December Meeting: Holiday Bash!

 

It's that time of year again... Join the Stratford Garment Guild for some social time at our 2021 Holiday Bash! 

Join in as we celebrate our 2021 projects and our 2022 plans. Bring your favourite beverage and snacks and be ready for some fun party games. 

All are welcome, you don't need to be a paid up member to attend. Check out the Guild at our social evening on Zoom and see if one of your 2022 goals will be to become an official member! 

November Meeting: #SewOver50

The SGG is so thrilled to announce that our next meeting (November 9, 2021 at 7 pm on Zoom) will feature at least one of the founders of the #SewOver50 IG account. Since this account started up, to give more visibility to the presence of those of us over 50 in the sewing world, it has grown enormously and now has nearly 40 000 followers. 

We look forward to talking to the SewOver50 founders about how and why the account started, why they run it, and some of the exciting initiatives and successes they've seen since they began. I hope you'll all join us! 

Here is the Zoom meeting info for tonight - please join us if you are an Ontario region sewist who wants to check out the Guild :) 

Stratford Garment Guild November Meeting

Time: Nov 9, 2021 07:00 PM America/Toronto

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86551497945

Meeting ID: 865 5149 7945

October Meeting: Capsule Wardrobe Planning with Samantha Schmidt

 

Our next guild meeting is via Zoom, on Tues Oct 12 at 7 pm. All welcome! The Zoom link will be shared closer to the date. 

What will be doing, you ask? We will be learning master tips for creating a Capsule Wardrobe with our Canadian climate in mind! Samantha Schmidt from the blog Couturious.org is an experienced capsule maker and will be sharing ideas on how to make this concept work for you -- based in Ottawa, she focuses on how to be practical about capsules and still have all the all-weather clothing you need. 

Hope you will join us and be ready to learn some tips for organizing your sewing queue to meet your needs. We will start at 7 so will have a waiting room & let you in then. See log in info below. 

Here is the link for the meeting..

Topic: Stratford Garment Guild - October Meeting
Time: Oct 12, 2021 06:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/5194610515

Meeting ID: 519 461 0515

September Season Kickoff: Meetup in the Park!

We are happy to announce that the SGG is back for another season! 

Our first meeting will be next Sunday, Sept. 12, 2-4 pm -- in person! We are hosting a meetup next to the Bridge to Nowhere, in Confederation Park.  Please feel free to drop by anytime you can in that time; we will catch up with one another, share our summer makes and fall sewing plans, and brainstorm ideas for the Guild this year. 

There are a few benches and picnic tables in the space but please bring your own lawnchair and/or beverage to be comfy. Wear one of your recent makes and snap a photo in the gardens or at the Instagrammable bridge 🙂

Seasonal Update: SGG 2021-2022

 Update on the SGG in our 2021-2022 Season:

With feedback from members, we have decided to hold an outdoor meetup for our September launch (next Sunday, Sept 12, 2-4, Confederation Park -- see following post!)

We will continue our Oct, Nov & Dec meetings via Zoom.

We will reassess the situation and decide if we will meet in-person starting in January.

Because of this, we have also decided that there will be NO membership fee required for the Fall 2021 session. If we return to in-person meetings there will be a reduced fee at that time.

If you have always wanted to check out the SGG Zoom meetings, now is the time! If you have friends interested in the Guild, please share this info with them.

June 2021: Barbara Emodi's Sewing Journey

 

June brings us to our last regular meeting of the season! We'll be having some member chat and time for sew and tell, so don't forget to brag about your makes :) 

We'll also be welcoming Barbara Emodi, Nova Scotian sewist, blogger and author. Barbara has written for Threads magazine, been a regular contributor to the Clothes Making Mavens podcast, published a book of sewing tips called Sew: the garment making book of knowledge and has a long-time blog, Sewing On The Edge, where she talks about sewing, social concerns, and her life as a travelling sewist! 

We're sure to be entertained and informed by Barbara's visit so be sure to mark down the date of the meeting so you can join us for some relaxed sewing chat. 

May Challenge: Activewear!

 

The Guild challenge for June's meeting is to make yourself some Activewear -- in whatever way you define that. 

Whether it's cycling, marathoning, swimming, or simply gardening or playing, let yourself get active in a way that makes you happy!

May 2021: Erica Schmitz and My Body Model

 

On May 11, 7 pm, join the SGG for a conversation with Erica Schmitz, founder of MyBodyModel.com

We'll learn about how and why Erica started this website, why having a croquis that looks like you is so empowering, and experience the delight of playing paper dolls for grownups as Erica leads us through a sketching exercise. Can't draw? Don't worry, it's magical how this process makes drawing so easy, and wardrobe planning as much fun as the making part of it! Bring paper, pencil or pen, and some wardrobe ideas and get ready for fun.

April Challenge: CreativeBug!

Our challenge, set in April for a May reveal, is to explore the many classes in CreativeBug, via your local library. Most libraries in our region have access to this database, and you can access it with your library card! 

Pick a project -- whether sewing or otherwise -- and make it to share with other members at our next meeting. Have fun exploring! 

April 2021: Maintaining your Machine, with Bernie Tobisch

Join us Tuesday, April 13 at 7 pm on Zoom as we welcome Bernie Tobisch. This author & frequent podcast guest has been repairing machines for over 30 years, and will be sharing troubleshooting & maintenance tips with us.

He recommends attending with your sewing machine handy so that you can follow along & ask any questions particular to your machine. Hope to see you all there.

(Ps - Don't forget your Vacation Ready project! 🙂🌴 )

If you are not a member and wish to join us for this meeting you can etransfer the $5 drop-in fee to membershipsgg@gmail.com & send another email with your name so we can send you the link 🙂

 

March Sewing Challenge for April Reveal!

 

Don't forget about our Monthly Challenge for April's meeting -- since we've now spent a year under Covid restrictions, and so have been unable to take our dream vacations, your assignment is to make something that you *would* have worn on vacation, had you taken one!

It doesn't matter what kind of vacation it might be, it's just YOUR dream that matters!

Be ready to explain where you would have gone and why

March 2020: Visible Mending with Arounna Khounnoraj

 

Join us on Zoom, Tuesday March 9, 2021 for a presentation by Arounna Khounnoraj, of the creative arts studio Bookhou in Toronto. She'll be sharing tips on visible mending and her latest book, also called Visible Mending!

Explore her website and social media to learn more, and get excited about hearing from her live on Zoom. 

February 2021: A Member's Muster!

Our February meeting is coming up quickly! Next Tues, Feb 9 at 7 pm, let's meet on Zoom to share our expertise. Come with a recommendation for your favourite source of fabric or notions right now, and your best suggestion for keeping your sew-jo active when we're all in this limited lockdown situation.

Have questions you want help with? Ask them in the comments or at the meeting. Have suggestions for others? Share those too!

 

January 2021! A New Year for the SGG

 

Delighted to announce our first speaker of 2021! The Stratford Garment Guild & the Ottawa Garment Guild are partnering up to host Marcy Harriell for a presentation on "Sewing With Joy!"

Fans of Marcy's blog Oonaballoona.com know that she's a high energy, colour & print loving sewist with great stories to share. As a professional actor & singer, she's also entertaining as heck! We hope you can join us for this January event to start the year off right.

Note the date change: this special event is not on our regular meeting date. It is on Thursday January 21, 2021 at 7 pm via Zoom.