The Sew Expo Fabric Haul

The first year that Tera and I went to Sew Expo (2023), vendors were in the Showplex and Pavilion. The machine classrooms were in a third building. Classrooms not needing machines are at the back of the Showplex and I taught my knitting classes there last year.

I did not get a photo of the Pavilon. That building is not quite as large. Last year and this year, the machine classrooms were located in the Pavilion and the vendors were in the Showplex. The third building was not used. Part of that was because there was some construction happening around the third building last year but also because there were fewer vendors. The cost to have a booth is not insignificant, and if the sales aren’t covering travel, lodging, food, and booth fees, many vendors won’t come.

Mood Fabrics did have a booth, which consisted of racks of hanging 12" x 12" swatches. There was a QR code on the back of each swatch, so if you found fabric you wanted to buy, scanning the QR code would take you to the website to purchase. I get it. That setup is a cost-effective way for them to bring a lot of fabrics to Expo, but it felt so sterile to me. I looked at a few fabrics but was not inspired to buy anything. I went to Amanda’s Bundles instead, where I have done a lot of damage to my wallet in the past. 😇 Amanda and her mom come up from LA with literal bins of fabric in plastic zip bags, and customers stand around the bins and look through the offerings. Shopping there is fun and I always find something good. This year, I got two fabrics:

I love love love that blue quilted fabric on top. Unfortunately, most of their fabrics were in two-yard cuts and I could only find one bag of this one. It’s 54" wide and I may be able to squeeze a jacket out of it, but I may have to combine it with something else. The black-and-white fabric is a stable textured knit, possibly also destined for a jacket. The Tremont Jacket has become a staple of my wardrobe and I could see myself making a few more.

I went to Billie’s Designer Fabrics—a Washington state store—and was only planning to get the hot pink ponte, but the lady in front of me was buying the denim blue-and-white sweater knit and I succumbed. Harper Cardigan or possibly a Toaster Sweater?

I had a pair of hot pink Renee ponte pants, but the ponte was the horrible polyester stuff from Joanns and they were so uncomfortable to wear. I would like to recreate them in this nicer high-quality rayon ponte.

That was all I bought at Sew Expo. I bought more fabric at Pacific Fabrics:

The grass green baby wale corduroy was a fabric I looked at the last time I was there and didn’t buy. The bolt had significantly less fabric on it and I decided I had better get some while I could. That may end up being an Elmstead Pinafore. The white is some lightweight woven interfacing. The dark green is a stretch twill for some pants. They were giving away the zipper bags and I also got the scissor hair clip because it was so cute. Everything was 20% off for the sale.

That was it, and that was enough.

*****

It’s raining today and looks like it may rain for the next week or so. I will not complain because we desperately need it. The husband set up the brooder box for me and I will get chicks soon. I also need to make ham and chicken stock and can beans. The house is a mess and all my Sew Expo supplies need to get put away.

[All of you who are wondering how I get so much done—something has to give and it’s usually housework. The husband drags in so much dirt that I could, quite literally, have a full-time job doing nothing but cleaning constantly. That I will not do. We live with a moderate level of messiness and we’re both okay with that.]

As far as sewing, I need to make a list. We shall see what shows up on it.

Sew Expo 2026 Recap

I drove home from Seattle yesterday. Traffic was light and I only stopped twice, so I made it in 8-1/2 hours. Our snow has melted (again) and it was close to 60F. I will be curious to see what March brings.

My trip began after church last Sunday. I drove all the way to Ellensburg (six-ish hours) and spent the night there. On Monday morning, I made it over Snoqualmie Pass with no issues, but I did not time my departure from Ellensburg well and arrived at the Seattle ferry terminal just minutes after the 9:30 am ferry had left. I had to wait for the 10:40 ferry. When I disembarked on Bainbridge Island, I stopped to pick up an order at the hardware store for my son-in-law, then got stuck in an hour-long backup due to bridge maintenance. I made it over the Hood Canal bridge only to get stuck behind someone leading a 30-car backup because either 1) she didn’t know where she was going or 2) she shouldn’t have been driving. I finally made it to DD#1’s house about two hours later than expected.

Such is travel sometimes.

I spent two days with DD#1 and DSIL. She and I went to Costco and their Costco had apple trees for sale. I bought a Jonagold and a Fuji because I don’t have either of those varieties. Having a couple of 5' tall apple trees in the back of the Jeep was a bit inconvenient, but I wasn’t going to pass up that opportunity. Costco fruit trees have always done very well for us.

On Wednesday, I arrived in Puyallup just after lunch and picked up my teacher badge and my thread kits. I was a bit at loose ends because I couldn’t check in to the Airbnb yet, so I messaged Marianne—our store owner—and asked her if she needed a ride from the airport. Her flight was just getting ready to leave Kalispell. I drove up to the airport and got there just as she was exiting baggage claim. Marianne came to Sew Expo to help out in the Bernina booth because they were a bit shorthanded.

My classes started bright and early Thursday morning with my thread class at 8 am. This was a full class but I had excellent helpers. Bernina provides a staffperson and the local dealer provides a staffperson, so I was well covered. Fabian Renteria, a designer from LA who is currently a Bernina Educator, was one of my helpers. I took a class from him at BU last summer and it was great to have him there. The class was full, with 24 students on Bernina sewing machines.

After that, I moved two classrooms down and taught my interfacing class. That one was also full—30 students—and I felt it went reasonably well. I would do a few things differently if I teach it again, but the students seemed to appreciate it. I had quite a few podcast listeners in my classes and it was great to meet people face-to-face.

I went back to the Bernina serger classroom to teach three students in my overflow cording foot class.

The cording foot class was the first class to sell out, and the original session was scheduled for Friday. The overflow session was my last Thursday class. I was glad I had that overflow class as it gave me an idea where students might have trouble. No lesson plan survives first contact with the students, and this one was no exception. I made notes about what I wanted to emphasize in Friday’s class.

Thursday was tough only because I had to run back and forth to the car between classes to return supplies and get supplies for the next class. If I have a similar schedule next year, I may have to bring a wagon.

Friday morning’s class didn’t start until 11:30, so I ran errands and drove the very dirty Jeep through the car wash. The second (original) cording foot class was totally full—24 students—but I thought it went well. Students always fall along a spectrum. There are those who pick up the techniques with no difficulty and there are those who struggle. I told them from the outset that they would have to practice the techniques further when they got home. I am not sure where my head was when I submitted this class proposal because I submitted it as a 90-minute class. It really needs to be a 2-1/2 hour class. We made it, but extending it by an hour would give me some breathing room.

I taught a cabling class at 8 am Saturday morning and was so pleased to see two students who had been in some of my other knitting classes in previous years. That class only had five students and was a relaxing way to end Sew Expo.

