Author: Debbie Reid

The World of Sewing Literature

The Dress Diary of Mrs. Anne Sykes

by Melanie Kindrachuk, Librarian & Sewist

If you are interested in history, clothing, textiles, and material culture, you’ll love this one. The author was given an unusual scrapbook, which was full of snippets of fabrics from across the lifetime of Mrs. Anne Sykes, stretching from her wedding day in 1838 onwards.… Read the rest

Quilted Jacket Class

by Sally-Ann Flak

What are some of the hottest fashion trends that we as sewists can readily join in?  One fashion staple that has been gaining popularity for the last few years has been quilted garments, in particular, quilted coats and jackets.  Many of the most popular Indie designers and even the big 5 pattern companies have been showcasing patterns that are available and appropriate for the creation of quilted coats. … Read the rest

Boott Cotton Mill Museum

by Markita Hall-Gumble

In June 2023, PatternReview.com held their in person event in Lowell Massachusetts.  Besides getting together with the sewing tribe, we visited the Boott Cotton Mill Museum and the New England Quilt Museum.

The Boott Museum is part of the National Park Service and is so worth a visit, as it documents an important part of textile history in America.… Read the rest

Santa Embroidery on Velvet

by Jane Dempsey

I saw this Santa Design on Facebook and fell in love.  I have never embroidered on velvet, and it has 83,000 stitches.  But the design went on sale, so I bought it.

Prep Work

  1. As with all Embroidery Library designs, it is very dense, so I used my embroidery software to reduce the density. 
… Read the rest

State Fair Contests – What is the Competition?

Last August, I covered the ASG members’ winning entries at the State Fair. This month, I thought that you might like to see other entries that won ribbons in the same categories, as well as some entries in other sewing-related contests.

Marie Barrese and I made a trip to the Fair to take pictures of items in the cases at the Creative Arts building.… Read the rest

Textiles and Travel – Kogin

by Markita Hall-Gumble

Welcome to my mini blog on my travels
which almost always include textiles
in some way.  I am Markita and I love
traveling the world while learning about
and collecting textiles.  This will be a
fairly regular blog although not in any
specific order of time or textile type.

… Read the rest

What Sewing Machine Should I Buy?

Debbie Ramseyer told me that she belongs to a facebook group for sewists and a newbie asked the question, “What Sewing Machine should I buy?” Debbie responded with the following list of questions:

Look at this the same way you would if buying a car.

1. First, and most importantly, what is your budget?

… Read the rest

Learning Batik in Bali

by Markita Hall-Gumble

I spent almost 4 weeks in Bali.  I had so many textile experiences while there, including 3 different batik classes. First, what is batik?  In a simple answer, batik is a form of printing on fabric using wax as a resist.  Batik has a rich history and it’s origins are over 2000 years old. 

… Read the rest

Upping Your Game – Spotlight on a Neighborhood Group

By Davie Marie Hurlbert

For their first year as a neighborhood group, Upping Your Game (UYG) has been exploring embellishing our garments to take us out of our super causal staying at home routine. 

A few of our members have shared their expertise and challenged us to consider how to transform a plain garment to one with some interesting embellishment.… Read the rest

State Fair Ribbon Winners!

We’ve gone from 3 contestants winning 3 ribbons last year to 13 contestants winning 19 ribbons this year!

Marcia Moore
C114. Collage
Honorable Mention

Jami Roux
D112. Cloth Dolls
1st Place

Joanne Jensen
I172. Adult Apparel
Honorable Mention


Virginia Stein
I179. Computerized Embroidery
Honorable Mention

Judy Nordseth
I183. In the Hoop Embroidery
1st Place

Virginia Stein
I183.

… Read the rest

Plano ASG Entries for the State Fair Creative Arts Contests

I am excited to report that several ASG members entered contests! Take a look at some of the entries below.

It is possible that entries could end up in different departments and categories. If you are not sure of the right category for your item(s) you can ask the people taking the entries at Fair Park and at that point the category can be changed.… Read the rest