Looking Ahead

The Sewphisticuts used November's meeting to make plans for the coming year.  We started with a list of ideas to get the discussion rolling and ended up with the following schedule (subject to change, of course):

• January - New Year sewing resolutions:  what sewing goals do you have for the coming year?  Do you hope to learn a new technique, get rid of some UFOs, or something more ambitious? 
• February - Creative design touches:  ideas for ways to embellish an item, whether a garment, quilt, bag, or home dec item.  This may lead to a more extensive exploration of a technique in a later program.
• March - Free-motion sewing
• April - Fabric/Notions Swap:  bring along stuff you'd like to "re-home", whether fabric, yarns, notions, sewing books, etc.  Take home something new (to you) in its place.
• May - sewing knits with or without a serger; favorite T-shirt patterns
• June - annual sewing room tour
• July - zipper workshop, focusing on lapped and invisible zippers
• August - vacation time - no meeting
• September - Stained glass quilt techniques
• October - prepare for Make A Difference Day
• November - open for additional program; planning for following year
• December - Dinner

General business:  the group decided to go to dinner for the December meeting.  Caffe Pazzo on IBM Road was chosen.  Of interest to quilters:  the Schoharie Quilt Barn Trail, which is described at the following link:
http://www.schohariechamber.com/pdf/quilt.pdf  .Peggy N. shared some information about the Creativ Festival (and that's not a typo - it is spelled without the 'e') in Toronto where she took several classes.  One class was about fly-front zipper insertion, and Peggy brought along the samples made in the class, which created a reference library of all the separate steps of sewing the zipper.  We ended the meeting with some lovely Show-and-Tells, pictured below.

Baby's bib

Crest designed by Judy and her husband

Placemat

More placemats

Lunch bag

Re-usable food bags, made of fabric but lined with plastic.

        OUR ANNUAL MAKE A DIFFERENCE DAY
              PROJECT FOR 2013 IS COMPLETED!____

A small sample of the pajama pants made today.

October 26 at the Poughkeepsie Plaza Mall was a very busy day for our chapter. Seventeen ASG members and six members of the community participated in completing 37 pairs of pajama pants that will be donated to Hudson River Housing.  The Sew-phisti-cuts group started the project off by making the pattern 4 different sizes and cutting 22 pairs of pants in advance.  Several members provided setup the day before, as well as clean-up at the end of the day.


Judy Longacre and Sue Kreutzberg are hard at work.



As in the past, our success was aided by support from the Poughkeepsie Plaza Mall for the space used in our activities as well as several large tables to use, and also Sue & Bob Frisenda from Sew and Vac, Inc, for the use of several sewing tables, chairs and sewing machines.  Many thanks to the many hands that helped us in our efforts!!  If you missed the local publicity, check out the Poughkeepsie Journal coverage and the HudsonValleyReporter.com article.

In Continuing Celebration of National Sewing Month

We very fortunate that Joann's in Middletown, as part of a National program by JoAnn's Corporation, offered us the opportunity come to their store and do a membership drive there.  They would provide us with a table in the front of the store where we could display items members made and provide information about our Chapter and ASG in general.  In support of this, Joann's would have information about their discount program for ASG members. 


As the Middletown JoAnn"s store is close to our Port Jervis Crafty Stitcher's Group, Marge Fuller, Neighborhood Group Leader, and GiGi LaManna, seized upon this opportunity to gain members and were there this past Tuesday, the 22nd.   They are hopeful the result will be new Crafty Stitchers!

Thank you JoAnn's of Middletown for your support!

Sherry, center, the manager of the JoAnn's Store. Marge on the left, GiGi on the right

What have you been sewing? September is National Sewing Month!

Did you know that President Ronald Reagan signed a proclamation in 1982 which designated September as National Month? It was done  “In recognition of the importance of home sewing to our Nation.” 

The Hudson Valley NY Chapter of the American Sewing Guild supports sewing enthusiasts of all skill levels - every month of the year! 

Another benefit of being an ASG member?  National has produced a series of Webinars which are designed to help us "Take" our "Sewing Skills to a higher level":  

Fall is the perfect time to construct a new jacket! In our upcoming fall webinars, we'll have four "follow-along" sessions where you can completely construct a lined jacket totally by machine! This includes putting in shoulder pads, sleeve headers, hemming and even sewing shank buttons on by machine. Register now for these upcoming webinars and join in the fun of creating.

Sew for now, enjoy the journey of sewing…
Ramona

 Sep 5: ASG Online! Getting the most from your ASG membership
Do you really know all that is included in your ASG membership? Are you taking advantage of all there is? This session will show some of the many benefits and how you may access them. (Postponed until Sept 17th)

Sep 12: Let's Talk Lined Jacket Construction (1 of 4 sessions)
For the month of October, all the webinars will feature a sew-along series with Ramona. This session will be in preparation for those classes. For the sessions we will be using a lined blazer with a lapel(you may use a similar pattern that you already have). Discussion will be on how to choose the fabric, interfacing and notions for the lined jacket. Three sessions in October will be the constructions methods she developed from studying ready-to-wear techniques to complete the lined jacket.

Sep 19: Let's Talk Cuffs and Collars
Do the undersides of cuffs and collars on garments peek out? Do the curves seem less than smooth? Have you learned how to add piping? In this webinar learn some simple tricks to give you professional results.

Oct 3: ASG Online! Gift Giving Ideas
The clever folks at Clover have some fun tools on the market to make great gifts. We’ll take a look at three of them and projects that may be made.

Oct 10: Let’s Talk Lined Jacket Construction Session 2 of 4
This session will be layout and cutting of the jacket and lining. Techniques for matching plaids will be discussed. The interfacing will be applied and tips on pressing during the construction will be given.

Oct 17: Let’s Talk Lined Jacket Construction Session 3 of 4
Jacket construction will begin. All construction will take place on the sewing machine…absolutely no hand sewing with these RTW (ready to wear) techniques! This session will include setting the sleeves, sewing in the sleeve headers and shoulder pads (yes, by machine!), and discussion of buttonholes will begin.

Oct 31: Let’s Talk Lined Jacket Construction Session 4 of 4
If you have followed along and done the sewing between sessions, by the end of this session you will have a completed, lined jacket, in just a few more hours of sewing after viewing this session which includes lining construction, hemming, and sewing the buttonholes.

Want to jazz up that jacket once it is completed and make it uniquely yours? Take our Polymer Clay Button Workshop II on Saturday, September 21st. $5.00 for members, $4.00 for Junior Members and $7.00 for non members. We will be at Hobby Lobby, Route 9, Poughkeepsie, from 10AM -3PM. 

Thanks to Ramona for her email from which much of this is "borrowed"