Snagged some cool fabric (singular) and patterns (not singular) at JoAnn’s. 
Sewing my weekend away…

May did not disappoint-our first showing on Saturday was an authentic ball costume and she really did go to Versailles AND made a costume for her husband also. We are waiting for details…

We can’t wait to see what everyone has been sewing for June.
Club meetings are:
Thursday, June 9, 6:30 at First Sewing, Bloomington
Saturday, June 11, 10:30 at Treadle Yard Goods
Tuesday, June 14, 10:30 at Treadle Yard Goods

Our last May Sewing Studio will be held on Thursday, May 26, from 1-4. The new summer calendar is on the website, mostly complete except for PayPal buttons. They should be ready before the holiday weekend. We’ll be back with more descriptions and info about the new classes for summer.
Are you watching the Great British Sewing Bee? I had no idea they were on Season 4 already. YouTube is the only way I know of watching-there have been 2 episodes. Here’s a blog that adds extra content to the episodes.

Soon…

First-very sorry about the links at the bottom of your last email if you are a subscriber 😦 My tech advisor tells me it’s fixed and that it didn’t hurt anything-just made it easier for all of you to find the drugs you probably aren’t looking for anyway (blush).

Second-if you want to go to the Pattern Review Weekend in Chicago, today is your last day to sign up (March 31). We’ll be there!!

Third-Hancock is closing more quickly than we thought AND a pretty good source says that the whole company is closing-no one wanted to buy. So you’ll see the three remaining stores start discounting soon.

So if you want to take a class this month it should be sooner rather than later. The calendar is on the post previous to this one.

Also the patterns at Southtown Hancock are at very good prices and there are many in stock (I was the only person on my knees going through the drawers). Sewing notions are literally gone but fabric can still be found at 50% off (and more).

We’ll be in the classroom from 10-4 today so stop by and say hi if you are at the store. Looks like another great grey day for sewing!

First off, we finished two fun kids’ classes:

Second, we’ve decided to discontinue our Thursday morning Fashion Sewing Club at Hancock Southtown due to the migration of Snow Birds!

January 2016 FSC Dates:
Saturday, Jan. 9 at 10:30,Treadle
Tuesday, January 12 at 10:30, Treadle
Thursday, Jan. 14, 6:30, First Sewing/Southtown Hancock

Third, the Club sheets and photos for December have been posted and the links to the napkin fold and bow tying pop right up-very cool!

And finally a sampling of the inspiring show and tell garments-

Happy New Year everyone! We look forward to seeing you in 2016!!!

It’s so nice to be back in Bloomington for the Expo-space, natural light, parking.

U of M Design School has an exhibit.

  
We’re seeing lots of familiar faces. Our “fashion show” had almost 50 attendees.  

Shopping is good-lots of our favorite notions. Treadle brought out some great new things and if you spend $50 you get $10 off when you come into the store.

  

Debbie and I are off to a class to learn how to pad these very cool dress forms. 

Hope you can make it-we have our show Friday at 2:30. 

We’ll be at Southtown at 6:30 tonight (Thursday) and 10:30 on Saturday at Treadle for Fashion Sewing Club. 

First and most important, because it’s happening next week:

NOVEMBER FASHION SEWING CLUB/SEWING AND QUILTING EXPO

Tues., Nov. 10, 10:30 am at Treadle Yard Goods as usual

Thurs., Nov. 12, 11:15 am at Sewing and Quilting Expo at “The Spot”
Doubletree Hotel, Blmgtn.
78th & Normandale (Hwy. 100)

6:30 pm at Southtown Hancock as usual

Friday, Nov. 13, 2:30 pm at Sewing and Quilting Expo at “The Spot”
Same presentation-please stop by with Show and Tell!

Saturday, Nov. 14, 10:30 am at Treadle Yard Goods as usual

“The Spot” is the location where we will be presenting. Look for “Wake Up Your Inner Fashionista” in your programs.

Meetings at the Expo will be free, no sign up required.

Treadle will have a booth with some exclusive-to-the-Expo fabrics!

Lots of opportunities to be inspired and show us what you’ve been sewing.

And speaking of inspiration-
October club sheets and garment photos have been posted (click on Club Sheets above). Here is a sampling of what we saw at Club meetings in October:

and maybe even make a Halloween costume!

The pattern comes from the book Playful Hoodies by Mary Rasch.

We have a kids’ MEA sewing class tomorrow at Hancock so I had to make a sample.

Start with a ready to wear hoodie, zip or not, some polar fleece scraps, and a little hand sewing.

Great project for a beautiful afternoon!

If you’d like to make one as a class project, sign up for any Sewing Adventures class at Hancock (See Classes above) and we’ll help you and have the book.

Some of you that serge may like to use Woolly Nylon thread to finish edges or make more visible stitching but that has been harder to find and if you iron it too much, it melts.
Some time ago, I saw an ad for Maxi Lock Stretch thread (on serger cones) but Creative didn’t carry it when I asked so I just forgot about it. But Joanne stopped by Hancock the other day and was singing its praises so I asked her to send me something to post on the blog.

Thanks to Joanne, I have this to share with you:

I used both Maxi-Lock Stretch and Wooly Nylon thread with a serged rolled edge application on my recent projects. The picture with the orange thread is the Maxi-Lock Stretch thread. One can easily see that the coverage far exceeds the Wooly Nylon.

I am sold! I love the fact that Maxi-Lock Stretch is available in 26 colors!! With these colors one has the option of purchasing matching Maxi-Lock Serger thread to get a professional look.

The thread was purchased at Wawak.com. They have a low price guarantee, monthly sales, relatively quick shipping and they’ve been awesome to work with. I purchase most of my sewing supplies from them. Invisible zippers are an excellent buy too.

Joanne

Nancy’s Notions also carries the thread. It is made of nylon so I guess you still probably shouldn’t iron it directly but the look is definitely worth it.

Thanks very much for taking the time to share this, Joanne. If anyone else has something we all should know about, please send info to me and I’ll post it.

Fashion Sewing Club is back on Thursday at Hancock after a month’s break. Looking forward to seeing everyone-fall sewing, here we come!

Time to finish summer and move on with the year. August Club meetings were full of inspiration and fun. Show and Tell photos are below. August Club sheets and garment photos can be found by clicking here or on “Club Sheets” bar above. And speaking of moving on, the Treadle sale is now complete! Michele Hoaglund, long time employee, is now the owner; Mary can still be found at the store every once in a while. Michele got her feet wet quickly going on a buying trip to Vegas two weeks ago. We got a sneak peak at some of the fabrics coming this fall and loved what we saw. There are always new fabrics coming in-how fun to open packages weekly and see more new fabric! Best that I only get there once a week (if Michele is lucky 🙂

We won’t have Fashion Sewing Club meetings in September. Both Debbie and I have trips planned, Labor Day is late and September always seems like a regrouping/starting over month so we’ll see you in October. Don’t forget, we’re working on plans to hold November Club at the Expo so get sewing on a runway ready ensemble. Think Project Runway! (Are you watching this season?)

Classes will still be held in September at our Hancock Southtown and Treadle Yard Goods locations . Treadle classes are already on their website. Hancock Southtown classes will be on our website later today. Please let us know if there are classes you’d like to take but aren’t listed.

Without further ado, here is the show and tell teaser-sewists of all shapes and sizes pursuing their passion for fabric in many forms-we hope you’ll join us in the fun whenever and wherever you can.