Sew Camp and My Trip to FabricMart
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| This isn’t all of it, most of had boxes shipped LOL. |
Soooo, I just came back from Sew Camp at the Carriage Corner B&B. I had a fantastic time, there were so many great women there, some I know and others I’ve come to know. I arrived on Thursday, had a cheese steak in Philly and sewed until Monday afternoon. I was prepared this time, I did good ya’ll, I was begging for fabric to sew because I sewed all mine up LOL. I stayed in the Dahlia, it’s a fantastic room as all the rooms are and Gaylen and Jay took such good care of us! I will say, book early, I always do, but I have my favorite room that I have to call dibs on so you snooze, you lose! LOL. The FabricMart brick and mortar is great, it’s nothing like seeing your fabric, you could order swatches but there’s something about the instant gratification of shopping in the store. Also, there’s tons of stuff not on the website, score!
I was pretty prolific, I made a pair of pants, a dress, skirt and top. You’ll see most of this stuff over the next few weeks as I blog about them.Some I’ve gotten photographed and some I haven’t. Another great thing that happened is that Carolyn from Diary of a Sewing fanatic took all of our pictures, OMG it was so nice to just change clothes and get your pictures taken! I had a great time, the food was excellent, the sewing was fantastic, the host were amazing and the connections are memorable. She photographed us all over the grounds of the B&B and it was sooo much fun.
I’ve attended a 2.5 day and I’ve attended a 4.5 day sew camp, I love them both, but during the 4.5 day sew camp I was WAY more productive! I didn’t feel rushed and I felt like I could take my time, go out to dinner, interact with folks, relax a bit and still sew lots.
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| I have most of these photographed, the chambray skirt and multi colored shirt I don’t have photos of yet. |
What I did this time:
- Planned three projects
- Cut the three projects out and gathered all notions to include thread, elastic, etc.
- Packed one week before camp (to reduce stress).
- Stopped sewing for Sew Camp the week before (this was the biggest stressor for me last time, I was talking about just one more thing the night before, SMDH)
- Bring lots of patterns in case I changed my mind
- Gather all my supplies and pack in a small tin (small scissors, black and white thread, seam ripper, etc.)
- Bring snacks for the FabricMart trip, when I started to fizzle out, I had a package of mixed nuts in my bag and that gave me the energy to keep going LOL.
- All the above
- Pack another bag (like I do when I go to the Garment District) Just in case I want to take things with me. Gaylen is awesome, she pre-treated fabric we brought back to the B&B, sometimes new fabric inspires me. I had the majority of my stuff shipped, but I wanted to bring more home to sew but I didn’t have the space.
- Bring only one new garment to get fit/sew (expectation is to get fit or figure out an advanced technique, but not necessarily to sew to completion).
- Bring all TNT’s. (I could have finished my summer wardrobe if I did this!)
- Look on FabricMart’s site for anything I may want and write it down. That way, I can focus on the bundles (which I failed to do this time ugh) and the resale space. I wasted a lot of time on the computer at FabricMart looking up stuff. I now know how they are set up and having a list will help me feel and see fabric I’ve been eyeing. You never know what you will get in the retail shop so that way I get my web orders out the way I have time to check out what’s not on the website.
- Pack light. I had a day outfit and a night outfit (insert eye roll). I packed as if I was going on a cruise. I will pack an outfit to go home and maybe a pair of jeans and maybe two tops in case we go out. I hung out in joggers and a t-shirt while sewing because that’s whats comfortable. I could have fit more fabric in my bag LOL.
- Jalie Vanessa pants pattern
- Cashmerette Holyoke pattern
- 33 yards of fabric, I have mix of linen, shirting, denim , knit, crepe & twill. Most of the fabric I purchased has already been sewn up but here’s dome of what I still have left LOL.
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| Yellow crepe, denim, blue and silver knit and a linen blend. The Ponte and Twill are upstairs lol. |
11 Comments
Bernice
You sewed some lovely garments! I enjoyed reading your summary and your tips. I thought of you all that weekend and knew everyone would be having a terrific time. Such a great event.
gMarie
What a wonderful review and thank you so much! ::blushing::
You really were on point with your prep this time and I love your hints – do you mind if I share them in an upcoming sew camp newsletter? Also – we need to chat more when I'm sewing, you are so helpful, encouraging and supportive! That print top is fabulous! g
MadebyLaQuana
Thanks, you and Jay are the best! Sure, you share the hints and we can chat!
KS_Sews (Dressmakingbacles)
You did so well prepping this time! I agree with all of your points too!!!
MadebyLaQuana
I'll be a pro soon! missed you there and look forward to next time.
Marjie
Fabric Mart is great (says "The Queen of the Bundle"), and Sew Camp is so wonderful! I love Gaylen's B&B, and her breakfast is amazing. I'm so glad I got to meet you!
MadebyLaQuana
It was so good to meet you Marjie, until next time and yes to all the bundles!
Carrie Cunningham
Sounds like a wonderful retreat and shopping trip!
All of your pieces are beautiful!
And yeah, where is that skirt!
Great, great packing and prep tips!
Sounds like some fabric there has to be ordered while in-store and others are available for immediate purchase. Is that right?
MadebyLaQuana
Thank you Auntie Carrie! Yes, you can preorder (it will be waiting when you get there) or you can purchase while in store (stuff that's on the website). They have a resale area that is not on the website and I'm always running between the two, it's a lot to take in but so much fun.
Carolyn (Diary of a Sewing Fanatic)
How comes we didn't photograph the skirt and top? I was shooting everything so I'm confused? And that's what we're doing now sharing how much money we spent?! *LOL* Finally you didn't get anything at Zooks? Only cupcakes when we went to town? How did that happen?
Also I was really proud of you! You came prepped and ready to sew this time. You really got it in!
MadebyLaQuana
I don't know LOL, you know I'm distracted by new things LOL. I think people can appreciate a great value, they'll have to come to sew camp to really see how much can be saved!