My crafty weekend started Saturday morning at Stitch House in Dorchester with a sewing class titled 'Get to know your sewing machine'. There were three of us and under the expert guidance of Jen P., we reviewed the parts of our sewing machines, how to thread it, wind a bobbin, identify each foot, run a straight stitch, and how to do a blind hem stitch (which is important for short people like me who need all their pairs of pants to be hemmed). I am looking forward to taking another sewing class, perhaps an intensive class for beginners and new sewers so that I can make one of Amy Butler's Barcelona skirts.
In case you're interested in sewing but don't want to invest in your own sewing machine yet, you can use one of the machines at Stitch House for free during a class or use it for a mere $5/hour outside of class hours. Each sewing station has a nice machine, a lamp, and a box of notions and there's a central table to cut fabric and iron.
But there is much more than Amy Butler fabrics, Heather Bailey and Oliver + S patterns at this store, there's also yarn (Classic Elite, Lorna's Laces, Rowan, Berroco, Blue Sky Alpacas, Spud and Chloe, Madelinetosh, you name it). Oh, the madbird needle cases! the funny knitting-related buttons ("will knit for wine")! the pretty stitch markers!
But the weekend was just starting! Boy and I drove up to Maine stopping at:
- the Crate and Barrel outlet in Kittery
- my favorite yarn store in Portland, Knit Wit. Every color of Quince and co yarns was displayed including their new yarns (Tern and a linen yarn).
- the Portland Fiber Gallery. They had just received a scrumptious bag of 85%BFL/15%tussah fiber
- Vervacious on Commercial St. Clara, the Hot Chocolate Orange might want to meet your marshmallows at the KR retreat...
- 555 on Congress St, where we've had three flawless dinners so far
On Sunday, I attended Amy Herzog's class on "Fit to Flatter" at Purl Diva in Brunswick. I learned so much about my shape, why some sweaters work for me and not others, what neckline/sleeve length/sweater length I should wear, what modifications need to be done, and so much more. For example, I will undo a few inches from my Sundara wrap sweater to make the body and sleeves shorter. If you can't attend Amy's classes, you can always read her tutorials, available as blog posts or pdf files -- I promise you'll learn a lot from them.
To end this weekend on a good note, I'll be spending time tonight reading my copy of "Brave New Knits". This was a great crafty weekend!