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!