My Weekend at The American Sewing Expo 2015

I was so happy to finish my Motor City Express Jacket in time to wear it to ASE!  Yes, that is Janet Pray standing next to me.  I took the Islander class that Haberman Fabrics offered to make this jacket.  When I went looking for my wonderful instructor Diane, I found Janet.  She was so sweet and asked if she could take a picture of me in my jacket.  I will be blogging more about the jacket soon.  I started it so long ago, it definitely deserves one of my new labels.  

These labels were a thoughtful gift from Kyle.

This year was made extra special by a few friends. Kyle from Vacuuming the Lawn, Lynn from You Sew Girl, and Kristine from Just Keep Sewing are great fun and incredibly amazing sewists.

Kyle and I took Jennifer Stern's "Professional Jean Construction" class.  We learned how to make jean pockets and fly fronts look better than ready-to-wear.

We also took her "How to read the Wrinkles" class.  She has an incredibly motivating teaching approach that really worked for me.  It was a lot of fun! I am soooo motivated to start my muslin.  Jennifer teaches a great class on Pattern Review and another on Craftsy.

This afternoon, I had the pleasure of listening to Jennifer discuss the best way to create a waistband with Lynn, an amazing jeans maker.  Lynn cleanses her sewing palette by making a pair of jeans.  I couldn't believe I was privy to this conversation!

The highlight of my weekend wasn't actually at the Expo but at Lynn's house.  Kyle and I went to visit Lynn and got to see all of her beautiful makes!  Lynn was a very gracious hostess. We raided her closet and played dress-up. I felt like a little girl again.  We laughed a lot and really enjoyed the tour of her sewing space.  

Lynn is incredibly organized.  She has 31 large Rubbermaid totes full of fabrics.  She sorts them by type and catalogs each piece on index cards.  They are held together on rings and kept neatly in boxes.  Lynn can easily find a fabric and know how much of it she has without digging through her boxes.  I love her system!

If you have never been to the American Sewing Expo, I highly recommend that you put it on your to do list.  Novi Michigan is a nice place and there is a fantastic sewing community of people from all over the country.  The girls at the Simplicity booth were so much fun to talk to and full of interesting information.  Simplicity put on a great fashion show Friday and Saturday featuring their new patterns. For Project Runway fans, ASE has a similar challenge called "Passion For Fashion." Kristine was once a contestant.  Her design was amazing.  Former winners include Joi Mahon and Angela Wolf.  It is always great fun!

Motor City Express Jacket for a Motor City Girl!

    I am so excited about the Moto Jacket that I am making in a class at Haberman Fabrics.  It is being taught by an Islander Systems instructor.  Technically, I don't live in the Motor City, but in the suburbs of Detroit.  I still consider myself a Motor City girl because I was born in Detroit, went to church in Detroit as a child, and graduated from Wayne State University in the heart of Detroit.  I love the city.
     Ironically, I wrote to Craftsy and requested that they offer a class featuring Janet Prey and this jacket.  Soon after learning that Craftsy was offering the class, I recieved an email from Haberman Fabrics spotlighting their class for the jacket.  I need a deadline now and then.  I always do my best work in the final hour, and like the one-on-one contact with an instructor.  Hence, I will be spending four Saturdays in the middle of fabric heaven!

Samples were available to be tried on at the American Sewing Expo in September.

Here's hoping my jacket looks like this!

     The zippers are the most expensive part of the jacket.  It calls for 7 zippers, but that's what makes the jacket look so special.  I chose 3 black and silver Ghee zippers and purchased four extra pulls.  They are really beautiful and will give the jacket a professional look.  Learning to shorten the zippers and apply pulls and stops was really fun -- not easy but fun.

     My instructor, Diane Kroll brought so many beautiful samples.  We tried them on for size, and I fell in love with her fabric combinations.  It was really difficult to choose a fabric with so many possibilities.  Haberman Fabrics has an amazing selection.   The weather has been sooooo cold here in Michigan making warm wool very inviting.  However, I won't be finished until March, so I chose a beautiful linen blend. I decided to go for a less dramatic look that I can wear with almost any color. It is a gray herringbone, and the contrasting black lapel makes it pop a little.

 Stay warm if you are in the midst of this crazy winter freeze!

     

Snow Day Project

     We had a few sew days snow days last week here in Michigan.  Hmmm, what to do when you can't go to work and can't get out of your driveway?  

     Can you tell what I used to make my starburst?  I'm sure it is obvious.  I had been looking for a starburst clock to replace the one from my living room before redecorating.  Then I found this vintage clock in an "antique" store in Lansing.  I really loved it, but it was too small on all of my walls.  At the same time I was helping a friend make purses from men's ties.  It may be a bit contrived, but I had to try it.  I typed tie clock into Pinterest and this what I found.  I tried to make the ties look  a bit more like a dresden pattern, but had difficulty with the different sizes of the ties.

 After fooling with them for much too long, I decided to just get it done.  This was the easiest way to make it work.

     I used a very stiff 70 weight interface from JoAnn Fabrics.  Love those 60% off coupons!  I had to double it to get the width I wanted.  

     My "new" Bernina made it possible.  I haven't really blogged about this machine.  I got it this spring and have fallen in love with it.  The walking foot and knee lift made this project happen without any four-letter words or tears.  

     It makes me so happy to get this off my sewing table.  I started collecting ties this summer.  It took a while to get the color combination I wanted.  I am unhappy with the way the light blue striped tie overlaps the dark green tie on the bottom.  I will probably take it apart because I am obsessive. 

Hope you all are enjoying the winter weather.