Modern Techniques to Sew a Vintage-Look Slip or Nightie – Lara has recorded over an hour of instruction broken out into 6 lessons. She’ll also email you some notes to keep you on track as you sew. We’ll cover techniques for sewing a cute nightie/slip using three different fabrics: nylon tricot, cotton-spandex blend knit fabrics, and mesh. Traditional lingerie-making techniques will include the fastest hem ever using stretch lace trim. Please look at the full information for this class for advice on patterns, materials, and notions.
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Balmain Buttonholes with Kenneth D. King – Join us on Zoom this winter to learn all about sourcing materials for, creating, and finishing Balmain buttonholes. This buttonhole is a form of bound buttonhole which extends to the edge of the garment and was used by French couturier Pierre Balmain in the 1960s. Professor King will share his techniques for turning out this couture finish professionally every time. He wrote about the technique in a recent issue of Threads magazine. Here’s your chance to learn how to do it directly from him!
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J Stern Shirt Jacket Workshop – Tuesday April 19 and Tuesday April 26 from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm Eastern Time. Join us with Jennifer Stern for the Shirt Jacket Workshop! This workshop teaches how to construct an oversized button down shirt that can be made from heavier weight fabrics like fleece or lighter weight fabrics like flannel or chambray denim. The class will focus on shirt construction details of the collar, placket and cuff.
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Tassels: Exuberant Embellishments with Kenneth D. King – March 8, 2022, 7 pm to 9 pm Eastern Standard Time. Join us on Zoom this winter to learn all about sourcing materials for, creating, and finishing tassels for apparel and the home. Kenneth will cover how to make tassels out of chainette fringe, which is readily available in most fabric stores. After demonstrating the basic tassel, he will explain how to create a two-level tassel, and finish by making a bead cage around the knob of the tassel. A materials list will be provided. Be sure to tag your samples with #kennethdkingonline and #twinsnneedlesevents!
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Top Down and Center Out – Fitting Pants by Yourself – January 9, 2022 from 1:00 pm to 2:30 pm Eastern Standard Time. Join Ruth Collins, the @ithacamaven, for an introduction and description of the #TopDownCenterOut method for making your own pants. Learn this innovative method for pants fitting from the creator herself!
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Samantha Rei: Designing in 2021 – December 5th, 2021 from 1 pm to 2 pm Eastern Standard Time. Join Samantha R. Crossland, author of Steampunk & Cosplay Fashion Design & Illustration, for an intimate, first look at her recently completed Samantha Rei collection!
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J Stern Zoom Happy Pants Fitting Workshop – October 3rd, 17th & 24th, 2021, 11 am to 1 pm Eastern Daylight Time. Join us with Jennifer Stern for the Zoom Happy Pants Fitting Workshop. This workshop is designed to make quick work of getting you into perfectly fitted, non-stretch pants. The Happy Pants pattern is provided and includes sizes from a 34” hip to a 53” hip.
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Piping: the Whole Story with Kenneth D. King – October 14, 2021, 8 pm to 10 pm Eastern Daylight Time. If you avoid using piping because you don’t know how to make it as tidy-looking as you would like, Professor King is here to help. He will teach his preferred methods to apply piping to create strong and tidy seams, corners, and finishes. With his tried-and-true techniques, you’ll never have to worry about lines of stitching showing up where you don’t want them!
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Zero Waste Legacy Sewing – September 18, 2021, 7:30 am to 9:30 am Eastern Daylight Time. Join us as we look at three historical zero waste patterns: the bog coat (bronze age), the Eura dress (viking) and a Mr Darcy shirt (Regency). Zero waste patternmaker Liz Haywood will walk us through them and show how we can use these patterns today.
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Constructing a Flatlocked Skirt with Built-In Skort Option – Saturday, July 31, 2021, 11 am to 1 pm Eastern Daylight Time. Please join Jennifer Stern in a class that will get you really comfortable with your serger and finish a project that’s perfect for the hottest time of the year. This simple A-Line Skirt is the perfect canvas to showcase a few decorative techniques you can achieve using the 3-Thread Flatlock/Reverse Flatlock stitch on your serger. The PDF version of the pattern is included with the class. It will be emailed to students. If you would prefer a print version, it will cost $9.99 plus shipping. You can purchase it online here.
A recording will be available to students after the session for review. This class is available everywhere on Zoom.
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Samantha Rei on Draping Your Way to Radical Body Acceptance and Design – June 17, 2021, 6 pm to 8 pm Eastern Standard Time. Samantha Rei will be joining Twins N Needles to share how makers can use the classic skill of draping to free themselves from standard sewing patterns, shapes, and expectations. No previous experience is required.
“We all have bodies, and if you’re like me you enjoy dressing it in ways that make you feel your best. Everyone of every type of body deserves to wear clothes that evoke this feeling. I’m going to discuss radical body acceptance and why learning to drape can help with your unique fit.”
A recording will be available to students after the session for review. This class is available everywhere on Zoom.
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Free Event: Getting the Best Out of PDF Patterns, with special guests from Patternsy and Greenstyle – June 12, 2021, 11 am – 1 pm Eastern Standard Time. Sewing patterns and books published in the PDF format have greatly increased access to these materials around the world and allowed designers to develop a global reach. We will be hosting two experts on working with PDF designs in this free online event.