After class was over, I drove up to DD#2’s apartment with a stop at Pacific Fabrics. Oh, my! I have never seen it so busy. The parking lot was full but I was able to snag a spot as I pulled in because someone was leaving. It turns out that Pacific Fabrics has a big “20% off the entire store” sale during Sew Expo. The line to check out had at least 15 people in it and each cutting table had lines stacked 3-4 deep. I almost gave up and left, but I toughed it out because there were a few pieces of fabric I really wanted. (Show and tell in tomorrow’s post.)

DD#2 and I got pedicures on Saturday afternoon. (Her boyfriend was away for the weekend.) We started watching “House of Gucci”—one of our favorite movies—Saturday night but I fell asleep halfway through. On Sunday, we went to look at a few condos for sale. One was just down the street from the Airbnb where I usually stay. That condo was twice the size of her current apartment, with a gorgeous view of Puget Sound. It’s a great deal—it’s in foreclosure—but this was more of a fact-finding mission. I’ve been watching real estate prices in Seattle for about 18 months now and things are starting to come down, but I think they will come down even more given all the job layoffs and the fact that the state legislature is determined to tax everything that moves. We toured three properties altogether and it was very educational.

After that, we went to the Alderwood Costco where I had to stop myself from buying three more apple trees. They wouldn’t fit into her car. 🥲 I was very disappointed because there were varieties there I hadn’t see before and I am not sure our Costco will have them (or when).

The husband is happy I am home. He fed Charlotte—the spider—while I was gone because the flies are coming out in force. I am teaching a machine mastery class today at the store, but most of this month is going to be devoted to homesteading stuff with some sewing as I can fit it in. I need to get chicks soon and I have to do some canning. And it looks like spring may come early this year.

Whooo's There?

I had a meeting last evening at church. I came home and parked the car in the garage, and as I was walking from the garage to the house, I heard an owl. That was unusual. I know they are out there but it’s rare that I hear one. I made the husband put on his boots and come out to the porch to listen. He said Bunny needs to be careful it doesn’t become a meal. We have snow on the ground, though, so Bunny has better camouflage now.

I am not sure what we would do for entertainment without all of the forest animals. I would prefer that they live outside, but the spider can stay for a few more months.

I stopped in at the quilt store yesterday morning while running errands. (Costco was a flaming disaster—I spent 40 minutes standing in the checkout line.) Sammy, who is one of the staff members, asked me if I had considered the Farrow Dress as a class. This is a Grainline Studio pattern:

I actually own the pattern and have three yards of red Brussels Washer Linen waiting for it. I think I need to put this pattern in the queue. 🧐 The store also got a request for me to teach the Noodlehead Wool and Wax Tote again, so I’ll get that one on the calendar, too.

I wrote up the serger retreat proposal yesterday morning with the help of ChatGPT. I am not a huge fan of AI, but for some tasks, it does help. The key is knowing how to phrase questions with enough detail that it will respond with a detailed answer. ChatGPT spit out a framework that I was able to tweak and customize.

Ashlee is at QuiltCon and I am heading to Sew Expo, so we will talk about it more when I get back.

I can’t believe it’s going to be March in another week. It’s time to start garden planning in earnest. This year is flying by.

Such a Cute Pattern

Kennis over at Itch to Stitch released a new pattern this week, the Elmstead Pinafore:

It’s currently on sale if you want to pick it up. I bought it because every Sunday when I get dressed for church, I think how nice it would be to throw on a dress with some tights, but I don’t have one. Also, it’s a princess seam design and I want to compare the pattern with the pattern that came out of my fitting session with Ryliss Bod at the Sewing and Design School last November.

I taught my serger mastery class yesterday, although I only had one student. We still had a good time. The weather outside was frightful—snow and wind—but the store was surprisingly busy. (This is Montana, after all.) The owner and I did an impromptu Facebook Live about my upcoming classes. It’s good thing I can think on my feet and don’t get nervous in front of a camera.

We are kicking around the idea of hosting a serger retreat. The store has sewing and embroidery retreats but has never done a serger retreat. I think there would be interest from people in Kalispell, Missoula, and even Spokane if we get the word out. I said I would come up with a proposal and financials.

The owner’s son—who is also the machine tech—came back to the classroom to join us for lunch. I asked him to try on the McCall’s 8636 jogger pants, so he did. They fit him perfectly.

He signed up for the class and invited some friends of his to sign up, too.

I got the hotel information for Bernina University, so I’ll need to start making reservations soon. The class brochure comes out in April. I want to take more machine embroidery classes for sure, but I will be interested to see what garment and serger classes they offer.

This week’s podcast episode seems to have resonated with listeners. It has surpassed the usual number of downloads and I’ve already gotten several e-mails with comments about it. I talked about getting ready for Sew Expo and all the issues I’ve had with the topic of interfacing. Apparently, I am not alone. And yesterday morning, I had a post pop up in my Facebook feed of someone who had interfaced sweatshirt fabric with SF101 (Pellon’s ubiquitous woven interfacing) and was having issues with her project. I would not interface a sweatshirt fabric with a woven interfacing, but if sewists aren’t getting any guidance and all they can find is SF101, then that’s what they think they should use.

Home today and it’s time to start packing for Sew Expo. The husband is still chipping away at his bathroom project out in the shop.

Snow, Seeds, Sweaters, Sergers, and a Spider

Today’s blog post is brought to you by the letter S.

We got about 6" of snow yesterday. It started out light and fluffy, but by the end of the day, the temperature had risen enough that it was turning into a sloppy mess. We’re under another winter weather advisory today for snow and wind. Oh, joy.

February and March are just sloppy months, but we need the moisture.

I put in my seed orders yesterday. I am going to concentrate on squash and cukes and leave the tomatoes to Sarah because she does such a good job with them. We always sell out of the cucurbits. I bought seeds for the tomatoes I like, which are Oregon Star, Northern Paste, and Cherokee Green and Cherokee Chocolate.

The husband worked in the shop and plowed once the snow let up. I put the finishing touches on my class handouts and made myself a sweater:

I really need to do something about that leaning dress form. I’ll have to take it apart and look at it again. I can assure you that the sweater looks better on me than it does on the form. And the green is a bit brighter and less olive-y than it appears in the photo.

I am teaching a serger mastery class today at the quilt store in town. I know both students—one of them bought my L860 when I traded up to the L890—and I think we will have a fun time. After class today, I can begin packing for Sew Expo in earnest. I will have to make sure my supplies are well organized because I teach three classes on Thursday beginning at 8 am and I only have 30 minutes between classes. Fortunately, I am teaching in the building closest to the parking lot across the street. I should be able to run out to the car between classes and swap supplies. For the past two years, my classroom has been at the opposite end of the fairgrounds, which was more like a 10-minute walk from the parking lot. I’ll also have to remember to take something with me for lunch, because I won’t have time to get something from a food vendor.

Mood Fabrics is going to have a booth at Sew Expo this year. I keep telling myself I don’t need any fabric, but how can I resist? My MIL used to take a bus trip to New York City with some friends of hers once a year and she always went to the garment district. The closest I’ve ever been to Mood is the shopping bag she gave me from one of her trips. 🙃

I will limit myself to a few special purchases and that will be it.

