pants making intensive

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Upcoming Classes: Let’s Hang Out + Sew!

Hey guys! I have some new workshops coming up this fall – check it out!

Master Sewing Class at Pintuck & Purl
October 5-9, 2016
Pintuck & Purl, Exeter, NH

Join me for a super fun, pick-your-project sewing workshop weekend at Pintuck & Purl! Similar to my prior retreats at A Gathering of Stitches (which, btw, I will be back – but probably not until 2017, due to schedule conflicts. Wah!), this long sewing weekend is all about what YOU want to work on! Want to work on fine-tuning your fit so you can really nail that TNT pattern? Want to make a coat? What about a bra? Do you just want to hang out and sew with other awesome people who are also sewing and know that you have a teacher on hand for any last-minute oh-shit-I’ve-made-a-huge-mistake situations? I GOT YOU. This is *your* retreat, and you can spend it however you like! The class fee includes a welcome party, lunches, local excursions, signature drinks and a swanky dinner out on Saturday night. Turn that shit into a sweet-ass sewing vacation already!

Pintuck & Purl is a new sewing shop located in Exeter, NH, another gorgeous (well, so I’m told ;)) New England town that I am guessing is gonna be FUCKING AMAZING come October. The retail shop will be closed to the public during this retreat, so we’ll have the whole place to ourselves (who wants to join me for some pantsless sewing? Anyone?). Pintuck & Purl is also an authorized Bernina dealer – so if you’re hearing the siren song of the Bernina and want to spend some time sewing on one before you take the plunge – here’s your opportunity!

I love love LOVE these types of open-sewing workshops, and I am super excited for this one! You can sign up for the workshop here! There are a limited number of spots and I expect this one to sell out like all the others do, so register early 🙂

Jeans Making Sewing Intensive
November 3-4, 2016
Workroom Social, Brooklyn, NY

That’s right – I’m coming back to teach another class at my beloved Workroom Social, this time it’s all about the jeans!! Y’all have been asking for a jeans class, so we are here to deliver 😉 In this 2 day intensive at Workroom Social, we will be making a pair of Ginger Jeans (my fave jeans pattern, obvs) – including basic fitting and pattern adjustments, construction techniques, and everything you need to know about finishing (topstitching, installing hardware, etc). Jeans are one of those funny projects that look super intimidating, but are actually really fun to make. Not to mention – out of all the handmades I’ve ever made, jeans tend to top the list as far as what impresses people the most 😉 You can see my Gingers here – skinnies, Cone Mills 1, Cone Mills 2, gold denim, red stretch twill, and Jorts! The pattern that goes on forever, basically 😉

If you’ve never taken a Workroom Social class, you are in for a real treat! The class fee includes use of all the tools and machines in the studio (which, by the way, is the cutest little Brooklyn sewing studio ever), as well as a delicious catered lunch + end of day cocktail hour (both days!). We have all the sizes sewn up beforehand so you can try on a muslin before you cut into your fabric, which lets us jump straight into fitting and then sewing! These classes are LOADS of fun and an absolutely prime excuse for visiting NYC if you’ve been looking for a reason. Not to mention – you get to go home with a new pair of jeans THAT YOU MADE YOURSELF. Impress all your friends! Do it!

Weekend Pants-Making Intensive
November 5-6, 2016
Workroom Social, Brooklyn, NY

Like I’d go all the way to NYC without teaching a Weekend Pants-Making Intensive 😛 Are you kidding me – this shit is my bread and butter! 😉

So yes, we are running back-to-back pants classes at Workroom Social that weekend! After jeans, we will be immediately diving into our TNT basic Pants Making Intensive. Interested in making pants but don’t want to deal with jeans specifically? Then this is the class for you! In this class, we will be sewing a trouser-style pattern (don’t worry, it still includes all the fun details that make for a not-basic pair of pants – think slash pockets, front fly zipper, and a proper waistband – you can see the sample I made here) while going over basic fitting and pattern adjustments, construction, and the aforementioned trouser details. I loveeee teaching this class and I am so excited to be back for another round! PANTS!

