DC Threads

Welcome 2010!  All of us here at DC Threads are looking forward to another wildly successful  year – thanks to  the incredibly talented and creative sewists and volunteers who join us each month at the Sewing Lounge!!  Our vision for 2010 includes building on the success of the Lounge, focusing on our “Stitchin’ for Change” community service program, and expanding the Sewing Lounge to at least one other site in the city – stay tuned for details!!!

As the temperatures dip – what better time to stitch up some warm and cozy hats and scarves to keep the chill at bay???  At our January DC Threads Sewing Lounge we will have patterns, equipment,  and loads of expertise available to you to make some warm, toasty and trendy accessories to keep you warm!

A sampling of patterns for the hats and scarves can be found in the Patterns section of this site (http://www.dcthreads.org/patternsmain/clothing/).  As always, please try to bring the appropriate yardage of fleece that you will need for the project you have chosen as we have a limited amount of fleece in our fabric stash!   Both G-Street Fabrics and Joann Fabrics have great selections of solid and printed polar fleece.

A few tips for lounge-goers: as we’ve been growing, we’ve been lucky to receive many new donations of fabric, notions, and sewing machines. However, we still have limited supplies and equipment (especially sewing machines), so if you plan to come to the lounge and have your own machine, we strongly recommend that you bring it so that you do not have to wait for a machine to become available. And if you are new to sewing and want to be sure you get the most out of the lounge session, we also recommend that you arrive as close to 1pm as possible so that you have plenty of time to learn the basics and start on your first project.

As always, if you are interested in volunteering we welcome you to join us!

Hope to see you on Saturday to ring in the new year!

Best,

Allison and Laura

Once again we are pleased to share some upcoming DC-based fashion events with our DC Threads family.

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The Textile Museum has two “must see” events on their calendar.  First up is (drum-roll please) an evening with ISABEL TOLEDO – designer of Mrs. O’s fabulous lemongrass dress and coat!!!

From Switzerland to the White House:  The Story Behind the Inauguration Dress

Thursday, November 5, 5:30 Pm

Isabel Toledo’s Lemongrass Coat and Dress dazzled the world when it was worn by First Lady Michelle Obama on Inauguration Day. Join us at The Textile Museum for this special evening program and hear firsthand about the process behind its creation—from the fabric, made by the Swiss company Forster Rohner, to the finished product.

Panelists include American fashion designer Isabel Toledo, her creative partner and husband Ruben Toledo, and Hans Schreiber, creative director of Forster Rohner, moderated by Robin Givhan, The Washington Post’s fashion editor and winner of the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for Criticism. The talks will be followed by a reception featuring Swiss wine and chocolate. This program is co-sponsored by the Embassy of Switzerland.

Fee: $25/Textile Museum members; $45/non-members. Advance registration is required; space is limited. Call (202) 667-0441, ext. 64 to register.

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And it seems the Textile Museum is on a fashion roll – a new genre for them!   Don’t miss the extraordinary collection of Mary Baskett’s Japanese garments.

Contemporary Japanese Fashion: The Mary Baskett Collection

October 17, 2009 – April 11, 2010

In the 1970s and early 1980s, Japanese designers Issey Miyake, Rei Kawakubo and Yohji Yamamoto shocked the fashion world by introducing avant-garde styles that challenged received Western notions of “chic.” Informed in part by Japanese traditions such as the kimono, obi and the art of origami, these designers produced radical garments with shapes and textures often incongruous with the natural contours of the human body. Their designs—characterized by asymmetry, raw edges, unconventional construction, oversized proportions and monochromatic palettes—effectively overthrew existing norms and set the stage for the postmodernist movement in the fashion industry. Miyake, Yamamoto, and Kawakubo remain three of the most successful designers in today’s fashion world, and under their tutelage a new generation of Japanese talent has emerged.

This exhibition, an expanded version of an earlier showing at the Cincinnati Art Museum, includes avant-garde garments from the collection of Mary Baskett, an art dealer and former curator of prints at the Cincinnati Art Museum who has been collecting and wearing Japanese high fashion since the 1960s.

And before you set out for S Street to view the collection please please take a few minutes to read Robin Givhan’s review of the collection and her views on the designers – her insight definitely will make your time with the garments more meaningful!

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And as previously posted, Christian Siriano will be speaking about and signing his new book, “Fierce Style” at the Corcoran Gallery of Art on November 3^rd.

Oh yes!   November is lookin’ mighty fine here in DC!

DC Threads celebrates its first birthday this month!!  Woo hoo!!!  What an incredible year it has been!  We want to thank you all for your incredible support of the Sewing Lounge and the other DC Threads activities that have been wildly successful this year!!  We’ve had an incredibly fun and satisfying year!  Thank you for sharing your collective talent and enthusiasm with us!  Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Please join us as we celebrate our one year anniversary with the First Annual DC Threads Quilting Bee at the October DC Threads Sewing Lounge – Saturday October 10 from 1-4 at the North Michigan Park Recreation Center (details about the Lounge can be found here).  Come and share in this sewing tradition – stitch a 9 square, design a crazy quilt square, make a quilted pillow,  piece 4 blocks together and make a table runner, stitch a block to your jeans for a extra pocket, make a quilted booklet – -  the possibilities are endless!

Check out some of the squares that were designed and stitched at the Art-o-matic Quilt-o-matic this summer!

You are welcome to bring your own fabric for quilting if you have a specific design/color scheme in mind – but remember that we have a HUGE stash of terrific fabric generously donated by area sewists that we would love you to dive into to design and construct some awesome quilts squares!!

