Sunday Aug 10 Workshop: 6-hour Sit and Sew with Louise Cutting –

All Day Workshop : “Cutting Loose... Sit and Sew... all day with Louise Cutting”

Details tell the story when it comes to fashion sewing, and a foolproof system for creating them can easily be yours. Sewing all day long, you'll execute each technique and create a workbook of samples for inside/outside corners (the best looking and easiest way), a 'cool' collar with foolproof corner edge stitching, graded and clipped neck facing, couture designer darts, rolled seam pocket flaps, tiny folded bias corners, setting in a high capped sleeve with no gathering stitching, and much more: all the elements necessary for great garments and efficient time in your home studio. Gain complete confidence in your abilities, both technical and artistic, for all parts of your garment. Discover notions and feet that help you become unerringly accurate; learn trimming and shaping secrets for smooth, bulk-free corners and curves. The bonus: discussions taking place throughout the day will add to your sewing ambition and fashion sense.

Parking Directions: You MUST buy a parking permit for $4. Jackie Snell will be selling them at the August meeting.

From 280 either direction:

• Exit at 10th Street, turn left onto 11th Street. (Head towards downtown.).

• Turn left onto San Fernando.

• Turn left onto 10th Street - get in the right hand lane.

• Turn right into the parking lot before you get the really tall building (Business Tower).

This six-hour workshop will be held at San Jose State University. (We have arranged for easy, inexpensive parking in the faculty parking lot next to the building. Parking details and materials list will be available in July.) Fee : $85

BONUS! BONUS! BONUS! Raid the piggy bank! Pay down the credit card! Beg! Borrow! Steal! Louise will be shipping out a large selection of designer fabrics from New York and other fashion capitols and all of her patterns for our shopping pleasure.

• PenWAG meeting, Sept 13, 10:00AM

  Guest: Maxine Crow

  Maxine Crow hails from the other side of the Altamont Pass and has made knit fabrics her specialty. Like many other master sewers, she started sewing at a very young age, eight years old in Maxine's case, and ended up making it her profession. She has owned Stretch & Sew Fabrics in Stockton and has taught and lectured about sewing with knits for the past 30 years.

  Program: Everything You Wanted to Know About Knits What do you know about the various kinds of knits? If you're like me, almost everything there is to know--you don't know. Besides a trunk show of garments, Maxine will explain the different ways knit fabrics are made and what fabrics should be used for what purpose. Our wonderful Wearable Art pieces often need some basic, well-constructed background pieces; i.e., tops, pants, etc. After this trunk show and lecture, we will be able to add knits to our repertoire of fabric choices for those background pieces.

  Personally, I'm looking forward to being able to make my own creative knit tops (a la Marcy Tilton) after this lecture.

  BONUS: Maxine will be loading her van with bolts of knits from her store and various notions, so we won't be at the mercy of Joanne's, Hancock's, and Beverly's for those hard-to-find, quality knit goods.

  Afternoon Demonstration Workshop: Sewing With Knits Using Machine and/or Serger This is going to be three solid hours of just seeing and learning all the tricks that make sewing with knits different than sewing with woven fabrics. For those of us who don't have a serger (or for those of us who don't get along very well with their sergers), Maxine will show us how to do everything with a machine and which feet and notions we need to do that well. For those of you who are on speaking terms with your sergers, she will demonstrate all those techniques on a serger. She told me that in her knit sewing, she uses a combination of machine and serger but she stresses that it can all be done on a regular sewing machine. She is going to cover both construction and decorative techniques.

  We anticipate this workshop will fill up very quickly, as we are limited to 30. Signups will start at the July meeting at 9:45. If you cannot make it to the July meeting and wish to sign up, make sure someone with your check in hand will be there to sign up for you. No mail or email sign ups, please. Fee: $35

  Materials List: Stuff with which to take copious notes! Camera if you wish.

• PenWAG meeting, Oct 4, 10:00AM (different date due to PIQF)
  Guest: Fred Bloebaum “La Fred”  www.lafred.com

  Fred is a nationally recognized pattern designer and author with a man's nickname. For many years, she has created beautiful, elegant garments for herself and her classes. She has designed a line of wonderfully wearable garment patterns, and I can personally attest that they are definitely the best drafted, best annotated patterns available today. If you are a regular reader of Threads Magazine, you will certainly know her from the many articles she has written for them over the years.

  Program:

  Tickling Your Creativity -  Fred will inspire us and stimulate our creativity with a trunk show of garments she has created using patterns from her line, the La Fred Pattern Company, as well as other pattern companies. Many of the garments we will be seeing were created to illustrate articles she has written on fabric manipulation or duplicating details from designer garments. Also included will be the garments she created as an invited designer for the Threads Magazine challenge. Bring your cameras!

  Demonstration:

  It's in the Details! This demonstration and lecture workshop will contain the techniques Fred used in the garments in the morning trunk show. She will also demonstrate some of the pattern alterations and fabric manipulations she employed. You'll see Fred's beautiful collaged sweaters and the “how to” of creating those sweaters for ourselves; her inventive use of sheer prints and much more! Since this is not a project workshop a lot of techniques will be covered and you won't have to tote heavy machines. Yea!!!

  Bonus:  LaFred patterns will be available forpurchase.

  Fee: $35  Materials:  Notebook, camera optional