I made my first skirt!

The conclusion of Christine Haynes’ first class at The U.C.C, the Ruffled Skirt, was truly a great success. While we have been open for almost 6 months now, building a strong community takes time, and every person who learns something new in our space is a celebration of the crafting community we so eagerly invite everyone interested to be a part of.

I learned a lot from this project; I sew slowly, I like to mix seemingly discordant patterns together and make it work. I’m not a big fan of ironing. :-) I was glad that at one point, Christine noticed this and made me go backwards a step to re-iron a hemline. It made the project look more flawless and ended up saving me time at the end. She really does pay attention to details – thanks Christine!

I used my first order of Spoonflower fabric in this project (the blue, design by my partner in craft, Champ. See sewing blog post #1 for further info about Spoonflower). It turned out great and is truly a custom piece of work!

Voila! Here are our finished pieces. If you’ve been wondering whether sewing experience is enough to make an actual piece of clothing, I hope my testament gives you encouragement to try it out. Making fun and useful things yourself brings confidence and lots of happiness. Create! Create! Create!

Last week was the first of a series of sewing classes taught by very special guest teacher Christine Haynes, seamstress extraordinaire and master of projects that are both “chic & simple”. Christine is an energetic and patient teacher, important qualities to have when working with excitable new sewers and their shaky hands!

I participated in part 1 of the ruffle skirt class last Friday and finally got to use my first order of Spoonflower fabric!! If you don’t yet know about Spoonflower, it is an awesome website that allows you to design your own fabric prints. I know. These days, you really can do it all.

The Intro to Sewing class last Saturday was a full house. Students made a lavender sachet with matching mini slip cover to match. I heard it was a lot of fun!

Part 2 of the ruffled skirt class is this coming Friday and I have to say, I’m really excited to finish my very first handmade piece of clothing! Next week I will share photos of the finished project, The ruffled skirt is a great next step from our Intro to Sewing class – someone with a basic understanding of the machine who wants to learn clothing construction and pattern reading. All of Christine’s classes, from her new book Chic & Simple Sewing, are within a similar skill level, and tailored to help people who catch on quickly and those of us who prefer a little more time and practice before moving on to each step.

Happy Earth Day everybody – go out and ride your bikes!

Thank you to everyone who entered last week’s giveaway of our favorite recent arrivals in the store. Participants left a comment on our contest blog, requesting a prize pack first choice as well as mention of a class or two (or four!) that they are looking forward to most. We generated winners, randomly, using random.org.

Congratulations to the following people!
Eric: Prize Pack #1 – Tattered Angels Clear Stamps
Allison McDonald: Prize Pack #2 – K&Company Chipboard and Dimensional Stickers
Shelley Mann: Prize Pack #3 Moda Wonderland Collection Fat Quarter Pack

One of the classes I’m looking forward to most is Christine Haynes’ reversible wrap skirt class.

The two session class starts on June 13th, costs $125 and is a perfect project for me, since I’ve been sewing pillows and curtains for the past few months add only daydreaming of taking my sewing skills to the next level. I think some of these Wonderland prints would be perfect for a wrap skirt.
You can read more about special guest teacher Christine Haynes here, or download our latest class schedule for more classes taught by Christine and a very special book signing event later this season!