Sew, You Want to Retreat

My view for 4 days at camp

Many of you followed my 'graming of sewing retreat or sewing camp.  A few of you expressed an interest in having a sew camp in your area.  I think there are many, many ways to do this.

learning the secret of matching the seam over the invisible zipper

If this is something you truly are interested in doing - I would encourage you to reach out to your local chapter of the ASG (American Sewing Guild).  In most locations you can 'sample' up to 2 meetings before joining.  do it!  Find out what the groups are interested in - see if you can check out their local website.  I hear lots of people saying "but they are all quilters in my location" or there really isn't anyone who sews.  check anyway - you might be surprised.

pair o' matching aprons

If most of the Neighborhood groups are truly composed of quilters - start your own neighborhood group.  Find a location - my NG meets at a local senior center for free.  Other NGs in my area meet at fabric stores, libraries and members homes.  There are no rules - do whatever you are comfortable with and then make yourself visible.

4 days of finished sewing

Once you've established a group of sewing friends - then you can find a location for a retreat.  Retreat can mean many different things - I see a bunch of Spoolettes who get together regularly and sew together.  If you can find a free location for a day of sewing - yea you!  Libraries are great for this.  

Can someone unpack me?

You'll always forget something!

After you get it all together - there are some things to think about when sewing socially.  Sometimes having a nice space to cut out is where you want to put your energy, sometimes you want to help and get help and sometimes you just want to be productive.  Figure out the best way to corral your supplies and have your projects organized.  For me - I learned that cutting garments prior to retreat, putting everything I need in a ziplock bag with the pattern makes being productive so much easier.  Grab a bag, sew it up, rinse and repeat.  Also - having portable storage for all the things you need regularly when sewing is helpful.  I have a caddy that holds marking pens, chalk, scissors, buttonhole cutter, button spacer, etc.  I just have to grab the caddy and I should have everything I need.  But I always forget something - last time it was my seam ripper!

That should get you started.  Let me know if you need any virtual help in setting up a sewing group and then organizing retreats!  Happy sewing.  

Which Came First?

The dress or the cardigan?  In reality - it was the cardigan.  Remember that shawl I knit for our United Way raffle?  I bought 2 different colors, not sure which one I would use for the shawl.  I loved this 'elephant' colorway.  The pattern is Seasons of Love which I found on Ravelry.

This sweater was a fairly quick and easy knit.  I spent an entire weekend reading a book on my iPad while knitting.  I used about 1.75 hanks of yarn and knit on US 6s and 8s.  I started the sweater on January 4th and after knitting for about 2 weeks, I decided I didn't like fabric I was creating and I ripped it out and restarted on January 17th.  I finished on February 9th.

When Carolyn was visiting - she went stash diving for a fabric to make a dress to go with the cardigan.  She wanted a grey for a tonal look - but I didn't have one. I did have this pink wool double knit.  After fighting with the lace skirt - it was time for a win - so I pulled out a dress that I had good luck, cut it out and quickly sewed it up.

I coverstitched all the bodice seams and let it hang.  The next day - I hemmed it up.

This wool is a bit scratchy and I am not a big fan.  I really need to make a full slip at some point sooner rather than later.

Expo Wrap

 While I haven't shown you a great photo of my expo spoils or really done a blow by blow recap - I have already sewn up a piece of fabric bought at Expo - 2015.  

While standing and having fabric cut at the vogue Fabrics booth and Carolyn was visiting with Shams - I spotted this fabric that I hadn't seen before on the other side of the cutting table.  It was screaming at me - screaming - wrap dress!!  

So - I went over and grabbed the roll.  I don't remember exactly how much is was, but I think it was a special at $3 a yard and I bought 4 yards.  I still have enough left over to make a magic pencil skirt - I just have to decide if I want to make it for one of my girls, or myself.  

Since I have 7 versions of my TNT wrap dress pattern - and I seem to have a collection of wrap dress patterns - I decided it was time to try a different one.  This time I went with New Look 6301.  This is a mock wrap with a full or straight skirt option and sleeve variations.  

I did my usual - trace the bodice patterns.  I traced a straight 16 in the bodice, made no changed to the front or sleeves, but I did do my usual and took 2" of length out of the center back.  Looking at photos of the back - it still looks like there is some extra length back there.  

For the skirt - I used the same pattern piece for the front and back - I saw no reason for there to be a seam in the center back of the skirt.  I added 4" of length to the skirt at a random spot below the hip and another 2" at the bottom.

The fabric is a very spongy knit - which felt like it had a cotton content.  It was lovely to cut, press and sew.   I really liked the muted pattern on the reverse side of the fabric.  So, after consulting friends, I used the wrong side to bind the neckline and for the ties.  I also added a pieced section to the ties - I had everything cut out when Niema told me she'd made this dress and the ties were short.  

Construction was mostly done on my sewing machine, with the seams finished on the serger and then pressed open.  Although it doesn't look like it in the photos - the hem hangs even and I turned it up and pressed a 1.25" hem.  On the sleeves - I pressed the hem to the right side, stitched up and then trimmed the fabric away close to the stitching line. I did this on the sleeve hems - so the contrast was in 3 placed - neckline, sleeve hems and waist ties.  

This dress was quick to make and was easy to wear.  I paired it with black nylons and my red patent pumps.  These poor shoes are soo old - but they don't get worn very often.  Generally only with a black and white print dress - for some reason - that combo just demands red shoes!