******

I’ve been watching the spider for the past two weeks and I really thought it was dead. I fed it a cricket at the end of January, after which it stopped spinning webs and stayed up near the ceiling. It was not tempted by any flies. I cleared away the old web and was thinking about vacuuming up the spider, which hadn’t moved for almost two weeks. Thank goodness I didn’t, because this morning, I saw that it had spun a new web and was sitting in the middle of it. (The spider is lucky that I am not an overly fastidious housekeeper.) I guess one cricket was enough to sustain it for a few weeks. I’ll have to stop by Petco today and get another one.

When the weather warms up, the spider is going to get evicted. I wouldn’t mind it staying and eating flies over the summer, but I don’t want to take the chance that it’s going to gift me with a hundred baby spiders.

Something to Wear to Sew Expo

I try to relax on Sunday afternoons. Sunday isn’t truly a day of rest for me because I am a church pianist, but I’ll often spend the afternoon reading or playing word games on my iPad, which is as close to “relaxing” as I get. Still, I usually have to tell the little voice inside my head to lay off and that I don’t need to be productive every moment of every day.

However—because I haven’t had time to sew anything for myself lately, and because I like to have new me-mades to wear at Sew Expo—I cut out a Toaster Sweater yesterday afternoon.

This is a green-and-black scrollwork print sweater knit I found on the Walmart remnant rack. It’s only a two-yard piece (60" wide), and even though I scoured every Walmart between here and Seattle, I never found more.

[Walmart seems to have stopped selling the three- and four-yard cuts in favor of two-yard chunks, which is a shame. Sometimes two yards just isn’t enough.]

Usually, I cut on my cutting table, but I wanted to make absolutely sure that I could get all the pieces cut from this yardage, so I spread it out on the floor of our room and cut there. I lengthened the body by 3", which increased the yardage requirements.

The pieces are sitting next to the serger. It will only take me an hour or two to put the sweater together. I’ll wear this one day with a pair of black pants and I’ll wear my Tremont Jacket another day, also with black pants.

******

While I was cutting fabric, the husband was working on the bathroom in his shop. This project has only taken six years to float to the top of his to-do list.

I snapped this pic as he was cutting a hole in the wall for the vent.

The bathroom will have a shower, toilet, and utility sink. I joked that if he could find room for a mini fridge and a hot plate, he could live out in the shop. (He could sleep in his old recliner, which is up in the loft). However, he prefers my cooking and he likes to sleep in a bed, so I suspect he will continue to come back to the house occasionally. 😉

******

Our girls have been traveling. DD#1 went to Mexico for five days. She is in a wedding this summer and the bride and bridesmaids took their bachelorette trip to Puerto Vallarta. DD#2 was in New York City last week for Fashion Week as part of her job. The husband was very interested in the runway videos and photos she sent us. He knows nothing about fashion—I have to explain a lot of things to him—but he likes to know what his kids are doing.

The tax stuff is all prepped and ready to go to the accountant this week. I need to pack up a few more things to take to DD#1 that didn’t make it on the first go-round. And I’ll be checking my class kits one more time.

A Swamp of Information

There is farm content at the bottom of this post for those of you who are not interested in my current obsession with interfacing.

******

All of my class kits have been assembled, although OCD me will be going through them again this week to make sure nothing is missing.

I am still stuck on the subject of interfacing. It has occurred to me that the topic of interfacing very much resembles the topic of finishing sweaters after one has knitted the pieces.

Knitting pattern: Assemble finished pieces of sweater. How? Sewing? Crochet? How do I do it neatly? What kind of sewing stitch do I use? What if the pieces don’t match? Is there something I should have done at the beginning to make this easier?

Sewing pattern: Fuse interfacing to fashion fabric. What is interfacing? What kind do I need? Should I just buy what’s at Hobby Lobby? How do I fuse? Why am I getting bubbles in the interfacing?

Back in 1996, I wrote a book about finishing knitwear that gathered in one place all of the information I painstakingly hunted down. I don’t have time to write a book about interfacing, although I am tempted.

You might say, “Well, this is 2026 and we have the internet.” Yes, but there is a tremendous amount of conflicting information on the internet. I have seen people advise not to use nonwoven interfacings in garments. I have seen other people swear by them. I have seen websites that insist that SF101 is the best interfacing for T-shirt quilts. I happen to disagree—I’ve got two class samples of knit interfacing fused to T-shirt fabric, one with the grainline of the interfacing running parallel to the grainline of the fabric and one with the grainline of the interfacing running perpendicular to the grainline of the fabric. If I were making a T-shirt quilt, I would use knit interfacing with the grainline running perpendicular to the grainline of the fabric, because it arrests the horizontal stretch of the T-shirt without changing the hand of the fabric. (I used a warp-insertion knit interfacing in that experiment.) Yet most of the interfacings I see recommended for T-shirt quilts are woven cottons. Is that because woven cotton interfacings are easy to find? I do not like the result when a stiff woven cotton is fused to T-shirt fabric.

[I need to experiment with that idea and quilt some T-shirt samples interfaced with knit interfacing, but my line of reasoning seems logical. And now I am wondering how that would affect embroidery on a T-shirt, if the area to be embroidered was interfaced before being hooped with stabilizer . . . Deana? Maybe you and I should try that when you’re here this summer.]

People tend to accept what they see on the internet as gospel. Just because someone posted a video on YouTube about something does not mean they know what they are talking about. AI is muddying the waters even further. What AI is doing at the moment is propagating information—correct or incorrect—through the universe at light speed. I think search engines are worse now than they were in, say, 2005.

I’ve also run across many books and websites that advise sewists to combine different types of interfacing to get a specific result. Great. Can you give some examples? I never see examples, except from the bagmakers.

This seems to be another example of a situation where people just parrot information they’ve heard before without stopping to examine it or verify assumptions. And there are a lot of assumptions. I asked the husband if this happens in traditionally male-dominated activities. Do hobby welders run into these kinds of information swamps? He said that he supposed it does.

I already had a lot of interfacings in my stash but I ordered more for this class. The problem with ordering interfacing—especially for newbie sewists—is that it’s hard to order online if you don’t know what you need to order. Joanns used to carry a fairly large selection of interfacings, and if you were lucky, you might run into a sales associate with some knowledge about the different kinds. Hobby Lobby carries interfacings, on bolts and in packages, but only the basics. Pellon has a whole line of what they call “luxury” fusibles, but I’ve never seen them in stores. Even online, some of these interfacings are hard to source.

Gah. I hate falling down these rabbit holes.

******

The husband and I have been dancing around a farm meeting for the last couple of days and we just need to sit down and have one. I got the chick schedule from the farm store—which already has chicks in stock—but we will wait to get some until after I get back from Sew Expo. I am leaning toward Lavender Orpingtons. They are very pretty birds:

(Image from @minarashons on the Know Your Chickens website.)

