A full schedule with room locations and course supplies lists will be posted in December of 2018.
Special Tours of the Vintage Sewing Center & Museum
The Vintage Sewing Center & Museum, Inc. (also known as the M) opened in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 2017. It boasts a vintage sewing machine collection of more than 1,000 examples, hundreds of which are on display at any one time. Each room of this museum has fully restored machines set up at tables where visitors are encouraged to sew. The M will be offering special tours to registrants throughout the Vintage Sewing Event weekend.
Vintage Sewing Meets Modern Sewing: Learning From Each Other’s Best with Barbara Emodi
We will cover what garment makers of the past could teach the modern seamstress, and what current sewers could teach the vintage sewers.
To sew is to participate in the perpetuation and development one of the great gifts of women’s history and culture. This talk will discuss the relationship of the sewing wisdom of the past to the present, with the focus on early to mid 20th century home sewers. The technical ingenuity of heritage home sewers who had fewer resources, and so developed their own, will be discussed as well as how we can interpret traditional techniques with modern tools. An illustrated talk, plus garment samples and opportunity for Q and A.
Help, I Inherited a Sewing Machine with Lara Neel
Note: If you attend both sessions with this name, you may be a bit bored the second time around. This is the hands-on session.
Class Handouts are here: https://so-sew-easy.com/sewing-machine-practice-sheets/
Sewing machines should be in good working order prior to start of class. If it has not been used in the last 12 months, consider taking it to your local repair shop for a tune up.
Please bring your machine, at least 2 bobbins, at least 2 sewing needles, the power cord and foot pedal for your machine (if it has them), thread, a seam ripper, and the manual for your machine.
If your machine came with any extra feet or tools, bring them, too.
It will save time if you bring a bobbin that has already been wound, but if you can’t, that’s ok, too.
If you ever require reading glasses or any other kind of glasses, please bring them.
As a courtesy to all attendees, please arrive 15 minutes prior to start of class to set up your machine, organize your supplies and be ready to sew so we can all start on time.
Cherokee Beading and Techniques with Tonia Hogner-Weavel
Cherokee beadwork is a little known art that flourished in the early 1800’s before the Cherokee removal from the southeastern United States. The creativity and unique designs of the ancient Cherokee are seen in beautiful works of art. Learn to bead ‘the Cherokee way’ with Tonia Hogner-Weavel, Cherokee National Treasure. The two needle applique style of beadwork will be taught and a small project will be introduced to class participants. A $12 materials fee is required and not included as part of your class fee.
Introduction to Stretch and Sew Patterns and Techniques by Lara Neel
Stretch & Sew was a pattern company founded by Ann Person in the late 1960s and the company continued to produce independent sewing patterns until the 1990s. Through franchised business, books, and patterns, she made knit garment production a reality for those who sew at home – without special sewing machines, sergers, or even (mostly) a zigzag stitch. In this presentation, we’ll talk about how these patterns are best used, “translating” some of the more dated styles, and why these are the patterns you should never pass over when you find them available.
Garment Trimming Techniques: Taking finishing to the next level by Madame Askew
Take your garments from lovely to stunning with well chosen trim. Whether a sewist is recreating an historical look or building a costume from a favorite film, trim is both critical to the look and a challenge for any budget. Madame Askew will share the basics of fabric and ribbon trims, fabric manipulation, and seam finishes to transform your dressmaking. Learn a variety of techniques from self fabric trims to manipulated ribbons, from pleats to piping. Madame Askew will also present her favorite tips, resources, and basic skills.
Decorative Dressmaking Techniques on a Vintage Machine with Barbara Emodi
Previous generations of seamstresses tended to sew fewer garments (fabric was expensive and families large) but invested more time than we do now in decorative details. To do this in busy lives many of them relied on techniques that could be done at the machine to replicate hand stitching, often by using wide variety of fascinating machine accessories. The most popular of those techniques to be discussed and demoed in this workshop including bobbin work, free-motion embroidery, rufflers, pleaters, buttonhole attachments (everyone needs to know about those) and even monogrammers. Learn to use your vintage machine as completely as its original owners did.