I am getting questions about what the difference is between these two classes.
Alterations 101-Fit your Pants/Skirt to You! (Saturday)
$54. Nov. 20, 10am-12 noon
Hem Your Pants/Skirt in One Day! (Saturday)
$54. Nov. 20, 1pm-3pm
In a nutshell, Alterations 101 is for those whose skirts or pants don’t fit right. The waistband is too loose, or the seat is too big and you want to take it in at the waist to fit better. The Hem Your Pants/Skirt class on the other hand is for those who bring their slacks and skirts to a tailor or seamstress to shorten them and then redo the hem.
Both classes are quite useful and teach you very practical and money-saving skills.
We also have other very practical classes coming up including a home decorating class called:
Home Decorating: Make Your Own Window Valance! (Saturdays)
$108. Class Dates: 10/30, 11/6, 11/13
Choose morning or afternoon class.
Section A: 10am-12 noon
Section B: 1pm-3pm
Here’s a chance to learn how to make some of your own window treatments!
Here are my new *cozy* lounge pants. Sewn in a few hours and worn the same night! Now I know why our sewing students love these pants so much. They are sooooo comfortable! Sew a pair for yourself!
Looking for a new sewing project? Check out these sewing reviews! Many of the patterns I have reviewed are great for beginners and advanced beginners. Let me know if you decide to make one of the projects. I’d love to see what you did!
Saturday was a perfect day at Oktoberfest in West Acton! We started setting up our sewing display bright and early at 8am and closed it down at 4pm. Since this was our first year as participants everything was new!
Most of it was wonderful, but the paper towels and duct tape came in handy early. I’m glad I threw those in the supply bucket (shades of our old canoeing days?) . After Emily and Rachel, two very helpful ABRHS volunteers carried our table and chairs over to our spot for us, we used the paper towels to wipe off our table that had gotten just a little wet and dirty from sitting on it’s side since dawn waiting for us. Then we started to set up and it seemed like EVERYTHING required duct tape to help it survive the breeze!
With my intern Darlene helping me, the two of us had the display set up in a jiffy. Then we got to sit and watch the rest of the displays go up. Some of it was fairly mundane as people drove up and unloaded their displays and some of it was quite dramatic.
My favorite moment (in retrospect of course!) was when I got a phone call from a dear relative up in Bingham, ME telling me about the bull moose she encountered on her morning walk. Just as I started to get the delightful details on the encounter, a gust of wind came from around the corner and too many things started to happen at once.
My neighbor broke the handle on her big bag of apples and apples started rolling everywhere and into the street, one of my information sheets blew off in another direction and Darlene started running fast after that to save it while a minivan was driving into an orange cone and dragging it away! I cut my phone call short as I ran to tell the driver about the cone, helped my neighbor pick up her apples all the while making sure Darlene got back safely with our piece of paper! Below is a picture of Darlene with our display table for the sewing studio.
The rest of the day was relatively calm as the breeze wound down and the sun came up higher in the sky to warm things up. We had “front row seats” as the 5k runners ran by followed by the 5k walkers right through the center of West Acton on Massachusetts Avenue (aka Rt. 111) and continued west toward Boxborough. It was very exciting. I got a few pictures, but it all happened so fast! I certainly recognized some neighbors and friends as they sped by!
We had a great time as people stopped by to take a look at our sewing class information. Several people commented on the little mint green vintage Singer Featherweight (see picture below) that we brought along for the display. A number of kids (and grownups) took the Sewing word search puzzle home to work on.
Around mid-day, Angela another of my sewing interns, joined us to help out. It was great to have the added support. I felt totally confident leaving Darlene and Angela to staff the table while I took a little longer walk around to check things out.
People seemed to be having a great time. Grownups walking their dogs, teens “hanging out”, performers in costumes ranging from hand-sewn revolutionary garb to a girl with totally blue hair! Sunglasses with dark lenses and dayglow arms seemed to be a hot item with the teens and there was a lot of pink cotton candy and lollipops in lot of little hands! The grownups seemed more interested in sausage sandwiches and fried dough!
All in all we met so many lovely people! People were so friendly and interested in what we are doing teaching sewing classes. Several remarked that they were happy to see a renewed interest in sewing. We had many, many parents of young children stopping by.
The most frequent question parents had was “How old must a child be to take lessons? (The answer is: children need to be at least 7 yrs old in and preferably in 2nd grade for childrens’ group classes and 5 years old for parent/child lessons.) Many people were also interested in adult lessons. Either they wanted to get back to sewing or they never learned in the first place. We spent a lot of time explaining how our classes work and suggesting they check out the website to get more detailed information on the schedule of classes. Next year we’ll definitely bring printouts of our class schedules!
Check out the picture of Darlene, me and Angela below!
