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| Tote Bags (self drafted) & Reusable Grocery Bags (pattern by Keykalou Patterns) |
The Sewing Day was held at my house~ a standard 1970's subdivision house with what I like to call the Fort Wayne Floor Plan. That is a circular floor plan with a living room, dining room (which is converted in to my sewing room), kitchen, & family room. We also have a large all season sun room that functions as my dining room. I wanted to make sure we had enough room so I limited the participants to 10. We only had 6 show up plus myself and my co-host, Vanessa, my super varsity sewing bestie. We had the day scheduled to last four hours.
We decided to pre-select the fabric combos from my stash and put them on a folding table for people to pick up and sew. I know that sometimes I can spend hours just trying to decide fabric combos so this was a fast way to keep things moving.
We decided to have two ironing stations (set up in separate rooms to avoid blowing a fuse).
For the advanced sewing project we needed purse hardware~ zippers, magnetic snaps, lobster key fobs and the like. This was the handy spot on the buffet near the fabric tables for the baskets of hardware.
We set up all the machines in one room at my large dining room table (it has two leaves in it) with lots of natural light. I had power bars on three separate outlets and long heavy duty extension cords as a contingency in case we blew a fuse and needed to plug in in different rooms. Luckily we did not need to use them!
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| Dining Room was set up for 6 machines. |
We used my sewing room as the cutting station. Two cutting mats pushed together makes a great large multi-person cutting surface.
Refreshments~ everyone loves to eat and chat. Sewing Day was after lunch and ended before dinner so I had fruit and baked goods/desserts as my refreshments. I had cold drinks, a coffee station (love french press coffee) and fresh fruit. It doesn't have to be fancy at all (a Costco run is all it takes...)
Tips that were gleaned from my Sewingmamas friends that were super helpful...
➤ Set out sewing essentials like chopsticks or tube turners, wonder clips, pin cushions, small scissors, marking pens, extra needles, wonder tape for the zippers and spools of thread on the table where everyone can easily grab them.➤ Have at least two experienced sewers as hostesses. I was the lead on making the advanced sewing project~ large tote bags. Having Vanessa help with all the details on the beginner pattern~ reusable grocery bags, help with sewing techniques and safety was ideal.
➤ Two iron board stations and test out your irons prior to sewing day!
➤ Put all the machines in one room~ no one wants to sew solo.
➤ Cutting station~I put two mats together with rotary cutters
➤ Make a sample of each project and copies of the patterns for everyone to have their own copy. For future Sewing Days, I would send the pattern to participants to review prior to Sewing Day. Some people had trouble concentrating in the group setting on the pattern instructions.
➤ At the cutting station my co-host, Vanessa, help people cut the pattern pieces and gave helpful safety tips-- like always cut away from yourself with a rotary cutter, and hold the ruler tightly! Don't assume your guests have been trained up with a healthy fear of sharp cutting tools!!!
➤ Mark all your supplies with washi tape~ esp rotary cutters and even small things like packages of needles.. just makes it easy and clear at clean up.... avoid the awkward oh is that yours? or mine? or have expensive tools go MIA...
All in all keep your expectations loose and flexible. With a variety of sewers, be prepared for it to be more of an instructional day rather than a productive day. I think this will really depend on the sewers' experience level and confidence. We had some extremely slow sewers, some very meticulous sewers and some sewers that didn't read/follow patterns or take instruction well~ this all lent to more of a fellowship and learning Sewing Day. The main thing is have fun. While we only ended up with a few bags but we learned a lot! Several sewers went home with pre-cut reusable grocery bag kits to sew up and bring to the sale. Have a great time and don't be scared to host a Sewing Day!
