GCGSW Recap

Well, it was a great weekend at the 1st Annual Gulf Coast Girls' Sewing Weekend. The weather was perfect for sewing at the beach...meaning that it rained nearly the entire time. We may have sat on the porch drinking wine and talking more than we actually sewed, but everybody accomplished what they came for, I believe. Please allow me to do some shout-outs now. Becky brought me this awesome HANDMADE sewing bag that she sewed up herself and painted, then filled with goodies.


And this is a hemming tool that you actually iron on, so I won't have to futz around with my tape measure constantly, like I usually do.


This is the awesome fabric Robbie brought me. I had coveted the outfit she wore at our last lunch together, so she brought me the fabric to make myself a matching set - we'll be twins!! (I can't wait to see the hostess's face next time we eat at Ruby Tuesdays, Robbie!)


And Katrina, i.e. Susie Homemaker, MD, brought the most delicious pina coladas I've ever tasted, which I plan to re-create next weekend with the mix and coconut rum she gave me. Here's a link to her recipe - you're welcome!


So here's what I made - another scoop-neck T-shirt from my Meg McElwee Sewing with Knits class at Craftsy, and this is muslin #2. It was super helpful to have these ladies around to work out my fitting issues with the shoulder and sleeves. My next version should be perfect.


And here was my favorite sewing thing - I got to use Becky's Brother Cover Stitch to try my hand at hemming and collar-ing. How cool is this?


But it DOES take practice and a steady hand - oops!

And now to just a couple of tips I picked up this weekend. I never thought to serge the raw edges of new fabric before washing it for the first time. Now that I know that, no more pics of ravelled fabric from my laundry room before I even cut it. And look at this perfectly good zipper on an old pillow case package. I save these things and never use them, but Becky unpicks the zippers while she's watching TV - voila, free zipper.


And one last tip was to put my new stretch denim that reeks of chemicals despite being washed multiple times in the trunk of my car. The heat gets rid of the odor! Who knew?! Well, the engineers did. It turns out that we had 2 doctors and 2 engineers (chemical and mechanical) sewing all weekend. (Now, Pam, we need you to come next year so we can say we have a lawyer, too.)

Lastly, I'll leave you with Jake, who treats every bone like it's a snake getting ready to strike. Have a great week!