A Teaching Conundrum

I can’t be everywhere at once. Believe me, I have tried. I could get so much more done if I could clone myself. My 2027 calendar is filling up and I am going to have to start prioritizing teaching requests. I just can’t fulfill them all.

I’ve added knitting classes to the schedule here, starting in January, because some of my sewing students have asked about them and because I’ve been drafted into teaching them elsewhere (Sew Expo and Quilting Mayhem). Knitting might not be my current focus at the moment, but it’s a skill set I possess and I might as well leverage it.

And I am all registered for a day-long class with Ryliss Bod at the Sewing and Design School in Tacoma just before Thanksgiving. She thought my idea of making some pants patterns out of my trouser draft was great, so that’s what we’re going to do. It will be good to see her again and spend the day working with her.

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I did not get to make a muslin of my raglan swing top yesterday, but I did make another Simplicity 8909 raglan-sleeve woven top. This fabric is lovely. I bought it at Pacific Fabrics in August and it’s been yelling at me to use it ever since. I need to start taking pics of the ends of bolts because I’d love to know who made this fabric. I don’t think it has any linen in it; if I remember correctly, it’s all cotton. The weave is a bit loose, almost like a gauze, although it didn’t fray much. It was a dream to sew. I will look for more the next time I visit Pacific Fabrics.

I have discovered it’s a good idea to take pics as you work because then you notice that you haven’t mirror-imaged the two-piece sleeves before you sew them. 😯 I fixed that.

I finish all my edges on the serger and clean up my thread tails. I can’t stand working with all that thread hanging out. Here is an assembled sleeve. I much prefer the fit of this two-piece raglan sleeve to a sleeve with a shoulder dart. (Shoulder darts or two-piece sleeves are required in woven raglans.)

The color in this last photo is much closer to reality—it’s a very dark green.

I am finding it difficult to dress like a parrot now that the seasons have changed. I have had to switch from “bright winter” colors to “dark winter” colors, which are still jewel tones, but more muted ones. Eventually, I am going to have to break out some hot pink.

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Tomorrow is my Serger 101 class and I am really looking forward to it. I think that class is my favorite one to teach. People come in totally baffled by their machines and leave being able to use them.

I have also started planning for a serger retreat in April. The event space should be reserved by next week and I would like to have registration open by December. I have an assistant helping me with this. So much to do but so much fun at the same time.