I think we hit a record for attendance on a Saturday meeting for Fashion Sewing Club-twenty people!! Woohoo!
Our Saturday morning photographer (anyone interested for Tuesday or Thursday?) snapped these photos-but the real “heart warmer/sweetheart/valentine” story was that Barbara (pictured in the black wool coat below) and her sister, Judy, have been attending for at least a year now. Barbara made quite a few versions of a double sided quilted jacket but came in her newly sewn black coat on Saturday. Judy, unbeknownst to her sister, had made a soft cuddly blanket for Barbara and embellished it with all of the cotton scraps from Judy’s jackets. She unfolded it in front of Barbara for the first time at Club on Saturday! (We didn’t get a picture but I’d post it if one of them would send a photo-hint, hint). Those two sisters are a perfect example of how we can encourage each other to go beyond our previous sewing boundaries. And if your sister doesn’t sew, come to Club and meet a new sister to join you on your journey!
Thanks for all the “keep me on the email list” responses. Just doing a little housecleaning. You don’t need to do anything if we’ve seen you/talked to you in the last twelve months.
Tuesday and Thursday Clubbers-the gauntlet has been thrown!
We’ve been having fun and meeting some wonderful girls and parents in our after school classes in Chanhassen and at Treadle (we’d love to do it at Southtown Hancock too, just haven’t gotten much interest yet…)
There are a few more opportunities before the end of the year-
Chanhassen-Thursday, Dec. 4th, 4:30-6-we’ll be sewing holiday stockings
Southtown Hancock-Friday, Dec. 5th, 4:30-6:30, holiday stockings or bags
-Monday, Dec. 15, 4:30-6, learn to sew or holiday sewing
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.
I know, the title is too long but depending on where your interests lie…
And yes, the babies are boys but this was my best photo…
Treadle has two soft Japanese double layer pique knits, one pink, one blue. A bit spendy and only 32″ wide but in my mind that said, “Baby Layette Blanket”. All I had to do was finish the edges and since we have had quite a few serger classes lately and we often got the question, “What do you use the 3 thread overlock for?” I thought I might share what I did.
Blue is 3 thread, pink is 4 thread
For the blue three thread I used off white Jeans Stitch cotton thread in the upper looper along with a heavier poly/cotton Gutermann denim thread that I had picked up at the Expo in the lower looper.
For the four thread I used Pearl Crown Rayon in the upper looper and Heavy XP Coats and Clark in the lower looper-serger thread in needles.
Square up the fabric-selvedge says “peaceful cooing” so I left it on
Serge around all four sides leaving a tail Using a blunt tipped needle, go back under stitches Pull through and clip
I didn’t prewash the fabric as I didn’t want the layers to separate before sewing. The fabric did shrink 4 inches both ways but it also got thicker and the pique showed more.
I tried to take photos of turning corners without cutting threads but my camera didn’t have high enough resolution. We teach this method in our Beyond Basic Sergery (Treadle) or Advanced Serger (Make It Sew) classes. Practice makes perfect.
Here is the written version from the Babylock website, check out a serger book and you will find it too.
“Outside Corners: Stitch to the end of the corner edge, but not beyond. Stop with the needles up and raise the presser foot. With tweezers pull approximately 1/4″ of slack thread above the needles. The slack will allow the fabric to be pulled slightly to the back, clearing stitches from the stitch fingers. Turn the fabric, aligning the new edge with the edge of the needle plate. Remove any slack from the needle threads. Lower the foot and continue sewing.”
I was only trimming the tiniest edge off the fabric but if you trim more you will need to trim by hand for about 2″ at the beginning of each corner. You’ll see what I mean if you try it-the blade won’t get a chance to cut right at the very beginning and that will make everything gum up.
June Fashion Sewing Club began on Saturday at Treadle followed by a full class of beginning sergers. Mary, the owner at Treadle started the day off right with the announcement that they will be offering Butterick, Vogue, McCalls and KwikSew at a discounted price all the time! You’ll have to check on the start date as there were a few bookkeeping kinks still to be worked out. What a good deal for all of us. Basic Sergery is so satisfying for Debbie and me because students, for the most part, learn a lot and leave feeling much smarter. A new pattern line you may want to check out
Sunday we drove to Truman, MN (Iowa, as one Club member insisted 🙂 to stay overnight at The Whittler’s Lady Bed and Breakfast so we’d be near Fairmont for our class and trunk show on Monday with the Prairie Star Quilters. The class, Summer Coats, was held in a church and no one did the same thing! We had one Sophia Trench and lots of upcycling of favorite or “too good to get rid of” garments. That might be a good class to try up here.
