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Wednesday, April 25, 2012

End of April

  In my Monday Class, Julia is working on a pair of shorts. She is doing a great job but is wanting to make them very low rise and very short. Trying to diplomatically explain to her why that is not proper for a 10 year old and that her mother would not approve. Lauren finished one throw pillow for her room and is working on the second one. They are turning out really cute. Ellen started sewing her sewing bag. She is quite good at handling the machine. Hayley didn't show up, hope she is not ill.

   Tuesday I cancelled classes so I could go to Vision12 at McCormick Place. It is an industry show for designers and workrooms. I took three classes and watched several floor demonstrations. Here I am with Susan Woodcock from Rowley.
She is their brand experience manager and along with Laurie Medford does all these wonderful webinars for Rowley. After 'watching' her for a couple of years it was nice to meet her at the Sewing Expo in March and now again here at Vision12. I took her Workroom 1-2-3: 1 Shade, 2 Pillows, and 3 Drapery Styles class. Can't wait to make some of these and be able to offer them to clients. Such talent and imagination.

   The other classes were Showcasing Your Work, Portfolios and Hand Samples with Jill M Ragan Scully and Discovering Your Value with Jennelle Dech. In both I learned so much. It really was worth the time and hassle of traveling downtown for a day.

   Next up on my calendar is a half marathon in Nashville Saturday. I ran a 5K this past weekend and came in second in my age group. This will not happen in Nashville that is for sure. Looking forward to running it with my daughter Jennifer.

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Mid April


It is mid April and the weather has definitely gotten cooler. Fortunately no snow (knock on wood) since those weird 80 degree days in March. If we don't get a frost I should have a great cherry crop this year.

Monday after school classes are quite busy. Julia is working on a blouse, Lauren started some throw pillows for her room, Ellen, our new girl, has earned her Sewing machine Driver's License, and Hayley is working on her peasant nightgown. She had a few mishaps sewing on one sleeve and we had to spend some time ripping it out. Hoping this will convince her to slow down a little. She is trying to keep up with the older and more experienced girls and just isn't there quite yet.

Tuesdays classes are down to 2 since one of the girls wound up with a conflict with her softball practices. Izzy is almost done with her nightshirt and Meghan's floral print dress is coming along nicely.

Summer camp sign ups are starting to come in. I'm looking forward to seeing some of the girls that are only able to come to summer camp.

I have stepped down as our neighborhood group leader for ASG. I wasn't able to devote enough time to do the position justice. My sewing business is getting so busy I just couldn't find the time to do everything. I still plan on going to the meetings but not be involved in the planning, etc. I am all signed up for the ASG Conference in Houston that will be in August. I'm taking some great classes.

Off to get some work done.

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Purse-onality Fun 4 Camp


I love doing summer sewing camps. It gives my students a chance to try something very different plus a way to finish something in a shorter time span. When I have my after school classes they are one hour sessions once a week so it may take a month or more to complete a project. With summer camp being 4 sessions of 3 hours we often complete three to five items in that time frame. It is 'Sew Much Fun' to see them start and finish something in a week's time.

I will be teaching Purse-onality Fun 4 the week of July 23rd. We will meet Monday through Thursday from 9-noon. The first purse we will make is a Snap Happy pattern that has a really fun closure. I did mine from fabric left over from one of my challenge jackets.


The second purse will be a fun tote from jeans. The one I did was from my husband's old pair of jeans, you can see the fraying on the pockets. I will be providing the jeans and will also deconstruct them so the girls have more time to sew. I will demonstrate how to take jeans apart for this project.


The final purse we will be making is from the book, The Perfect Bag, by Linda McGehee. There are three sizes to choose from and two styles. I have done the medium size here with the larger part of the center facing up. I have also strip pieced the center piece for more interest. For handles I chose to use beads I bought at the Sewing Expo that are hand made in Uganda. Threaded them on some wire and attached to the purse with reinforced straps. The closure is just a button and some elastic thread.

This last purse will really be a creation of the girls as there are so many options to choose. I am really looking forward to seeing what they come up with. I made one of these before with leftover sweater pieces from another challenge jacket and it looks so different from this version.

Come join the fun at one of my sewing camps this summer. Check out my website, www.sewmuchfun.biz, for more details.

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Back From Break

Classes are back in full swing. On Monday I got a note from one of the mom's that her daughter was starting softball practices on Wednesdays. She really didn't want to miss out on sewing so what could we do? After conferring with the other mom it was decided we could switch to Tuesdays, same time. So now Izzy, Meghan and Katie all come on Tuesdays. So glad we could work it out. Anna though had to drop out since she is sewing the costumes for her school play and is busy every day after school.

Julia had finished her fleece pants before break but didn't get to buying fabric for a new project. She finished sewing a pillowcase that will be donated to Conker for Cancer. I keep a supply of cut pieces to make these pillowcases just in case the girls forget their projects. Lauren is working on her sports blouse and Hayley is excited to have started on a peasant nightgown. She proudly showed off her skirt to Grandma while on spring break.

Izzy is busy working on her nightshirt. She sewed on bands of contrasting fabric to the sleeves with a decorative stitch. She did a great job. Meghan is making herself a dress from a beautiful large floral print and Katie is almost finished with her square neck blouse in a pretty purple print. She is excited to be moving up to book two next week.

The girls were happy to hear that the Chicago ASG chapter has decided to pay for their lunches at our fashion show in the fall. They are looking forward to showing off their work.