December 2022: Holiday Party & Annual Fabric/Pattern Swap

 

Our annual Swap Party is on! 

Bring fabric (clean and labelled for content and size if possible), patterns, and notions - all in good working order - to swap with others. We will have a short meeting, then break for swapping and snacking. If you'd like to contribute to the potluck table, please bring finger food only - sweets or savouries are welcome.

And don't forget to take your dishes and leftover swap items home again :) 

Masks are much appreciated indoors while you're not snacking.

Non-members are welcome to attend and check out the Guild -- $5 at the door for non-members

November 2022 Meeting: Meg Healy!

 

Looking forward to our visit from London's own Meg Healy! Learn more about her journey from Fanshawe to New York, from Burda Style to Sew News and beyond as she shares her varied experiences in the sewing world with us on November 8. 

The meeting will be held in the Upper Hall of St James Anglican Church, as usual (enter by ramp door on Hamilton St). Masks are appreciated indoors. 

All welcome, bring a friend :) 

October POM Challenge!

Photo by Merylove Art on Unsplash

What's our member's challenge this month? Since Fall is settling in, get stuck into your fall sewing by choosing to make something with an autumnal fabric -- corduroy, fleece, wool, flannel, sweater knit -- it's up to you. Make something that you can wear (or carry) to our November meeting!

October 2022 Meeting: Drag Costuming with Edie Violet

 

October's meeting should be high-energy fun as Kyle Sherwin, aka Edie Violet, reveals his process for designing and creating drag outfits for himself and for his clients. Kyle will give us a quick background on drag performance, and will share his steps to create showstopper costuming. The presentation will be illustrated with a trunk show of gowns and headpieces he has created over the years. 

Join us for some fun and learning on Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2022, 7 pm. at the Upper Hall, St. James Anglican Church, 41 Mornington St.

Guests are welcome, $5 at the door. Masks are not mandatory but are appreciated indoors. 

September POM Challenge

 

Sept 2022 Meeting!

 

Join us as we return to regular in-person meetings at our original venue, 

St James Anglican Church (41 Mornington St, Stratford -- Upper Hall)

We look forward to reinvigorating our Guild with new and returning members and lots of new ideas for garment makers in this area. Our September meeting is a great chance for you to sign up, to learn more about our Guild's activities in the upcoming year, to volunteer, chat, and generally have a super fun sewing focused night out with other garment makers! Can't wait to see you all there :) 

*please note that masks are required indoors at this venue

2022/2023 Season is almost here!

Photo by Olesia 🇺🇦 Buyar on Unsplash

The new season of the Stratford Garment Guild is almost here!

We will be offering in person meetings; unfortunately hybrid meetings aren't easily accessible at our location. But if necessary, we may switch to a fully online format for certain meetings.

Details of our first event will be announced soon! Looking forward to seeing you at 7:00 PM on September 13 at St James Anglican Church! Masks will be required for participants at the venue.

MEMBERSHIPS: fees for the 2022/2023 year are $35/year, $5 drop-in fee for one meeting.

You can renew your membership/join us ahead of time by using the online form and e-transferring the membership fee to membershipsgg@gmail.com ,or you can do it in the person at the first meeting.

SGG Summer Challenge!

 

Introducing our Summer-long challenge, the "Hinterland Who's Who!"

This challenge is a retro throwback. Combining classic Hinterland Who's Who tv spots with the popular Hinterland Dress by Sew Liberated, our challenge is to take one of the animals in a video and use it for inspiration in some way to make a Hinterland Dress. Don't have that Pattern? That's okay, use another pattern with the same basic style and go for it! Have some retro fun this summer!

(This challenge runs July-August)

This year you also have options:

If you're not into the Hinterland Who's Who, you can set a self-directed challenge instead-- take a class from one of our many presenters of this season, like Susan Khalje who has many classes on her website, or the half-scale design classes from Threadora, or even a couple of recorded classes by Liz Haywood

Whatever you choose, have fun with your summer sewing!

June Meeting: In Person Gathering!

 

We are so thrilled to be able to meet in-person for the last meeting of this season! We are returning to our original location, St James Anglican Church, Upper Hall (enter by the door at the top of the ramp on Hamilton St.) Please note that masks are required while indoors at this location.

We will be having a short business meeting, time for Sew & Tell (wear something fabulous!) and then we'll be having a fabric and pattern swap. Please try to note the size and type of your fabric if possible, and whatever isn't claimed by someone else by the end of night should go home with you again, please. 

The grounds of the church make for good photo ops so if you want to arrive early to get some garment photos you might find a good backdrop :) Come ready to share your sewing news and thoughts about next season too. 

Everyone welcome to this meeting - you do NOT have to be a paid member of the Garment Guild to come to this get-together. It's the perfect time to check us out, and see if you'd like to join us for next season.

