OKC American Sewing Guild Camp Canyon Retreat 2019

I made some neat clothes!

Literally a month ago -- talk about a late blog post!!-- I participated in my first full sewing retreat. (I went to the 2018 retreat but only stayed for a day.) The Oklahoma City chapter of America Sewing Guild hosts a three-day long retreat annually at Camp Canyon Methodist Camp. The weekend consisted of make-n-take projects, a fabric "garage sale", door prizes (I didn't win any 😔) and lots & lots of sewing. We were housed in the main conference room but our meals were served 1/3 mile away in the mess hall. The campsite is super scenic so I spent a lot of time meandering around outside.

About forty ladies from sewing club participated in the retreat. I was seated at a long table with Karen, Brenda, Karla, Tammy, Irene and Amy. We all got along, which was great because we spent all weekend together (its pretty hard to move once you get your sewing station all set up).  My initial roommate was Marilyn but she had a last minute family emergency and couldn't make it, so my new roommate was Connie. And that's about all of the names I can remember from a month ago... sorry, my memory is crap. LOL

This is just one tiny sample of the fabric I bought from the garage sale. RagsReborn is going to have SO MUCH new fabric for fall/holiday craft shows!!!

The first thing we did after setting up our sewing stations was rummage through the garage sale. Everyone was encouraged to bring their left over scrap fabric (and pretty much anything else that is sewing related) to sell as a sewing club fundraiser. There was an entire room full of awesome stuff! We were allowed to pack as much as could possibly fit into a plastic shopping bag for $5/bag. I bought a bag of fun patterned fabric for RagsReborn and a bag of fabric and notions for me to use throughout the retreat. Each year, the sewing club holds a garage sale challenge where we make items using only fabric purchased from the garage sale. There are two categories - clothing and non-clothing, and I planned to make one of each to enter. I didn't know what I would do with all my new fabric, but I had all weekend to figure that out! My friend, Brenda, became my personal shopper and brought me all sorts of fabric to add to my stash. Honestly, she brought me more than I could use so I had to put some of it back. LOL I only brought a couple of patterns with me because I wasn't sure how much I could sew in one weekend. Especially because I was strictly sewing garments and I'm new (and not very good) at sewing clothes. 

All of my beautifully traced and cut pattern pieces 😍 Thanks again to Marilyn for letting me borrow her pattern and use her tracing paper. 

My first project of the weekend was to sew an outfit for the sewing club's pattern challenge. For the challenge, we had to choose a Simplicity brand pattern that is approved by American Sewing Guild, sew the garment and model it at our monthly meeting. My friend, Marilyn, and I decided to sew the same outfit. She was going to guide me through the process but since she couldn't make it to the retreat, I was on my own. And what do I do? I started sewing the shirt and decided that it would look so much better as a dress. Like, the cutest little mod shift dress ever! So I went rogue and spent all day sewing the black puppy dress (pictured in the very first picture of this blog post). The fabric I used was from the garage sale so I'll be entering the dress into the sewing club's garage sale challenge, clothing category. I did eventually get around to making the Simplicity pattern (#8021, view A & B). Brenda picked out the black suede fabric with the eyelet cutouts. 

The second day of the sewing retreat turned into a dress making day. I was going to sew a couple of different variations of the Simplicity pattern (to get the hang of making simple shirts and pants) but my friend, Karen, gave me this beautiful flowing yellow floral fabric. There was tons of it! I was pondering what to make with it when Carolyn and Brenda came over to show me this designer fashion catalog. I don't remember which brand/designer it was but there were gorgeous $400 summer dresses in it.  I showed them Karen's fabric and a dress that I liked and we set off to make a replica. Carolyn is a seamstress and used to own Helen Enox Fabrics where she did custom tailoring so I was in good hands. 

Top: the pattern I used for the bodice of the dress, Karen's yellow fabric and the dress from the catalog. Bottom: a cute keychain Brenda gifted me and our second make-n-take project; a tablet stand.

