Bedford Glen Accessory Contest

While I was attending the SAGA Retreat in Bedford Glen as a student, I did take time out to do a little work and one of the things I did was take a photo of the Accessory Contest Winners.

Congratulations to everyone who took time to enter, but a really big congratulations to the winners!

Pictured above are:

Ingrid Chan (California), Second place winner for her smocked clutch bag.
Judy Simpson (Maine), First place winner for her smocked sewing purse.
Chris Sykes (California), Third place winner for her embroidered sewing hussif.

Saturday April 8th 2017 and New York City was awash with Tartan!

Why? Because it was the Tartan Day Parade! In fact it was the 19th Tartan Day Parade held in the City.  April 6^th is actually designated Tartan Day, a day to celebrate Scottish heritage and pride and the parade is held annually on the Saturday closest to that date. Events are held all week –Tartan Week.

The parade is held on 6^th Avenue between 44^th and 55^th streets. The road is closed and the various participating groups mass in their appointed spots before heading off down the avenue passed the famous Radio City Music Hall onto the end at 55^th, where they are greeted by the organizers and the Grand Marshal of the event, before dispersing again.

So, why would I blog about this event? Because this was the fourth year I have taken part along with other members of another organization I belong to, the Daughters of the British Empire (DBE). Our little band of marchers  from chapters in New York and Connecticut includes husbands and family and, Sherlock, a Basset hound who draws much attention wearing his tartan coat!

And because it leads me into a blog about Tartan and its history!  More about that next time!

SAGA Bedford Glen Retreat

I know, it has been a couple of weeks since the first SAGA Retreat of 2017 held in Bedford Glen, Massachusetts, ended but as I said in my previous Blog post, I have been a little busy with another important project-the next issue of SAGANews! Anyway, that is all in hand and so I have time to get back to the Blog.

Wes working hard in his class-Fitting for Boys

The Bedford Glen Retreat was wonderful, not least because I got to take classes all weekend, but also because it was a fun, relaxed event. The hotel hosting the event was very nice and the food was great. The rooms and lighting were all excellent and being a smaller event, the attendees got to mix and mingle a lot.

I chose to take classes with the same teacher for the whole weekend and Cindy Foose was the lady who put up with me! Being in the same classroom meant I could leave some of my heavier items there overnight (the classrooms are always locked during breaks and after class).

The classes I took were really well presented with lots of good information, some of it basic (that sometimes gets forgotten) and a lot of it new. Cindy provided very comprehensive notes and there was little need to add to them. As our classes were small in number, we got to do a few extra things, like make samples of techniques for our notebook, which helps imprint a technique in my brain!

The first class I took was on constructing for boys, something that doesn't always get covered in the heirloom sewing world. The techniques learned in the class will help me not only with boys, but also items for girls. ( We got to make samples, and the completed shorts fit Wes, my SAGA bear mascot!).

A pair of shorts in the making for Wes (with teacher Cindy Foose in the background)

The other class I took was to construct a dress from a new pattern Cindy has designed. Again the class handout was very informative and added a lot to the general construction sheet that came with the dress pattern (which, along with everything to make the dress, was included in the kit). Could you make the dress just using the pattern instruction sheet? Yes, you could as it covers everything very concisely. Taking the class added a lot more detailed construction and the chance to make changes to the basics. It also gave us the benefit of the designers hands-on knowledge and to view several garment made using the same pattern.

Wes wearing his new shorts and modeling a collar made from a man's hankie borrowed from Cindy Foose.

Again, the smaller class size gave us time to not only work on samples for our notebook, but also on our actual garment and I came home with an almost completed dress. Many of the other students did complete their dresses. I was just a little tired on Sunday morning to want to work directly on my garment, so I made some samples of techniques instead. (That will teach me to spend Saturday night drinking champagne and eating chocolate with my friends until all hours!).

Wes, worn out from all the fun at the Bedford Glen Retreat

As well as taking the classes, there were the lunches and dinners together with everyone attending and Saturday night, the banquet and raffle baskets! The Hospitality room was open all day and this is where the baskets could be viewed, along with the donations to Wee Care. The Accessory contest entries were also displayed in Hospitality and nearly all attendees took the time to view them and vote. Congratulations to the winners!

And to round the event off, Mother Nature decided to play an April Fool on us and snow! Of course, this is nothing to those of us that live in New England, but for some of the attendees and teachers this was treat!

Snow on April 1

So, with the registration date (May 1 at 10 am Central time) for the next SAGA Retreat in St. Louis fast approaching, if you are on the fence about attending my advise to you is get off the fence and register! You will be glad you did.

Wes with his girlfriends at the banquet

Break Time Over!

Sorry that there hasn't been a SAGANews blog up-date for a while but I have been busy with one thing and another.

The 'one thing' I have been busy with is the next issue of SAGANews (Volume 38 Issue 2) which will be going to layout soon, then printed and  mailed out to members by mid-May (hopefully!).

This is our Wee Care issue and is filled with lots of ideas for Wee Care items. I know that Wee Care is special to most of our SAGA members and hope that this issue will inspire everyone.

The issue will also contain information on the ladies who are candidates for election to the SAGA Board. Thank you to those ladies who will be volunteering their time to work together for the membership and oversee the everyday running of the organization. Please take the time to read their statements and also to complete and return your Proxy (which will be in this issue) if you are not attending the Annual Meeting to be held at the SAGA Retreat in St. Louis. Voting for the Board will be electronic and you will receive an email with detailed instructions. If you do not have an email address or know a member who does not, please contact the SAGA Secretary, Sally Rifenburg (secretary@smocking.org) who will mail a ballot paper.

The 'another' thing I have been busy with was attending the SAGA Retreat in Bedford Glen and actually taking classes! More about that in another blog post.

So, after the short break, the SAGANews blog is back and you can look for regular posts again!

Romantic Wedding

On a recent visit to to the coastal town of Madison, Connecticut I spotted an interesting window display set up by the Madison Historical Society for Valentine's Day. The item that caught my eye, was this beautiful wedding gown from 1865. It doesn't say who wore the gown, but it is excellent condition.

The satin shoes date from 1845, so were probably not the ones worn by the bride, but work well with the gown in the display.

 The train of the gown is interesting for the shape of the edge and every one of the blocks is piped.

This is the detail of the lace front panel.  Still in very good condition.