If I can’t get Orps, it’s looking like Barred Rocks or Brown Leghorns will be our best bet. The fact that the farm store already has chicks is promising. Hopefully, we won’t have stupid issues with the postal service this year.

It looks like we won’t have to wait for the snow to melt in the garden to do some work out there because there is no snow. I have asked the husband to use the track loader to smooth out the west side of the garden. There are rotted stumps to dig up and swales that need to be filled in. The rotted stumps are where the snakes hang out and I realize that we could be destroying some of their habitat while they are hibernating, but that area is a mess. It would simplify much work this summer to have it cleaned up. And if I have to go out and move torpid snakes one by one to another location, I can do that.

Threads and Interfacing

I go from not having any blog content to being a Chatty Cathy on steroids. This will be a long post.

I narrowly skirted a teaching disaster yesterday. I am teaching a thread class at Sew Expo, and that class also has a kit. The kit consists of eight 5" squares of interfaced quilting cotton, a couple of appliqué shapes, a thread net, and six spools of various kinds of thread. The six spools come packaged together as 30-yard sample “cops” from the thread company, which has been making these thread kits for me since I began teaching this class. Every so often, I call the teacher coordinator, tell her how many thread kits I need, and the threads show up a few weeks later. I ordered some at the beginning of January knowing I would need them for Sew Expo.

I opened the box yesterday to start assembling the class kits and discovered that the cellophane bags of thread from the thread company contained only four spools, not six. Yikes. I need all six threads or the class material won’t make sense. I called the teacher coordinator at the thread company and sent her a photo. After some sleuthing, she figured our that the shipping department hadn’t looked at the back page of the order form when filling the order.

The thread company will have a booth at Sew Expo, so she is arranging for someone to bring the missing threads with them. I’ll be able to pick them up before class. Whew. Crisis averted.

******

Something has been niggling at me since I started studying up on interfacings. Again, I did the equivalent of a sewing literature review in an attempt to be able to provide information in a coherent format. It isn’t enough just to hand out samples of interfacing in class and identify them as woven, non-woven, or knit. I want to be able to explain why the structure of a particular interfacing makes it suitable for a particular application. Someone is sure to ask that question if I don’t bring it up.

Pellon interfacings are the most widely-available ones here in the US, so I started at their website. May I say that it is mostly useless? I was able to hunt down a chart of their interfacings by name and use, but it’s not on their website. There is also an old Joann Fabrics guide still floating around. And none of these resources do any kind of deep dive into structure.

I have two books by Margaret Komives, which are basically the same book under two distinct covers.

When I bought these books, I recognized Margaret Komives as a contributor to Threads Magazine. (She has since passed away.) In these books, she talks about “weft insertion” and “warp insertion” knit interfacings, but all she says is “They are made on a tricot machine with a warp or weft yarn introduced for varying degrees of stability.”

Problem #1: In my mind, this was a collision of two separate textile disciplines. “Warp” and “weft” are weaving terms. I’ve certainly never seen them in conjunction with handknitting. I do talk about “grain” with regard to knitted fabric, because knitted fabric does indeed have a crosswise and lengthwise grain. If you don’t believe me, sew a jersey T-shirt with the pieces cut off grain and watch as the shirt crawls around your midsection while you wear it. I assumed a “tricot machine” meant a knitting machine, but I was having trouble wrapping my head around how one would insert extra warp threads into fabric made on such a machine.

Problem #2: Komives never fully explains the process of making weft insertion or warp insertion interfacings. The most she does is to include photographs of some of the interfacings showing their structure.

Problem #3: Ever since Margaret Komives first began writing about interfacings, around 1987, the information she presented has been parroted and propagated throughout books and magazines on the topic to this day. I think that is the most maddening thing of all. She gets credit, in most instances, but no one ever goes beyond what Komives said in her books. Has no one else ever been curious about this?

I finally happened upon a website that shed some light on the situation. FabricMart Fabrics has a blog post about knitted fabric in which they illustrate the differences between warp-knitted fabric and weft-knitted fabric. After reading it, I messaged Lily Chin—who knows more about knitting than anyone else on the planet—and she confirmed what I was reading, specifically:

Warp knitting is industrial and only done on machines where each stitch has its own vertical thread and is linked to stitch(es) next door occasionally. Weft knitting is what we do.

Well hallelujah. Now I can present this information in a way that makes sense.

I also happened upon one other nugget of information. Margaret Komives notes in her books that much of the information in them is based on an article she wrote for Threads magazine, issue #10, from April/May 1987. I have the first 15 years or so of Threads magazine back issues in my possession, because my mother subscribed from issue #1 and gave them all to me some years ago. (They don’t leave my house.) I went and pulled the issue in question to read Komives’ article. In the section on knit interfacings, she wrote:

Weft-insertion interfacings are relatively new and could be described as woven knits, as they consist of crosswise (weft) yarns held together by lengthwise lines of warp knitting. This structure combines the softness of knitting with the stability of weaving: lengthwise stability, some crosswise give, and bias stretch.

It sounds like warp- and weft-insertion interfacings have only been around since the 1980s or so, although specialty interfacings, especially fusible ones, haven’t been around much longer than that.

Sarah Veblen has some great photos of the various kinds of interfacing she sells in her shop, but nothing specific about structure. She also wrote an article for Threads Magazine about knit fabrics back in 2001 (issue #97) in which she talks about warp knitting and weft knitting, but I don’t think those terms are widely used because—surely?—I would have run across them at some point. Or maybe everyone knows those terms and no longer feels the need to elaborate on them and I am just late to the party. Someone may take away my master knitter certificate.

Thoughts?

Kit Assembly

I have no idea what happened with yesterday’s blog post, because it didn’t display on the website the way it did in the editor. Software glitches have been rampant lately, and not just in QuickBooks. 🧐

I had no interruptions yesterday and was able to be very productive. The Accuquilt cutter got quite a workout. These are some of the samples for my interfacing class:

I am very excited about the sewing classes I’m teaching this year. Putting the kits together is taking some time, but I prefer that students work from kits at an event like this. (Students pay a kit fee to the teacher at the beginning of class.) Knowing that the students will have everything they need is safer than hoping everyone will read the supply list and bring the appropriate materials. Believe me, someone always shows up unprepared. I once had a lady bring navy blue sock yarn and size 2 needles to a cabling class where the supply list specifically stated “a light color worsted-weight yarn and size 8 needles.” She had a heck of a time working complicated cables in her yarn.

Prepping for this interfacing class reminds me a lot of writing my finishing book in 1996. Knitting patterns tend to be thin on critical details, and sewing patterns are the same way. Knowledge is assumed rather than explained. When a pattern includes interfacing in the supply list, there is no elaboration on what kind of interfacing. Sewn-in? Fusible? Woven? Non-woven? Knit? Warp insertion? Weft insertion? Are pieces cut with the grain or does grainline not matter? All of these things make a difference, and product labeling often further confuses the issue.

