Early in October I received a phone call from a young lady who was interested in learning to sew as she was planning on attending a fashion design school. We started classes and within a week or so she decided to enter the yearly competition for a full scholarship with The Art Institute. The competition was for an original design in formal wear. The student was required to design it but did not have to construct the gown. After several sketches we settled on one and we began to fine-tune it. I draped the pattern and together we stitched the evening gown. You can see the entry on our website. The gown is made of silk and the blue lining is hand-dyed, using the Japanese method called Shibori. She did not win, but she learned a lot and decided to change her focus and go into Fashion Merchandizing. The competition kept us busy right up to Thanksgiving.

    Also during the fall, another student wanted to start a fashion design club. The activities would be centered around learning about past and present designers, watching and critiquing fashion shows like Project Runway and having an Oscar party to critique the gowns. The club has also discussed members designing and sketching their own designs for a quarter-scale doll, learning to pattern and actually creating the design for their doll, with the thought the design might eventually be made for themselves.

December was busy with classes and holidays. Our son and his fiancé were with us for Christmas and had to return to graduate school in Virginia all to soon.

That brings us to January. January turned out to be quite busy as I had an influx of new students and was working on a few designs of my own. February continued to be busy with classes. I was out of town for about a week in the middle of the month.

The first weekend of March I went to the Puyallup Sewing and Stitching Expo. My husband went with me and we spent a couple of days in Portland so we could stop at Powell’s Bookstore and of course Fabric Depot. I found several nice pieces of fabric, including swimsuit fabric for my mother who is teaching water aerobics. We stopped at the Pendleton Woolen Mill Store, they were having a semi-yearly clearance and had some of their wool marked down as low as a dollar a yard. I found a nice piece for a pair of trousers for my husband. The Expo was quite an experience. I met several authors whose books I have and visited the vendors. I tried out several sewing machines with the Bernina and Juki dealers. The next weekend I attended the Linda MacPhee workshop sponsored by the Medford Chapter of the American Sewing Guild. I enjoyed the trunk show and afternoon workshop, purchased several patterns from her and came home with a lot of new ideas.

We will try to get our website updated with new photos and links as soon as we can.

I thought I would try something new this time and choose a question from my students to share with you, so let me know how you like it.

 Keep sewing.

                                           Mary

Why Pre-Wash Your Fabric?

Fabrics are treated with different chemicals for preservation as well as to provide a finish or quality to the fabric. Washing your fabrics removes these chemicals. One of the most common chemicals used is formaldehyde, also listed as Formalin, Methanal, Methyl aldehyde, Methylene oxide, Morbicid acid, and Oxymethylene. Formaldehyde resins are used to provide the following qualities to fabrics and ready wear; permanent press, anti-cling, anti-static, anti-wrinkle and anti-shrink finishes, chlorine-resistant finishes, stiffening on lightweight nylon knits, waterproof, perspiration and moth proof and mildew resistant finishes. One of the most common reactions is a mild skin rash; some can be quite mild or develop into full-blown contact dermatitis. Contact dermatitis can be very difficult to control. Washing your fabric in warm water and soap removes any “free formaldehyde” that was not removed by the manufacturer. My husband and son both have developed skin rashes from ready wear pants that were not washed before wearing. I have found the darker colors tend to retain more “free formaldehyde”.

Vintage Aprons