Another idea to try before you swap is to try a challenge.
You can take part in challenges set on the challenge board, alternatively you could ask someone to complete it along with you.
It works like a swap but without the swapping! You both decide what the challenge will be - a plushie from your favourite movie, a piece of jewellery made from things you find around the house, a new flavour of cupcake....anything! Then when you both complete you can post pics of your makes. (plus you get to keep the awesome thing you made!)


As for beginner fabrics, avoid anything stretchy or very shiny to start with. Very thick fabric is also harder to sew. Regular cotton is good, and you can get it in allsorts of colours and patterns. Most fabric shops will sell as little as 10cm of whatever the width is. Also a lot of places will sell something called a "fat quarter" - if you buy a quarter of a metre, thats what you'll get - 25cm of whatever width the roll is (giving you a long thin rectangle) whereas a fat quarter is exactly that - its a metre of fabric cut in half then half again (a quarter - giving you a squarer more useable piece) If you feel you need your fabric to be firmer, you can always stiffen it with interfacing. The best kind to get is fusible interfacing (sometimes called iron-on lining) it comes in light, medium and heavyweight and you simply iron it on to the back of your fabric. You even get some that is "sticky" on both sides, just iron on to your fabric, cut out your shape then iron onto another fabric. Its grat for putting appliqued patches etc on to things.

This is turning into a short novel so I'll finish there! But I hope some of it is helpful and if you have any other questions- just ask!!

You can swap with someone around your age if that makes your dad more comfortable. One thing I love about the site is that there are so many people of different nationalities and ages. I've made a friend on the site who's in Croatia and almost double my age! (I'm 17 and from South Africa. Because your partner will most likely be on the other side of the world, you won't have to worry that they might stalk you or something like that. I don't think that's ever happened on this site and we're mostly girls so I think it's safe! You will never have to meet your swap partner, you just post the stuff to them =]