I get the sense that when people see or hear the word “interfacing,” they think of SF101, which is Pellon’s ubiquitous woven interfacing. It’s used in a lot of bag patterns because it’s a great interfacing for quilt cotton. It’s not the right interfacing for every situation, however. For example, I almost always use a fusible knit interfacing for the facings of my woven rayon tops because I like the results.

Hopefully, students will come out of this class better prepared to choose interfacings for their projects. That’s the goal. Sometimes you don’t know what you don’t know.

******

Picking up chicken feed at the farm store is on the list of errands for today, so I will get a chick schedule while I am there. I’ll have to decide what breed of chickens to get this year. (I am leaning toward Barred Rocks, but if I could get Lavender Orpingtons, they might be fun.) We may also need to schedule a butchering date. We have a lot of chickens out there that are old and not laying much. I think we need to cull hard and start over. Supposedly, the USPS has instituted new policies for shipping chicks to avoid the problems we’ve had for the last few years. I’ll believe it when I see it. The USPS is a study in stunning incompetence.

I also have to spend a few days doing some canning when I get back from Sew Expo. We are low on beef, ham, and chicken stock and equally low on beans.

Lots of Teaching

I haven’t had a lot to write about lately. The most exciting thing that has happened in the past few days is that I went to Missoula yesterday to teach a serger mastery class. I had five students, all of whom were new owners of the Bernina L890 sergers.

The weather has been great here, so the drive down was uneventful and the scenery was lovely. Traffic was very light. At times, I was the only one on the road for several miles. I didn’t do a lot of shopping either before or after class; immediately after class, I went to MVD Express to renew the registrations on the two of the work trucks. I couldn’t do it through the Flathead County website because there was an issue with the vehicle weights being incorrect. I didn’t want to have to go in to the county office in person because the wait is always so long. MVD Express was able to correct the weights and run the renewals. We now have the option—which I chose—to renew for two years.

I stopped in at Hobby Lobby to get a few more class supplies, then popped in to Barnes and Noble where I picked up this gem:

I have The Sewing Book by the same author and have found it very useful.

And that was it. I didn’t even stop at the Amish store for ice cream on the way home because it was too late.

The husband’s work schedule has been light, so he’s been here doing maintenance on trucks, trailers, and equipment. Of course, when he’s here, he’s a Shiny Toy and I get distracted. He’s going to be out on a jobsite today, which will make it easier for me to concentrate. 🤓

I’m hoping to finish class prep soon. I’d like to be able to make a few new tops or pants to wear to Sew Expo. I am waiting to find out what the weather is going to do that week. Typically, it’s cold and rainy, but this has been a strange winter. My biggest concern is getting over the passes and back. I’m planning to visit DD#1 before Sew Expo and DD#2 after Sew Expo.

The week after Sew Expo marks the beginning of spring in my brain, even if the weather says otherwise. The husband and I need to have a farm meeting soon. I’ve got people asking about pork and we need to make a list of infrastructure projects. I would like to be able to pay better attention to the garden this year. Everything will flow better with planning.

Organized Fabric Cutting

I put my new shelving unit together on Thursday and organized all my Accuquilt dies:

The cutter sits on that table to the left. This will make fabric cutting much more efficient.

The husband and I need to move furniture around today. Some pieces have to go over to the rental house, and he has an old rolltop desk that belonged to his grandfather that we want to put in the living room.

The rental house needs some work, and those projects are on the husband’s list of tasks for the spring. A tree came through the roof last year and into one of the bedrooms, so that ceiling needs to be patched and repainted. The deck also has to come off and be replaced.

I spent the rest of Thursday making class samples for my Sew Expo serger class. I wish they had given me a longer class period, because 90 minutes isn’t going to be long enough to teach everything I want to teach. I am pretty sure I asked for a 2-1/2 hour slot in my class proposal. I am including everything in the handout anyway, with the caveat that if students want to try certain techniques outside of class, they will be able to do so with the materials included in the kit. I will be putting kits together this week. The handout is written.

I taught a class on the Tremont Jacket yesterday. The Tremont was the pink and black plaid jacket that I made from the Ann Maria triple-gauze fabric. I had three students:

We had a fun time. I also left the finished McCall’s 8636 pants at the store. That class is on the calendar for April.

I’ll be heading to Missoula this week to teach a serger mastery class at the Bernina dealer there. Hopefully, I’ll have a chance to stop in at The Confident Stitch, too. It’s been a while since I’ve been to Missoula.

And it’s probably time to order seeds.

People, Places, and Things

I’ve gotten to talk to some really interesting people in the sewing world this week. Yesterday, I did an interview with Tricia Camacho, the guiding force behind Patterncon, which will be held August 1-2, 2026 in Atlanta. I would love to go to Patterncon, but I may not be able to make it happen this year. Kenneth King, Cornelius Quiring, and Saremy Duffy—all of whom have been guests on the podcast—are slated to teach.

Yesterday afternoon, I made a visit to The Making Place in Columbia Falls, MT.

Their board president, Justin Barry, was the guest on this week’s episode of the podcast. The Making Place is a hub for creative people to gather, borrow tools, learn, and create. I told Justin that if he has a wish list of sewing supplies they would like to have, I will be happy to raid my stash for duplicates. I think this is a wonderful program and it has a bright future ahead of it.

I also sent my résumé off to a contact at Bernina. The two Bernina educators who used to teach Bernina events here in the Pacific Northwest are no longer doing so and I have been wondering if that position might be a good fit. I wouldn’t want to travel as much as some of the educators do. Some of them are on the road every weekend to all parts of the country. But I am back and forth to Washington state so much that adding few extra teaching gigs might work. We’ll see.

The husband and I had a conversation the other night about plans for 2026. Two of our employees gave their notice in January because they want to become independent contractors. That leaves the husband with one full-time guy—who is very good—and a high school senior whose availability is hit-and-miss until graduation in June.

Personally, I suspect the two guys may come back asking for jobs again once they realize how much work is involved with being ICs. The husband told one of them that it’s basically the difference between working 40 hours a week for someone else and working 60 hours a week for yourself. And neither of them has a Janet to handle the paperwork end of things.

The husband will continue to build up his concrete-cutting business because he doesn’t need employees for that.

******

I finished the McCall’s 8636 pants!

This was a very enjoyable project and I still think it would make a great class.

I made buttonholes for the twill tape tie, which I have to get.

I had 1" twill tape but I need 1/2" tape. I also could have matched the thread a bit more closely to the color of the pants, but I was using what I had on hand.

Today’s tasks include putting together a shelving unit to take the place of the blanket chest in DD#1’s room. I got it to hold all of my Accuquilt cutting supplies. Speaking of Accuquilt, I ordered a 2-1/2" strip die for my Studio cutter back in November when they were on sale. It never arrived and apparently, I forgot I ordered it. The Studio dies went on sale again at the beginning of January, and I thought to myself, “Hmmm, I really should order that 2-1/2" strip die because I need one.” I placed the order, then happened to look at my order history and saw that the November order was still open and marked “processing” so I contacted Accuquilt and asked them to cancel one of the orders.

