The allure of THE DRESS!

    This summer I have been making lots of dresses. One reason is that they are cooler! Also, you do not have to think what blouse, tee shirt, etc to put with it ~ its an entire ensemble! AND, I really do think that they can be so much more comfortable than just about anything - except maybe pj's. I love to study the fashions of the '40's and '50's. There was such an elegance to the fashions then. In looking around the shop at our patterns and our many different fabrics, I am struck with a thought ~ why can't we wear those beautiful dresses today? Well, why not! With minor changes to the patterns, the right fabric choices as well as the right accessories, we can do this! Well, maybe not the hat:(  

So..... I am working on this now - everyday and night. I am consumed with thoughts of beautiful dresses.

Yesterday, Kay Whitt was in the shop and I was thrilled to compare thought with her only to find that she feels the same way. I think that she may have some new pattern ideas coming soon!

I am already planning a class, "Couture Sewing Techniques" for the NEW ORIGINAL SEWING &  QUILT EXPO that is coming to Ft Worth this fall. I feel like this is going to be a superb show! Everyone put it on their calendar: October 17th thru 19th, the Will Rodgers Memorial Center.

Sewing Circles

I was checking my email yesterday and saw one from my daughter "...Saw this and thought of you!"

  

          It was not the picture above (although I think it is pretty cool), it was a link to a database in the Massachusetts Historical Society titled 95 Sewing Circle Records, 1893-1961, 2 boxes, 4 cased volumes. If you did not know already my daughter is working on her doctorate hence the reason for her actually running across this bit of history. She was doing a search for "Women, Societies and Clubs, Upper Class, Massachusetts". I won't go into the details of why she was doing just this, but I wanted to share with everyone the description of just what was the '95 Sewing Circle:

"Meeting schedules, scrapbooks, photographs, and miscellaneous correspondence of the ’95 Sewing Circle, a club for upper-class Boston women begun in 1895. Most members of the exclusive club were born in the 1870s and "came out" in the early to mid-1890s. Although the title suggests a charitable purpose, it appears that most club activities were social in nature. Profiles of members, with photographs and vital information, are contained in the scrapbooks. Also included are 3 reels of movie film and miscellaneous club artifacts.

I have bolded and italicized what truly caught my attention. I love it! Women have been getting together for a long long time sewing and talking and sharing and laughing and sometimes crying. Sometimes we do sew for charitable causes, but mostly it is social. We inspire each other in our craft as well as support one another through the many trials of life. I know lots of women who are in "Quilting Bee's" and church groups that meet regularly. Here at Sew It Up Studio, we have been hostessing our "Sewist's Day Camp" this summer once a week in which you can come and go from 10an-5pm, working on your many UFO's!  Our "Sew It Up Club meets once a month in order that our customers may all share their projects with one another .  .  . and visit! One of our dear customers hosts a "Craft Night" monthly at her home. What a fantastic idea! I am thinking perhaps we need a "Lunch Bunch" this fall just to have an excuse to "talk sewing"!

I love our craft of sewing! And, it is so much more than just sewing! We should all try to introduce just one of our friends this fall to sewing. Just consider what they have been missing!

Kids Sewing Camp - Summer 2013

Last week was our first Kids Sewing Camp for 2013! 

Even though there are only 4 new "sewists" pictured, there were actually five girls as you will surmise from the pictures of their completed projects. The classroom was filled with joy for 5 days from 10am until 2pm each day. They were learning, sharing, designing, forging new friendships & laughing. It was such a pleasure to be able to hear how much fun they were having! And, boy were they productive.

They began with pillowcases as that is our proverbial "first project" - look at the wonderful prints and colors that they chose! I love them all! Their second project I believe was a tote bag, but unfortunately our picture turned out a bit blurry. 

They also made the cutest ever headbands which they all embellished with beads and sequins thus practicing some hand stitching!

Some of the girls made more than one; some for friends, some for relatives ~ so sweet!

To the left here are their little zip up bags that are perfect for anything small: pens & pencils, hair accessories, trinkets  etc. 

I am not sure if I have left out any of their projects, but their final one was a skirt which they all finished and modeled as you can see in the first photograph above. Don't they look confident and proud!

I do hope that they will continue to learn to sew over the summer and that they will all attend the intermediate session which will be in August.  See y'all soon! 

TAKING A BREAK . . . I'm sewing!!!

What do you mean "sewing"? Don't I sew all the time? Well, sort of . . . I do sew many of the samples and kits for the shop, but occasionally, I just want to sew something that is just for me ~ not for the shop! Wow, can you imagine that?

In my collection, I have some wonderful really old pattens from the '40s and '50s. I made one a couple of weeks ago (see above!) with success (most of these do not have directions! and occasionally there is a piece missing). I love the styles of that time period and the fit. They are very feminine in my opinion, but what is the deal with the sizes! Gosh have we all gotten so much bigger than back in the 40's-50's???  I know that women wore girdles back then and they did not have drive thru fast food places as we do today! But honestly, has sizing for women's clothing changed that radically? Evidently so. A 30" bust was a size 12! I don't think that I was ever that tiny! I have had to cut out an 18-20 to get a bust of 36"-37"! Thank goodness we do not have to wear the size on the outside of a garment!

