I hope everyone is enjoying these first few days of Summer!    

My sewing has been slow these past few months as I learn new skills.   I’ve been expanding my bag making skills and working on improving my cutting/tracing skills with a projector.   I enjoy expanding my sewing skillset beyond my normal garment sewing, but it sure does slow me down!   Do you enjoy learning new techniques or trying sewing projects that are outside your “normal” sewing? 

By now you should have received the invitation to attend the national ASG conference scheduled for June 30-July 3 in Austin Texas.   There is still time to sign-up for classes.  If you are interested in attending this event you can find more information on the American Sewing Guild website – asg.org.
 
All of our neighborhood groups are back to meeting in person and I encourage you to attend a neighborhood group meeting to spend time with those who share your sewing interests.
 
Happy Sewing!
Jill

We are excited to announce the 3rd Annual Kansas City ASG Sew-In!   Join us Friday Feb 25 - Sunday Feb 27 for dedicated sewing time and Camaraderie.   Unity Village hotel has a conference room where we will set up and sew for the weekend.   The room is accessible to you around the clock, but will be locked when no one from our group is using the space.   There are a large number of restaurants nearby with lunch and dinner options.   
Registration is available here - Sew-in Registration

As I write this letter, the holiday season is upon us.     I know many of you are sewing gifts for loved ones this year.   I hope those gifts of your time and effort provide joy for both you and the recipients.    Isn’t it wonderful to be able to show our friends and family our love through sewing?!
 
Thank you to everyone who participated in our virtual Annual election this year.   The 2022 Chapter Advisory Board members are as follows:
 
President – Jill Moore
Treasurer – Robin Pruitt
Secretary – Jeannie New
Education/Events – Karin Kraft-Stuppy
Member – Debra Cole
Community Service – Judy Foglio
Newsletter – Karen Nelson Bland
 
If you are interested in volunteering on the Board, or have suggestions, please reach out to one of us.   The email addresses for all CAB members can be found on the chapter website – kansascityasg.org
 
Our 3rd Annual Sew-In scheduled for February 25, 26, and 27, 2022!   We will post a link for registration before the end of the year.

​I hope everyone is enjoying these first few sunny days of Summer!

Are you the type of sewist who buys fabric for a specific project and sews it up right away, or do you have an ever growing stash of fabric? I fall firmly in the stash camp and I’ve made an effort in the past few months to sew from stash. It has
been fun, and daunting, to go through my collected fabrics to find fabric for upcoming projects.

By now you should all have received an email from the national ASG office notifying you of the rescheduled annual conference dates – Oct 21-Oct 24 in Newport Beach, CA.

Our chapter is also holding a sew-in that weekend Oct 22-Oct 24 at Unity Village. If you are not able to attend the national conference I hope you are able to attend our local sew-in for a chance to spend time with other sewists.
 
Happy Sewing!

I've been thinking today about how much the technology of garment sewing has changed in the last two decades. It wasn’t that long ago that pdf patterns were introduced allowing many small designers to sell patterns without the costs of printing and maintaining a stock of physical patterns. I find myself primarily using pdf patterns now both for the unique styles offered and the ease of obtaining a pdf pattern whenever the mood strikes.

In the past 14 months or so, the idea of using a projector to display the pattern image directly onto fabric (or tracing paper) has really taken off. I’ve enjoyed experimenting with this new technology as well. Many of those same small designers who started out with pdf files have embraced this new format and now offer projector files.

In addition to changes in pattern formats, there has been an explosion of tutorials and sewalongs available on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and on designer’s websites.
I wonder how many new sewists are drawn in by the easy accessibility of inspiration and tutorials any time and any place?

Has your sewing been influenced by changes in technology?
Happy Sewing!
Jill

As I write this letter, the holiday season is upon us. I know many of
you are sewing gifts for loved ones this year. I hope those gifts of your
time and effort provide joy for both you and the recipients. Isn’t it
wonderful to be able to show our friends and family our love through
sewing?!
Thank you to everyone who participated in our virtual Annual Chapter
meeting this year. We had a very interesting presentation by Linda
Lee of The Sewing Workshop as well as the election of the Chapter
Advisory Board for the 2021. The 2021 Chapter Advisory Board
members are as follows:
President – Jill Moore
Treasurer – Robin Pruitt
Secretary – Katie Teach
Education/Events – Karin Kraft-Stuppy
Member – Debra Cole
Community Service – Judy Foglio
Newsletter – Karen Nelson Bland
If you are interested in volunteering on the Board, or have suggestions,
please reach out to one of us. The email addresses for all CAB
members can be found on the chapter website – kansascityasg.org
Unfortunately, due to the ongoing pandemic we have cancelled the 3rd
Annual Sew-In scheduled for February 2021. We hope to reschedule
the sew-in for a Fall 2021 date assuming it is safe to do so.
In good news, we will be able to hold the Gail Yellen event scheduled
for March either in-person or by live stream. More information to come
on that event.