I got a response saying that they couldn’t do that because they had started working with a new supplier in China, which was the reason the November order hasn’t been filled. So I will be receiving two 2-1/2" strip cutters (eventually). They won’t take a return, either. Their idea of a “refund” is to give me award points equal to the cost of the second die.

I’m not very happy with them right now. I never got any communication about the November order or the reason for the delay. I’ll be able to sell the second die, certainly, but having to do so is a hassle.

Oh, How I Love Deadlines

I am very motivated by deadlines. I prefer the ones that I impose upon myself, but external ones are good, too. Now that the payroll stuff has been filed, getting classes ready for Sew Expo has taken priority over everything else. Two of them are ones I have taught before, but two are new and need samples, handouts, and kits.

I usually start prepping for a new class by doing the sewing version of a literature review. What techniques are already out there and have I mastered them enough to teach them? For my cording foot class, I began with Bernina’s wonderful series of videos on individual presser feet. Doris Brechbühl, a member of Bernina’s European staff, hosts these videos. Doris was at BU in Salt Lake City. I also checked to see if Gail Yellen had done any videos on specific techniques. All of these resources go into a list at the end of the handout.

This process is great for revealing potential pitfalls. I’ve already run into one with the cording foot class. When I searched for “cording foot,” a lot of information came up for piping feet, instead. Bernina and Janome have specific cording feet for their machines, which are separate from their piping feet. BabyLock uses the terms piping and cording interchangeably and—as far as I can tell—they only have a piping foot, not a cording foot, but they call it a cording foot.

No confusion there. I hope that people don’t sign up for this class expecting me to teach them creative ways to do piping. 🫤

The next step, once I’ve identified what I want to cover in the class, is to make samples. This gives the students something to hold and examine, but it also lets me note any tips I want to share. When I did the shoelace class a couple of weeks ago, I made about a dozen shoelaces in the process of figuring out the best way to feed the fabric into the machine on the second pass because the first pass left a point on the fabric that didn’t feed well. (I used a stabilizer.) That helped cut down frustration in class.

Prepping new class materials is a lot of work, but it’s work I rather enjoy.

******

My friend Elaine asked me if I would repair a coat for her. It belonged to her dad—I knew him and thought very highly of him—and she wants to keep using it. Save for the hole that needs to be patched, there is nothing wrong with the coat. In fact, it is very heavy and warm. The husband and I were admiring it last night. We think the fleece is real, not synthetic. Too bad no one makes coats like this any longer.

Elaine provided a piece of heavy denim that I will sew over the hole using the Juki industrial. She doesn’t mind if the stitching shows on the outside. Were I a better seamstress with more time, I might consider re-lining the entire coat, but that’s a bigger job than I want to tackle. This is on the list for tomorrow. Today, I am teaching a machine mastery class.

And the husband informed me last night that I need to re-upholster the seat for the golf cart. He bought that golf cart from a neighbor down the road and has completely tricked it out. It has off-road tires, a new clutch cable, a new battery, a complete set of tools for the back (shovel, rake, etc.), and a hitch so I can hook the wagon from my John Deere tractor to it. The seat looks fine from the top, but apparently, the plywood underneath has rotted and took some of the vinyl with it.

I will get some nice marine vinyl from Sailrite and make a new cover. I told him that probably won’t happen until after Sew Expo, however. That’s going to be the kind of project that I have to start and finish in a day or two because he won’t want to be without the golf cart. He likes to drive it around the property. And who knows what I am going to find when I take off the old cover.

Needs Better Camouflage

I spotted Bunny yesterday morning near the herb garden. It wasn’t hard to see him, because his camouflage isn’t working very well:

Poor thing. I think all of the flora and fauna is confused this year. I am hearing reports of people’s flowers blooming. I’ve given up wearing my winter coat because it’s too warm. I’m good in a T-shirt and fleece pullover.

Meanwhile, my sister in North Carolina got 6" of snow yesterday.

I am getting a bit concerned about the coming fire season. The snowpack in the mountains is near or above normal, but we need snow down here. Hopefully, we will get some in February.

*****

Simplicity has brought back Gunne Sax patterns, like this one:

Gunne Sax prom dresses were all the rage when I was in high school. I will not be making any of these as they aren’t really my style, LOL.

We had a great meeting yesterday morning—church conference members from Alaska, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana met via Zoom. There were 10 of us in my living room and we enjoyed homemade scones, soup, zucchini pickles, and fresh salads for lunch. It was almost 3:00 pm when everyone left so I didn’t do any sewing. I cleaned up and put the living room back together.

This is a busy week. I have two classes and a podcast interview, and I need to start working on class samples and kits for my serger class at Sew Expo. I’d like to have those done by the end of next week. I have a feeling that February is going to fly by.

I need to get my seed orders in, too.

Finally, Some Sewing

I had a podcast interview at 10 am yesterday morning, which gave me about two hours of sewing time after breakfast. Before we went to Washington state two weeks ago, I had cut out McCall’s 8636 in anticipation of possibly taking it with me to work on while visiting the kids. Ultimately, I decided against the idea. I would have had to take a serger with me and space in the truck cab was at a premium.

Because it was already cut out, though, I was able to start working on it. I have found that the key to short sewing sessions—anything less than a full morning or afternoon feels “short” to me—is to go into it with no expectations. I am so goal-oriented that I usually begin a sewing session with an idea of what I want to accomplish. I can’t do that when I am sewing in time confetti. I have to break it down into literal baby steps: I will fuse the interfacing to the fabric or I will sew and topstitch one seam.

I started by fusing the interfacing to the fly extension of the pants.

These pants have a faux fly, which makes them a good beginner class.

No, my iron is not broken. The fabric is Kona Crush, which is designed to have those permanent wrinkles in it. It is a great choice for this pattern.

This pattern has many pieces. The fronts consist of a center front, a middle front, and side front/back. I sewed each long seam, finished the edges together on the serger, then topstitched the seam.

I am at the point where I I am ready to add the side pockets. I like how this is coming together and I think it will make a good class. The pattern features some details that elevate the design but aren’t hard to execute.

******

My podcast interview was with a young man who lives here in the Flathead Valley and has a business recycling and upcycling textile waste. His company is called Fdes: Functional Design. He is also on the board of The Making Place, a new makerspace in Columbia Falls. We had a great conversation and it will be part of next week’s episode. I am going to visit The Making Place next week.

I also got a lovely e-mail yesterday from Bernina’s manager of national events. When I submitted my class proposals for Sew Expo, I asked to have my serger class and the thread class in the Bernina classrooms. Sew Expo contracts with local sewing machine dealers to bring in machines for the event. After the event, the dealers sell those machines at a discount. It’s a great way to get a lightly-used machine (with a full warranty) for an excellent price. Last year, I taught the thread class in the Brother classroom. Each classroom has a monitor who is there to handle technical issues, but it’s infinitely easier to teach on a machine you know.