As with the jeans class, this Workroom Social class includes all the same things with the fee – use of equipment and tools, lunch and snacks, dranks, endless giggles and crotch grabs (I hope you’re comfortable around me, lolz). T

Want to take a workshop with me but don’t know which one to shoot for? Here’s a breakdown:

Master Sewing Class at Pintuck & Purl
For those who want to sew, but hate being restricted to a particular class project – you get to pick your own! This will be a more intimate, relaxed sort of class, with fun excursions and lots of hangout opportunities. This is also a longer weekend, which means SEWING VACATION amirite.

Jeans Making Sewing Intensive
You don’t just want to make pants – you want to make JEANS! You all about those fun details and hardware that make jeans stand apart from a typical pants pattern. You can also take time off work – as this class runs on a Thursday-Friday. This also means you get an open weekend in New York City, should you choose to hang around for a few days! Again – SEWING VACATION amirite! Please note that prior pants-sewing knowledge is not necessary for this class – we will be covering all that while we construct the pattern – but it IS helpful, since you’ll then be able to focus more on the finishing and details.

Weekend Pants-Making Intensive
If you’re not particularly interested in making jeans, but you still want to get some pants knowledge crammed up in your head – this is the class for you! This class is all about PANTS, but is not restricted to jeans (so no topstitching or hardware, no sewing stretch denim, etc). We will still cover all the construction and fitting that you need to get you lookin super fly and pants’d, all while using a more traditional trouser pattern. You can definitely apply this knowledge toward future jeans, so don’t get too worked up if you’re having trouble deciding between the two.

For those of y’all who are asking about local classes here in Nashville – I do teach classes at Craft South, as well as offer private lessons (which you can sign up for on the website – please be aware that I *only* do private lessons on Fridays, and make sure you request me specifically if that’s what you want!). They are just 3 hour sewing basics classes, though – no big weekend workshops. Honestly, I use those as an excuse to travel 😉 So I’m not sure if that’s something I will offer in the future locally, but you are welcome to fill out a request form on the website – if there’s a demand, we are gonna fill it! 🙂 And if you are in another city and want me to come teach – get me in touch with your local sewing shop and maybe we can plan something fun! I am always down for checking out new cities! 🙂

Are you signed up for any fun classes this fall? Do I have anyone here crazy enough to sign up for two – or even all three! – of these classes? 🙂 If so… want to be my dinner and drinking buddy? 😉

Tags: class, classes, jeans making intensive, master sewing class, pants, pants making intensive, pintuck and purl, sewing class, teaching, travel, workroom social, workshop

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Come Make Pants With Me in NYC This November!

20 Jul

SUP GUYS. Just dropping in real quick to let you know that we’ve got another Pants Making Intensive at WORKROOM SOCIAL planned for this upcoming November 7-8, 2015! I’ve had a few people email me and ask when the next one would be scheduled – well, here it is! Mark your calendars, get them plane tickets, and let’s have a pants party!

The Weekend Pants Making Intensive is exactly what it sounds like – one full weekend (8 hours each on both Saturday & Sunday) dedicated to the making of pants. We will go over pattern alterations, basic fitting, prepping/cutting, as well as all the techniques needed to complete a pair of pants – the front fly, waistband insertion, pockets, seam finishing, all that good stuff! Making pants is one of those sewing jobs that seems super intimidating until you actually do it – and then it’s actually really fun (and pretty freaking cool, I might add, to be able to make all your own pants!).

The class is held at WORKROOM SOCIAL, which is located in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, NY, in the cutest little sewing studio I’ve probably ever set foot in. The class fee includes all the machines & tools that you need to make your pants – all you’re required to bring is the fabric and necessary notions. The class fee ALSO includes snacks and a catered lunch for both days, as well end-of-day cocktails! Not to mention, it’s LOADS of fun. Don’t live in Brooklyn? Neither do I! Did I mention that this is a great excuse to plan an NYC getaway? Oh yeah!

