And Then There Were Pictures

New to the site and ready to enhance your class selection-it’s photos!

Ponte Roma knits at Treadle
Ponte Roma knits at Treadle

A picture doesn’t do justice but Treadle just got in these great colors of Ponte Roma knit. Great for a pair of “Not Just for Yoga” Pants (check it out in Class listings.

Or maybe you’d rather make them in something a bit more casual like the French terry with stretch.

French Terry with stretch at Treadle
French Terry with stretch at Treadle

Either one would be nice in the Button Pleated Cardigan.
IMG_2935

Just a few of the new classes to investigate. Pictures just opened up a whole new way of communicating.

October Schedule and Classes

We’ve got dates for October Fashion Sewing Club meetings and now you can even pay online through PayPal. So if you didn’t get a subscription paid for last month you can do it here. We swapped the Saturday Treadle meeting for a weekday morning as suggested and rearranged just a bit at Associated:

October Club meetings are:

Associated Sewing/Lyndale

Wednesday, October 7 at 6:30
Thursday, October 8 at 10:30
Saturday, October 10 at 10:30

Treadle Yard Goods/St. Paul

Tuesday, October 13 at 10:30 and 6:30

We’ve also got some fun classes which we hope will appeal to many of you. Each month we’ll offer just a few classes and see how it goes. At this point only one class will be offered at Treadle during the afternoon on the Treadle Fashion Sewing Club meeting day. Let us know if you want more.

The rest of the classes will be offered at Associated Sewing in Bloomington.

All classes will be paid for through Material Girls and listed only on our website. We hope this will avoid confusion.

We need a minimum of 5 attendees so ask a friend!

Click here to see a listing of available classes.

PayPal Option Added

We’re approaching cruising altitude as we’ve incorporated PayPal as an option for paying for classes and Fashion Sewing Club online. We hope this takes the place of handling (and paying for) a credit card merchant account. Who will be the brave first soul to try it out? Maybe there’s even a reward for the first person to use PayPal. You read it here!

Oh, there will probably be some rough air yet but getting this piece of the business put in place is a big step towards convenience for our customers (you) and hopefully great record keeping for us. We hope it works for you. If not, there’s still the option to pay in person or send a check. You’ll find your options spelled out wherever there’s an option to register/pay. If you find problems, let us know.

Questions from September Club Meetings

Another month of club meetings is done. We had 75 people attending this month! Thanks so much. There were lots of questions unanswered at the meetings so I’ll try to answer them here.
Lorna Hoffman’s white shirt was KwikSew pattern #1951-it is out of print.
Linda Burt’s handbag pattern was Vogue #8527-the wrap she suggested was Vogue #7161. Laurel’s vest pattern (it matched the pants) was Burda #8296. A great online source for elastic and Do-Sew (tracing paper)is www.sewsassy.com. Laurel’s “Waistband That Grows” can be found in More Power Sewing by Sandra Betzina. A similar waistband technique can be found at sewingtutorial.blogspot.
Watch for new class listings and two more Fashion Sewing Club dates. I hope you are all working on “Show and Tell” projects for October.

So much to see, so much to do

Where do I start? Well, in honor of Fashion Week I saw September Issue on Sunday at the Landmark Theatre in Edina (it’s also at the Regal in Eagan. It’s the documentary paralleling Devil Wears Prada. I had to go to the library to find the ’09 September Vogue to see if Anna Wintour and Grace Coddington are still there-they are. Shows how much I know… But I liked the movie and gained a new appreciation for the magazine. The fashions and people in the magazine are way beyond most of us but the design and photography it represents is an art form itself (in my humble opinion).
Then I picked up the Aug/Sept. SEWnews and it has a great serger shopping guide which would be helpful for any of you out there in the serger market.
Which brings me to the best place to shop for a serger (or many things sewing, for that matter)-the Original Sewing and Quilting Expo. We will have a booth(!!!) at the Expo (Nov. 4-6) and hope to see many familiar and many new faces. Seriously, at the Expo you can sit down in front of different machines with your list of questions and go from booth to booth to compare and make an informed decision. Or better yet, take a serger class in one of the studios and then you’ve really gotten your feet wet and can go to the other sergers for comparison.
OK, off my serger soapbox now. The Expo people and Hancock Fabrics are trying to make it easier to get downtown by having a coach bus at the Southtown, Woodbury, Minnetonka and Coon Rapids locations on Thursday and Friday. Check it out and reserve your seat.
That’s all for now-we have three Fashion Sewing Club meetings this week at Associated Sewing in Bloomington. Will I see you?

Upholstery Advice Wanted

One of our readers has acquired a wingback chair and has never tackled this kind of project before. She’s looking for a little handholding by phone or email or some good book or class suggestions. Anybody out there have any ideas?
Please click on Comments after this post and share what you will or read what others have offered.
Thanks!

Busy Sewing

With the first Club meetings starting next week, all three of us have been busily sewing away. It’s a nail biting process but hopefully all of us are enjoying the beautiful Labor Day weekend. A few things have been added to the site-Bios Page, Debbie’s Classes, another meeting for Club at Associated in St. Paul and a few new websites to visit (see Blogroll).
Hope all of you are working on a Show and Tell project. See you in the upcoming two weeks.

MN Fashion Week, Anybody Been There?

Thanks to Laurie’s comment about MN Fashion Week I went looking for more info.  MN Fashion Week is September 21-September 27.  The website has the complete schedule.  It looks a bit barebones (the appearance of the calendar) but if you click on the event you get all you need to know.  What I can’t tell you is what the events are like.  I’ve never been.  It looks like fun but my biggest question is-who goes?  Is everyone between the ages of 18 and 30 and skinny as a toothpick?  I’m guessing not but I’d go with more confidence if someone out there could reassure me.  The pictures I found were all of the models-no confidence there:)  So please, leave a comment and inform the uninformed-me!

Sewing and Quilting Expo on the Calendar

It had been at the back of my mind as a way to publicize Fashion Sewing Club and then this morning in my email, there was the catalog for the 2009 Sewing and Quilting Expo.  Dates are November 4-7.  I scrolled through the classes and noticed that Peggy Sagers will be at the event.  She’ll be offering a class on her SWAP (Sewing With a Plan) idea among others.  The event is at the Minneapolis Convention Center (guess they didn’t hear all the complaints-BUT they’ve added a coach service from the Hancock stores in Minnetonka, Bloomington, Woodbury and Coon Rapids.  It looks like it’s $15 each day.   Hope to see you there.

New to our Blog/Website?

I don’t mean to insult anyone but if you are new to blogs (which are just a subset of websites) I want to make sure you understand how they work.  A blog allows us to talk to you and vice versa-without an email.  The most recent post (latest thing we have to say) is the first thing you’ll see.  The first or oldest post is at the bottom of the page.  So if haven’t seen this site before, scroll down to the very first post and read up the page in order.  You’ll only have to do this once and then just catch up on the latest post each time you visit the site (which we hope is often).  And don’t forget to leave a comment so we know what you’re up to!