The e-mail from the national events manager included an introduction to the regional rep and to the liaison from the store providing the machines. She asked a few questions about supplies and said she hoped we could meet at BU this summer. One of the things I love about Bernina the company is that their staff—even the higher-ups—are so gracious and friendly and make a sincere effort to get to know their dealers and teachers.

Exiting Paperwork Purgatory

I am scraping for interesting blog content this week. The good news is that I did get a big chunk of paperwork done over the past two days. I should be able to finish the rest of it today. It would be lovely if the government could have a functional Social Security website so that it didn’t require dozens of attempts over several days to submit paperwork required by law.

I had a hair appointment first thing yesterday morning, then stopped at the store on my way home. (Hi, Kimberly!) They had received a shipment of 3D-printed accessories for the accessory towers, so I got a few for my serger tower. The towers are made by a guy in Utah. I have the large tower for my 880 and it holds all of my presser feet.

I like the large tower so much that I bought a smaller one for my serger.

I still have to get a few more holders for some of my serger accessories but at least the feet are corralled.

Monday will be a sewing day come hell or high water. That’s the soonest I can get back into my sewing room. I am hosting a church gathering here on Saturday morning—I’ve done this every year for the past four or five years—and I need to get ready for that event. The gathering is for our annual conference-wide Zoom meeting. We discovered that it’s easiest to meet in my living room where I can hook up the TV to my laptop. I make a big pot of soup and everyone else brings sides.

Before sewing, though, I have to organize the upstairs again. When the girls were little, I bought each of them a blanket chest and used it over the years to store school papers and other mementos. We took DD#1’s over to her on our trip, which freed up some space in her bedroom. I have my AccuQuilt cutter set up in that room, but I need to rearrange a few things.

******

It has been very cold here over the past few days and the flies have all but disappeared. I have been worried about what the spider is going to eat, so I went to Petco while I was in town and got a couple of small crickets for $0.18 apiece. We fed one to the spider yesterday and the extra went into the freezer. The spider has been subsisting on an average of a fly per week, so a cricket should keep it satiated for a while. The husband makes jokes about the spider becoming obese and falling out of its web.

Yes, hosting a barn spider in my kitchen is weird, but my mother would probably love to regale my blog readers with stories of all the animals I brought home when I was growing up. The spider isn’t hurting anyone and it really is a beautiful creature. Every so often, I catch it re-spinning its web, which is fascinating to watch.

Paperwork Gets in the Way

Sewing content is going to be thin on the ground until I’ve scaled the mountain of paperwork on my desk. I was working on W-2s for the employees yesterday morning but the Social Security website kept giving me “system failure” errors, so I was only able to generate half of them. I am going to try to finish that task as soon as this blog post goes up; I suspect very few people will be logged in this early in the morning.

As much as I hate QuickBooks, there are advantages to having the software run payroll.

The husband and I had eye appointments yesterday afternoon. The eye doctor said my eyes are in excellent shape and I just need to continue taking PreserVision. Macular degeneration runs in my family and I am trying to stay ahead of it. My prescription did change, so I am getting new glasses. I have always had a hard time with corrective lenses. The doctor said that one of my eyes has great close-up vision and the other has better distance vision, which makes anything out to about 18" in front of my face perfectly in focus without glasses. That means that I tend not to wear my glasses when I should, because otherwise I am constantly taking them off and putting them back on. (Watching TV and trying to do handwork is a nightmare.) I have progressive lenses but that doesn’t seem to make a difference.

It is what it is. He recommended against any kind of surgery, which is fine with me.

******

One of my classes at Sew Expo—Creative Uses for Your Serger’s Cording Foot—sold out within the first few days, so the organizers added a second session. That was a bit of a surprise because that proposal was a total shot in the dark, but it tells me a lot about the kind of classes students want. My one knitting class on cables has very few students and I suspect it may get canceled. The thread class is almost full and the class on interfacing is half full. I am sure it is a challenge for the organizers to come up with a slate of classes that appeals to all levels of sewing expertise.

My goal is to get paperwork finished by February 1 and off to the accountant so I can devote the first two weeks of the month to getting my class supplies (kits and handouts) ready for Sew Expo. I’m also teaching three classes at the store here in early February.

I got the dates for Bernina University, which will be June 28 to July 1. I am one of those people who likes to have my schedule planned well in advance, and June is always a busy month. I’ll probably fly out of Seattle because Alaska Airlines has a nonstop flight from Sea-Tac to New Orleans and the schedule is good.

Hopefully, I can get some sewing in this week. I don’t like to go too long without working on something, because getting back into the groove after a break always seems to take a while.

This is another pattern in my stash that I’d like to make soon:

It’s the Libby Pullover from Sinclair Patterns. I like their patterns because they come with a Tall option, and this is a raglan AND has princess seams.

Journey Versus Destination

The husband and I went on a trip together, which is a rare occurrence. The husband does not like to travel. He likes to sleep in his own bed. I, on the other hand, get twitchy if I am not on the road every six or eight weeks. The last time we traveled together was for DD#2’s college graduation in 2019.

Now that both girls are living in Washington state, he really has no excuse for not visiting them. And DD#1 and her husband have a new house and need help with some home improvement projects. Who better to help them than someone with the tools and expertise?

We left last Saturday morning. For this trip, we took his work truck with a small U-Haul trailer behind it containing some of the girls’ possessions. Our plan was to spend the night in Ellensburg, depending on traffic and weather, but we ended up driving the entire way in one day, which took us almost exactly 11 hours including three short stops. We pulled in just in time to have dinner with DD#1 and her husband as well as DD#2 and her boyfriend. They had come over from Seattle to spend the long weekend.

Because he was stuck in a vehicle with me for eleven hours each way, the husband was subject to all sorts of commentary on various topics. We (mostly I) talked about traveling. My parents used to take my sister and me on road trips all the time when we were growing up. I didn’t fly on an airplane until I was 11 or 12. For me, traveling is all about the journey, although I knew better than to suggest we stop at some fabric stores along the way. For him, traveling is more about the destination. He wanted to power through and get to DD#1’s house.

I took advantage of the opportunity to do some sightseeing, which I cannot do when I am focused on the road. The weather was stellar in both directions—while the rest of the country is suffering, the PNW was under a high pressure system with abundant sunshine and no precipitation.

The husband spent the week methodically attacking DD#1’s to-do list of house projects. Because our DSIL had Monday off from work, the two of them—with the help of SIL’s dad—enlarged the opening into the attic above the garage and installed some pull-down steps. (The house, as cute as it is, has next-to-no storage.) Over the course of the rest of the week, the husband installed a garbage disposal, finished the siding on the greenhouse, replaced some fixtures, fixed a hinge on a cabinet, and knocked off a few other projects.

