American Sewing Guild Fun!

Last weekend I attended a one-day sewing retreat with the Maryland chapter of the American Sewing Guild. Rather than just have folks come with their machines and work on whatever they wanted, it was structured: there were three classes given, which everyone participated in. I taught one of them (Serging Tips and Techniques), and thoroughly enjoyed the other two.

Here are some of the 16 attendees, setting up their machines in the hall at the New Windsor Conference Center. Of course, everyone had to check out everyone else's machines.

The first class was taught by Michelle Umlauf of Sew Simplified. She led the group through the process of making a Martha Pullen Madeira and Bias Shaped Table Runner. I had never done any heirloom sewing before; this was actually the very first time I had tried using a wing needle! It was a lot of fun, and I came away with a lovely linen table runner.

(Forgive the bad cell phone photo -- my camera battery died right after we got started!)

After lunch, Helen DeRoo gave a wonderful demonstration on how to modify a favorite pattern to give it a new look. She showed lapel variations, sleeve variations, and brought a lot of her own garments with her to show how fabric choices could change the look of a pattern. She gave the attendees a long list of suggestions for how to add some flair to a favorite pattern. I can't wait to try some of them!

All in all, it was a wonderful way to spend a Saturday!