Trying to catch up before the new year begins-October and November sheets and pics have been posted. Click on Club Sheets/Garment Photos in bar above and see what you missed (or don’t remember 🙂
A few odds and ends:
October show and tell-
Sewing for the twins-
We’ve been chomping at the bit trying to get everything caught up after moving to a new (to us) house and a long weekend with the twins!
Show and Tell has been wonderful! We went over 50 people attending Fashion Sewing Club in September and new faces keep coming. There were 23 people at both the Tuesday and Saturday meetings! Make It Sew, look out as we try to increase numbers at the Thursday meeting also. Any ideas are welcome 🙂
These pictures make it look like we all sew children’s garments but the truth is, the children’s garments are much easier to photograph (and the models are much less discriminating:) We will try to do a better job of capturing the fashion garments that everyone is sewing so the inspiration can be shared online.
All three stores, Treadle, Make It Sew and Hancock have new calendars and they’ve been updated (whew) so help yourself around the website and keep that creativity flowing!
Whew! Apologies for taking sooooo long to get these posted but hopefully they are worth the wait. Without further ado, here are some photos from Show and Tell.
As always, click on “Garment Photos and Club Sheets above and see what you’ve missed or remember what you forgot!
August photos will be up very soon!
Well, there was no snow on the ground yesterday! That’s quite an accomplishment when April’s Club was cancelled because of a snow storm. We had a great turnout for both am and pm meetings. And Show and Tell was awesome! The evening group had 100% participation. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Cathy and Mary (Make It Sew and Treadle owners) for contributing the door prizes as that’s part of the fun. Speaking of door prizes, last month’s winning appeared this month as a finished tee! That’s a pretty quick turnaround.
Julia brought an American Girl doll dress that was machine embroidered. Several people wanted to know the specific name of the software (it traces the pattern pieces on the fabric while in the hoop). It’s Custom Keepsakes by Kathy Harrison. Julia has two collections-Gals and Dolls and Christening 2. Go to http://www.customkeepsakes.com
Amy, under the tutelage of Annette, made this beautiful First Communion dress for her daughter. Lots of dreams came true when she wore the dress. Amy’s husband said that sewing is the cheapest hobby because it took so long to complete. Who wants to burst that bubble?
And if you are mourning the end of this season’s Project Runway or if you never liked the fashion aspect/snarkiness of the show, check out the Great British Sewing Bee. Real life models, real sewing skills, construction, construction, construction (they even illustrate the process in drawings) and no adverts! You have to watch it on You Tube at this point but it was really easy and entertaining. Thanks for the tip, Cheri.
Looking forward to Club meetings at Treadle-
I collect tidbits here and there and must make room for new items before the old are forgotten-
We’ll be at Treadle on Saturday morning (10:30) for Fashion Sewing Club AND Beyond Basic Sergery (2-4:30). Great chance to further your serger skills, get inspired to sew for warmer weather-all in one trip!! Call the store to register-651-698-9690 for the serger class. Just show up for Fashion Sewing Club-no need to register-first time free!
Debbie and I both made spring jackets and while I was perusing Joann’s the other day I came across parachute cord which would make a great cording option for a jacket.
I solved the problem of putting a longer garment on my duct tape double! I had my garment on the double and sitting on a table but the hem was too long. I could hang it from a clothes pole but then I remembered I had a plant stand in the basement-bingo! It is skinny enough for a garment to hang freely and is about the right height. If you don’t have a duct tape double, we are wrapping at Treadle on Monday, April 29 and there are still 3 spots left.
Debbie and I taught sewing to two groups of girls during their spring breaks these past two weeks. Wonderful girls, budding skills and lots of fun. At one point, Debbie looked over and noticed our personal collections of embroidery flosses that we had brought along for teaching hand sewing. She pointed out how much they reflected our personalities and I laughed till I had tears running down my face. Maybe it was the fact that it was also Debbie’s birthday or the last day of our classes, who knows-but it made us both laugh for a long time. Debbie and I truly enjoy each other’s company and we bring different strengths (and quirks) to the partnership. Is it obvious to you whose floss is whose?
