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Bay Area Sewists Meetup and Pattern Swap!

March 5, 2014 By Chuleenan 5 Comments

Many patterns

This year began with a bang:  In January I was promoted at work and I also decided to take up the reins as the new organizer for the Bay Area Sewists meetup group, which I mentioned in this earlier post. So life had been super busy, which is why I’ve hardly posted anything in 2014.

But I’m happy to report that on Saturday, February 22, the first official 2014 Bay Area Sewists meetup that I organized, finally happened in Berkeley. It took me a while to get going because I needed to find a free place to meet. One member suggested the San Francisco Public Library but I don’t live in San Francisco and you need to be a resident to use their meeting rooms. Then I discovered that the Berkeley Public Library has a great Community Meeting Room that Berkeley-based organizations can use for free. Our group qualifies because I’m in Berkeley.

I asked Kirsty of Tea and Rainbows if she could help me with this first meetup and she was happy to help. She checked out a Berkeley cafe and restaurant for potential meeting places and she arrived early to help set up. She also had her husband print out some labels for the various pattern categories (dresses, skirts, tops, menswear, etc.) And Meg of Made by Meg, Bay Area Sewists founder, also came early to help set up and stayed to get the room back in order. Thank you Kirsty and Meg!

The room has great tables on wheels that you can easily position around the room. I decided to put them in a square so people could wander around and look at all the patterns. As more and more members and patterns arrived, we added more tables. We began with four tables and ended up filling up eight tables. Dress patterns took up two tables!

Looking over patterns.cropped

More than 20 members came, and nearly everyone brought patterns – anywhere from three or four to more than 30! I handed out “tickets” (small history cards that I had at home) for each pattern. The idea was that people could take as many patterns as they brought.To be fair, everyone who brought a pattern got to pick one pattern, and then after everyone picked one, they got to pick a second one, and then we did a few more rounds and then everyone could just pick however many patterns they wanted.

I brought seven patterns and picked up these four at our swap:

Patterns from swap

I absolutely adore the hat patterns! I have another Patricia Underwood Vogue hat pattern that I got a few years ago. I really like her designs. I want to make that black hat. You can never have too many hats, right?

The vintage Simplicity pattern is from 1967. I always liked those dress/jacket outfits you see in those 1960s films. And now I can make my very own combo!

The Vogue dress pattern appealed to me because of the dropped waist and pleats. And I thought the Very Easy Very Vogue pattern could add some nice casual staples to my wardrobe. And all of these patterns were uncut.

At the end of the swap we held a drawing for Christine Haynes‘s lovely Emery Dress pattern, which was won by Nancy. Thank you, Christine for donating your pattern for our meetup!

If you make the dress, be sure to check out Christine’s Emery Dress Sewalong blog posts on making the dress. You’ll find tips on making adjustments and installing the invisible zipper, and plenty more.

More than 60 leftover patterns were donated to the nonprofit East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse in Oakland. Just for fun, I did a count and discovered that among this pile were 27 McCalls patterns, 12 Simplicity, 11 Vogue, 9 Butterick, 3 New Look, 2 Burda, and 10 miscellaneous (not Big Four).

Patterns donating

Oh, and as I counted the patterns, I found this XL, XXL pajama pattern – perfect for my husband who needs some new pajama bottoms.

Pajama pattern

Karen of Blinky Sews brought her husband to our meetup and he took some group photos at the end. Unfortunately, mine came out blurry so I won’t post them here. But Meg wrote a post last week about the meetup and included a nice group photo, which he also took. So be sure to check it out!

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Filed Under: Bay Area Sewists Tagged With: Bay Area Sewists, Blinky Sews, Christine Haynes, East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse, Emery Dress, Made By Meg, pattern swap, sewing, sewing patterns, Tea and Rainbows

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Comments

  1. Deborah says

    March 27, 2015 at 5:50 am

    Sounds interesting. I love to sew too and I have been doing that and I still aspire to doing great works.

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  2. Sewbecause says

    March 6, 2014 at 7:05 am

    Looks like such a successful meet up! Great job organizing! My husband and I may be moving up so maybe I’ll make the next meeting!

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    • Chuleenan says

      March 6, 2014 at 8:33 am

      Thank you, Angela! It was a lot of fun. You just made me realize that I didn’t mention the next meetup – a fabric swap & discussion of fabric care at the Berkeley Public Library’s Community Meeting Room – March 15, 10:30 am to 12 pm. RSVP at http://meetu.ps/29pXl4

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  3. Karen * WinkyBlinky says

    March 5, 2014 at 5:55 pm

    I am so thankful you took the reins & we are starting to get together! I know there must be a lot more of us (in the San Francisco Bay Area) & hopefully we can bring them out of the woodwork. It’s very low key & a fun get together, Thank You Chuleenan!

