The Bearding Ladies Quilt Group!

Announcing The Bearding Ladies Quilt Group!

Hey all, Christine reporting here! We are SO excited to announce that we are starting a monthly quilt meet up at Sew L.A.!!! We will gather the third Monday of each month from 6:30-9:30pm and talk quilts! It’s a place to bring finished projects to show and tell, share your favorite quilting tips, trade ideas and techniques, learn new skills, and get input on your work in progress. The Bearding Ladies quilt group meetings are free and open to everyone! Please join us!

So, you might be wondering, how did a quilt group get started at Sew L.A., the land of the garment seamstresses? Well, here’s how it went down.

First we had Rebecca Prange, our lone quilter in the bunch. Then came Devon Iott, another quilter in the teacher line up. Next thing you knew, Shaerie, Haley, Hollye, and myself were all quilting! I’m not sure what happened! I know I’m enjoying a completely different style of sewing from my usual garment construction, and perhaps that’s true for all of the other new quilters in the house too. No matter what got us going, we are now all quilters. It’s a slippery slope!

We offer multiple quilting classes each semester and between all of the new quilters in the house and all of our quilting students, we thought it was time to form a real quilting group. But to be honest, we’re a little punk rock for anything too formal, so we decided on a few things up front. First, we have mad respect for the LA Modern Quilt Group and its founder, Alissa Haight Carlton. So first things first, I chatted with her to make sure there was no stepping on turf, and like a real quilter, she was excited that we were all bitten by the quilting bug and gave us her blessing. (This is so West Side Story – we’ll have to snap and dance around our quilts!)

Next, we had to think up a name. Devon and Haley started looking up quilting terms and after some back and forth, we all loved the word bearding. What is bearding? Bearding is a term for when the batting comes through to the right side of your quilt. It’s not a good thing, and it suited the bad-girl vibe we were after for our posse. Pair bearding with the word ladies, and well, it goes from a bad-girl vibe to something even worse. We were smitten.

Of course, every group needs a good logo and mascot, so we called upon Hollye, our resident graphic designer and she developed our bearded lady, complete with beard (of course) and since we’re ladies, her beard is topped off with a delicate bow. Again, we were in love. So with our name, logo, and times set, it’s now time to get these going!

Please join us for the first of what will hopefully be many quilt meetings, Monday January 21 from 6:30-9:30pm. We hope you come, bring ideas of what you’d like this group to be, and of course, bring quilts, tips, works in progress, and anything else you’d like! See you there!

Sublime Stitching Floss Launch Party, Alexander Henry, Monaluna & More!

We are SUPER excited to host Jenny Hart of Sublime Stitching for her floss launch party! Get all the details here, then join us on Friday Dec. 14 from 6 - 9 pm. Take a gander at all the prizes Jenny is giving away!

And in fabric news, we have received the first shipments of wonderful fabric from Quilt Market, with even more to come. We have some lovely Joel Dewberry from his 'Notting Hill' collection:

David Butler's newest 'Seven Wonders' - we love the subtle colorways and beautiful patterns:

Some fantastic & colorful fabrics from Alexander Henry... clockwise from the top left corner we have four colorways of the newest lawn calle 'Logan' (it's AMAZING in person), some great quilt weight prints, home decor weight 'Tribeca' and home decor weight 'Keely'. The colors almost pop right off the fabric!

Also just arrived is some Monaluna from the 'Havana' collection - hooray for organic fabric!

And word on the street is that we just got even more fabric in today... so keep your eyes peeled for another post soon to let you know what's in stock!

Decades of Style Tea Party!

1940's Girl Friday Blouse

Sew L.A. is thrilled to announce a Decades of Style Trunk Show and Tea Party! 

Join us on Saturday, November 3rd from 6pm till 9pm for the opening of our week long display of vintage amazingness! The show will be hanging at Sew L.A. for a week (through November 11th) , but only at the party will we be offering a 20% discount on ALL DECADES PATTERNS and the chance to win one of the three newest designs: the 1930's Beach Romper, the 1930's Leading Lady Gown, or the 1950's Object d'Art Dress. If you have never seen these GORGEOUS patterns made up before, now is your chance - they are breathtaking.

Janet, the talented owner of Decades of Style, will be joining us for our tea party, and we are requesting appropriate attire for the event - your best vintage outfit (handmade or not), hats & gloves too! Of course, all are welcome regardless of attire - we just like to have an excuse to dress up!

We'll have many types of teas and beverages, along with sweet and savory snacks - scones, finger sandwiches, cakes, tarts - yum! And just to whet your appetite even more, here are some pictures from our first ever Decades trunk show, back in 2008...

1920's Tulip Kimono

1944 House Dress

1930's Butterfly Blouse

1916 Sanger Skirt

1931 Matinee Blouse

1927 Cloud Cape, front

1927 Cloud Cape, back

And here's a picture of my favorite hat (NOT a Decades of Style pattern). We all look forward to seeing you at the party!

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.