Towards the end of last week I tried another one. It is a maternity top, but I thought that it might just work for todays fashions. I made it up in a wonderful rayon batik so that it would flow nicely and not "stick out" ~ like a maternity top. BUT, well, it did. So, I decided that it would make a great bathing suit coverup.

That was last week. after studying it for several days, I decided to chance a few design alterations! I removed two of the side bows, edge stitched the side panels (to keep them from "poking out") and then added some inverted pleats to the front and back to create some shaping. I think that I have done it! - I believe that with some skinny khaki capris and flat sandals it can be worn out in public ~ that is the litmus test after all!

Just last night, I tried another dress pattern from the 50's and I love it! (See below.)
I might just have to draft this one for everyone to enjoy. I will post a picture of mine in a couple of days when it is finished.

Martha's Sewing Market

          This past weekend was the annual Martha's Sewing Market at the Arlington Convention Center. This was their 16th year I do believe and our 15th year to exhibit for the Pullen Company. It has always been the hightlight of our entire summer, but sadly this year, it appears to be the last one. F & W Media bought the magazine, Sew Beautiful and Martha's Sewing market about a year ago. They chose to combine the venue with their annual Scrapbooking convention; however they segregated us to a separate exhibit hall and reduced our classrooms from twelve to one!

        As you can see, their signage for us was kind of an afterthought - not a professional looking sign, just a hand drawn one! And, this only appeared on Saturday after numerous complaints that no one could find the sewing market!!!

         It was sad to see how small the show was reduced to and how few free seminars were offered ~ only one per hour. In years past we had as many as twelve per time slot. It is heartbreaking to realize that the show must surely "die" after this pathetic attempt. I am extreemly disappointed in how little F & W Media seemed to care about the show, the customers or the vendors. I suppose all good things come to an end eventually.

         For those of you who attended the show, I sincerely thank you for your support! If you wish to send your comments, in the form of an email, the show director's is Dana Groves:  dgroves@interweave.com

         AND, for those of you who attended my seminar on Thursday, 

ONE SEAM WONDERS ~ 

here is where you will find the pattern instructions for 

The Essential Shrug ~ Tuesday, July 12, 2011 and

My Diagonal Skirt ~ Monday, November 12, 2012

As always, I wish everyone Happy Sewing adventures!

. . . .   & please stay tuned as I do have a few ideas for next summer!

I welcome any of your comments as well!

SEW IT UP

will be in Booths #114 & #116

June 6th-8th

Arlington Convention Center

Stop by and say Hello!

Our Free Seminars:

One Seam Wonders     - Noon/Thursday
Quiltilng - The Next Generation     - 4pm/Thursday
Hexagons: More Than You Ever Imagined     - 9am/Friday
Slow Down! - Curves Ahead!      - Noon/Friday
From Paper to Fabric: A Refreshing Transition      - Noon/Saturday

         

I am amazed that our very own "Martha's Sewing Market" is just around the corner! I have been working on my seminars, new kits and other goodies. We, that is, Sew It Up have been a vendor for Martha for 15 years now ~ yes, that is hard to believe! Every year has been so much fun! We get soooo excited getting ready for the show. It is always great to see those customers who travel far and wide just for this event. Our own local customers attend in great numbers and we meet lots of wonderful new sewists!

Last year was a bit of a disappointment in the number of vendors. Granted there was another big sewing venue premiering on the very same weekend on the east coast. Many vendors live in that part of the country so it just made sense that they not travel all the way to Texas. Still, we missed them and the show seemed so much smaller. Another reason that the show lacked its usual luster was that Martha's company had just been bought by another. Yes, Hoffman Media had purchased them about two years prior. Now, it is F & W Media who owns the magazine and company. They had not owned it long enough to orient themselves to the personality of the show. They did not know the vendors and were a little clueless as to what exactly Martha's Sewing Market had become over the years. I know that many attendees were disappointed in the show.

This year will be different! What is this about combining Sewing with Scrapbooking? Frankly it is a matter of simple economics. The show has evidently not done very well in the money department for quite some time. A big company like F & W Media is not going to support an event that generates little or  no profit. They have been producing this very same scrapbooking event for a number of years. So, we are actually quite lucky that they did not cancel OUR SEWING SHOW! So, they have combined the two. It just makes sense. There are fewer vendors interested in being a part of a small sewing show. So, here is the deal: if we do not support this show, it will likely be our very last one. Yes, we do have the Houston International Quilt Festival in the fall, but, for most of us, it isn't enough. We like having a sewing convention right here in our backyard! 

So, I am asking everyone a big favor. Please spread the word and attend the market this year. If we can make it work, we will not loose the show! I am confident that this show CAN be built back up to what it used to be! I know that the tickets are $15/day at the door, so, here is what I am offering to everyone: 

Shop with Sew It Up anytime between now and the event and I will give you a coupon worth $5 off of any purchase - made in our booths - at the show. This really means that Sew It Up is paying for one third of your ticket price! How about it? That sounds pretty good right? Well, here is one more "gift". If you come to the show and shop in our booths, you will receive a coupon worth $5 to spend anytime either in the shop or on-line! Now your ticket to get into the show is $5!

I am committed to making the show a success this year so that we can have it again next year! I hope that everyone else feels the same way that I do:)