LLADYBIRD

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