Since we are getting so much rain, maybe it’s a good time to do some sewing before the good weather gets here. We have quite a few classes on the schedule for April. We are also teaching sewing and serger classes at Hancock in Southtown beginning this month. We will offer the classes through First Sewing which is the sewing machine store that took over the Bernina space but you will also be able to sign up on our website (give me a day or two to get the changes made). Since there are two of us to teach and we want to ensure enough students in each class, we are offering two classes in the same time slot. We also want to clarify that Sewing With a Pattern is a guided sewing time open to all levels so if you are an experienced sewist stuck on an certain technique or have never used a pattern, that would be your class to be repeated as often as necessary.
Hope you can join us for Fashion Sewing Club or a class!
April Fashion Sewing Club Dates:
Tuesday, April 9, 10:30 @Treadle Yard Goods
Thursday, April 11, 10:30 or 6:30 @ Make It Sew
Saturday, April 13, 10:30 @ Treadle Yard Goods
April Classes:
Streamlined Blouse, Tuesday, April 9 and 16, 2:00-4:00 @ TYG
Basic Serger, Tuesday, April 9, 6:00-8:00 @ MIS
Knit Skirts, Thursday, April 11, 2:00-4:00 @MIS
Beyond Basic Sergery, Saturday, April 13, 2:00-4:00 @TYG
*New at Hancock, Monday, April 15:
Learn To Sew 10:00-12:00
Basic Serger 10:00-12:00
Beyond Basic Serger, 2-4:30
Sewing With a Pattern 2-4:30
Learn to Sew 6-8
Basic Serger 6-8
Designer Tee, April 16, 10:00-1:00, @ TYG
Serger Club (napkins), Thursday, April 18, 10:30-12:00 and 6:00-8:00 @ MIS
Sew With A Pattern, Thursday, April 18, 2:00-4:30 @ MIS
Beyond Basic Serger, Wednesday, April 24, 10:30-1:00 @TYG
Eternal Sergery, (Knit Skirt) Wednesday, April 24, 2:00-4:30 @ TYG
Crash Course/Learn to Sew, Thursday, April 24, 10:30-1:00 and 6:00-8:30 @ MIS
Advanced Serger, Thursday, April 25, 2:00-4:30 @ MIS
Basic Serger, Saturday, April 27, 10:30-12:30 @ MIS
Project Runway Kids, Saturday, April 27,1:00-4:00, @ MIS
Duct Tape Double, Monday, April 29, 10:00-4:00 @ TYG
Garment photos and Fashion Sewing Club sheets have been posted for both February and March. Both months were much fun and we want to thank all of you that attend. Show and Tell is always inspirational and just in case you need a little something to get you going, here are a few highlights-
And, nope, I’m not making toddler underwear-yet 🙂
Happy Easter and happy spring sewing!
We’ve had three Fashion Sewing Club meetings and just Saturday morning at Treadle to go. It’s been fun to be back in the sewing groove. New faces showed up at Treadle and Claire came back after missing several months. She’s been bitten so hard by the sewing bug that she’s enrolled at MCTC and is taking classes in fashion design. We got to see some of her work in progress. She will be at the Hearts for Fashion style show at the Mall of America on Saturday, February 9th. The event is listed as 10 am-5 pm so stay tuned for further info.
Another face that we’ve missed showed up in these shoes-(fine, her feet were in the shoes, not her face!)
I hadn’t heard of John Fluevog (Fashion Sewing Club can be such an education :). Evidently he designs shoes for the likes of Alice Cooper and Madonna and opened a store in Uptown in November. Might have to make a trip just to see them all!
