Registration begins for the American Sewing Expo

On September 24 - 26, 2010, the Rock Financial Showcase of Novi, Michigan hosts the largest independent sewing show in the United States. Featuring 90+ vendors, including Michigan locals Habermann Fabrics from Royal Oak and Fabric Gallery from Williamston. There are many classes, make and takes, seminars, free demonstrations, fashion shows, and the Passion for Fashion live competition. Its a great place to get a feel for fabrics, learn new tricks, and rub shoulders with other sewing enthusiasts.

Register by Internet, fax or mail. Information and tips for registering are available on their website. Special package pricing for seminars and general admission that can save from $6.00 to $60.00, depending on how much you feel you can take in on one weekend. Their website boasts that the show is too much to do in one day.

All day Workshops kick off the weekend on Wednesday and Thursday. Choices include making a jacket, a quilt or a blouse. Learning how to drape, make buttons or make and use silk screens. It will not be difficult to find a class you'd like to try, but to only select one! There are 1 hour Lectures as well as 2 to 4 hour Hands on classes held throughout the weekend. Instructors are designers, artists and teachers who are excited by their craft and thrilled to share their knowledge with interested students. Topics include things like fancy jeweled zippers, Tye-dyeing fabrics, Leather 101 and much, much more. Learn about an innovative product, a better technique or a new skill.

The show has always held appeal for the seasoned quilters and garment sewers, but in the last couple of years it has made extra effort to encourage and entertain the next generation of crafters. With the Reconstruction Zone and the Threadbanger Duo, plus the Sew Experience Café and live Fashion Shows there is never a dull moment and plenty to watch if you need a break from shopping or learning in the seminars. Whether your hobby is fashion sewing, quilting, needle arts, home dec, crafting or you are looking to find something that inspires you, the Expo is a great place to spend the weekend!

(image is the 2010 brochure from the sewing expo website)

Sorry, no Passion for Fashion for me this year

Boo Hoo! I just got my entry for the Passion for Fashion Competition back in the mail today. Along with a very nice rejection letter. So this year I will not be participating. But at least my Dear Husband can wear his shirt now! I made him throw it on for the picture right out of the package.



I wrote about my great experience with the contest in 2008. See the entries here.

I guess now I need to study the brochure and decide what days I will be attending the expo show!

Watching Project Runway

I'm watching my dvd's for the second time. I have Season 1 thru 5.



I ask for them for Christmas, because at my inlaws we trade names and its hard to shop for each other. And they aren't too expensive $17.49 to $27.95 each. (A month of cable is more!) I think I like them better this time because I'm not guessing about who is going to win. Its more fun to look at what they are doing. I'm inspired by their efforts and humbled by their imagination and abilities under pressure.

The show has a lot of drama, too. Anyone has a breakdown and a fight or a big mouth and that will definately get broadcast. The designers are big characters, I think its a combination of picking good characters and having a lot of interesting people to choose from. Season 2 has Santino Rice and Season 4 has Christian Siriano. Two larger than life people. I wouldn't recommend it for children, there is bad language, drinking, etc., but it is great adult entertainment. Santino (@santinorice) broadcasts on Twitter and I nearly dropped my laptop when he followed me back!

My husband says we may be getting cable, so I might be able to watch season 8 live. I'm not sure if I really like that idea, I will have to wait to see the successive episodes, not just slip in the next dvd!

I'm asking for season 6 and 7 this year! Maybe one of my brothers will buy one for me too :)

week #4



That's green beans in the bag and the squash was really (really!) good, I'm excited about next weeks share, we did get a little rain last week!

My Entry, PFF 2010

At the last moment,I got an entry ready for the Passion for Fashion contest in the Novi American Sewing Expo Show this fall. Unfortunately, I didn't make anything new. The machines were all busy making other things for clients and charity. I sent in a shirt I made earlier this year for a job opportunity, I was asked to bring some samples of my work and she said she was especially interested in men's shirts. My poor husband, I made the shirt in his size, but neglected to add the buttonholes for 2 or 3 months. I added them Tuesday night at Midnight, but if I get into the contest he won't be able to wear the shirt till October!