Mark of Patternsy, based in the United Kingdom, will be discussing, “PDFs, love them or hate them, they are here to stay” and explaining the work process of Patternsy’s on-demand printing services.
Angie of Greenstyle Creations, based in Oklahoma, will be sharing her tips on getting the most out of PDF patterns from her experience as a designer and a maker.
Bring your questions, fears, and kudos about PDF patterns to discuss with our panelists. Available everywhere on Zoom.
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Zero Waste Legacy Sewing – June 1, 2021, 7 pm to 9 pm Eastern Standard Time. Join us as we look at three historical zero waste patterns: the bog coat (bronze age), the Eura dress (Viking) and a Mr. Darcy shirt (Regency). Zero waste patternmaker Liz Haywood will walk us through them and show how we can use these patterns today.
This is a draft-along class for drawing and testing small-scale patterns in paper. Students should have a ruler, paper, pencils, tape, and scissors at hand to practice making paper models of the designs.
A recording will be available to students after the session for review. This class is available everywhere on Zoom.
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Essential Techniques for the Greenstyle Sundance Jacket – May 22, 2021 10 am to noon Central Time. Greenstyle’s Sundance Jacket is an intermediate level sewing pattern that requires some knowledge of zippers and knits. If you’ve been itching to take on a project like this, but don’t have the confidence to tackle some of the technical details, now is the time to stretch your skills! We can’t put together the whole jacket in just two hours, but we can practice some of the trickier techniques together. A recording will be available to students after the session for review. Available everywhere on Zoom.
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Free Event: Sewing Book Chat and Zoom Test with Lisa Neel – May 15, 2021 from 10 am to noon Eastern Standard Time. If you are following the Twins N Needles instagram feeds or our Facebook page, you know that Lara and Lisa love sewing books. Have you ever stared longingly at a book we’ve posted about, but been unable to find a copy to browse through? Are you curious about how a meeting using Zoom works? Join Lara and Lisa Neel to get bookishly cozy with the Zoom platform and join in on an “Ask Me Anything” about sewing books. They will have their sewing libraries open for virtual browsing and will pull references for in-depth review and discussion. A recording will be available to students after the session for review.
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Basic Drafting: Sleeves and Dress Form Arms with Kenneth D. King – April 21, 2021. 7pm to 9pm Eastern Standard Time. Join us and learn how to draft a dress form arm to match your own proportions. Professor King will then go on to explain how to draft a basic sleeve to fit into a bodice. Learning to draft basic sleeves will enable you to practice more advanced designs and adjust commercial sewing patterns more quickly. This class will not be recorded. Available everywhere on Zoom.
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Play and Practice: Elastic Edges with Lara Neel – February 21, 2021. 6 pm to 8 pm Central time. Elastic makes a great unmentionable or swimsuit edging, but it can also do a lot more! It can also be a binding, a super-easy neckline edging, or a simple embellishment, among other uses. Lara will talk about and demonstrate different types of elastic and its many edge applications. Available everywhere on Zoom.
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Filled Trim and Piping Class with Kenneth D. King – January 30, 2021. 11 am to 1 pm Eastern time. Learn Professor King’s unique and reliable techniques to construct and apply filled trim (also called rouleaux trim), piping, and rows of button loops. Available everywhere on Zoom.
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Kenneth D. King January 2021 Sessions – January 4, 11 and 18, 2021. 8 pm to 9 pm Eastern time. Learn how to construct some of Kenneth’s favorite ruffles and pleated edgings! Available everywhere on Zoom.
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Pay What You Can Panties Class – December 5, 2020, 10 a.m. to noon Central time, available everywhere on Zoom!
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Pay What You Can Sew A Mask Class – November 21, 2020, 10 a.m. to noon Central time, available everywhere on Zoom!
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Fix It, Copy It, Love It: Stitch to Get the Most Out of Your Closet
Date: November 3, 2019
Time: 10AM to 4PM
Location: Conference room in the Congressional Cemetery Gate House
1801 E Street, Southeast, Washington, D.C. 20003
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Pants Fitting One-Day Workshop – Make and Fit Your Own Pattern
Date: October 19, 2019
Time: 10AM to 4PM
Location: Bender Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington
6125 Montrose Rd, Rockville, MD 20852
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The first Twins N Needles sewing event was the Vintage Sewing Adventure in Tulsa, Ok on April 6 and 7, 2019. The Vintage Sewing Adventure focused on the period of sewing innovation that began with the invention of the home sewing machine in the 1800’s and accelerated right into the late 1900’s. We offered more than 40 hours of workshops and presentations in three tracks over the weekend.
Here’s more information about it:
We have gathered a stellar team of sewing experts to share presentations and lead hands-on workshops. While no one participant will be able to attend every session, each participant will be able to learn and try many techniques. Sessions will be offered appropriate to all levels of sewing experience, from “fashion consumer who occasionally fixes a button” to “advanced dressmaker.” Special tours of the recently opened Vintage Sewing Machine Museum will be included.
The links below have all of the information you need to plan your weekend with us.
Don’t forget the free Saturday night meet-up!
Full session descriptions for Saturday
Full session descriptions for Sunday
Sunday’s Featherweight Doctor Spa Day
More information on our contributors is on our Speakers, Teachers and Locations page.
Hotel Information and Getting There
Books, patterns and more are now on our Etsy shop.
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