Pictures are slow in coming from the wedding but here are a few teasers-
We have one more class at Treadle before their new class calendar begins (so you can’t find this on their webpage but it’s still on ours). We call it Build a Basic Wardrobe: Casual Jacket and it will be held on Wednesday, Jan. 16 at 1:30. We define a casual jacket as easy to throw on, a bit more than a sweater or sweatshirt but less than lapels and linings. I’ve “pinned ” several jacket patterns on my “Patterns” board on Pinterest if you’d like to see them. Are you on Pinterest? It can be habit forming but it’s an easy way to keep track of ideas that you see online. Here’s the link to my board-Patterns
Serger Club at Make It Sew is next Thursday( 1/17 at 10:30 and 6:30). We will make pj pants with a wide knit band. This makes it easy to sew them for others when you don’t know where they like to wear their pants. Comfy fit and lots of options. If you need a pants pattern, Kwiksew 3980 also has the pj lace top that we’ll be using for the February Serger Club meeting. These same two garments will be the topic for Eternal Sergery at Treadle Yard Goods on Feb. 12 and March 20.
That’s enough for now. Hope to see you Saturday if you haven’t made it to Club yet. Enjoy your weekend. (Or one of my favorite quotes from the dowager in Downton Abbey, “What’s a week end?”)
Lucia (some of you may know her from Treadle and others as the serger teacher at Make It Sew) nabbed a great gig for house sitting in New Zealand and misses Fashion Sewing Club so here’s her Show and Tell and a bit more…
Hi,Kristin, Debbie, Laurel and all of the Treadle Material Girls group!
The first week of every month since I arrived I’ve been determined to write. Yeah; well, finally I’m getting to it. Miss my garden terribly (hope there is some shred of life left after the inferno), and, the Material Girls meetings – other than that I’d be happy to stay here. I’m 10 minutes walk from the ferry into downtown Auckland. Lots of walking opportunities – up very steep hills – the only kind of hills they have in N.Z. Just saw the tax value for the apt. I’m in and it’s unbelievably $1 Million. It’s nice but not that nice! Property here is very expensive. Greater Auckland has about 2 million people – a big place. $500,000 buys you a very, very small, 40-50 yr. old place.
Here are some pictures off my balcony –
I’ve been sewing up a storm with a Brother machine – no Serger – boo-boo. Tackled the chevron striped pattern from the cover of Threads – July issue. Made the sleeveless top below to test out the pattern and my stripe matching ability. Yikes, what a job. I am going to try the dress this week. Made a couple Quincy tops (Sewing Workshop). I like the window pane knit fabric – probably not the best pattern for a check but it turned out okay. Am disappointed with the wool selections here – lots of mixes like 40% wool and 60% acrylic. Found a discount fabric store where I paid $3/ meter for the dotted knit top fabric but it’s hard to get to. I’ll have to wrangle a ride back there some weekend.
The knit top is a Marcy Titon t-shirt with a Katherine Tilton double collar. Loved making the collar – so much fun.
Just joined a website from U.K. – Wardrobe unlock’d – ever heard of it?
Summer sounds like it’s been so much fun in Minnesota. I just got up to turn the heat on! When the sun is out it warms up nicely by 1 or 2 p.m. to around 58. Otherwise it’s pretty much heavy sweater weather – but I am not complaining at all. If I get too cold I just throw on my Eddie Bauer “can-take-anything” raincoat and go splash around in the rain.
Lucia
P.S. Am open to any introductions you may want to make on my behalf to single, millionaires who are interested in spending 1/2 of each year in New Zealand, the land of Frodo, Peter Jackson and the occasional earthquake.
Great to hear from you, Lucia. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for coming to Club this month. Each meeting/location has taken on a personality of its own and because of that Debbie and I have our tanks filled by the end of the week. We hope you were inspired too!
Here are a few highlights-(Club sheets can be found under Club Sheets/Garment Photos above)
And finally, just wanted to show you the final version of the striped Anthropologie Dress-
(Directions for the dress can be found in the Club Sheets.)
Material Girl Sewing 