I'm not positive I will make it in. The contest says the entries will be judged 50% on creativity and 50% on sewing ability. While I'm confident I sewed the shirt well, I followed a pattern, and besides matching stripes, there is nothing specifically creative. So, I'll just wait it out till August 1st when the contestants are notified! Wish me luck!

And Week #3 of my farm share:



This is the first week it felt low to me, but that is the nature of the farm! I know soon it will be too much to eat. Now I have to figure out how to prepare Kolerabi. And last week I did get garlic, I mistook it for an onion! At least until I tried to cut it.....

Week #2

I love my farm share!



Words from the farm........
"As I mentioned above still a light week. Honestly that's not anything new for the beginning of the season. I do think that you will see an increase starting next week. Things are looking good, we needed some rain (getting some now!) and with the heat things are growing. The early heat has been hard of some of the early crops-the greens and lettuce really prefer temps in the 70's this 80 degree weather isn't what it prefers, but we are trying to keep the crop irragated to make it happy.

So this week you got some more lettuce-there was some red leaf,some romaine, and some butterhead harvested. If you ended up with a romaine that has spots on the leaves-please do not think it is bad. It's a type or red romaine called freckles and the spots are supposed to be there :)

It really was not in my plan to give you 2 bags of lettuce in these smaller shares, but I had no other green that was ready to harvest for you yesterday. It is important for me to give you what I have-and I have lettuce-SO lots of salads this week!

Garlic scapes & fresh garlic :)

Bunching Onions

Roma Tomatoes

Enjoy!"



I did not get garlic. I got peas!
We had delicious salads for dinner. I was too hungry to get a pic ;) Maybe next time.......

Book Review: The Mary Frances Sewing Book by Jane Eayre Fryer

Have you seen this book? I think it is a treat! Originally published in 1913, it takes a young girl through sewing lessons with the help of the thimble people, a sewing bird and other new friends. It comes with 16" doll sized patterns to copy and make too.



It has several glossy color pages and the table of contents includes topics like, I. Sewing Bird, II. Sewing Bird Begins to Teach and XIV. A Loan From the Thimble King. There are 33 Patterns included. From a Doll's Laundry Bag, to Doll's Lawn Petticoat, to a Girl's Collar. Instructions for How to Outfit a Work Basket, a Canvas Sampler and 44 others.



I dug mine out again because a friend has an 11 year old daughter who loves books and is interested in sewing. I gave her some sewing supplies, a Reader's Digest Complete Guide to Sewing book and fabric last summer and she was happy and busy making a chair cover. I was pleased and impressed! She did a wonderful job!

I bought the book when it was re-published in 1997, I had been searching for it on auction sites. I'm not ready to part with mine, but I am going to see if she would like to borrow my copy for the summer. I still harbor dreams of a little girl of my own who might someday like to go on an adventure among the thimble people! :)

Stuff That Needs Doin'

I've been cleaning up my workspace this week. I'm also trying to get an out building ready for use. I have a 5' by 10' table I built out there five years ago for a job I was working on. The stuff I need to do is going to be spread out on the table. It is a bunch of fabric "scraps" from a woman I work for who dyes silk. I make scarves and shawls out of yardage leftovers from other clothing. The pieces I have are left from many previous projects and a work load all its own. I have been procrastinating because it is so much work sorting, but it needs doin' and I have finally made the space.

Three bins full! Thats my Juki, it is set at a 3 thread, I do this work all rolled hem. I have two of these machines, and I love them, but thats a topic I need to do in another blog post...



I also dragged out my Rowenta that I got as part of my PFF challenge in 2008. Its no Gravity Feed and I prefer the one I have in my other workroom, but its a nice portable iron for my needs right now.


It will feel like a major accomplishment to get this work finished and send back the leftovers!

Incidentally, if I plan to enter the contest again this year I had better get my act together! The deadline is July 1st!!