New Venture - Come help us celebrate!

Getting back to sewing

Like many of you, I had a busy time preparing for the holiday season and am slowly (very slowly...) recovering from it. A colourful mound of prints arrived over the weekend and have been duly washed, folded and added to my stash. Just today a parcel of Vogue patterns arrived (gotta love those Boxing Week sales!). Time to get busy, I think. The upcoming classes at Triangle Sewing Centre may be just the thing to jump-start your return to sewing.

On Monday 21st we have a Seam Finishes Workshop. This is "old world techniques for the modern sewist." No fancy machine required! If you can sew a straight line, the inside of your garment can look just as good as the outside AND the garment will wear better and last longer. What's not to love about that? Learn how to make french seams, mock french seams, flat-felled seams, Hong Kong finish and bound seams. You will go home with a lovely mat to sit under your machine, protect your table and act as that ever-important memory aid for future projects.

And yes, the machine pictured can do all those seam finishes! Her name is Daisy and Santa Sally kindly arrange for her to come live at my house. Kweeee!!!

The following week, Monday 28th, we have the Bag Techniques Workshop. I've designed a special bag for this workshop to pack as many of the tricks and tips as possible into just one bag. Suitable for toting toiletries to the gym or on vacation, you have a choice of making it in denim with a print lining or using the print on the outside and lining it with canvas. Like all my bags, both versions are machine washable.

As the calendar flips over to February, we have a new session of the Dressmaking Bee, beginning on the 4th. So it's time to pull out those projects you put aside for the holidays and make yourself something fabulous! Contact Triangle Sewing Centre to register.

Rainy weather getting you thinking about holiday projects?

Then there a couple classes coming up that might be just the thing to get you started!

smaller version

This coming Saturday, Nov 3rd from 10:00 until 1:00 (note the time change from the earlier published date!)  I'll be at Greenwood Quiltery guiding students through Amy Butler's Market Tote. Available in two sizes, this open top, square tote is great for lugging all sorts of things around. As with most of Amy's patterns, the proportions and design are awesome, the method of construction well.. less than awesome. So I'll share the changes I made to ensure you are delighted with the finished bag.

Interior

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have another session of the Dressmaking Bee starting on Monday, November 5th at Triangle Sewing Centre. 10 hours of instruction on a project of your choosing over 4 weeks.  Both afternoon 1:00 to 3:30 and evening 6:30 to 9:00 slots are available!

And due to a family emergency we have rescheduled the Zipper Workshop at Triangle for Saturday, Nov 10th 10:00 to 3:00pm. Polished and professional looking zippers can be a challenge for sewists so we have put together an expanded workshop covering five popular zipper insertion methods in five hours. Join us for the classic centered zipper, my favourite the invisible zipper, the very elegant offset zipper, the of the moment exposed zipper (showing up in surprising places in ready to wear but also the workhorse for bags and outerwear) and for those very special projects a hand picked zipper. And rather than a pile of samples we are turning your work into throw pillows. Great for freshening up your decor or for gift giving.

Call the stores to register!
Greenwood Quiltery 519-822-2790
Triangle Sewing Centre 519-822-9910

Bought a tent!

And survived my first outdoor show unscathed so there will be more of those over the summer.  Please check back here for updates.  In the meantime, some photos from the Handmade Market May 12th and 13th in sunny Beamsville.

Long overdue update from sunny Guelph

As most of my followers know, Tom, the cats and I relocated to Guelph this year. (And yes we did acquire a fourth cat during the move.) It has been a very busy time, getting our living space comfortable, setting up our office and studio and learning about our new community. We love it here! The arts community is so supportive and the opportunities that have come my way in the short time we have been here are nothing short of shocking.

I am continuing to teach at Bee Modern Yarn and Fabrics. We have added knitting and crochet to the schedule. Monique and Heide are so much fun to work with, and the shop sooo lovely, that if you have not been to check it out or seen the new yarn room you really must make the trip to Niagara-on-the-Lake.

I am also teaching at Triangle Sewing Centre here in Guelph. Classes are going well and we are working on the schedule for March through September. Do drop me a note if there is something you would like added to the calendar.

My jewellery and scarves are available at the Guelph Artisans shop in Old Quebec Street mall. I'm typically in the shop on a Thursday afternoon if you wish to see what I've been up to or just drop in for a chat.


And I've been working on a new line of special purpose totes, bags and cases. First out of the gate are cases and cozies for apples of every kind - from MacBook to iPad to Granny Smith.


At a recent show the latter sold so well that I had to resort to a handwritten note.


More of the same will be appearing shortly in a revitalized Etsy shop.

Hope all is well with you and yours and that you find time during this busy season to enjoy each other's company.

Holiday 2010 Show Dates

I've been working on retail orders and getting ready for Holiday Shows. You can see my latest work at:

The Handmade Market
Good Earth Food and Wine Co., Beamsville
Saturday and Sunday, November 27th and 28th

SpeakEasy Holiday Sale
Gladstone Hotel, Queen West, Toronto
Thursday, December 2nd

Movies & Makers
Fox Theatre, The Beaches, Toronto
Saturday, December 4th

All three shows are artisan run so please do help us get the word out. With the wonderful vendors that are participating, I'm looking forward to doing some Christmas shopping myself.

And of course I've had help in the shipping department....

I put fresh tissue in the box before sending it out. I do, however, think lavender is quite fetching on Ms. Samantha.

Where do you get your inspiration from?

Now there is a question. And it is a question I get fairly often. Particularly from design students. Particularly when showing my wool pieces. On Saturday I kicked off my 2010/11 wool collection at Art of Fashion during Nuit Blanche and yes I got the question again. This time it caught me off guard so I fumbled about a bit.


Then today I came across this Seth Godin quote on Scoutie Girl's blog (fab blog btw!)
"If you’re managing a project, figure out what the scarce resource is (it’s not usually money). Climbing Everest? It’s warmth and weight you care about, not how much the sleeping bag costs.
 Scarcity creates value." And that got me thinking about what is the scarce resource I am offering through my work. This is what I came up with.

I like colour and I like clean, tidy lines and geometric shapes and I love texture and natural materials. From this starting point, I look at the way women dress today, especially as life gets fuller and busier. I think they need something easy to throw on with classic, quality basics that expresses something about them. I know I do. Something that pleases them and tells others that this is an interesting and vibrant woman at first glance. And I hope that is what I have created - fun, interesting and easy to wear pieces.