But wait, there’s more! On November 6, the Friday before, Jennifer & I will be leading a shopping trip around the Garment District for a lesson in bottom-weight, pants-appropriate fabrics (which is perfect if you don’t know what fabric to get for your pants, and/or want to be able to buy it while you’re in NYC! Or if you just want a lil’ tour of the Garment District!). This 2 hour trip will take you to all our favorite shops, where you’ll learn about the best fabrics for the best pants-making, and there will be discounts on your purchases as well. Afterwards, we will group at a nearby bar for happy hour! The shopping trip a separate cost from the weekend workshop, but it is open to students as well as non-students (so if you don’t want to take the class but want to join the trip, that is totally ok!). I REALLY love the Garment District and I’m super excited that we’ll be able to offer this in addition to the class! Unfortunately, I’m not able to do any more big meet-ups when I come to the city (mostly due to time restraints, but also because the size can get out of hand when it comes to those tiny little fabric shops), so this is a good compromise. We are going to cap the shopping trip at a manageable number of people, so that we’ll actually have a chance to get to know each other and talk and all that fun stuff 🙂

Pants-Making Intensive at Workroom Social

Photo credit: WORKROOM SOCIAL

For more info on the Weekend Pants Making Intensive or the NYC Garment District Shopping trip, check out the WORKROOM SOCIAL website. You can also sign up there as well. Traditionally, this class tends to sell out pretty fast so get it while the gettin’s good 🙂 For a recap of the first pants class I taught, check out this blog post. Seriously, though. It’s gonna be an awesome pants party and I’m already sooo excited (and, um, planning my ~NYC Winter Wardrobe~ in anticipation haha. Nevermind that it’s 95*+ here this week; I have WOOL PLANS to make!). This will be the third time I’ve taught this class, and it’s always been a massive amount of fun for everyone involved. I love making pants, and I want y’all to love it too!

And while we’re on the subject – Camp WORKROOM SOCIAL is nearing the sign-up deadline and very close to selling out! If the idea of a summer camp combined with a sewing retreat sounds like it would be right up your alley, then you’re in luck because there is still room for a few more sign-ups!

There are still a few spots left in the Dressmaking class as well as the Sewing Fashion for Kids class. In addition, a couple more spots were added to Fit Your Body & Style and Patternmaking, so if you were thinking about signing up but then got bummed out with the seats filled up, here’s the second chance you have been waiting for! Personally, I’d love to take either the fitting or the patternmaking class (or… both…?), but I’ve had an expensive summer this year (all I can say about that is – car a/c work is a necessary evil for me in 2015, wah.) so I’m just gonna have to stay here and live vicariously through someone else. Could that someone else be you?

Photo credit: Jadel Photography

For those who are hovering on the fence, I’m just gonna leave this camp photo here. Ahh!

Finally, my epic sewing weekend retreat at A Gathering of Stitches is just around the corner, coming up September 24-27! There’s still time (and a tiny bit of space) to sign up! The event will take place in Portland, Maine, and it’s a choose-your-own-project sort of deal. Which means you get to work on whateverrrr you want, with no set class curriculum or project. I really love doing these kinds of classes because it’s super fun to see what everyone brings to work on, and I can’t wait to finally check out Portland (and New England, for that matter)! I hear it’s absolutely beautiful and that I’m going to totally fall in love with it 🙂

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In other news, I had to work an event over the weekend, so I’m taking an impromptu day off today. I plan on spending all of it down here in my sewing room (well, I spent about 15 minutes this morning replacing the broken latch on my truck’s tailgate – so I feel like I’ve done enough “work” for today haha). Yay! Happy Monday, y’all!