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    • Chuleenan says

      March 5, 2014 at 6:35 pm

      You’re so welcome! I hope I can keep it going and that we can all continue meeting more folks who enjoy sewing. I love meeting new people. 🙂

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Closet find! Leftover fabric from my Pilvi Coat (2 Closet find! Leftover fabric from my Pilvi Coat (2nd pic)
🤍🖤
I was digging through my messy closet this weekend and found a couple of forgotten bags in the back and found about a yard of this cotton canvas fabric plus large scraps. I got it at @stonemountainfabric several years ago and made this Pilvi Coat.

I may be able squeeze another jacket out of it. Maybe a Friday Pattern Company Ilford Jacket or a  Papercut Stacker Jacket? I will likely have to piece together some parts but the fabric is busy so it should work. If you have any other pattern suggestions let me know!

Meanwhile - I neatly folded various memade woven tops - a bigger collection than I realized!

#FabricLove #AsciiArt #SewingJackets #BayAreaSewists #BayAreaSewistsMay #SewOver50 #SewOver50May
Day 13 of #MeMadeMay2025 - I finished my Ora Pinaf Day 13 of #MeMadeMay2025 - I finished my Ora Pinafore last night and wore it to lobby CA legislators today.
 
My union’s color is red so of course I had to make red dress! The fabric is linen curtains from IKEA. I bought two curtains thinking I would make a duster but I saw someone wearing the #SoftenStudio #OraPinafore at the SF Quilt Show and had to make it. This is my first one.

Also wearing my #FridayPatternCompany #AdrienneBlouse - fabric from #StonemountainFabric a few years ago.

#SewOver50 #SewOver50May #FPCMadeMade #MeMade #MeMadeWardrobe #MeMadeEveryday #MeMadeMay #BayAreaSewists #BayAreaSewistsMay
#MeMadeMay2025 - I was working from home today. #MeMadeMay2025 - I was working from home today. 

This ensemble is super comfy:

#RomeyGatherTop a #SewHouse7 pattern in a silk cotton blend I got years ago when the Fabric Store had an LA location.

The #TedraSkirt is an oldie but goodie that I made years ago. The denim is nice and soft after many washings. 

These are the glasses I wear when I’m not wearing contacts. 

#MeMadeEveryday #HandMadeWardrobe #BayAreaSewistsMay #SewOver50 #SewOver50May #Cousumain #SewistsOfInstagram
Day 8 of Me Made May - what I wore to work today. Day 8 of Me Made May - what I wore to work today.

I’m not documenting everyday, which is not a requirement of participating in Me Made May anyway - in case you were wondering. Some days I just don’t have time or don’t feel like taking a photo.

Here are the deets:
#PatinaBlouse @fridaypatterncompany in a linen I got from @moodfabrics during a work trip to NYC. I used snaps instead of buttons.

#LaraSkirt @just_patterns - left off the back pleats and added a tie to make an adjustable waist. See 3rd pic for back detail. Fabric from @britexfabrics 

I also wore my #JPChristyCardigan again. It goes well with this ensemble.
 

#MeMadeMay #MeMadeMay2025 #MeMadeMayEveryday #HandmadeWardrobe #BayAreaSewists #BayAreaSewistsMay #SewOver50 #SewOver50May #MadeWithMood #MadeWithBritex
#MeMadeMay25 - Today’s ensemble - Dew Dress by @ #MeMadeMay25 - Today’s ensemble - Dew Dress by @fridaypatterncompany and one of my favorite Pilvi Coats.
✨
The fabric for the #DewDress is from upstairs at @stonemountainfabric 
💛
The #PilviCoat fabric was from @britexfabrics before they moved to their current SF location.

#BayAreaSewistsMay #SewOver50 #SewOver50May #MeMadeWardrobe #MeMadeMay  #YellowDress #FPCMeMadeMay
I made the Christy Cardigan and another Cuff Top i I made the Christy Cardigan and another Cuff Top in April.

As soon as I saw @just_patterns #JPChristyCardigan I had to make it. 

I love the sleeves and I had this wool sweater knit fabric in my stash. The buttons are from @stonemountainfabric 

I got the pattern printed at @studiosessions.sewing so I could get going on it right away. 

