Almost Paris-Without the Passport

After riding in an airplane and a shuttle van, I was dropped off at an unassuming corner across from the Puyallup (pew wallop) Fairgrounds. As I began a weekend of people watching it seemed that quilters were in the majority and garment sewists the minority at the Sewing and Stitching Expo. To add fuel to the fire I saw a woman wearing a hat which made it look like she had a scissors stuck through her head. But then I kept looking and slowly but surely I started to see people wearing clothes that were handmade. On Saturday I spotted two young designers.
Friday I took a class from Marcy Tilton about Paris influences in her sewing. Some of her slides were from our trip in November. Saturday noon I sat outside eating a crepe filled with Nutella just like in Paris. The cherry trees are blooming.
And then there were the many, many vendors and their displays. So much like what I saw in Paris.
Although no one would call it the Eiffel Tower, the old bridge that we crossed on our trips between the motel and the Expo reminded me of it. The runway shows were full of creativity and ideas and people! There was gorgeous fabric and must-have notions everywhere. I WILL fit into my suitcase and I can’t wait to get home and sew!
The fairgrounds had great food-fresh raspberry scones, BBQ, gyros and crepes. People were wonderful-all manner of sewing sisters, best sewing buddies, mothers and daughters and even the occasional husband/wife team.
I’m thankful for my sewing buddies, especially Cheri, who has been a great driver, Kathy, Sandy and Marcy and Katherine, without whom I probably would never have dreamed of attending the Expo in Puyallup.
It was almost like Paris-OK-there were some similarities.
But Paris didn’t have Mt. Rainier.
Enjoy the pictures.

Marcy’s Jacket Finished

What began as a great pattern, ended as a great pattern. Here is the finished product. I was thinking it would be scary to have Marcy see it up close but the sewing techniques make it fairly easy to avoid many of the “this is so homemade” telltale signs.
I’m very pleased with the way the different elements of the fabric came together-even if it is subtle. I’m wearing it today to the Puyallup (pew ahl’ up-according to the locals) Sewing and Stitching Expo in Washington. Having a great time-cherry blossoms and daffodils are out-raining and fifties. An added bonus is that I’m running into my Paris traveling companions!
More later…

Sewing Through Marcy Tilton’s Patterns

After going to Paris with Marcy Tilton I decided to work my way through her patterns. So far I’ve made the vest, tee shirt and skirt. I’ve been very happy with the results. Today I got a good start on the jacket pattern. The fabric is a beautiful purple and blue on a gray/black background. It’s available on Marcy’s website (click to link). It has a large repeat which I thought would work very well with the pattern. Most of the jacket pieces are straight so I could use different elements of the fabric (top section is purple hearts, lower section is more of a fleur de lis). I’ll be using other elements of the pattern for the collar and cuffs.
The pattern directions are very clear and take small steps so it’s easy to read the pictures and figure out what to do. Marcy also takes advantage of the serger-something many patterns don’t do.

Jacket before collar and sleeves
Fabric Closeup
Another fabric element closeup
Fabric repeat

February Fashion Sewing Club Garments

Despite the bad weather we had a fair turnout and lots of great show and tell. One of the Treadle attendees got motivated to add four pieces to her wardrobe giving Marcy Tilton’s new tee pattern a try. A few of the Bloomington attendees were busy with children’s and American Girl doll garments.

Debbie's tee and 8th Ave skirt

Shapes Three Fold Vest

Three Fold Vest back view

Fifth and Final Felted Mittens

Debbie's Ruffled Shirt and Simplicity Trousers

Ruffle Close up

Three Fold Vest and Marcy Tilton's Skirt

Marcy's Tee and Skirt

Laurel's Mix It Top

Laurel's Blouse

Marcy's Skirt-Short Version

Sunny Tuesday

One week later and the sun is shining. The last of the February Fashion Sewing Club meetings is this morning. The coffee in Dunn Bros smells great.
Jacket Techniques class met last night and everyone got at least one sleeve in.
Laurel and I attended the U of M Design Department Senior Style Show last weekend. It was amazing to see the progression of the students from sophomore to senior. There was a wide range of styles, and talent could be seen in them all. For only a $15 ticket and great parking it is definitely something to make sure you see next year.

