I recently had the pleasure of reading an advance copy of the new book by Sarah Gunn and Julie Starr, A Stylish Guide to Classic Sewing. Since my self-described style is “Audrey Hepburn with a Twist”, I was excited to see what this book had to offer. And I was not disappointed. … Read the rest
Category: Books & Articles
How to Be Online Fabric Shopping Savvy
The Plano ASG Chapter met on Saturday, Oct 27. If you missed the annual luncheon, you missed a wonderful event! We were fortunate to have Rosalind Gaither of Sew Much Fabric (www.smfabric.com,) Katy, Texas, as our speaker. She has been in business since 1987.
Rosalind shared four important things to know when “Online Fabric Shopping.”… Read the rest
Sheryl’s Creative Journey into the land of Koos
In 2017 I decided to set a goal of growing my creative skills. These do not come naturally to me. I am a process/rows-and-columns kind of thinker by nature. As I set out to look for way to achieve that goal, I decided to sign up for Marla Kazell’s Koos coat workshop. … Read the rest
Fabric knowledge : Twills
What I learned today – contributed by Sheryl Belson
There are many things I love about being a part of the American Sewing Guild. I was reminded of one of them just today. In the Sewing With a Plan meeting we focused on incorporating more denim into our wardrobe. When it was my turn to show my project idea I told the group that I was having a horrible time trying to get the fabric on grain. … Read the rest
Sewing and Designing Resources
I just wanted to share some of my favorite resources for fashion design and sewing. I love books, maybe it is my age or desired learning style.
Books
Our local chapter has collected a great many books that are available to check out for a month at a time to any member of ASG. … Read the rest
ASG National Conference Highlights
As your chapter President, I attended the 2016 national conference. The first evening and 2nd day of the conference have separate track for Presidents or their delegates. Thursday was the annual meeting of the corporate members. Chapter awards were as follows: Newsletter: Houston Website: Indianapolis Chapter Growth: West Oakland Michigan . … Read the rest
Interview Project Runway Junior Winner Maya Ramirez
Last year we posted the request from Lifetime looking for young creative clothing designers for a new format of the Project Runway competition series. This new format selected 12 designers from ages 13 to 17 to compete in weekly clothing design challenges. While there were no contests from our local area, Maya Rameriz, the inaugural season winner’s aunt does live here.… Read the rest
Textile Conservation
What comes to mind when you think about preserving our history?
We’re familiar with preserving famous paintings, architecture, furniture, and historical documents, but where do textiles fit when you think of history?
Because textiles are thought of as utilitarian, they rank at the bottom when conserving history comes to mind.
But, how can you think about your personal history without including memories of your wedding dress or your child’s christening gown?… Read the rest
Travelogue of a Wandering Sewist – Inspiration Time with Diane Ericson
While on our road trip from Sonoma, CA to Seattle, WA I had the great privilege to make two “sewing nerd” stops. I know you understand my enthusiasm because if you are reading this you are probably a sewing nerd too. ASG is full of people like us! Yea!
My first stop was in downtown Ashland, OR at Diane Ericson’s studio. … Read the rest
Pressing Matters
The one habit that can make or break the success of your creations is the proper pressing technique.
To begin with there is a difference in ironing and pressing. When you iron a garment, you are smoothing out wrinkles with a gliding motion. Pressing, on the other hand is lifting the iron up and down with the goal to meld the thread into the fabric, open the seams or shape the seam or other portions of the item into a curved shape. … Read the rest
All about member Lu Peters
We are proud to have the very talented Lu Peters as one of our members. She is a frequent attendee of the Toujour Couture neighborhood group, that meets the first Thursday of the month at Fabrique! fabrics. AND Lu will be teaching one of our workshop seminars at the upcoming “share fair” on September 27th.… Read the rest
Vintage, what is old is new again
Have you notice the resurgence of vintage? Simplicity and Vogue have been re releasing vintage patterns, Butterick has a line of retro inspired patterns with the designer Gertie of the blog “blogforbettersewing.com“. Pattern review is running a vintage sewing contest. I adore the 1950’s playsuit by Madssews. http://sewing.patternreview.com/cgi-bin/ContestGallery.pl?ContestID=208
I started sewing very early on, but in all the moves from high school to college, from this place to that place, I only kept one of my patterns from my high school sewing days. … Read the rest