Then I made the @theassemblylineshop #TALCuffTop last Sunday for #SewAprilBlouse25 and to wear to a work event in DC last Tuesday. 

Due to time constraints, I went with the Cuff Top, which I’ve made multiple times. I only had a little over a yard so I cropped it. And because it was going to be in the 80s (~27 C), I went with narrow elastic (1 cm). Wide elastic at the cuffs can get sweaty. I whipped it together in 2.5 hours.

I finally took photos yesterday. 

Also wearing @naughtybobbinpatterns Palazzo Pants in a linen rayon blend from @metrotextilesnyc. The other fabrics have been in my stash for so long I can’t remember where I got them. 

This is my first post for #MeMadeMay2025

#MeMade #MeMadeMay #SewOver50 #SewOver50May #SewnShownSeated
I’m happy to say that I brought a bag full of fa I’m happy to say that I brought a bag full of fabric and didn’t take NOT take any home. Mission accomplished! 🤗

✨ I organized this @bayareasewists Fabric Swap + Sewcial - which took place earlier today. You can see more in the #BayAreaSewists Reel. 

✨There was so much fabric but remarkably, only one table of leftover fabric, which w donated to the Berkeley Public Library for their sewing circle. 

Plenty of fabric went to new homes. Yay! 

I’m wearing the #AntheaBlouse (sleeve fabric is from a previous Bay Area Sewists event, the solid fabric is a Japanese cotton lawn from @stonemountainfabric purchased last year (I think). Palazzo pants (linen-rayon blend from @metrofabrics) are a @naughtybobbinpatterns pattern. I used the Anthea sleeves on my @carolyncassiepatternco Perth Blouse (see previous post) - and the same fabric combo.

Thanks to Bernice(@sewbee73) for taking my photo! 🤳

#BayAreaSewists #BayAreaSewistsApril #FabricSwap #Destash #SewingMeetup #SewOver50 #SewOver50Apr
Went to my first quilt show today and met @entropy Went to my first quilt show today and met @entropyalwayswins!

💙 Hillary is giving talks about her quilts twice a day (11:30 am and 2:30 pm). So great to hear the background of her quilts. 

💙 The #SFQuiltShow organized by @sfquiltersguild is on display through Saturday.

🪡 All of the quilts are Hillary’s except the last one. So great to meet you Hillary!

#SFQuiltersGuild #SewOver50 #SewOver50Mar
I made bracelets to match my Dew Dress with leftov I made bracelets to match my Dew Dress with leftover scraps!🤗

This idea is from the book Alabama Sewing + Design. Just take strips of jersey and make knots - and that’s it!

💛The Dew Dress is the second yellow garment I’ve ever made. It’s usually a color I avoid but not anymore! This dress is a really quick sew once you cut everything out.

Stay tuned for photos of the dress, which I wore to work earlier this week. 

💛Fabric from @stonemountainfabric upstairs.

#BayAreaSewists #BayAreaSewistsMarch #ScrapBuster #MeMade #Cousumain #SewOver50 #SewOver50Mar
Here are photos of my @CarolynAndCassie Perth Blou Here are photos of my @CarolynAndCassie Perth Blouse with sleeves from the @AnnaAllenClothing Anthea Blouse and my @AnneTilley.Patterns  Magic Pants 
🤸🏽🤸🏿🤸🏻
I made the blouse last month (see previous post for a closer look) and finished the pants last weekend. I took these photos on Monday before I left for work.
🩷
The pants are my February No Frills entry for #MagamSewalong hosted by @yogabyrdsews @suestoney and @sewing_in_spain !
I really needed some basic black pants and decided to try this pattern. I didn’t make a muslin - gasp - because they have a hidden expandable panel in front. So I decided to take my chances.
🖤
I shopped my stash and used a medium-weight wool fabric. The pattern is designed for linen so maybe that wasn’t the best choice as these are high-waisted pants and the wool is a little itchy. But I can wear them in the spring, fall, and winter in the Bay Area so I will get a lot of wear from them. I need to tweak the back a little but otherwise, they fit quite well!
🩶
Note on blouse fabric: I got the solid cotton lawn from @stonemountainfabric last year. The Liberty print was from a Bay Areas Sewists event several years ago.
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#MagamNoFrillsFebruary #SewOver50Feb #SewOver50 #SewYourStash #BayAreaSewists #BayAreaSewistsFebruary  #DopamineDressing

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