Tuesday we had a packed house at Treadle. Wednesday we “Focused on Fit” with a basic shell-several full bust adjustments and nips here/tucks there. Thursday was Fashion Sewing Club at Make It Sew; Friday, Sewing With Sheers and Saturday, a full class of Sophia Trenches at Eagle Creek. All Sophia Trenches except one student made a pillow for her future nursery-and my grandbabies 🙂
Whew! Doing lots of what we love to do. Hope all those who were part of our week had as much fun as we did. Club Sheets are online if you missed it.
We hope the new year is inspiring you to spend time on your favorite craft-garment sewing. Did you see some of the pattern companies have released spring fashions!
This month’s Fashion Sewing Clubs will be held at the following times and places:
Tuesday, 1/10, Treadle Yard Goods, St. Paul, 10:30 am
Thursday, 1/12, Bernina/Hancock/Southtown, 10:30 and 6:30
Saturday, 1/14, Treadle Yard Goods, St. Paul, 10:30 am
The Monday meeting at Make It Sew won’t be held this month but we’ll try again next month. Â Thanks for hanging in there while the Bernina/Hancock location gets figured out.
Some of you also caught my typo-Bernina/Hancock subscription should be $17.50 for Jan/Feb. Oops!
We’re busy sewing for Fashion Sewing Club at the Expo. We hope to see many of you Thursday at 9:30 or Saturday at 10:15. Wear your garments so you can model them on the runway. I registered for classes yesterday and some of them were full and the hotel is fully booked so it should be a great Expo.
If you want to see us before then or get a jump on some Christmas sewing, we’ll be at Eagle Creek at 1 pm on Saturday (11/5) for Cute Skirts or serging yoga pants/leggings at Treadle on Tuesday, 11/8 or napkins/scarves at 6 pm. A phone call will get you registered-Eagle Creek-952-233-3774 or Treadle-651-698-9690. Cute Skirts Class
October Fashion Sewing Club pictures are on the website-our first Saturday morning meeting at Treadle was well attended with 10 people and Dress Your Best was a packed house with 22 people! It was a great day and I’m trying to continue the momentum of managing my stash and sewing wardrobe capsules. Wedding was great-loved my dress. New display option-don't we look good?
Well, it’s back to my machines. I’m trying to get into a Project Runway frame of mind-they get their garments done quickly, right? and everything goes perfectly? I can always dream… Dress Your Best event
It was so good to see all of you again. I think we all missed getting together in August! We started out at The Sampler and had a fun group with a few newbies. The group that came to Hancock/Southtown seemed happy to be around fabric and notions and the Treadle morning group had no chairs to spare! There was so much creative energy we had to turn on the air conditioning.
Show and Tell was wonderful. Maybe the extra month gave everyone more time but I’m hoping we keep seeing all of your good work. There are a few pictures below and you can always send us a photo of your creation and we’ll post it.
A good source for outdoor fabric is Rockywoods-supplex, ripstop, etc. We also have a good place to donate fabric. Bring it to any classes and we’ll get it delivered.
Debbie wanted to show the versatility of the Yoga Pant by Peggy Sagers. They’re perfect for dressing up or down. We’ve changed the class to 2 hours and $20.
Laurel and I were reminded how important a muslin (or toile) can be. I was fooled into thinking I knew how a Marcy Tilton would fit me and Laurel figured Cynthia Guffey’s pattern would be error proof. We’ll both be stocking up on muslin 😛
So here they are with a bit more info than usual. The Club sheets are now included here on the website. Click on Club sheets in the top bar and September 2010 should show-click on that and you’ll find this month’s printout or find it in the far right column under Pages. We still think personally attending Club is the most inspiring and fun but it doesn’t always work into the schedule. This also makes it easy to find information you need when you can’t find your sheets. Is this helpful? Do you like the inclusion of pattern numbers?
