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.

What a beautiful summer we are having but the show and tell sewing definitely held hints of fall and all the magazines are tempting us with fall colors and fashions too. I intend to stretch summer out what with the late Labor Day weekend and all.

We are making one change to our August meetings-the Saturday group will be meeting on August 15 which is the third Saturday.
And speaking of a late Labor Day, we will not have Club in September.
There will be new calendars out and we will definitely be teaching classes. The dates and some travel just didn’t match up.

Here are the August Club dates and classes left in July:
Fashion Sewing Club
Tuesday, August 11, 10:30 at Treadle Yard Goods
Thursday, August 13, 10:30 and 6:30 at First Sewing, Bloomington Hancock Fabrics
*Note change: Saturday, August 15, 10:30 at Treadle Yard Goods

Classes at Hancock
Basic Serger and Beyond, Wednesdays, July 29, 6:00-8:00
Beginning Sewing:Garment or HomeDec/Crafty, Wednesdays, July 29, 2:00-4:00
Sewing Studio, Thursdays, July 30, 1:00-4:00
Seasonal Sewing: Linen Pants/Tankini That Covers, Thursdays, July 30, 6:00-8:00

Kids’ Summer Classes at Chanhassen Vacuum Center, http://www.chanvac.com
Session 2: Tuesday, July 28, Wednesday, July 29 and Thursday, July 30, 10:00-12:00

Here’s what was being sewn in July:

Sewaholic just put up another post of her beautiful underwear sets and I did give lace undies a try but decided it’s not for me. But then I got a picture of the twin grand boys playing with their new kitchen set wearing short sleeve collared shirts-and nothing else (I really wanted to post the picture but was afraid it was too risqué for the public domain)! Potty training time means my opportunity to try my hand at undies once again.

This time the pattern is from *that darn kat. A past Club attendee made them for her granddaughter who couldn’t say her “r’s” so I call them Unda-weahs too. Fun to put together with leftover knits and so cute!

We’ve had fun with two Club meetings-our last June Club meeting is on Saturday at Treadle. Catch us if you can!

Our kids’ summer classes start next week too!

Happy Summer-Happy Sewing!!

March Fashion Sewing Club photos and sewing notes have been added to the website-click here or on menu above. Thanks to all who made up the pattern of the month. April’s pattern of the month is McCalls 7059. It’s a knit wardrobe pattern with a gored skirt, vest, jacket, tee and skinny pant. Try one or try them all. At Treadle we draw a name from those that have made the pattern for a $15 fabric gift certificate.
May’s pattern of the month is McCalls 7093-a woven top with lots of possibilities. Our intent is to see one pattern in several fabrics on several body shapes.

More Show and Tell-



Returning to Minneapolis just in time for Fashion Sewing Club on Tuesday, March 10, at Treadle Yard Goods. 

I’ll be wearing a slight tan with mixed pink and red patches and sporting some of the garments I wore on the trip. Pattern of the Month is McCalls 6796-plenty of time to stitch one up!

Fashion Sewing Club will also be at Hancock Southtown on Thursday, 10:30 and 6:30, and back to Treadle on Saturday at 10:30.

Our calendar for the week is:

Basic Serger, 3/10, Treadle, 2-4

Classic Blouse Sew Along, 3/12, Hancock, 1-4

Kids Sew, 3/14, Hancock, 1:30-3:30

Hope to see you-