Tags: a gathering of stitches, announcement, camp workroom social, class, classes, NYC, pants making intensive, travel, workroom social

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Cool Sewing Things Happening in 2015

3 Dec

SUP Y’ALL. I’m back from my awesome trip to London and Paris, and just trying to settle in/catch up on everything I missed while I was gone (spoiler: most of it is shitty non-blog things, like renewing my car tags and shopping for new health insurance. BORING! Why did I let this all happen in December. Why.). I will have a round-up post covering my trip at, well, some point, but for now the blog will probably continue to be a little quiet while I spend the rest of my week trying to be an adult. I’m hoping I’ll be back to posting next week – so thanks for hanging in there while I sort things out. In the meantime, I wanted to talk about some cool shit that’s happening in the sewing world – in the IN-PERSON sewing world, that is! – in 2015! Some of which involves meeee 🙂

First up – Bramaking!
Y’all know, Madalynne, right? The cool sewing and bra making blog. Maddie and I have been online friends for a few years now – we met through our blogs, and we keep up through our blogs (ok, well, and through emails too. Love ya, Maddie!) – and it’s been so neat to watch her sewing, blogging, and lingerie really flourish into the beautiful thing that it is now. Big emphasis on the bras – homegirl makes some of the prettiest bras I ever did see. And now she’s decided to finally take the leap into teaching and passing on those skills to those of us who are dying to learn them too.

Bramaking with Madalynne is a full day intensive class that will teach you how to make a full band, underwired bra. The price includes the pattern and all supplies, as well as lunches and snacks. You can read all the juicy details in Madalynne’s post here, as well as sign up through the New Old Fashioned (better hurry, tho, bc there’s only space for 8 people!). After hearing all you Canadians brag about the bra making classes you take (yes, I’m onto you. And I’m jealous of you.), finally us Americans get a piece of that action! And we don’t even have to eat Maddie’s brains to steal her knowledge – she’s going to give it to us! Notice I said “us” – because I’m going to the class as well! Yesss!! An excuse to visit Philly (which I’ve never been before! Pittsburgh, however… no. Let’s not talk about my short stint in Pittsburgh, woof.), some hang time with Madalynne, and making fancy underwear? Fuck yes, count me in. So yeah – let’s make bras together, y’all!

Next up – Pants Making!
Ok, I already talked about about this before, so sorry to sit here and repeat myself. But I do think it bears repeating 🙂 This March 21-22, I’m returning to Brooklyn, NY, to teach another round of the Weekend Pants-Making Intensive at WORKROOM SOCIAL. I am really really excited about this one; I love teaching, I love making pants, and I love teaching people how to make pants! We are going to have an amazing time, I can already feel it!

WORKROOM SOCIAL classes are fabulous because they include 2 days of intense pants-making (for us, that means basic pants-fitting, learning how to sew the front fly, pockets, and waistband, as well as little sewing tips and tricks for increasing your speed and accuracy), catered lunch and snacks, use of all machines and tools in the studio, aaaand you’ll probably get a really good ab workout because we will be laughing at LOT! This shit is gonna be so much fun! Check out the details of the class on their website, and you can also read about the class I taught while I was there in August. The space will fill up fast, so get your registration in before the class sells out!

Next on the agenda – Sewing Retreat! (aka make whatever the hell you want!)
Ughhh, you guys, this one is REALLY exciting to me. I hope you can feel the excitement radiating from my computer screen to yours, because I’ve been bouncing all over the walls while planning this. On September 24-27, I will be flying up to Portland, ME, to host a 4 day weekend sewing retreat at A Gathering of Stitches. One thing that’s always been a bit of a gamble with project-specific classes is that some people just plain aren’t interested in the project that the class is centered around. It’s hard to satisfy everyone with those – there’s always someone who doesn’t like the pattern, or maybe their skill level doesn’t quite jive with what the class requires (or it’s beyond the class!), or maybe they want to learn something else entirely. I’ve always loved the idea of doing a sewing retreat where people pick their own projects – bonus if it’s located in a gorgeous area that can double as a mini-vacation (or continue into a vacation after the retreat ends) – but I’m also kinda the worst planner ever (this should not be a secret at this point, ha!). Samantha contacted me a few months ago and asked if I’d like to teach at A Gathering of Stitches, and an open-project retreat was the first thing that came out of my mouth. She was immediately on board with the idea, and we’ve been in cahoots about it ever since. And now I finally get to announce it! Yay!

