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Scenes from the Expo

Sewing ideas are everywhere at an Original Sewing and Quilt Expo and we are proud to be part of the inspiration.  Since we are now on the road south from the Raleigh OSQE to the ASG Annual conference in Orlando, we decided to share with you some highlights from our Raleigh experience.

YSL Creations

We departed Baltimore on Tuesday in our packed van and headed to Richmond for a visual treat, the Yves Saint Laurent: The Perfection of Style exhibit at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.  It was a walk down memory lane with 100 beautiful ensembles from 1959-2002.  There are also movie clips, mood boards, sketches, jewelry, and much more.  We were delighted to see several wonderful square armholes, he was an inspired designer!

Love the paper dolls

Then, on to Raleigh where we set up our booth Wednesday afternoon.  We had planned some new displays so our set up went slowly as we made fun new choices to perk up the booth.

Our set-up starts with building the gridwall frames that support our displays and our pretty pink fitting room.

Carrie is hanging the walls

We are so grateful for flat-bed hand carts to transport them from the van to the show floor and our large bag of rip-ties to hold the walls together.

Hanging the soft color wall

The new display features a wall of Fit for Art garments in the soft pantone colors of the year.  It is refreshing to look at considering the blistering heat and humidity outside.  We also have a fun orange wall, another trendy color.

The orange wall

We include Tabula Rasa Knits, Eureka! Pants, Trouser Details, Sporty Details, basic Tabula Rasa Jackets and a sample or two featuring each of the 5 TRJ Variations, and quilting technique.

One wall becomes a pattern wall so we can introduce new sewing friends to our color coded basic patterns and their variations.  On another wall, we have the knit bundles, interfacing packs, rulers and paper rolls, the tools of the trade.  Around the corner is our jacket fitting nook.

Carrie doing a jacket fitting.

We love offering this sizing service so buyers can go home, adjust the pattern quickly and start sewing.

Fit prescription

Along the back wall we hang some lovely wardrobe combinations with artful coats, tops and knits in additional colors.

Carrie hanging the back wall

On this trip, our ensembles are teal with brown, black and white, bright blue with hot pink and navy with red.

Purchases and pants fitting appointments are made at our check out desk, in front of the wardrobe wall. The women who make those pants fitting appointments, always feel like it was a well spent ½ hour.

Close up of a pants fitting.

We park the rolling rack and extra product behind the fitting room.  The rack has to be readily available to accompany me to class and Carrie to the main stage for her Knockout Knits trunk show

A knit wall

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We both love showing off our new knits made with the Clever Crossing Variations.  They are taking center stage on one gridwall tower.

Once the show closes on Saturday afternoon the breakdown begins.  We didn’t remember to photograph the breakdown as we were busy packing up patterns, bagging garments, taking apart the grid walls and loading it all back in its place in the van.  Now on to Orlando where we are looking forward to making more sewing friends at the ASG annual conference.

Dinner!

As a treat, we picked up some BBQ at Raleigh’s famous Pit restaurant on our way back to the hotel.  It was just what we needed, especially the hush puppies!

Have you had fun in the Fit for Art booth at a sewing show or conference?  If not, why not plan to attend one near you in the next year so you can see what the fun is all about?  If you have, send your friends our way and come back to see what’s new.

Rae doing a pants fitting

If you will be at ASG, come see our new garment displays and the fabulous new Clever Crossing Variations for Tabula Rasa Knits, schedule a pants fitting or pick up a jacket pattern and fit prescription.  If you have a Fit for Art creation, please bring it by the booth so we can snap your photo and put it on our Facebook page.

A great Tabula Rasa Jacket

Happy Sewing, RAE

5 thoughts on “Scenes from the Expo

  1. What a fun post! Inspires me to make a tabula rasa shirt now!

  2. I visited your booth and stocked up on patterns, fabric, and ideas. Loved your class on incorporating art into clothing creations. Thank you for providing the fitting prescription. I give you guys 5 stars.

    1. Thanks Leanne! So nice to know we’ve inspired others in their journey!

  3. Are you coming to the original sewing and quilting expo in Minneapolis, MN?

    1. Sorry Pat, but we are not coming to Minneapolis this year. We are however coming to the Original Sewing & Quilt Expo in Schaumburg, IL at the end of September.

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