Summer clothes….

Spring has been pretty mellow down here at 54 Cove Street. Spring is so fleeting in Maine, and this Winter was such a bitch, that folks are taking every possible advantage to be outside.  Whenever I get the chance I partake of the patio knitting experience.  Nothing like sun on your face and hands on the wool….. The programming for June is quieter than our usual offerings to reflect this shift.  Come July and August we will pick back up again.  It may be hard to imagine now, but it will get hot in the real days of Summer, and we have air conditioning…. While Mother Nature is baking your tomatoes you can come inside and do some cool stitching.

A reminder that we are hosting two fabulous out-of-town teachers who will be teaching some great workshops.  First up is Gale Zucker teaching a weekend of photography for Crafters June 28th & 29th. If you want to step up the images on your website, or your social media presence, or your Etsy shop, these workshops may be just what you need.  On Saturday she will lead an all-day session of everything you could need to take your photos from ok to beautiful. She will teach you how to make the most of your camera, your subjects, your still-lives, and then cover some basic editing.  On Sunday we have two different workshops, one on more in-depth editing, and another on making cool images with your phone. You can read more about all these offerings on this Page. We have plenty of room for more folks.  

Then in July, we host another Gail, this one also known as The Kangaroo Dyer, Gail Callahan.  Gail is a bit of a color wizard, and will lead a two-day intensive on making dozens of colors starting with just three.  The workshop will take place on the weekend of the 12th & 13th, and it will be a real learning experience for those who want to take their color work to another level. You can dye yarn, or fiber, and even fabric, so this workshop is great for all fiber enthusiasts. You can read more about this workshop HERE. There is still room in this one as well...

Both of these women are fabulous, enthusiastic and generous teachers.  If you are leaning towards registering I promise you will take an boatload of learning away from both of these workshop offerings.  If you're coming from out-of-town and need info about where to stay and how to get here, go to our Nitty Gritty page and we have a link to Travel info HERE. We hope to see you! If you have any questions about either, please do not hesitate to call me at 747 5015 or email at infoATagatheringofstitches.com

The rest of our Summer will include a fairly large amount of garment making, because Summer is a great time to practice making clothes, when they only need to do the minimum of coverage. We have loaded the schedule with short-term projects to get you comfortable with construction and add some sweet pieces to your closet.  Three new offerings to the line-up include a sweet Pinafore for the wee one in your life, the Scout Tee for a quick and dirty, (and versatile) top, and the Staple dress, for those itching to make one, this is a beautifully simple pattern. We've also added an Infinity Scarf to our schedule, and the Tova top is back in August, and these are in addition to our other sewing offerings, all of which can be seen here.

We have two garment sewing intensives on the calendar for the Summer. Cheslye will lead her popular Pattern Making workshop for a weekend on August 23rd & 24th.  In July she's got a new workshop in Construction Techniques for those who want to hone their zipper insertion, placket sewing, seam treatments. That one is the 26th and 27th, for another weekend intensive.  So you see, if you've got a burning desire to make clothing, we can help you!  Whether you're an absolute beginner, or an intermediate, or even an experienced sewist, we've got something for you.  For the next couple of weeks we'll be running Open Studio Sewing Hours on Tuesdays for those who might need a bit of help getting through a project.  I'll be hanging out offering assistance to any who need it.  Bring your project and your machine (or rent one of ours) and we'll get you back on the path.  Or if you just want someone around to ask questions of while you work on a project… The cost is $15 for the three hour period, and you don't need to register, just show up. The dates to begin with are June 10th & 24, July 1st & 8th.  If this is popular, we will continue it.

I'll be back in a couple of days with other programming for the Summer, but wanted to let you know about the garment additions.  The June schedule will go up as a pdf by Tuesday. The calendar page is up-to-date with June, July and August programming so far. Check it out now if you can't wait….