This retreat will take place up in gorgeous (so I’m told 😉 ) Portland, Maine. We chose the September date because it’s supposed to be very beautiful during that time of year. For 4 days, I will work with a small group of people on WHATEVER projects they so desire (kind of like Susan Khalje’s Couture Sewing School, except, you know, NOT couture 😉 ). Want to work on fine tuning your fit so you can really nail that TNT pattern? Want to make a coat? What about pants? Do you just want to hang out and sew with other awesome people who are also sewing and know that you have a teacher on hand for any last-minute oh-shit-I’ve-made-a-huge-mistake situations? I GOT YOU. This is *your* retreat, and you can spend it however you like! We’ll also be doing catered lunches every day, a big awesome meal at a local farm on the last night, and evenings are always free for you to go out and explore the area and maybe even whoop it up 🙂 Alsoooo, just FYI, but NYC is only a 50 minute plane ride away… if that sways ya 😉 (it swayed me!) (we could always hit up the Garment District after the retreat… you know, because reasons.)

You can find out more information about the retreat here. It does cover tuition, studio space + equipment (and of course, you are welcome to bring your own if that’s your thing!), plus a few meals, but lodging is not included (I’m told that prices are pretty reasonable in that area tho, and Samantha has a nice list of accommodations should you need help finding one!). I will be in touch with everyone prior to the retreat so we can discuss your project and goals, to ensure that you get the BEST experience during the retreat. There are limited spots for this retreat and we expect it to fill up fast, so register early! We are gonna have an AMAZING time, y’all!

Finally – Camping!
Have y’all heard about Camp WORKROOM SOCIAL? This is a 4 day camp with 2 days of intense sewing – at an actual summer camp in upstate NY! Jennifer has really killed it with this one – there are 5 classes to choose from (Bra making, pattern drafting, jeans making, fitting, and dressmaking), lodging, meals and shuttle service are provided. Oh, and pretty much all the instructors and camp counselors (YES THERE ARE COUNSELORS!) are some of my favoritest people ever! Camp WORKROOM SOCIAL is going to be amazing! Unfortunately, I won’t be making this one – I already committed to an epic vacation with my BFF over the summer (we’re going to Peru! For two weeks! Ahhh!), so my travel money is already spoken for 🙂 However, I think camp sounds amaaaazing and y’all should definitely get on it. Yes.

So those are some of my (and hopefully your!) upcoming plans for 2015! Really excited for all these classes and retreats – not to mention a few more excuses to travel 🙂 Anyone else going to these workshops and retreats? What are you most excited about?

Tags: a gathering of stitches, announcement, bra making, bra making with madalynne, camp, classes, hot damn this is my jam, lladybird, pants, pants making intensive, retreat, sewing, sewing classes, sewing retreat, teaching, workroom social

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NYC Part 3: Pants-Making at WORKROOM SOCIAL

12 Sep

Final NYC post! I’m so sorry to have spread these out so much – and sorry to keep y’all waiting for the final round-up (I know, you were just hanging off the edge of your seat in PURE ANTICIPATION amirite). I was waiting on some photos from Jennifer (the resident memory maker, sewing expert, and brains behind WORKROOM SOCIAL)- which, trust me, these are way better than anything my pathetic Instagram account could have coughed up 😉

Anyway – Pants-making at WORKROOM SOCIAL! Wheeee!!

An intensive at WORKROOM SOCIAL means that you’re there for the full weekend – two 8 hour days, with a break for lunch (catered by local Brooklyn eateries!) and a low-key cocktail hour at the end of each day. It might sound intense to spend that long in a sewing class, but really – that sounds like a normal weekend for me 😉 The main difference being that, instead of a solo-sewing binge, this one involved some pretty fabulous company and about 16 hours straight of giggling.

Classes start with fitting – all the sizes for the pattern are pre-made into muslins, so students can go straight into fitting without having to sew up a muslin first. This is one of the most brilliant things about WORKROOM SOCIAL, I think – it cuts down on a lot of prep time, so you can get straight into the good stuff! Of course, sewing pants means that there is a lot of crotch-grabbing going on. I’m so glad that we were all comfortable with one another from the get-go, bc I totally had my hands up in everyone’s business within the first hour of class.

