The American Sewing Guild held their conference this past weekend in the festive city of San Francisco, where the evenings are delightfully cool and the food is exceptional. On Thursday, full- and half-day pre-conference classes were held while the leadership board had their meeting.
Rae was privileged to lead a class to make a Tabula Rasa Jacket mock-up. There was a terrific group of students, and as you can see they cut, marked, stitched, pressed and modeled their creations.
Along the way, we discussed the elements of a successful jacket and the many variations that can be used to update the design. Heaps of thanks go to our friend Brenda Breitenmoser who helped with fittings, pattern adjustments and more.
There were fun sightings and hugs with long-time friends who feel like family and those who became new sewing friends.
The keynote speaker at Friday’s luncheon was Suzan Steinberg, owner of Stone Mountain and Daughter, a fabric store in Berkley. She told the story of her ancestors over four generations who have sold fabrics in California.
They were the first fabric store to offer online sales and have an amazing site with many wonderful choices. The online store carried them through the pandemic and now the journey continues with an active garment sewing staff and a thriving store front, too. All the fabric sold online is also on sale in the store. How do they do that? We have purchased fabrics from them many times over the years and keep coming back.
Saturday’s lunch featured the fashion show; our friend and colleague Helen Haughey looked great modeling two new creations, a reversible dress and an ensemble with a beautiful blue dress with a black and white coat to top it off. In between, a cos-play woman warrior made an appearance to great fanfare.
Margo Martin, the long time Executive Director of ASG, told the group that this would be the last big in-person national meeting. Online education will fill the gap and possibly some retreat style classes in the future. Stay tuned for more news from the national officers and the dedicated ASG staff.
There was a terrific group of gals from the surrounding area who were happy to welcome everyone to the conference. Rae was so happy to be part of this memorable moment in ASG history and wish them ever more success as they move in a different direction. Everyone left a bit of their heart in San Francisco!
If you are not already a member, check out the ASG website. The regional and local chapters keep sewing education at their core and offer garment stitching teachers lots of great ways to share their inspiration and techniques.
Happy Sewing with ASG, Rae Cumbie