All in all we had a delightful time people-watching, baby-watching, dog-watching and politician watching (and handshaking of course!) as we handed out flyers and raffle tickets, telling people about our sewing studio “just down the street ” in West Acton. We got a lot of interest in our sewing classes from a wide age range and several of our sewing students and friends stopped by to say hello. What a friendly day! Beautiful weather, lovely people, sweet babies, cute kids, handsome dogs and lots and lots of great conversation. A great success.
See you next year!
Join us for the 17th Annual Oktoberfest in West Acton on Saturday, October 2 from 10-4! The entire center of West Acton is blocked off and becomes a car-free pedestrian mall. There is outdoor stage entertainment, vendors, go-cart rides, face painting, food court, laser tag, moon bounce, open house at the Fire Station, cotton candy, popcorn, raffles and much more!!!! Darlene and Angela (my sewing intern/assistants) and I will have a table set up there right on Massachusetts Avenue, with all kinds of sewing-related information, discounts, games, a raffle with prizes and other sewing paraphernalia! Come and see us this Saturday. It should be a blast!
Please note: I compiled this list from several sources and I do not endorse any of these stores, although I have visited many of them. Feel free to ask my opinion on a store, but please do your own research as well either online or by visiting. This is just a starting point for your own explorations! – Becca
General and Fashion Fabric:
- Franklin Mill Store, 305 Union Street, Franklin, MA 02038, Ph: 508-528-3301
- Sew-Lo Fabrics, 473 Cambridge St., Cambridge, MA (discount fabrics; hit or miss)
- Sew-Fisticated Discount Fabrics, Twin Cities Plaza, 14 McGrath Highway, Somerville, MA, also in Dorchester, MA, (discount fabrics; hit or miss)
- Clement Fabric, 80 Bedford St., Boston, MA (Chinatown)
- Winmil Fabrics, 111 Chauncy Street, Boston, MA (Chinatown)
- Sawyer Brook Distinctive Fabrics, Clinton, MA (high end fashion fabrics) 55 Sterling Street, 2nd Floor, Clinton, Massachusetts 01510 1-800-290-2739 email: service@sawyerbrook.com (NOTE: This is primarily a web based mail order business, so call or email first if you plan to go to their warehouse store in Clinton. Also check their website for hours.)
Quilting:
- Quilter’s Way, Commonwealth Ave., West Concord, MA
- Fabric Corner, 183 Mass. Ave, Arlington, MA
- Cambridge Quilt Shop, 95 Blanchard Road, Cambridge, MA
- Mary Rose’s Quilt Shop, 4-6 Brande Court, Reading, Ma. 01867 (Behind Atlantic Supermarket)
- Button Box Quilt Shop, 5 Overlook Dr., Wellesley, Ma
- Sew Creatively, Elliot St., Beverly, MA
- Quilted Acorn, Newbury, MA
- The Fabric Stash, 16 Sturbridge Rd., Charlton, MA (also home dec)
- Emma’s Quilt Cupboard, Franklin, MA
- Tumbleweed Quilts, Pembroke, MA, or West Barnstable, MA (Cape Cod)
Home Dec:
- Calico Corners, 440 Great Rd., Acton, MA
- Zimman’s, 80 Market St., Lynn, MA
- Artee Fabrics 68 Tower St. (2nd floor) Hudson, MA (Check out Still Life Home Consignment on lower floor for fabric remnants at good prices.)
- Freddy Farkel’s Fabric Outlet, 86 Coolidge Ave, Watertown, MA 02472 (617) 924-4144
- Ikea, 1 Ikea Way, Stoughton, MA
- Marimekko Fabrics, 350 Huron Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138
Everything:
- Osgoode’s Textiles, 333 Park St., West Springfield, MA 01089—This is the biggest and best fabric store I have visited outside of the legendary NYC Fabric District.
Many of my students have made skirts. All of the ones below are from the same pattern and all of them look totally different! Check it out… then get out your machine, buy some fabric, a zipper and thread to match and sew yourself a new skirt! In return for a few hours of sewing time, it will give you a whole new look!
Creativity is my passion! It has been all my life. . . and being able to introduce people to a new creative outlet (namely sewing) or bring them back to it after years of their sewing machines gathering dust is very exciting to me! Sewing is such an interesting mixture of the practical and the creative. You choose the project, you buy the materials and then with some guidance from patterns, books, teachers…you are on your way to making something that no one else has envisioned exactly the same way. What a fantastic way to express yourself! What a confidence builder when you master some new technique. Plus it’s just plain fun. So let’s do it!
I can’t believe it! After 2 years of teaching sewing here in little West Acton, MA we actually have our own blog! Now we can post tips and tricks…all kinds of suggestions to make your sewing experience better. Plus you get a chance to add your comments and suggestions for us! So stay tuned…there is more to come!