As always, you can bring your own sewing project or browse our library of patterns for other ideas. We’ll also have tutorials for first-time and beginning sewers and plenty of opportunities for you meet others who love to sew.  Check out our pattern library here….

See you on Saturday!

Laura and Allison

UPDATE: Due to a fabulously positive response, we have filled our registration slots for the upcoming October sewing lounge.  If you have not already registered, we hope you will join us for the next lounge in November. You can reserve your slot using our new registration page here. Thanks so much for your interest!    REMINDER—if you are a member of the American Sewing Guild or would like to volunteer at the Lounge your registration request will be automatically honored.

The Corcoran Gallery of Art continues its offerings of amazing fashion and design lectures with an upcoming appearance by CHRISTIAN SIRIANO – Season 5 Project Runway winner and Annapolis Maryland resident!  The Corcoran events never disappoint so I hope we will see you all there! 

November 3, 2009 at 7pm

Named “America’s next great fashion designer” by Tim Gunn, design prodigy Christian Siriano made headlines as the youngest designer to ever win Bravo’s hit television show, Project Runway. Since the show, Siriano has taken the fashion industry by storm, showing his collections at Fashion Week in New York City and designing lines for Puma, Payless, and Victoria’s Secret Beauty. In his first book, Fierce Style: How to be Your Most Fabulous Self, Siriano discusses how to be “fierce” in fashion and in everyday life, giving tips on developing personal style and building self-confidence. Join us as Christian Siriano takes the Corcoran’s stage to discuss his personal journey and the inspiration behind his celebrated designs. A book sale and signing will follow the talk.

Members: $15.00    Public: $20.00

Here is a link to Corcoran site!  The tickets will surely go quickly so grab your pair soon (you have to take at least one friend)!!

UPDATE: Due to a fabulously positive response, we have filled our registration slots for the upcoming sewing lounge this Saturday, September 12th.  If you have not already registered, we hope you will join us for the next lounge in October. You can reserve your slot using our new registration page here. Thanks so much for your interest!    REMINDER—if you are a member of the American Sewing Guild or would like to volunteer at the Lounge your registration request will be automatically honored.

Join us this Saturday, September 12 from 1-4 at North Michigan Park Recreation Center, for the DC Threads Sewing Lounge!  We will welcome the glorious Fall with a fabulous back-to-school/campus project – a hand-designed and crafted laptop sleeve – thanks to Ars Technica!

Here’s what you need:

• 1/2 yard (or so) of outer sleeve fabric
• 1/2  yard of lining fabric
• Thread (preferably in a matching or complementary color, but it can be any color you want)
• Your laptop measurements

Optional:

• Sew-on or glue/iron-on velcro, or a button

As always, you can bring your own project or browse our library of patterns for other ideas. We’ll also have tutorials for first-time and beginning sewers and plenty of opportunities for you meet others who love to sew.  Check out our pattern library here….

And, in response to your requests for tutorials about sewing techniques (see, we really do read and value the evaluations you graciously complete!), we will offer a 20-30 minute tutorial about how to read a sewing pattern.  The tutorial will start promptly at 1:15 – leaving you loads of time for sewing!

Hope to see you there!

Laura and Allison

Here’s the Washington Post article by Holly Thomas about the Sewing Lounge!!!!

Thanks to all of our amazing sewists and sewing coaches for making the Lounge an incredible success!!!

Join us in September!!!!

UPDATE: Due to a fabulously positive response, we have filled our RSVP slots for the upcoming sewing lounge this Saturday, August 8. If you have not already RSVPed, we hope you will join us for the next lounge in September. You can reserve your slot using our new registration page here. Thanks so much for your interest!

Join us on Saturday, August 8 from 1-4pm at the North Michigan Park Recreation Center for the next session of the DC Threads Sewing Lounge. This month, we’re featuring a couple of fun projects that can be made for kids (or with kids) to keep them busy on a summer afternoon: these Martha Stewart-inspired Bandana Pants and this 11” fleece teddy bear, nicknamed “Fat Buttons” by one eight year-old seamstress. More details on the materials needed for each can be found in the patterns section of our website.

11" Stuffed Bear, courtesy Eldrbarry.net

Bandana Pants, courtesy BlueYonder

As always, you can bring your own project or browse our library of patterns for other ideas. We’ll also have tutorials for first-time and beginning sewers and plenty of opportunities for you meet others who love to sew.

If you haven’t done so already, please be sure to RSVP below.  This helps us get a headcount so we can plan accordingly. And of course if you’d like to volunteer as an assistant for beginning sewers, please let us know.

Hope to see you there!

Laura and Allison

Just when we were starting to worry about our supplies running low, DC Threads member Joan (author of the blog, WannaSew) jumped to the rescue! Joan helped us secure a  donation from Walmart in Bowie, MD of a variety of much-needed materials, including more scissors, spools of thread, bobbins, and bolts of fabric. We are SEW thankful for Walmart’s generosity and Joan’s selfless assistance in getting this donation! You can check out the goods at our next lounge session on Saturday, August 8.

If you have fabric, notions, a sewing machine, or any other materials you don’t want in your closet or garage any more, consider donating them to DC Threads. We can now provide a tax receipt for any donations thanks to our relationship with the American Sewing Guild.

And of course, if you ever want to donate your time by volunteering at one of the DC Threads lounge sessions, we’ll take that too! High school students who need community service hours are also welcome, and we’ll provide all the training needed. Just let us know if you’d like to learn more about our volunteering program.