I left a sewing machine at DD#1’s house in Ketchikan and it was at the new house when I arrived. I attempted to work on the Laundry Basket Quilts “Alaska” quilt, which I bought as a kit when they moved to Ketchikan—I am a bit behind—but aside from making four of the 49 blocks and hemming a few curtains, I didn’t do much sewing. We spent a fair bit of time running back and forth to hardware stores and Home Depot to get supplies.

On Wednesday, DD#1, her MIL, and I went to Port Townsend, which is a darling little town on the Olympic Peninsula. It is also the home of District Fabric. I had a hard time deciding what I wanted to get because they have so many nice fabrics. In the end, I settled on three yards of a beautiful cornflower blue wool-and polyester coating fabric. That will probably become a Nova Coat.

I also visited A Stitch in Time quilt shop in Sequim and came out with some Kaffe Fabric.

The pink has been sold out at our store. I haven’t seen the green and black print before.

DSIL has a 3D printer. I am fascinated enough with the technology to contemplate getting one, although I don’t need another hobby. He made dryer ball holders for DD#1, her sister, and me:

There are plenty of sewing-related applications for such a printer. 😉

It’s back to work this week. That arctic air mass has sagged far enough south and west that our temps are pretty chilly, but we still don’t have snow. This has been the weirdest winter. I keep thinking that we’re probably going to get slammed in February.

Replacing My Travel Tote

I am getting closer to being able to recreate my 30+ year-old travel tote. Two key parts came together last week:

1. I found this website that has tote bags that match the size. Until now, the tote bags I could find were too small. I ordered the largest canvas tote bag, which is actually a few inches bigger than my travel tote. I intend to take it apart and use the pieces as a pattern.

2. I finally located a similar fabric. Fabric Wholesale Direct carries Ottertex® Waterproof 70D PVC Backed Nylon Taffeta, so I ordered some. The fabric arrived yesterday. It has the same look and feel as the fabric in my bag. (I even got the same color!) This photo shows the selvedge edges, so you can see there is a lightweight nylon taffeta with a coating on it.

I will have to make a couple of prototypes to ensure I have the size and construction order correct. This will be a longer-term project but a good one to work on this summer.

I decided to nix the Burnside Bibs as a class at the store. As cute as the pattern is, it is rather involved. Even if we left some of the details off the muslins, like the patch pockets, it would still be a complicated make. I’ve got the pattern prepped, so I will go ahead and make a pair just for the experience. I multiply the amount of time a project takes me by three to get an estimate of class time, and this would be a minimum of a two-day class.

I think the McCall’s 8636 pants will be a good addition, however. Those are cut out and ready to assemble.

I decided to take one of my large clear totes and put all of the fabric and patterns into it that I want to sew with next. I am hoping this will help to keep me on track. I want to sew everything and I need to keep the queue under control or I won’t get anything done.

Sew Expo registration went live on Tuesday. Yesterday, the education coordinator e-mailed us registration numbers for each of our classes. My class on using the cording foot on the serger only has three spots left. (The class max is 24, which is the number of machines available.) My thread class is over half full, and my interfacing class is almost half full. I am delighted with those numbers. The knitting class has only a couple of students registered, but that doesn’t surprise me. The knitting classes don’t do very well. I am so glad that I’ve been able to pivot over to teaching sewing classes there. And I think that the coordinators are doing a better job with the class schedule this year than in recent years. My sense is that they scheduled fewer classes this year rather than have too many classes with too few students.

I’ve made my Airbnb reservations in Puyallup for those days. I will visit DD#1 before Sew Expo and spend a few days with DD#2 after I am done teaching.

*****

We had a brilliantly sunny day here yesterday, but when the husband came home, he reported that the valley was absolutely socked in by fog. It was so bad that planes couldn’t land at the airport. Such is the result of high pressure ridges in January and February—the valleys get trapped under heavy inversions.

I am going to run payroll through QuickBooks for the first time today. Wish me luck that it goes smoothly.

Still Needs Some Work

I get the sense that the Big 4/Big 7/whatever they are calling themselves these days are trying very hard to play catch-up. Abbie Small—with her 30+ years of experience at Simplicity—knows her stuff. I suspect she understands that the sewing world is shifting away from printed patterns and toward PDF files and even projector files. Many of the patterns on the Simplicity website now come in PDF format. There are some bugs to work out, however.

I purchased McCall’s 8636 as a PDF file from the Simplicity website because I need to get this class sample made ASAP. I took the A0 file to the local blueprint shop yesterday to have it printed on their large-format machine. They know me there. They’ve printed hundreds of pages of patterns for me over the last several years.

The owner took my thumb drive, popped it into the computer, and pulled up the file. He always looks at the patterns before he prints them, and he immediately spotted an issue. After asking me if it looked correct—it didn’t—he rotated a few pages and we checked again. The pattern appeared to be oriented properly, so he printed it.

I didn’t look at it again until I got home. I am not sure who is laying out the A0 files, but they need to spend some time with an indie pattern designer to learn how to do it properly. (I have never had an issue with printing an A0 file from an indie pattern.)

There was this:

And then there was this:

I almost missed these smaller pieces and would have thrown them into the recycling bin. And they were literally the only pieces printed on their large sheets.

The other issue was that the pants pattern pieces were too long for one sheet, so they spanned two sheets. I had to cut and tape those pattern pieces together. That’s not unusual; I have had to do that with a few other patterns. When that happens, the pattern designer usually puts some kind of alphanumeric marking on both pieces to show that they match and get taped together. It looked like whoever made this layout started to do that—one of the pattern pieces had such a marking—but forgot to do the remainder of them.

This is part of why I make up patterns before I teach them. I spotted these issues right away. A student probably wouldn’t recognize them or know how to fix them.

These pants are a bit more complicated than I anticipated—there are several panels to the pants—but we are making muslins in class and if nothing else, the students will get lots of practice making long, straight seams. I am going to recommend, though, that the students order paper copies of this pattern from the Simplicity website rather than going the PDF route.

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I ordered some Jalie patterns from the Fabric Fairy website, as well as a few swatches of athletic fabrics. Fabric Fairy carries a polyester/spandex fabric that I think will make good work pants for DD#2’s boyfriend. It matches the fiber content on a pair of pants he gave me to mend that were a bit too far gone to fix. I will check with him before I order any. The reason I am making some is 1) I can make them more cheaply than he can purchase them and 2) I am going to make them with a crotch gusset.

I ordered the Karine Cardigan, the Frederic Zip-Up Hoodie—I suspect that would make another good men’s class at the store—and the Gerald Underwear pattern. I still have this idea that I am going to make underwear for the husband. The model on the front of the pattern is wearing some in a pink flowered knit and I had to promise not to use a similar fabric. 🤓

I am getting close to planning a sewing staycation for myself. I need a week where I don’t have to do paperwork or cook and I can just lock myself in my sewing room and sew all day. I could get a lot done.