Free Class for Five Lucky Ladies!

Over the past few months, I have been hard at work on some new Sew L.A. patterns, and in order to test the latest design, I'm offering a FREE CLASS! The class is on two consecutive Saturdays - March 1st and 8th - from 2pm till 5pm. In order to enter the drawing, you must be able to attend both classes. And this drawing is open to all students who have taken one other beginner garment class: Cute Skirt, Easiest Skirt, Pajamarama, Tess' Dress, Lela Top - talk to the ladies at the shop if you have questions about your sewing level!

Here's the pattern:

And the description: six gores (or panels) make up the body of this flared skirt. The front features two pockets sewn into the seams and a 1”  wide flat waistband. Pockets are self lined, or you can pick a separate fabric for the lining - just for fun or if your skirt fabric is on the heavier side. The back has elastic in the waistband. The lower edge is finished with a double fold hem. Choose 18” long (View A) or 22” long (View B).

Interested? Call the shop at 323.665.7097 during business hours (11 - 6pm) on either Feb 24th, 25th or 26th (2014) to leave your name, contact info and waist & hip measurements. Based on your size, you will be entered into a category for X-Small, Small, Medium, Large and X-Large. We'll do a random drawing to select the winner for each size category and we will contact you by the end of the day on Feb 30th to confirm and give you the supply list. Students chosen will be responsible for bringing their Basic Sewing Kits and materials for making the skirt - instruction and your pattern are FREE!

Spring Fabric is Starting to Arrive: Nani Iro, Echino, Amy Butler...

It's our favorite time of year! All the fabric we ordered at last fall's Quilt Market is starting to show up at the shop - deliveries almost every day! Here's some of the newest:

Organic canvas from Rashida Coleman Hale for Cloud9:

Goodnight Moon organic cotton!

Carolyn Friedlander's Botanics and Architextures collections:

Organic cotton knits from Monaluna:

The latest from Echino:

Tomotake for Kokka:

The always-amazing Nani Iro:

Joel Dewberry:

Martha Negley:                                                                                         Denyse Schmidt:

Parson Gray's 'Vagabond' collection:

Amy Butler's 'Hapi'

From Anna Maria Horner's 'Dowry' collection:

...and more coming soon from Alexander Henry, Robert Kaufman and Yuwa!

New Classes for Fall 2012!

We are so excited to announce our newest classes for the Fall semester! There's a little bit of branching out happening, so we have included a fantastic embroidery class along with our usual sewing fare.

First on the list is the Miz Mozelle Dress from Jamie Christina Patterns. I fell in love with the details - the bias trim, the keyhole neckline, the sweet collar - and then was impressed by how professional the pattern was. Nicely drafted with very clear instructions - just the thing for a new class. I'm super excited to teach people how to make their own bias tape in this class - it will open up a whole new world of trimming! The dress below is made from Nani Iro's Waltz in turquoise with lime cotton trim.  This intermediate class is scheduled for two dates: Fri. October 5th and Sat. December 1st. 

For The Kimono Kid, Rebecca will be teaching this adorable kimono style pajama top from an Oliver + S pattern! With all the super-cute Ed Emberly fabrics from Cloud9 in the shop, there's no lack of choice for the main fabric. This top will fit 6 – 12 months (chest: 19”) through size 8 (chest 26 ½”), and the class will teach you how to sew the band smoothly and how to navigate inset corners. The two-session class is offered twice this semester: Sun. October 21st and Mon. December 3rd.

Ed Emberley for Cloud9 Organic Fabrics

We are thrilled to welcome Jenny Hart of Sublime Stitching fame to teach here at Sew L.A.! Jenny's fame has been spread far and wide as she takes the embroidery world by storm with her brilliant designs. She's teaching three intro classes this semester - with all the supplies you need included in the class fee - and in December we'll be offering a project class for everyone who has taken the intro class already. 

Intro to Embroidery is scheduled for Sat. October 13th, Weds. November 14th and Sat. December 1st. 

Jenny Hart

Devon will be teaching the Liberated Log Cabin quilt top class, which takes the traditional piecing method and skews it just enough to make it really interesting! You can pick a fabric to use as a central theme, then mix & match your other fabrics from there. The class will create a 40 x 54" quilt top, and is only offered once this time around, starting Sun. October 7th. It's open to anyone who has taken our Quilt Making Basics class or who has similar experience! 

Lastly, I'm introducing a new Sew L.A. pattern & class this semester, the One Day Wallet! It's a quick and easy project that allows you to utilize some of the gorgeous prints we currently have in stock. It's a second level beginner class (you only need one other beginner class before this one), and it's offered on Sat. October 6th, Sat. November 24th, and Weds. December 19th. 

Spring Quilt Market 2012 - Kansas City! Part One

It's that time again... Quilt Market time! This year, the spring market was in Kansas City, MO from May 18 to May 20. This is where we get all of our late summer / early fall fabric, and it's where designers debut their latest collections - so it's pretty exciting if you're a fabric junkie like me!

Christine and I both made the trip this year, and it was fun for me to introduce her to all the great folks who make our fabric-buying job so pleasant. Plus, it's great to meet up with other shop owners across the country and gossip! 

Violet Blouse Sleeve Adaptation

Everyone knows how much we love the Violet Blouse pattern from Colette - such a comfortable but still put-together look! I myself have 4 of the short sleeve persuasion, so I thought it was about time to sew up the mid-length sleeve variation. 

The difference here is that I thought it would look GREAT with a band to finish the sleeve instead of elastic, and then I thought of doing a post to show you how! (This might have also been suggested by 3 or 4 Violet Blouse classes... in a row...) 

And of course I needed something to compliment my skirt made from 'Zebras & Giraffes':

So here we go! First, measure your arm just below the elbow. To that measurement, add up to 2" for ease - my measurement was 9 3/4" and I added enough extra to make 11 1/2". That measurement will be the length of your band.

More Yuwa Fabric! Coming in March...

With names like 'Thrilling Black' and 'Geo Style', the Yuwa fabric we have in the shop right now is pretty spectacular. But WAIT... there's more! Here is a sneak preview of some of the fabric we will be getting in March - only a few weeks away!

Bird! With pink & blue leaves and little red flowers. I LOVE the colors.

There appears to be a bear, leading some sort of animal revolution.

Bunnies on the moon playing guitar and sprinkling magic moon dust, of course.

The COLORS! I'm dying! I'll take them all, please: brights, earth tones & grayscale.

We'll wrap it up with some lawn, just in time for spring! Some tiny flowers...

And some bigger flowers. Sigh... March can't come fast enough!