SEPTEMBER 2024

It's been a busy summer! In June, I celebrated my birthday with a group of my Seattle students at Maker's Hideaway. We talked and laughed, ate birthday cake (complete with 70 candles!) and sewed in the welcoming studio. To prove they have learned so much after eight years of workshops with me, the group created a jacket full of mistakes they would have made without my lessons. I laughed so much at their stories and then cried when they presented me with a beautiful quilt filled with lovely birthday wishes. I love those friends!
Custom client projects also kept me busy. Here are a few of them: a beautiful textured silk blouse and tartan plaid skirt, a mother of the bride Vintage Vogue dress, and this plaid vest.
Did you ever have a project where everything went wrong? Matching the plaids was more difficult than usual, resulting in lots of ripping. Somehow, I twisted the back and front, and had to take out the shoulder seams. There was more ripping when I had to sew the velveteen facing to the front three times on one side to get it right. And then I caught a corner of the lining in my understitching – three times! Yes, these things happen to everyone. It's how I became a champion ripper. In the end, I had a good laugh at myself and delivered the vest to a happy client.

Lessons, laughter and camaraderie continue at workshops and sewing camps here in Lake Oswego. Students share their successes, favorite patterns and fabric finds as they sew their projects with help from me – a professional who has made all the mistakes and can share how to avoid them! Students have learned new techniques, made their design ideas come to life, gotten the fit right and conquered difficult fabrics while enjoying sewing with both old and new friends.
There are only 3 spots still available in my Fall Sewing Camp, October 25 – 28. But I guess I'm not retiring anytime soon since Sewing Camps are already scheduled for February, March, April, May and June 2025. Visit my website for all the dates and details. I hope you can join in the fun.

I am also teaching classes at Bolt Fabric Boutique in their fabulous new classroom. Look for my skill building classes on seam finishes and zippers coming up in September and October. You will make samples in class to take home as your reference. Great information for beginners or a refresher for experienced sewists.

Finally, some sad news. My friend and fellow dressmaker, Kelly Ford, passed away suddenly earlier this year. Her friends are now in the process of finding new homes for everything in her sewing studio. There are tools, notions of all kinds, interfacings, patterns, thread, zippers, so many buttons and fabric – hundreds of yards of fabric!

If you are in the Portland area, a gigantic sale is scheduled for September 14 & 15, Saturday & Sunday, from 9AM – 5PM each day. It will be held in the Kruse Room at the Hilton Garden Inn – 14850 Kruse Oaks Drive, Lake Oswego.

Everything will be priced to go with many fabrics priced at $6/yd and under. Fabrics include cottons – both top and bottom weight, corduroy, flannel, denim, shirting, wools, silks, kimonos and kimono silk, and some beautiful shibori and tie dyed pieces.
I'm sure you will find something you need to take home. Proceeds will help provide care for Kelly's two cats – Frankie and Freddie. Come Saturday morning for the best selection and Sunday afternoon for the biggest bargains.


Happy sewing!