Really, is there anything MORE fun than sitting around relaxing on a Sunday evening with a bunch of talented seamstresses, eating delicious food, talking sewing (and even knitting) plans and projects and sipping bubbly drinks? How about swapping FREE fabric and FREE patterns?
Seriously, I had such a fabulous weekend. I took my daughter to see the cherry blossoms at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens, a cartoonist friend who had just been announced as a finalist for the Pulitzer came to visit my husband and me ... AND I went to an awesome Brooklyn sewing meetup and pattern/fabric swap.
Now, I've been attending the monthly Brooklyn BurdaStyle Sewing Club meetups on and off since 2010 (see "Meet the Brooklyn BSC!"), and they are always a blast. BUT to add even more fun this time, we had several new attendees ... and they may be familiar faces to some of you!
From left to right:
- Dina holding the beautiful eyelet lace wrap dress she made for her bridal shower (sorry, I forget the pattern number, but she tried it on for us and it fits her perfectly... I do know she got her eyelet fabric at Mood).
- Lee (of Sew Weekly Contributor fame) wearing her gorgeous handwoven Indian cotton circle skirt.
- My daughter Z, having a blast in her Kit Cat Cute corduroy overalls, and admiring...
- Wanett, aka Nettie, aka Sown Brooklyn (also of Sew Weekly fame), wearing her "Quick & Dirty Cowl" (her free tutorial here), and holding up her fabulous "Luck of the Concrete Jungle" dress.
- Me, with bedraggled caught-in-rainstorm hair, wearing my Jalie scarf collar top and triumphant wide-legged (and highish waisted) trousers, and my recently darned handknit socks--and holding Z's Tomten jacket.
- Our wonderful hostess Valerie wearing her lovely new voile print blouse.
- Liz and her super-awesome plaid Simplicity 2176 sundress.
I was worried Wanett and Lee might think I was a stalker when I commented on their blogs out of the blue asking them to come to the meetup... but they both braved a horrendous downpour to share their fabulous sewing projects and plans--and some tasty baked goods!
At our meetup we:
- Went around the table taking turns sharing our latest sewing and knitting projects and plans... sharing triumphs and fails alike and trading advice.
- Talked super-nerdy sewing talk about serging and hem finishes and bodice alterations and waistband interfacing.
- Watched Z run around in circles squealing in joy (she had so much fun she didn't even eat the dinner I brought her).
- Ate yummy food.
- Sipped sweet tea and prosecco.
- Swapped patterns and fabric.
I was really glad of the swap, as I had some really nice fabrics sitting in the stash that deserved a better home--a good-quality gray wool pinstripe suiting that is too neutral in color for me, a purple stretch crepe that was just one too many purple fabrics for me, some lovely rayons and cottons (including one that didn't work for my Mad Men dress dickey but was so awesome it deserved some love). I also gave away quite a few of my 1960s a-line and drop-waist dress patterns, since that's just not my silhouette.
As tempting as the array of free fabric and patterns (including some Vogue designer patterns and some vintage patterns) were, I forced myself to take only one piece of fabric and two patterns--all for Z, not me:
All in all an awesome night--thanks ladies! And now I'm super-motivated to get going on my next spring sewing project!
Anyway, if you're interested, drop me a line. Our club is very welcoming--we even have a member who comes in from Manhattan. And you DON'T have to only sew BurdaStyle patterns, of course--many of us do, but all sewing at all levels is welcome!
So, the question of the day: how often do YOU get to hang out with other sewing-obsessed people in real life (if at all)?
P.S. Here's my daughter admiring some cherry blossom petals at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens:
Oh, and speaking of my daughter... when I went to go wake her up this morning, I found her standing in her crib smiling, wearing a red polka dot sunhat and purple polka dot shorts (OVER her pajamas) and saying "Polka dot! Polka dot!" I'm so sorry I didn't get a picture!
OH! Looks like it was SO MUCH FUN!!!! What a lovely group of ladies!!!
ReplyDeleteThat's so funny--she's obviously picking up your tastes! I see my fitting group once a month. This Saturday we might be field tripping to fabric stores around us as our sewing space might be taken over. I kind of hope that we can't sew because I love fabric shopping with actual people, and I don't think I've ever gotten to fabric shop with people who actually sew.
ReplyDeleteIt was so great meeting everyone!! It's always great to talk sewing with people who really get it, you know?! I'm already looking forward to next time. Thanks for risking being tagged a stalker to invite me ;o)
ReplyDeleteI'm so envious of all the sewing meet-ups that are happening lately! I want to meet other sewing bloggers & talk about seam finishes & waistband boning! Argh!
ReplyDeleteI do have sewing (and knitting!) friends, but none of them are part of the blog world... just people I know here in town who share the same interests as me :) Actually, it's pretty nice - I can't complain! :)
How fun!! I wish there was a sewing club near me. There was one, but they had to close the store down because there weren't enough people interested.
ReplyDeleteThis looks like such a good time! And that polka dot story is positively precious :)
ReplyDeleteSuch restraint! The key to swaps is not taking as much as you brought, but it is all so tempting.
ReplyDeleteOh, I wish I'd known! I am in Brooklyn on holiday for a week right now, all the way from Australia.
ReplyDeleteI might live in Manhattan, but I'm interested. I went to their site and tried to join, and said I needed to be approved?
ReplyDeleteI have no idea what's going on with the approvals thing--I'll send an email with the details!
DeleteHi Mikhaela,
ReplyDeleteI'd love to meet up with you ladies sometime. It sounds like a lot of fun. Like Janice I tried to join but I guess I'm still waiting for approval.
Give me your email--I'll get you the info!
DeleteI have a seamstress friend who is as equally brilliant of a sewer as I am, and also took the same Fashion course in college as I did, though a couple years later. We ask each other for help sometimes. I got her to come over and pin a long skirt hem for me, and I lent her my copy of a pattern that we both have, but she misplaced hers. We don't get together as often as I'd like, but it's comforting to know that she's only 10 minutes away. I mentioned to her that I'd like to go to a Pattern Review weekend sometime, and she said she would love to tag along. She's not connected to the online sewing world like I am, but she would fit right in and I'm sure we would both have a blast.
ReplyDeleteI would love to get together with a sewing group on a regular basis. One of my favourite aspects of college was hanging out with a bunch of other sewers and nerdily talking about buttons and other fiddly details that would bore regular people to death.