I would say that the dress was a team effort but Brenda and Carolyn mostly make it for me. The only part I sewed was the bodice, which I botched up so Brenda had to take it apart and re-sew it for me. Carolyn has the most incredible Bernina sewing machine (advanced, high tech and expensive could be other adjectives to describe it). It practically sews itself. She taught me how to use the gathering foot and rolled hem foot on it. Then, she taught me how to use her serger, which changed my life. Seriously. I have already started saving up money to buy one of my own. After we finished the first dress, I decided that I needed to make a second one by myself. I grabbed a few pink fabric scraps and sewed the dress pictured in the very first picture of this blog post. I decided on a different design for the bodice so I wouldn't have two identical dresses. Plus, I think the racer-back works better as a summer dress. I was so proud of myself. Not only did I sew a dress all on my own, but it was my fourth garment I made that weekend!

Brenda, me, Carolyn and Karen

Sunday was the third and last day of the retreat. I think most of the women were ready to leave but I still had sewing to do! Brenda picked out some black & brown fabric for me and I had promised her that I'd use it for something before the retreat ended, so I made the shirt pictured in the very first picture of this blog post. I also started the round purse pictured below. I had no idea that round purses were so trendy now; I just felt like designing and sewing one. The chain and charms were from a kit that I picked out at the garage sale so I'll be entering it into the sewing club's garage sale challenge, non-clothing category. Our two make-n-take projects for the weekend was a shopping bag made from recycled feed bags (I used an old dog food bag, pictured below) and a collapsible tablet/book stand. Those are so cool and useful. I'll be making more of those and adding them to my craft show inventory line up.

Final inventory from the retreat - three dresses, two shirts, one pair of pants, one tablet stand, and two bags. I would call that a huge success. I had a blast and am so thankful for all of the new friends that I made. Everyone is so smart and talented! I plan to use what I learned to sew many more outfits. Now, let's all wish me luck in the Simplicity pattern challenge and garage sale challenges! 

Erica attends a sewing retreat

I have officially been a member of the Oklahoma chapter of the American Sewing Guild for one full year. The guild is made up of around fifty kind & wonderful women who have taken me in as one of their own (even though my attendance record for meetings is awful and my sewing skill level is a little shaky). Each year, the guild holds a three-day sewing retreat at Canyon Camp in Hinton, OK. I was interested in participating but wasn't sure if an all-weekend retreat was right for me. My friend, Brenda, encouraged me to ask if it was possible for me to register for just a day. Jane, the former President of the Oklahoma chapter and chairwoman for the retreat, made an exception for me to only attend Friday's session. Attending retreat for one day meant twelve hours of non-stop sewing (9am - 9pm). I decided to pack ambitiously and brought three projects to work on. At the end of the evening, I had only finished one of the three! As mentioned above, my sewing skills are a little shaky. LOL

Note the picture of my rugged Subaru in the outdoors. LOL

Canyon Camp is a beautiful campsite for the United Methodist Church. We were housed in the conference center which was about a quarter of a mile away from the cafeteria. (There were many other buildings and cabins but I wasn't allowed to explore too much on my own. The only downside of being the youngest member attending a retreat with fifty-two older women is that I had fifty-two "moms" looking after me.) Jane was waiting for me when I arrived -- I was late, no surprise -- she greeted me wholeheartedly with a "There she is! Erica!!" and goodie bag. The goodie bag was a handmade lunch bag filled with treats and supplies for the weekend. The Sewing Retreat Board has spent all year preparing (aka hand-making) these for us. I was lead into the main conference room to set up my sewing station and then to the kitchen for snacks. Wes made a pecan pie from scratch for me to bring to share. All the women were impressed that my husband bakes. I was placed at the end of a long table across from Brenda and her friend Karen (I think that was her name. I'm terrible!)

Top: Our sewing room. I sat in the back corner (not pictured). 

Bottom: Wes's beautiful and delicious pie amidst all the other snacks.  