May Meeting: Half-Scale Design with Threadora

 

May's meeting is coming up! Join us on Zoom Tuesday May 10 at 7 pm to hear from Britney King aka Threadora Gowns. Britney has a bridal sewing business and also runs Threadora Gowns, an online shop and blog where she teaches classes on half-scale design and shares lots of inspiration for this technique.

If you sign up for her newsletter you can get a free pattern to make your own half-scale mannequin so that you can sew along with her classes -- she has 3 ballgown courses so far. There is even a sewalong class for the mannequin if you need help with it.

Britney will be sharing her sewing journey, how and why she started Threadora Gowns, and more on what exactly half-scale design is and why you'd want to try it out. Also, we'll be treated to a half-scale trunk show as she shares some of her many pieces with us.

This should be an enjoyable night of fashion and fancy sewing talk -- hope you will all join us then. Don't forget, everyone is welcome to attend

April Meeting: Couture with Susan Khalje

 

We are really thrilled that Susan Khalje, couture sewing specialist, is joining us on Tuesday, April 12 (7 pm on Zoom)

She will be discussing the elements that define "Couture" when talking about home sewing. Susan has many years of teaching about couture techniques, and her expertise in this area is mind-blowing!

If you have questions about anything couture, you can share them here or at our Facebook page, as she would love to talk about the things we are curious about. Check out her website for more info about Susan herself, and her new online classes too.

April Zoom Meeting

Tuesday, April 12

7pm (You will be entered into our waiting room and we will "let you in" at 7pm)

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84605683868

Meeting ID: 846 0568 3868

March Meeting: Movement for Sewists with Emily Anderson

 

We're so thrilled to have Emily Anderson of All Bodies Welcome Yoga join us for our March meeting (Tues March 8, 2022) Emily is a multiple certified Yoga instructor from Pittsburgh, who focuses on yoga for all bodies and fitness levels, and runs an online and in-person yoga practice (https://allbodieswelcomeyoga.com/) She's also a sewist herself.

We’ll follow Emily through a LIVE Yoga for Sewists class where we’ll learn about movements to stretch the body between sewing marathons. No prior yoga experienced needed, no special clothes or yoga mats either! We will practice seated and standing movements.

We will practice for 45 minutes and save some time for Q&A and sewcializing! All welcome to join us in this practical and useful session. (Zoom link will be shared closer to the meeting date).

Here is the link to our Tuesday Monthly Meeting. Remember - at this time you do not have to be a paid member of Stratford Garment Guild to attend our Zoom meetings. Everyone is encouraged to attend! We will "let you in" from the waiting room at 7pm. Please have a recognizable name when you log in.

Topic: Stratford Garment Guild Monthly Meeting

Time: Mar 8, 2022 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83440662403

Meeting ID: 834 4066 2403

March Challenge: Zero Waste Patterns!

What's our challenge to our members this month? To try out a zero waste pattern to share next month! 

Liz's presentation gave us lots of great leads on zero waste patterns, from her own to a wide range of other options. Let's see what you come up with.

February Meeting: Zero Waste Sewing with Liz Haywood

 

For our February meeting (Tues Feb 8, 7 pm on Zoom) we are delighted to welcome Liz Haywood directly from Australia! 

Liz is an expert in Zero Waste sewing, a technique that, not surprisingly, results in no scraps or fabric waste. She can be found on her blog, lizhaywood.com.au, or on IG at @lizhaywood3754 if you want to investigate her cool patterns ahead of time -- she also has a 2020 book called Zero Waste Sewing. 

Liz will be sharing her philosophy and best practices for zero waste sewing and why we might be interested in this form of sewing. Looking forward to lots of learning!

Don't forget, there is no membership fee while we are online, so invite any sewing friends you think may be interested to check us out. 

February Challenge: Menswear

 

January Meeting: Menswear With Julian Collins

 

The Stratford Garment Guild is very excited to announce that our speaker for our first Zoom meeting of the year is Julian Collins! 

Julian Collins is a force of nature in the sewing world, reviewing menswear patterns, serving as a Bernina and Laurastar brand ambassador, running his own FB group "Sew Manly", writing for Sew News, & being featured on numerous podcasts, among many other activities. 

He will be sharing his experiences as a male sewist as well as his take on the current state of men's or masculine presenting clothing in the sewing world. He'll also be sharing a little on his extensive machine collection. We'll even get a bit of a trunk show from him, sharing some of his notable pieces! You can check him out on IG at @juliancreates or at his website juliancreates.com 

Remember that SGG meetings this year are open to all, no paid membership required, so if you know someone who is interested in menswear, bright colours, or creativity and joy be sure to invite them to join in on Tuesday Jan 11 at 7 pm. 

Zoom link will be shared closer to the meeting date. Hope to see you all then.

Topic: Stratford Garment Guild
Time: Jan 11, 2022 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82067776030

Meeting ID: 820 6777 6030