Last Saturday I attended my first American Sewing Guild meeting for the Boston chapter, and I can’t believe I waited so long to join. My mom casually mentioned it to me one day on the phone that it could be worth joining to meet other local sewists, and they even have their own national conference every year, so I figured why not join. Plus, I get a discount at some local fabric stores, so sure!
At this particular meeting, the members were having a “yard sale” of donated books, magazines, fabric, and patterns. I scored an issue of Threads I’ve wanted for a long time, and a Singer book that I thought could be handy to have in my sewing library – all for $1.50! The money from the yard sale goes towards a scholarship fund for a local fashion design school, which is really nice. I poked through the patterns, hoping to score some awesome vintage finds, but a lot of what I saw were throwbacks to the 80’s – big shoulders and big bows. Oh well, maybe next time!
The books didn’t stop there though, I scored an additional goodie since my name was drawn in a raffle!
Woohoo, a Nancy Zieman book! Shockingly, I don’t own any of her books even though I think she’s awesome and has so many great sewing tips. I can’t wait to read it and get some ideas for speedier sewing. I also found out she’s going to be giving a lecture next Thursday, 4/3/14 from 6-9PM at Nashua Sew and Vac (there’s also a three-day retreat, but I can’t make that because I have to work). I’m hoping there’s some space still available, because it would be great to hear her presentation.
The heart of ASG is the local sewing groups that get together between chapter meetings. A representative from each group stood up to talk about what topic will be covered at next month’s local meeting, I really need to try to get to one of those if it works out with my schedule.
And the main part of the chapter meeting – a presentation on fitting techniques by Clara Paratore, a former instructor at many of the fashion design schools around Boston. She used to own her own design and alteration business, and had over 100 clients – I can’t imagine fitting for that many different body types. She gave everyone handouts on solutions to common fitting problems and how to alter patterns, which I’m sure will come in handy!
Everyone was very nice and welcoming, and I got to stand up and introduce myself to the members. I was the youngest member there by, well, several years – and honestly, that’s a shame. I think ASG offers so many fantastic opportunities to connect with like-minded people with varying degrees of sewing experience that younger sewists can learn from. The chapter president rattled off a couple of the programs coming up this year that I’m super excited about (can anyone say potential sewing retreat with Gertie???), and I can tell that they’re trying to get younger people to join. Honestly, you can’t get these kind of events and programs at your local stitch n’ bitch!
I highly encourage everyone to check out ASG and consider joining – they have chapters all over the country!
Are you a member of ASG?