Under the Arch…

I just returned from yet another amazing weekend.  I’m always surprised at how I can experience something and think that I’ve hit nirvana, and then the next experience is even better.  I’m really lucky that way.  I work hard, and don’t always get awarded for that, no one is on a regular basis, but now and then, the planets align, and I know that I’ve done well and that I’m happy with where life is taking me.

I just returned from the American Sewing Guild Conference, this year it was held in St. Louis.  My hotel room window had a great view of the arch.  The conference moves around the country, and is an annual event, unlike weaving conferences.  There were somewhere between 600-700 people, I wasn’t sure of the exact count, and we all dine together in the hotel for breakfast and lunch, with main events like the fashion show and the keynote address happening during the lunch session.  Actually class workshops and seminars happen throughout the day, some are 1 1/2 – 2 or 3 hours, and there are half day and full day workshops as well.  Even though I taught four seminars/workshops, I still got to take four classes as well.  I always learn something, and burn a little plastic in the vendor hall.  There is always a new sewing tool I need to have…

I worked really hard on one of my presentations, harder and longer than I’ve ever worked on one.  I talked about it all throughout this year, and I thought it was tight and thorough.  I had a couple of trusted friends proof it, and other than spelling Michael Kor’s name wrong, (as the designer of a jacket of mine that had a bagged lining), (I spelled it like the ice cream establishment at the Jersey shore, Kohr Brothers Frozen Custard), I felt pretty confident.

My first class was a Master class in making bound buttonholes.  The class filled, I had 18 students making rectangular and triangular buttonholes and the window for the back facing.  They had little kits, thanks to my efficient daughter, and they all worked step by step for four hours.  Honestly, though I adore the process, I wasn’t sure how many others would share my passion for couture precision, but I heard at the end comments like, “That was the best class I’ve ever taken”, and “I had so much fun!”  I heard further comments later on in the weekend from those who were rooming with people from the class and who had dinner with them, watching their enthusiasm passing around their samples.  And the senior editor for Sew News Magazine sat in on the class as well and we talked about a possible article as a follow up.  Pretty heady stuff.

My next class was of course, my old standby, “Weave your Own Trim”.  I shipped 20 inkle looms to St. Louis, and all the kits.  I taught the 20 students, another full class, how to set up the inkle loom for a simple trim, and then use supplemental weft for effects to make trim for things like a Chanel Jacket.  My article in Threads Magazine is coming out in the next issue. They all did amazing work, and 15 looms were sold, an additional two went out later in the day, so there are 17 new inkle loom weavers out there with looms!  I’m proud.  I did  not take a single photo, too busy running around trouble shooting, but the ASG photographer kindly let me have one of their photos, of me curled up on the floor trying to demonstrate how to get good selvedges on one of the student’s looms.

I managed to take a few classes, with Louise Cutting, on Insider Designer Techniques, Ann St. Clair on sewing without a muslin, Sandy Miller on techniques for the white shirt, and an absolutely fantastic class by Sarah Veblen on Understanding Knits.  We got a stack of 23 different types of knits and she explained knit construction in an amazingly thorough way, and I can now tell the difference between an interlock and a jersey, and I can assure you there is a difference!

I taught a somewhat risky class on Saturday, called What Went Wrong.  It was risky because I had no idea what the participants would bring in terms of problems and questions.  But I had suitcase full of examples and garments that explained different techniques, my extensive repertoire of PowerPoint presentations, and a handful of my monographs, and I was able to talk for the three hour class covering things they hadn’t even known to ask.  One of the Threads Magazine editors sat in on that class.  One of the things I had to get use to at ASG conferences, this is my 5th, was that sewing magazine editors scout around for article ideas, from many of the classes taught.  My Threads and Sew News articles have come as a direct result of teaching at this conference.

Saturday night I had dinner with Sarah McFarland, the Editor of Threads Magazine, and an assistant Editor Dana Finkle, the one who sat in on my class, and it was wonderful to talk about future contributions I might make to the magazine, and I shared my Behind the Front Lines handout with them, even though I hadn’t yet given the class.  There was a lot of great conversation, and about three quarters of the way through the meal, we all found ourselves glued to the large window where we sat, overlooking the main drag in downtown St. Louis, as some 350 naked bike riders came peddling down the street.  Apparently as the waiter explained, this is an annual event in St. Louis, growing larger ever year, and Bike Naked St. Louis featured all ages, men and women, all shapes and sizes, happily biking down the streets of St. Louis  completely naked.  It was a sight to behold…

Sunday morning I gave my final presentation, Behind the Front Lines, the class I’ve worked on for months.  I covered Underlinings, Interlinings, Linings, Interfacings, and Facings.  We covered a lot in two hours.  I raced to get it all in at the end, and I really wished for another hour, but again, I had great response to the class, and I was really proud of the job I’d done.

There were of course some real highlights to the weekend, the keynote speaker was Nancy Zieman, for those who don’t sew, Nancy has been a television personality for more years than I can count, with her show on PBS, Sewing with Nancy.  And many of you may know her as the Nancy in Nancy’s Notions.  She has an autobiography out, Seams Unlikely and I was actually about 20% through reading it on my Kindle when I got to hear her tell her story, with some hilarious photos, and it was one of those top ten moments in my sewing career.

The Weaver’s Guild of St. Louis actually had a large booth in the vendor hall, first time I’ve seen a weaving group participate like this.  They had many items for sale, and constant demonstrations of weaving, spinning and tapestry.  And of course this is a hot bed for Card Weaving!  Yes, I had dinner with John Mullarkey Wednesday night when I flew in.  We talked bands…

And my roommate, whom I’ve only known through the vendor hall, was the rep for Sulky Threads, and what an amazing wealth of knowledge she is.  Suzy and I never stopped talking, and we felt so similarly in our passion for fine sewing, she is the expert in threads and needles. In our conference tote bag, there was a sample of Sulky’s 12 weight cotton thread, a beautiful thread designed for surface work but perfect for fine inkle loom bands.  A 50 yard spool costs about a dollar and a half, and the cotton comes in 66 colors and 14 blendables.  Unlike a variegated, blendables are engineered to not repeat themselves so colors don’t pool.  Who knew?  Well what could I do?  There was a terrific show price on the box of all 80 spools, so I had to order one.  I’m dying to try a band on the inkle loom from Sulky’s 12 weight cotton, I already have a Paired Pebble example on one of my looms out of Wonderfil 12 weight cotton and I love working with it.

I also finally bought, two pair of Kai shears.  They’ve been on my bucket list forever, and I had the opportunity to actually feel them in my hands, and see how they cut, and they just had to come home with me.  One of the pairs was serrated, which keeps slinky knits from jumping away as you cut.

And on the flight home Sunday night, I had this view to look at for most of the trip.  It was hard to capture on a cell phone, but the rainbow band of vivid color as the sun set and the night sky enfolded the ribbon in darkness, was breathtaking.

I’m of course playing catch up this week, bills and paperwork, trouble shooting emails, and prepping for the next adventure, I leave next Sunday night to return to Peters Valley to teach fibers to high school students for four days.  My daughter has been prepping 14 frame looms, 14 inkle looms, and 14 shaft looms. And we won’t discuss the produce that was waiting for me on the counter when I arrived.  I’ve managed to make large bowls of cole slaw, Taboulleh, 8 more jars of refrigerator pickles, beet salad, and pickled cucumbers. I’m tired but very very happy…

Stay tuned…