Monday, March 23, 2009

Sewing at Operation Fairy Godmother!

In Vancouver Washington, there is a wonderful organization called Operation Fairy Godmother. Yearly they collect donated gently used ball gowns and then let the HS girls select one for $10/apiece.

Well many of these gowns about 100 of them, need alterations. A group of the Columbia River Sewing ( Portland ASG chapter) spent the day altering these gowns. It was a wonderful time to interact with the HS girls and sometimes their mothers.

It was a great time by all.

Friday, February 20, 2009

ASG Columbia River Sewing - Chapter Challenge

Stash Reduction 2009
Columbia River Sewing - ASG
Chapter Challenge!
For 2009, the Portland ASG Chapter is having a stash reduction challenge. The goal is to use more than you add to your stash this year. Realistically if you only used your stash .... this would be the best of all. So we are keeping track of how much fabric we used during the year and how much we gained during the year....
In Dec, I will update everyone on the amount of fabric the whole chapter used. What was the amount of the member who used the most fabric.... What was the most creative way to use up fabric. We may also try to figure out who used the oldest piece of fabric from their stash....
Part of this "clean up" activity will include finishing UFOs. Also I will post on the number of finished UFOs.... the oldest UFO..... and I am sure something about repurposing of UFOs because I am sure that I have some UFOs that I no longer will a) fit in them b) the fabric color is out of date c)I just don't like it anymore....
So how to figure out what to do with my stash!

Sewing Safari

CRS is off this Saturday 2/21/09 for a Sewing Safari...... Come join us.....

ASG’s SAFARI

A search for WILD things to be TAMED
by our CREATIVE talents

Saturday, February 21, 2009

10:00am Meet at Ruthie’s Rags, 10602 NE Sandy Blvd, back parking lot
(If you need strong coffee to sustain you in the search, there’s a Subway across the street) We’ll break into groups for carpooling.

10:05am Better Bargains, 10209 NE Sandy Blvd
They’re having their 35 cent sale in the basement. Park in back and enter through the back door. Our quarry will be mounted on tables and we’ll hunt through it to find that perfect garment/material to be transformed. If nothing else, trap an item to get some wild buttons for your stash.

11:00am The Knittin’ Kitten, 7530 NE Glisan
Remember Tarzan and Jane? I bet this is where Jane shopped. Vintage fabrics and sewing supplies are here for the finding – old patterns, trims and fabric. The owners have prepared for our arrival.

12:00 Fabric For Less, 6940 NE Sandy Blvd.
An exotic hunt here. You’ll find some silky treasures and some wild trims!

1:00pm Lunch – Catedral Restaurant (Mexican), 707 SE 164th Ave, Vancouver

2:00pm Goodwill Outlet Vancouver, 9025 NE 117th Ave.
You won’t find items here in pristine condition, but that’s the adventure! Bring an open mind and your adventurous spirit. You might even want to bring your gloves for the hunt. You’ll bag some great bargains and have a lot of fun doing it. This is part of the expedition you won’t want to miss.

3:00pm Paws & Claws, 3308 NE 52nd St (at St. John’s Road) Vancouver
Who knows what we will find, but previously found items were old patterns, and old sewing machine accessories. Always button and bows.
3:30pm NW Salvage and Second Hand House, 7402 NE St. John’s Road
None of us have been. Gone past many times. Many items in the "yard"What an adventure!

4:00pm Head back to Ruthie’s Rags. This is the end of our safari, but plan on stopping at this oasis to say hello to Ruthie. She displays all kinds of adventurous items - specializing in natural fabrics, great trims and buttons for your creations. And, she has a sale going on today!

If you can’t make the whole day, feel free to join us at any of the above spots. We’ll try to stay to the schedule, but some of us may want to linger (or be caught) at one location and can meet up with the group later after they ESCAPE from where they were detained!
And, remember, if you don’t CATCH that wild thing today, inventory in these types of stores changes daily. Just plan your own private SAFARI soon.

As you know, safaris can get wild and crazy. Keep these emergency cell phone numbers in case you get entrapped or delayed somehow.
Email president@columbiariversewing.org

Sunday, September 7, 2008

More Columbia River Sewing activities

Columbia River Sewing is again part of the Holiday dressing of the Portland "Pittock Mansion".

If you are local and would like to help .... contact Sharon at sharongrand@comcast.net

Ways you can help decorate the Mansion!

1. Make decorations on your own.... what are needed are mice. The whole mansion is going to have mice of all different types throughout the house. Children guest will be encouraged to count all the mice they can find.

2. Gather supplies from you stash.... Needed items:
Tassels in jewel toned colors
Jewel toned Beads (1/2 to 1 inch in diameter)
Wooden thread spools
Pine Cones ( all sizes)
Jewel toned Buttons ( all sizes)
Christmas Fabric in Jewel toned colors ( up to 1/2 yard)
Small Sewing Tools - prefer old ones


3. Meet with us for an evening to two of fun to make tassels, ornament balls, the ribbon bows and pinecone arrangements.


Supplies can be dropped off at:
Ruthie's Rags
10602 NE Sandy Blvd, Portland Oregon


Again... another opportunity to create with fabric!

Thursday, August 28, 2008

La Fred workshops sponsored by Columbia River Sewing

Come one.... come all... La Fred is at Fabric Depot in Portland Sept 6 and 7th Sponsored by Columbia River Sewing

Designer Fred Bloebaum (a woman with a man’s nickname)creates one-of-a-kind patterns for classic, elegant clothing which fits and flatters a wide variety of sizes, shapes and ages. Fred is
a highly regarded sewing instructor from the San Francisco area.

Saturday Sept. 6th
10 AM - Noon The Best of La Fred
This trunk show highlights some of the unique sewing techniques used in
constructing the classic, elegant garments featured in the patterns fromClothing Designs by La Fred. Free to everyone; no registration required.

Saturday Sept 6th
1 - 4 PM WORKSHOP: Capturing the Essence of Designer Style
Registration and fee required: email education@columbiariversewing.org for more information

Sunday Sept 7th
10 4:30 WORKSHOP: Double Layered Reversible Tee
Registration and fee required: email education@columbiariversewing.org for more information

You may take either, but there is a cost savings if you sign up for both.

I will meet you there!

Dotty Yackle-Kay
publicity

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Welcome

Welcome to the blog for and about the Columbia River Sewing, a chapter of the American Sewing Guild. (ASG). For those that are not acquainted with ASG, it is a national non-profit whose charter is to “Advance Sewing as an Art and Life skill”. It was chartered in 1978, later becoming a non-profit and presently boasts 130 chapters and a national membership of over 22,000.

Columbia River Sewing chapter includes members from both the Oregon and Washington sides of the Columbia River. There are quarterly chapter meetings and monthly neighborhood group meetings. See www.columbiariversewing.org for all the scheduled events. Come join us.

To use yet another venue to advance sewing, this blog was born. It will be used to discuss sewing, fabric, art, embellishments, fitting, home dec and quilts…mostly depending on where the community wishes to take it. So Welcome… join us here or in person….

Dotty Yackle-Kay
Columbia River Sewing publicity chair