The fall colors are coming out and the weather is cooling (but the sun is so beautiful today). Hope you are inspired to make yourself or someone else a warm garment. Detail of Debbie's variation on KwikSew 2993 and tee from Sew Stylish Fall 2010 Debbie's Dress Up Blouse Kwik Sew 3620-not shown Silhouette #3400 Yoga Pant Debbie's double collar variation on Butterick 6085 Wedding Dress #3-KwikSew 3735 Kristin's Sewing Workshop MixIt Tank Detail Half finished using PaintStiks to highlight fabric weave Variation on Vogue 8454 Laurel's Indygo Junction One Button Swing Topper Laurel's shirt after alterations-Burda 8368 Close up of Kathy's Sewing Workshop Urban Tee-trim all seam allowances as much as you can Cheri's variation on Sewing Workshop MixIt Tee
My sons just spent their last days in my house as single men(!). We had a great family potluck shower at my sister’s and now the weddings are becoming a reality. Decisions need to be made, etc., etc., etc.
July Fashion Sewing Club will reveal a few dresses as options for the mother of the groom but I’ve got to admit that Nordstrom’s is my fall back. Club meetings begin this Thursday at Associated Sewing in Bloomington (10:30 and 6:30) and Saturday at 10:30.
You may want to take in the Eagle Creek Garage Sale in Shakopee on Saturday (9 am-2 pm) after Club. I haven’t been for a few years but I remember some great vintage notions and fabric. Click here to go to the website.
On Tuesday, we’ll be at Treadle Yard Goods (10:30 and 6:30). Their big summer sale goes from July 8-18. Some of their dress silks are on my MOG dress list.
We’ve had a few requests to hold Fashion Sewing Club at The Sampler (551 W. 78th St.) in Chanhassen, so this is our trial month. Wednesday, July 14th we’ll have our meeting at 6:30 pm only, but we will have it no matter what. We’d like to see eight people to continue the meetings into the fall. Email us or call The Sampler (934-5307) to let them know you’ll be there. Bring your friends-first timers are free (at any meeting). The store is starting to carry more fashion fabric so support them if you want great fabric in a west metro location. Pics of some of the fabrics are below.
Remember Kathy’s scarf from last month? Here is a picture of it laid out. It’s a 32″x22″ rectangle and 7″ wide until it goes down to the points. Hopefully we’ll see a few from the serger class at Club meetings this month.
And then there’s the half of an oak tree that fell on my deck last night. No one woke up, no holes in the roof or broken railings-at least as far as we can tell at this point. Someone is coming later this afternoon to get the tree off so we can look more closely. Life is never boring!
One last clean up detail-last month Sarah Tufford told us about a group in the Madison, Wisconsin area. New homes are found for sewing machines that still work, and in the process gives new hope for the future to poor people. They sew for themselves, their families, and to make a little money to live on. Here’s the website: thesewingmachineproject.org. Some of us have been thinking about a trip to Gayfeathers in Madison and a trunkful of donated sewing machines would be a great impetus! Any takers?
Other calendar details (listed on the website)-Join us Tuesday, July 27th for a trip to SR Harris. Imagine the treasures to be had when a bunch of us start looking! We’ll car pool up to Brooklyn Park and have lunch because it will be hard work 😉
If you’re looking for a sewing related getaway, you may want to consider the Sewing Expo in Novi, Michigan. What if we got a group going together? Novi is supposed to be THE expo for fashion sewing. Here’s the link to the registration: americansewingexpo.com. The dates are Sept. 24-26.
Well, that’s all for now folks. I better get back to my sewing. The tree is being removed piece by piece (and distracting me just a wee bit). Every once in a while everything shakes as it falls more and more! Glad I slept through it.
As I was listening to my fellow Material Girls at the March Fashion Sewing Club I wondered if we were becoming fabric snobs. Most of the fabric we purchase is from Treadle Yard Goods-but not everyone shops there or even knows of the store. Christopher Straub of from Project Runway fame hadn’t even heard of it, for goodness’ sake!
Anyway, in defense of our exclusivity, or just plain love of so many Treadle fabrics, it takes time to shop and since we mostly find ourselves at Treadle, that just happens to be where we buy our fabric. When we were teaching classes and holding Club at Hancock we also found fabric there.
However, an email from a frustrated Trench Coat Class student was the final nudge I needed to make a special trip to Hancock Fabrics at Southtown. That and the niggling feeling of fabric snobbery and hearing that the store had undergone some rearranging.
So here are my happy finds for trench coat fabric at Hancock. I’m not including prices because I didn’t write them down or even look in some cases. Most of the fabrics are in the upholstery section but the last picture of the solid color fabric is in amongst the regular fabric and is labeled as jacket or outerwear. The colors-a gold/brown, silver/gray and blue/black are especially distinct and appealing (to my eye, anyway). Let me know if you want more specific directions to the location of it.
There’s still room in the Trench class-see the class listings at the top of the site.
Material Girl Sewing 