What a strange year this has been!    I had hoped that by Fall and our annual meeting date we would be safely meeting in-person again.    Thank you to everyone who responded to the survey regarding your preferred annual meeting experience.   Based on the responses we will hold our annual meeting virtual.   Our annual meeting will be held October 24.
 
The election of officers will occur by survey and proxy vote.   We will send out the survey and proxy ballot information in the next 2-3 weeks.   
 
Karin Kraft-Stuppy does have a great annual meeting program planned with guest speaker Linda Lee of The Sewing Workshop.   Linda’s presentation will be available to all KC ASG members at no cost.   A link to the video presentation will be sent out closer to the meeting date.
 
Since we will not be able to have our traditional fashion show at the annual meeting, I thought it would be fun to put together a slideshow of our chapter member's favorite projects since the last meeting.    If you would like to participate in the slide show, please email admin@kansascityasg.org 1-3 photos of sewn items (garment, quilt, bag, etc.) that you would like to share with the chapter.    If you would like to include information about your item(s) we will include that in the slide show.
 
With the cooler weather upon us I’ve started in on my Fall sewing.   I hope each of you is able to get in some relaxing sewing time, too.    
 
Many of our chapter neighborhood groups are meeting virtually or socially distanced during this time.  
I encourage you to try out a neighborhood or special interest group to meet friends on a similar sewing journey.
 
Happy Sewing!
Jill

Kansas City Art Institute
A message from Kim Eichler-Messmer, Kansas City Art Institute :

I am writing to you as a representative of the Kansas City Art Institute Fiber Department. In light of the Covid-19 Pandemic, we are working to prepare for the fall semester and the possibility of teaching classes online. We are looking for donations of sewing machines in good working order. We have many students that rely on our shared departmental sewing machines to create their work. This fall semester we have three classes that will be relying on sewing: I'm teaching a quilting class, local artist Hadley Clark is teaching an introduction to sewing class, and Associate Professor Marie Bannerot McInerney is teaching our Junior major studio class that will be covering three-dimensional sewing techniques for texture and sculptural forms. 

Should we have to move to online teaching we will not have enough sewing machines to provide each student with their own to take home for the semester. Any sewing machine would be welcome, no matter what brand or age, as long as it runs. KCAI is a nonprofit institution of higher education and can provide documentation to make any donation tax-deductible. 
 
 ScrapsKC
 
A message from Rebecca Fulton, ScrapsKC:

I am the textile manager at Scraps KC, a non-profit creative reuse center here in Kansas City. We have a huge textile department and get some really great new and vintage donations.

We rely on volunteers to help sort and measure fabric, notions, yarn, etc. Please let me know if you have some members who have a few hours a week to volunteer. Volunteers receive a 20% discount on days they volunteer!

We are specifically looking for up to 4 volunteers each day Mon, Tue, Thurs, or Fri from 12-2 or 2-4 (or 12-4).

Chapter Events and Neighborhood Groups Meetings
At this time, the National ASG has suggested that chapters suspend chapter and neighborhood group meetings until it is safe for individuals to gather in groups again.

Chapter Events

Should it be necessary to cancel upcoming chapter events/workshops we will notify enrolled participants and provide refunds.


Neighborhood Groups
The chapter website has been updated with planned monthly programming information provided by the Neighorhood Group leaders.    


Community Service Project - Face Masks
Kansas City ASG member Phyllis Carlyle put together the following information for those interested in making face masks for local hospitals.    Please click here to access the PDF Phyllis created which has been posted on the chapter website.
You are welcome to use this handout and pass it on. It is all about shareware provided through generosity for charity only, so please do not sell it or the items you make. Some of you may have seen these links and others. I’ve concentrated on:
    -articles that answer my concerns about what to sew with and that DIY masks are not perfect but are better than nothing
    -links to patterns and videos that I feel are concise and have good instructions
    -paper patterns you can print and cut out. (Thanks, Wild Ginger software)
As a retired graphic designer with Adobe software, I created this using InDesign and have it available in universal PDF format, including links to the Internet.
Sewing friends, here's a chance to turn your stash into good. And heads up, I hear elastic is already getting hard to buy. I suggest that if you use bias ties or even ribbon, to make a version that ties at the back of the head instead of using ear loops.
Sanitizer, toilet paper, elastic. Who knew?
Phyllis Carlyle