Ripping Stitches and Beyond

So I’m working on Marcy Tilton’s t-shirt (V8497-see Laurel’s version in January Club Garments post) and I think I’ll be clever and use my new roll of one inch fusible interfacing (a Sewing and Quilting purchase) to mark the hem and give it more stability. Well, I kept getting puckers on the right side fabric of the hem. Did I mention I’m using my Babylock coverstitch? I tried using the differential feed but that didn’t help. As I’m ripping out the hem stitches for the third time, I decide to look in some of my serger books to see if there’s an easy way to rip coverstitch. To quote Singer Sewing With Your Serger, “Remove cover-stitch threads just as you would remove chainstitch threads. With a seam ripper or a straight pin, remover the last two or three stitches formed by each of the needle threads. Turn over the fabric and gently pull on the looper thread until all the stitches unravel. Remove the loose needle threads.”

I tried. It didn’t work. Several times, I tried. I’m wondering if the Babylock stitch formation is different? I settled on this method: Slide seam ripper between needle threads and under looper stitches on the wrong side. Pull needle threads out-they should come easily in one piece. Use your serger tweezers to pull out small pieces of looper stitch to save your fingers and get a few more at a time.

Getting back to the hem-I removed the fusible interfacing from my hem and the problem went away. Maybe the puckers wouldn’t have happened if I had applied the interfacing at the 1″ hemline and above but then it wouldn’t have saved the measuring. Or if I stitched the hem with the hem allowance/interfacing next to the presser foot, would that have helped? But then I’d have the looper side of the coverstitch showing on the right side.

Any suggestions? Ripping out coverstitch or turning up a hem with fusible interfacing strips are the challenges for today.

Looking for fashion forward events?

U of M’s Design Department has its senior student style show, Insight, this Saturday, Feb. 6 at 5:30 and 8. Tickets are $15 purchased online.

Fashion Sewing Club meets next week-Tuesday, Feb. 9, at Treadle Yard Goods in St. Paul and Thursday and Saturday, Feb. 11 and 13 at Associated Sewing in Bloomington.

Dress Your Best is Saturday, Mar. 6. Pick up fashion, makeup and image tips from several speakers.

Christopher Straub from Project Runway, Season 6, will speak at The Sampler in Chanhassen on Friday evening, Mar. 12. Call to reserve your $30 ticket-952-934-5307. At last look, it wasn’t on their website.

January Garment Pictures

With no major snow or electrical outages to put a damper on things, the January meetings of Fashion Sewing Club came off without a hitch. Here are the pictures of the garments plus a few show and tell items. If you are a subscriber and didn’t make it to the meeting, email us and we’ll send you copies of the sheets. Otherwise they are available for $3.
Enjoy!

Guest sewist, Hilary's, Project Runway Vest


Brenda's Sewing Workshop Trio Collection

Carrie's Fancy Lining-Silhouette Wrap Skirt

Laurel's Circle Vest

Laurel's Marcy Tilton Tee

Debbie's Sweater Knit Tee

Debbie's Cuffed Blouse

Debbie's Half Zip

Kristin's Fleece Car Coat

Unfortunately, Zach’s vest is on its way to California and the Ruffled Pajama Top is on display at Treadle. Will do better next time.

Project Runway Star to Speak in Chanhassen

If you watch…Christopher Straub will speak about his experience of being part of Project Runway. See the Shakopee native from Project Runway Season 6 at The Sampler on Friday, Mar. 12, from 7:00 to 9:00. Cost is $30. Call 952-934-5307 to register.

The Sampler is a few doors down from the Chanhassen Dinner Theatre and there are some good restaurants right across the street if you want to gather with friends and take in the event.

The Sampler also has a great idea:

Speedy Service Saturday
Saturday, February 20, 10-5
Drop off your machine (all makes & models) and get your machine cleaned and oiled while you shop!
$24.99
Call & make a time slot reservation!

For more details, here’s the link: www.the-sampler.com

New Classes for Winter ’10

And what a winter it’s turning out to be! Actually it’s very conducive to sewing. But I digress. We have a new listing of classes-Skirts That Fit, Jacket Techniques, Love Your Serger, Beginning Sewing-and then our two events-Clear Your Clutter Stash Swap and Dress YOUR Best. Check them out and sign up!

Speaking of the Stash Swap-this is a great time to be cleaning out closets and reevaluating the fabrics you have collected. Bring your items to January Club meetings (or arrange a drop-off) and we’ll give you “cash” to spend at the Swap. Then let’s all get together on Jan. 30 and get that creative energy flowing. Change is good.

Love Your Serger was the best I could come up with for a name for a hands-on serger class. I toyed with “Exploratory Sergery” but that’s as far as I got for catchy names. Any wordsmiths out there that can come up with a better option?

It’s been some time since I’ve had to update the site so please advise me of any errors you see. Thanks to those of you that keep at me to get classes posted. And as always, feedback is crucial. Are these the classes you want to take? Too cheap? (just kidding) Wrong times? Let us know how we can best meet your creative sewing needs.