When I started teaching myself to sew a couple of years ago, I noticed that everyone was 1. very eager to help me learn and give me tips & tricks and 2. astonished that a "young person" has taken an interest in sewing. The ladies of American Sewing Guild were no different. A week before the retreat, Jane emailed me a pattern of a stuffed animal (sloth) that she thought I should make during the retreat. I brought all of the supplies and decided to start on that project first. Jane came over to my station to help me get settled and started on the project. Throughout the remainder of the morning, it felt like almost everyone came up to me to check on me and ask what I was working on. This is a very close knit and social bunch so it wasn't that much of a surprise but I think a majority of the attention was fixed on me; maybe because this was my first time attending retreat and they wanted me to feel extra welcome. I enjoyed the attention and making friends but with all the chatting, I barely got anything done. Brenda later told me that the retreat is more for socializing than for sewing. I am very slow when it comes to sewing projects and this sloth project was no different. I spent the entire morning tracing and cutting my pattern and then it was lunchtime. Where did the time go!?!

We enjoyed a nice trek to the cafeteria for lunch (baked potatoes, chili and salad bar with an apple tart for dessert).  After lunch, we had our first workshop. Another woman named Brenda taught us how to make a matching coin purse and pin cushion set. I was doing great until my sewing machine broke. Oh no!!!!!! This is the same sewing machine that was giving me trouble during my sewing course at Frances Tuttle a few months ago. I thought I had fixed it and it was working fine in the morning but it was not cooperating this afternoon. The machine was not picking up the bobbin thread, instead it was forming "birds nest" knots with my thread. Luckily, I was surrounded by sewing machine pros and everyone came around to have a look. My friend, Brenda, Susan and LuElla each spent around 10 - 30 minutes sitting with my machine trying to fix it. After that, I spent another forty-five minutes or so trying to diagnose and fix the issue via help from the Internet. I followed every troubleshooting tip but had no luck. I was afraid that I would have to end my day early but Brenda (my sewing machine savior) lent me her machine to use for the remainder of the day. She claimed that she had a lot of tracing and cutting to do and wouldn't be needing it. I think she saw me about to burst into tears of frustration and swooped in to save the day.  I owe this woman so much.

Along with lending me her super easy to use digital sewing machine (I want one of these SO BAD!!), Brenda gave me a private lesson on the coin purse and pin cushion. Our teacher, the other Brenda, had completed the workshop and was busy with projects of her own by that time. I missed out on a majority of the workshop but Brenda had previously made the project before so she had no problem guiding me. The afternoon flew by and then it was dinner time before I knew it (I was still not done sewing my sloth).  We made another walk to the cafeteria for dinner (chicken tacos, Mexican rice, refried beans and a salad bar with a lemon bar for dessert). I ate quickly and returned to my sloth. I was determined to at least finish one of the projects I had brought. The project called for adhering fabric with fusible web. I had never used this before but the instructions seemed fairly straight forward so I started without asking for help. Little did I know, you need to use a press cloth when ironing on the fusible web. So, dumb little me ruined Jane's ironing board cover. I felt so awful because 1. Jane had already done so much for me, 2. she handmade that ironing board cover (read: irreplaceable), 3. it was a shared ironing board so I ruined it for all the other women who needed to iron and 4. I didn't know how to get off the ironed on sticky mess that I had made. After confessing to Jane, I went to Marilyn for help (she's previously invited me over to her house and given me fabric so I felt pretty close to her as a ally). She told me not to worry, the mess would wash out but in the meantime, we could turn the cover inside-out. The second time someone had to save the day for me. After regrouping from my mini panic attack, I finished my stuffed sloth and showed it off to all my new friends. By that time, it was getting dark and it was time for me to leave.

All I have to show for after a full day of sewing - one stuffed animal, one pin cushion and one coin purse.

I had a wonderful time at the annual sewing retreat (even with the aforementioned hiccups). I learned a ton and met many new friends. Each and every woman in attendance was extremely kind and welcoming. They invited me to sit with them during mealtimes, showered me with encouragement and constructive criticism and showed me their finished projects and asked for my approval (like I had any idea what I was doing. LOL) At times I felt like a burden with my many requests for help and faulty sewing machine but that was just my lack of confidence creeping in. They never did anything to lead me to feel inferior. I'm not sure if Jane will invite me back after ruining her ironing board cover but I will be happy to return to 2019's retreat if they'll have me.