May Meeting: Bagmaking with Blue Calla Patterns

 

May's meeting is all about the bags, no trouble! 

Celine from Blue Calla Patterns in Toronto will be coming to speak about all the ins and outs of bagmaking. She'll suggest best fabric choices, explain techniques, share her experiences as a business owner, and bring along a bunch of bag kits and patterns for a vendor table as well. If you've ever wanted to try a bag, this is a great opportunity! 

Check out her website in advance: if you place an order before the meeting, you can ask her to bring it along to the meeting to save shipping. 

That's Tuesday May 14, 7 pm at the River Gardens Community Room. All welcome, visitors $5 at the door. I encourage everyone to bring a guest, as this will be both an informative evening and a great shopping opportunity.

April 2024 Meeting: Maria Theoharous, or Velosews, live from Australia!

 

We've had to reschedule our original speaker for April due to unforeseen circumstances. However, we are thrilled to announce that on April 9 we will be hosting Maria Theoharous live on Zoom all the way from Sydney, Australia!

Maria is the host of the podcast Sew Organised Style, a SewOver50 editor on IG and a brand ambassador for Minerva Fabrics, among many other things. We'll be having a conversation with her about all these things and more, via Zoom and the big screen, at an in-person meeting at River Gardens. Her visit will be followed by our regular Sew & Tell etc.

You might also know Maria from PatternReview, IG or her blog, where she goes by Velosews. Collect any questions you'd like to ask and join us:

Tuesday April 9, 7 pm.

River Gardens Residence, Community Room

10 Romeo St N, Stratford

All welcome -- drop ins $5 at the door

March meeting: Craft Swap!

March 12 is our next in-person meeting, and it is our Annual Fabric Swap, by popular demand!

Please bring any clean fabric, patterns or notions in good repair to swap with others. If you can indicate the type of fabric and size on your pieces, that would be helpful too! Visitors are welcome ($5 at the door as always) but they should be visitors who are also bringing swap items.

We will set out all the items, have our short meeting and then everyone will have access to the swap at the same time -- please no grazing beforehand! Start thinking about what you need to clear out from your craft stash, to make room for some new-to-you items. And as always, whatever isn't claimed goes home with the one who brought em!

February Meeting: Discovery Fabrics - ONLINE ONLY

Our February meeting is an ONLINE ONLY meeting -- it will be held on Tuesday Feb 13, at 7 pm. We will be so lucky to have Discovery Fabrics joining us all the way from BC to share their vast knowledge of technical and performance fabrics. Have you ever wondered what in the world to use for outdoor or activewear? Questions about how exactly to sew technical fabrics? Well, join us on the 13th for illumination!

Paid up members will receive the Zoom link prior to the meeting. Guests are welcome, at the $5 drop in rate, which can be e-transferred to membershipsgg[at]gmail.com with an additional note with your name so that a link can be sent.

Looking forward to learning something new in February 🙂

And don't forget about our January challenge to make something upcycled or with vintage materials - you can share during our Sew & Tell portion!

January Meeting: Upcycling Fashion!

 

Our next meeting is Tuesday Jan 9, 7 pm, at the River Gardens Retirement Residence Community Room. As always, all welcome, non-members $5/door. Masks are appreciated. 

Our speaker this month is Joseph Hisey, who will be sharing his experiences with upcycled fashion (and the flaws of fast fashion). Joseph was one of the winners of the Upcycling Challenge put on by the Fashion Museum in Cambridge a while back, and will share his award winning piece with us. Be ready for lots of creative ideas and an engaging presenter!

December Meeting: Holiday Social!

 

Our December meeting is coming quickly! We will be have a holiday get together, with Potluck and Penny Auction 🙂 So far we are good to go with our regular space, the River Gardens Community Room. 

This means, please bring some finger food with you (we do not have places to heat things up etc so make it buffet style) and also bring along a small gift (unwrapped) of something nice that you might like to receive (not expensive). It doesn't have to be sewing related - wine is always a hit 😉 We will be putting all the gifts out on a table and you can buy 5 tickets for $2 and put a ticket in each bag for the gift you would like to win. You can buy as many tickets as you like! 

We will have a short business meeting, our regular Sew & Tell, and our 50-50, and then enjoy some socializing, snacking, and auctioning. Everyone welcome, guests too, $5 at the door.

Dorset Button Making Workshop

 LOCATION CHANGE: 

This workshop will now be held at the Stratford Public Library in the Auditorium

The Guild is pleased to announce our first ever workshop! We will be learning about Dorset Buttons (and other kinds of thread wrapped buttons) from Margaret Cheesman from the London Embroidery Guild. This is a hands-on workshop and the materials fee is included in the class cost. 

You'll leave with an understanding of the history of Dorset buttons as well as some samples you've made in class. Hope to see anyone interested in this fascinating art at the workshop!

To register please email membershipsgg@gmail.com with your full name - you can also e-transfer the class cost to that email (but please include your name in a note so we know it's you!)