Our Chapters have been busy with some fun, inspiring, and educational activities recently. Perhaps unwittingly, there seems to be a vintage theme running through a number of them, in line with the historical theme for conference this year! All Chapters take note – there are lots of good ideas here for future programs.
On May 18, the New Jersey Chapter held a luncheon at a local bakeshop to install new Debby Spence VP Chapter Relations officers. Jil Konopacki is their new President, with current Chapter Rep Lois Anderson adding to her responsibilities as the new First Vice President. As of June 22, however, Gail McLaughlin will be the new Chapter Rep. Following lunch, member Carol O’Brien presented a program featuring her collection of vintage undergarments dating from the Victorian Era to the 1930’s. Carol offered a wealth of knowledge of the customs, mores and technology of that time period, mostly focusing on the Victorian and the Edwardian Eras. Her collection is vast and eclectic and demonstrated to the members a “behind-the-seams” view of what life was like in those times. They got to touch and feel the fabrics and delicate laces that make up the layers-upon-layers that woman wore. Attendees were daunted by the time needed to create and maintain these garments. Some commented that many of these “undies,” or Naughty Nickers, as Carol calls them, would be suitable for outerwear today! At this luncheon, they also made plans for their Annual Sewing Retreat.
It sounds like sewing retreats are a popular activity for our Chapters. Anyone who has ever been on one will know why! The Chicago Chapter is planning their annual summer retreat at Gini Lloyd’s cabin in the woods of Michigan at the end of June. Last month they attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s annual fashion show and reported that it was fabulous as usual. Fashion shows are always a great source of inspiration!
The Heartland Chapter is pleased to report that they are active again after a break in regular meetings. They met in March to elect officers and plan future meetings. Joyce Hittesdorf was officially elected President and Chapter Rep and Diane Frewer was renewed as the Treasurer. It was so great to be with local ASDP members again and also to meet and welcome some new members.
Our first outing in April was a great way to get reacquainted. Six of us left very early for a full day of fashion excitement in Chicago. Our first stop was at the Chicago History Museum to see the exhibit, 50 Years of Ebony Fashion Fair. We enjoyed more than 60 garments from icons of the fashion industry such as Yves St. Laurent, Oscar de la Renta, Pierre Cardin, Christian Lacroix, and others. This exhibit is now closed in Chicago but is touring the nation. We would highly recommend it.
No trip to Chicago would be complete without a stop to shop for fabric. We explored the three floors of Textile Discount Fabric for some time before having a late lunch. Our last event was a special treat as we viewed the inspiring film, Men of the Cloth, by Vicki Vasilopoulos. This was a onetime showing at the Chicago Cultural Center Theater. The documentary film was a portrait of three master tailors. For our May meeting we met in Carmel, IN with Courtney Bray at Klassical Keys for a relaxing hour of hand/wrist massage. She provides this class for her piano students, other musicians and anyone who uses their hands a lot in their profession. We were all surprised about the many hand issues we were experiencing with our work when we took the time to focus on them, also, how wonderful her exercises made our hands feel! We all were amazed at the results and vowed to remember to continue using these soothing exercises.
In June our group was invited to participate in the Graduates Portfolio Show at the Art Institute of Indianapolis. It is similar to a job fair where the fashion design students display their portfolios and share their accomplishments. We were privileged to meet them, view their work, ask questions about their ideas/designs and hear about their future plans. We were also asked to vote for our favorite and comment on their presentations. It was a great opportunity for those of us who love fashion and sewing to see what influences may be in the future.
The Heartland Chapter is looking forward to a full year of exciting, fun and educational gatherings. One of our sewing social highlights is the pitch-in picnic that we have each August.” [Ellen Blacketer]
The Colorado Chapter also had elections in March. In April, Karen Bengtson took over the Presidency again. Other officers elected; were Secretary – Sandi Harmon, Programs – Jan McKinley, Treasurer – Barb Elliott, and Membership – Barb Bock. At the April meeting, Karen challenged the members to finish a garment or make a new one from fabric in their stash. Their June meeting was a challenge to take an “old garment” and redesign it. Yvonne, Jan and Karen took on the challenge. At the July meeting, they will be refining their hand-worked bound buttonholes, and in August, they will be having a field trip to two of their fabric stores. They will be meeting at a new location for a year, starting in September, at Colorado Fabrics, when the new owner will be showing them behindthe-scenes operations of a fabric store.
The last three programs of the Great Plains Chapter have focused on vintage fashions. In April, they attended a fashion show/luncheon. The fashion show featured vintage and new fashions showing the similarities between the two. In May, they attended a program on ‘The Century of Fashion 1870-1970’ presented by Yesterday’s Lady, a vintage shop and museum. This past month, they took a road trip to visit Yesterday’s Lady Museum and had a wonderful time!
At a recent meeting of the Baltimore Chapter, Carey Pumo shared her experience of taking a workshop on patternmaking CAD software program from PWStudio, with what it can do, particularly as it relates to her bra-making business. In April, Sherry Stauffer showed the members how to copy ready-towear with the rubbing-off technique.
Written by Debby Spence
