In our quest for sewing education, I had dd the youngest watch the craftsy.com class, Sew Ready: Machine Basics. I figured that while she isn't a novice, she isn't overly experienced either, so she would get something out of it. Besides, the class is free, and there are only 5 mini-episodes (it's really pushing it to call it 5 since the first one is a hi how are you and here's how to use Craftsy).
DD said that while she didn't learn a lot, she did learn about cleaning her sewing machine. (Oops, must've missed that one in our sewing education here!) Additionally, she loved episode 3 on feet. Because the instructor had both vintage and modern feet, dd became interested in the vintage ones. I am fortunate enough to have my grandmother's sewing machine, so we opened the drawers and explored its feet. We agreed that there were quite a lot of them, they're very interesting, and fun to look over, but we weren't ready to transfer over to using the ol' Singer! One day maybe?
I thought it was interesting to hear what an elementary aged blooming sewist had to say about a class geared towards novices. I guess we've done an okay job with instruction, minus the cleaning your machine part! The class was free, the sessions were short, and it was a fun thing to watch while we ate lunch this summer! I think we'll need to do some feet exploration soon!
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
Saturday, November 2, 2013
Swimsuits from 2012
I thought I'd go ahead and post the last projects that I made last year so I have a reference to them. Can't remember any construction details or adjustments, although I do remember that dd the eldest was very picky...imagine that.
 |
| The fit on the bottoms is much better than it appears! |
The little person swimsuit is Kwik Sew 2883 (oop), and the big person suit is McCall 3566 (oop). I got the Kwik Sew pattern, and the totally wild, but much loved fabric at an ASG meeting.
Thursday, October 31, 2013
When I'm not sewing...
Again, I wrote this last year but never published it! I thought I'd share it with you because it's been a LOT of fun, and a very interesting experience.
You know, I actually work really hard at sewing although you'd never realize it based on my blog posts. As I busily lined up another American Sewing Guild program recently, I realized that I've never talked about hobnobbing with the famous in the sewing world. I've gotten to do that this year (2012), largely due to LUCK. The right call at the right time. (yes, me! I was really suffering on what to do for programs there for awhile so this was a HUGE blessing. Rejection becomes very discouraging rather quickly.)
My local sewing guild has monthly meetings (except December) and has a program at EACH AND EVERY monthly meeting. Guess who is in charge of lining up programs???? Yeah....
And, I'm well into my 3rd year of doing this (and agreed to a 4th and final year next year....which is now so I am almost DONE!!!). I think I've done okay with it. We are really blessed to have some *terrific* local talent. But, you do feel guilty hitting people up within the guild. After awhile you begin to feel that they see you coming, and that they want to go run and hide because they know that you are going to ask them to do a program presentation.
We have several local quilt stores and a few far-flung general fabric stores, and I think all the store owners would like to go hide behind the counter when they see me coming....just in case I ask them to do a program. I have tried to be thoughtful, and only ask our newsletter advertisers (aka the store owners) to do a program about every 2 years or so. And that does seem like a lot--I really, really understand that by the end of the day they probably would much, much rather go home rather than go out to do a presentation. It's a long day. I appreciate that. We suffer from the same things here at The Sewing Spot. The flip side to this is that our guild is generally very supportive of our advertisers. However, you can never really predict (and I'm too much of a lady to ask) how supportive (dollars!!!) the guild is. I *think* that our store owners have benefited through sales either at their store and/or at our meetings because of the programs they've given.
See? There's a trend here. I am either the most loved member of our sewing guild (because of the GREAT programs I bring in) or the most feared (because I will ask YOU to do one!). Really, I am laughing at myself here although it is true, I do believe!
So, the point is, you ask? This year (2012!!!) has been an ultra busy year for me with sewing largely because of the sewing programs I've arranged this year. We've had presentations about:
See? Don't we have some terrific local talents??!
Plus, this year (actually in 2012) I was so blessed to be hooked up with Rae Cumbie, Sarah Veblen, Mary Ray, Pamela Ptak, and Linda Stewart!!!! If your brain needs a nudge, they've all been in Threads magazine, written books, published patterns and/or teach. They also taught classes here via Artisan Sewing Classes. I couldn't take them all, but did enjoy Sarah's class. More on that in another post! Time to play catch up on the blog...Anyway--
And next year Susan Khalje will be one of our program speakers! How cool is that????? She was here earlier this year in April. I didn't get to take her French jacket class, but did enjoy her one day handsewing class!
It has been so wonderful to have had talent from outside our area come here and speak to the guild. I'm sure it's been a relief to our members and advertisers, too. (Because I didn't have to ask many of them to give a program at a meeting this year....but NEXT year is a different story!) Now you know where all my sewing time goes--lining up sewing speakers for our guild programs! hahaha I wonder what excuse I'll have to offer in the future since my time is up serving as programs chair???
You know, I actually work really hard at sewing although you'd never realize it based on my blog posts. As I busily lined up another American Sewing Guild program recently, I realized that I've never talked about hobnobbing with the famous in the sewing world. I've gotten to do that this year (2012), largely due to LUCK. The right call at the right time. (yes, me! I was really suffering on what to do for programs there for awhile so this was a HUGE blessing. Rejection becomes very discouraging rather quickly.)
My local sewing guild has monthly meetings (except December) and has a program at EACH AND EVERY monthly meeting. Guess who is in charge of lining up programs???? Yeah....
