Sewing Weekend Here I Come!

While January has never been my favorite month of the year, mostly due to the fact that I HATE to be cold, it holds one distinct pleasure not found in any of the other eleven months--my ASG sewing retreat.  I dream about this retreat all year, because it's just like one big sewing party doing something I love to do so much.  Add good friends who also have the sewing bug to the mix and you get an all time favorite pass time that doesn't involve family.

Getting ready for the retreat can be quite an endeavor!  For those of you who don't know me well, the first task is to clean off the cutting table so I can use it for its intended purpose--cutting out projects.  It took me a full day to get everything I had stacked on it put away so it could be used, but I managed to do it.  Then I started cutting out items.  Since I sew for three small girls as well as myself, I started with some items for them, like pants and shirts, and Christmas stockings.  Yes, I said Christmas stockings.  Misses E & K have the baby ones I made, but they need big kid ones like Miss V, so I went through my Christmas fabric stash and picked out two prints I really like so I could make their stockings.  I cut out five pairs of pants, two tops, and will continue to cut today so that I don't run out of things to do.

Something else you have to do is pack what you think you'll need because you don't get a chance to come home and there isn't a fabric store you can visit at the lake.  Last year I just worked on quilting projects, but this year since I'm sewing clothes I'll need a serger as well as my sewing machine.  As I cut projects, I got the thread, elastic, zippers and any other things I might need to work with.  I also wound at least one bobbin per project so I could just go from one thing to another.  I remembered to pack a variety of needles since I'll be sewing denim, knits, cottons and who knows what else before I'm done.  I have a box with scissors and bobbins and markers and chalk and a brush to clean the machine between projects.  I'll have my bright light and my favorite sewing table and chair, too.  It's like a move, really, but it is so worth it!  Stay tuned to see what I have done when I return.