Six members of the San Francisco chapter enjoyed the chapter’s first-ever sewing retreat in the beautiful Santa Cruz mountains in early May. The site was Presentation Center in Los Gatos, located amid a redwood forest. Barbara Kelly, Dale Webdale, Loy Tingley, Sylvie Privat, Louise Dunlop, and Christina Cary attended. They relaxed and sewed from Friday afternoon until Sunday in a large meeting room flooded with sunlight that streamed through floor-to-ceiling windows. Members helped each other fit and troubleshoot their various projects while deer and heron walked by. Meals were just a step away because the sewing room was next to the cafeteria. When the group finished sewing for the day, we retired to a private hillside cabin.
Group members shared their expertise as they worked on a variety of projects. Dale chose a classic trench coat design from Marfy patterns and helped Barbara fit a muslin that she created from a princess seamed ready-to-wear jacket. Loy hoped to complete a moulage for both a bodice and pants; she completed the bodice moulage with help fitting the muslin and went home with a better idea of how long creating a moulage takes. Sylvie reshaped and fit the sleeve of a jacket that she had entered in the Threads-ASDP “Inspired Sleeves” challenge and, with some help, hemmed a little black dress to the correct length. In addition to working on several tops to expand her wardrobe, Louise worked on a bias cut summer dress—made in a French lingerie fabric—that had languished in her project pile for some time. Barbara and Dale helped Christina fit a ruched knit top that was ultimately unsuccessful, but a great learning experience.
Our chapter has seen little activity in recent years, so Chapter President Dale Webdale, owner of The Sewing Parlour in San Francisco, intends to revitalize it. This retreat was a first step. At mealtimes, the group brainstormed ideas for interesting sewing-related places the chapter could visit or things they could do, and members volunteered to investigate and make plans.
Dale organized this retreat, publicized it, answered questions, and made the arrangements and reservations. The group enjoyed this peaceful retreat so much that we agreed on a repeat retreat next year. Many thanks to Dale for making a good idea a reality.
Written by Christina Cary