And, I'm well into my 3rd year of doing this (and agreed to a 4th and final year next year....which is now so I am almost DONE!!!). I think I've done okay with it. We are really blessed to have some *terrific* local talent. But, you do feel guilty hitting people up within the guild. After awhile you begin to feel that they see you coming, and that they want to go run and hide because they know that you are going to ask them to do a program presentation.
We have several local quilt stores and a few far-flung general fabric stores, and I think all the store owners would like to go hide behind the counter when they see me coming....just in case I ask them to do a program. I have tried to be thoughtful, and only ask our newsletter advertisers (aka the store owners) to do a program about every 2 years or so. And that does seem like a lot--I really, really understand that by the end of the day they probably would much, much rather go home rather than go out to do a presentation. It's a long day. I appreciate that. We suffer from the same things here at The Sewing Spot. The flip side to this is that our guild is generally very supportive of our advertisers. However, you can never really predict (and I'm too much of a lady to ask) how supportive (dollars!!!) the guild is. I *think* that our store owners have benefited through sales either at their store and/or at our meetings because of the programs they've given.
See? There's a trend here. I am either the most loved member of our sewing guild (because of the GREAT programs I bring in) or the most feared (because I will ask YOU to do one!). Really, I am laughing at myself here although it is true, I do believe!
So, the point is, you ask? This year (2012!!!) has been an ultra busy year for me with sewing largely because of the sewing programs I've arranged this year. We've had presentations about:
- sewing blogs (I wonder where that idea came from???)
- PaintStiks (compliments of one of our wonderful advertisers!)
- Velomuffs (by one of our ASG members with the coolest business!)
- Fabric Origami (a nifty accessory for home dec :)
- The Lifecycle of a Custom Gown (the gown samples were a big WOW! and the topic super interesting--thanks to another ASG member)
See? Don't we have some terrific local talents??!
Plus, this year (actually in 2012) I was so blessed to be hooked up with Rae Cumbie, Sarah Veblen, Mary Ray, Pamela Ptak, and Linda Stewart!!!! If your brain needs a nudge, they've all been in Threads magazine, written books, published patterns and/or teach. They also taught classes here via Artisan Sewing Classes. I couldn't take them all, but did enjoy Sarah's class. More on that in another post! Time to play catch up on the blog...Anyway--
And next year Susan Khalje will be one of our program speakers! How cool is that????? She was here earlier this year in April. I didn't get to take her French jacket class, but did enjoy her one day handsewing class!
It has been so wonderful to have had talent from outside our area come here and speak to the guild. I'm sure it's been a relief to our members and advertisers, too. (Because I didn't have to ask many of them to give a program at a meeting this year....but NEXT year is a different story!) Now you know where all my sewing time goes--lining up sewing speakers for our guild programs! hahaha I wonder what excuse I'll have to offer in the future since my time is up serving as programs chair???
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
(Another) Bra
I made this last year (May 2012) and wrote the post then. While I love making bras and undies, I definitely need to work out a solution to the pointy look...Any others with experience on this, please share!
I have been sewing...just a little. I completed a bra. The only thing worth noting about this was the fabric was a cotton knit. It changed construction a bit since you need to layer it with the power net fabric to make a stable band.
And it matches my undies that I sewed two years ago...and that I saved to wear until the matching bra was done! Slow!
I have been sewing...just a little. I completed a bra. The only thing worth noting about this was the fabric was a cotton knit. It changed construction a bit since you need to layer it with the power net fabric to make a stable band.
And it matches my undies that I sewed two years ago...and that I saved to wear until the matching bra was done! Slow!
Long Time
After more than a year without posting, it's hard to know how to begin! I wrote 2 posts, and saved them as drafts but somehow life got in the way of actually posting them. Additionally, I didn't sew ONE SINGLE THING from August of last year until about June of this year (unless you count a trio of humbug bags as a Christmas gift?). To make things even worse, I didn't even read any sewing blogs, and I love reading everyone's accounts of their sewing adventures! Now, blogger has changed some stuff, and I guess I'll have to figure it out--or not.
One thing that I like a lot about blogging is being able to go back and look at what I've sewn. And when I made it. So let's see if I can't get this restarted at least for those purposes!
As a brief summary and reminder to self, since my last post I made: a bra, matching swimsuits for the girls, garment bag/tote/lingerie bag (still in progress...), a tank top, lots of t-shirt mock ups, and a real t-shirt that works! Plus I have taken two classes with Sarah Veblen, one last year working on muslins for a skirt and a princess seam blouse and one this year working on t-shirts. I also attended the American Sewing Guild's annual conference in August this year. Not too bad considering I didn't really sew anything for such a long time!
I think my new smartphone will help with keeping up with posting and photos (although I confess I HATE working with pictures--saving, cropping, getting nice clear ones, etc).
One thing that I like a lot about blogging is being able to go back and look at what I've sewn. And when I made it. So let's see if I can't get this restarted at least for those purposes!
As a brief summary and reminder to self, since my last post I made: a bra, matching swimsuits for the girls, garment bag/tote/lingerie bag (still in progress...), a tank top, lots of t-shirt mock ups, and a real t-shirt that works! Plus I have taken two classes with Sarah Veblen, one last year working on muslins for a skirt and a princess seam blouse and one this year working on t-shirts. I also attended the American Sewing Guild's annual conference in August this year. Not too bad considering I didn't really sew anything for such a long time!
I think my new smartphone will help with keeping up with posting and photos (although I confess I HATE working with pictures--saving, cropping, getting nice clear ones, etc).
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