See? We giggled about crotches a lot. Crotches are funny!

Another big benefit to sewing classes at WORKROOM SOCIAL is that the use of all tools and machines is included in the class fee, so you don’t have to lug your machine into class if you don’t want to. The machines on site are the snazzy SINGER Quantum Stylist Touch 9985 (I never thought I’d say that, but forreal, SINGER is seriously stepping up their game these days) that even clip threads for you. A couple of the students did opt to bring in their machines – which is also fine, since it’s nice to work on something that you are comfortable using! – one of which was this sexy, sexy model. Jenny perfectly captured my sultry feelings toward Kim’s machine (Photo by Jenny).

Once we got past the fitting and initial pattern adjustments, it was time to start making pants! We skipped the second muslin, and had students make changes directly to their pattern pieces and then cut their fashion fabric. While I would normally urge y’all to continue making muslins until the fit has been tweaked to perfection (since one fitting change can completely affect the way the garment looks, which may result in needing additional fitting), the WORKROOM SOCIAL Pants-making Intensive focuses on the sewing and construction techniques that a student needs to know to feel confident to tackle that second pair at home and have them turn out extra awesome.

We used McCall 6901 as the base pattern, with a few additional modifications (namely, adding pocket facings and a proper front-fly zipper – as the original pattern is only for a mock-fly). This pattern is designed for both straight and plus sizes (ranging from 8 to 24W), so it was perfect for the group of students in class, as we had a great variety of sizes and shapes. Almost everyone ended up shortening the crotch length (for whatever reason, it’s super long in this pattern!), as well as modified the legs to be less tapered. Jennifer showed us all a really cool way to sew the waistband – something I’d never seen before and am now DYING to try!

Oh, and everyone’s pants turned out great!

Jen & I at the end of day 2 – Jen is modeling her finished pants, which looked AMAZING on her! Seriously felt like a creeper because I couldn’t stop staring at how good they looked, haha! (Photo by Jen).

Jenny & I – we are not modeling pants, but we are modeling how much we love each other (Photo by Jenny).

One really interesting thing about Jenny’s fitting process – turns out her and I have the same crotch shape, the J-Cro (which is why we are now Crotch Buddies, and everyone should be ok with that). You’d never guess by just looking at us, because our bodies are otherwise completely different – but it just goes to show that a pattern not working for one person does not mean that it won’t work for you. Even if the person in question wears the same size as you – you might have different crotch shapes!

Also, it delights me that we are both J crotches because helloooooo my first name is Jennifer (and just in case you were keeping track – yes, we had 4 Jennifers in that class. Haha!)

Anyway, I had a blast teaching the WORKROOM SOCIAL Pants-making Intensive – Jennifer has managed to create a gorgeous, welcoming (and inspiring!) environment, down to the coffee bar and Parisian music. I loved that the class included the pre-made muslins, the use of tools and machines, the pattern itself, and even little goody bags for each student to take home 🙂 Speaking of which – my students were obviously the best part! I’m so excited about the new friendships I made, and it was so much fun getting to know everyone (as well as their crotches :P) throughout the course of the weekend. Meeting other awesome sewing-obsessed ladies is the best part of teaching!

Jennifer and I worked so well together, and the class was such a hit – we are thinking about having another go in 2015! What do you think? Would you take a 2-day sewing intensive – pants-making or not? (Ooh, apparently there’s one seat left in WORKROOM SOCIAL’s October Dressmaking Intensive omg someone take that spot asap) Have you ever taken something like this before? I’ve never taken a sewing class (and only taught a couple before this experience!), so I had NO idea what to expect! Let’s just say it was even better than I had been anticipating 🙂

(All photos taken by Jennifer, except where otherwise noted!)

Tags: class, hot damn this is my jam, mccall, mccall 6901, NYC, pants, pants making intensive, teaching, trousers, workroom social