Hi

I wanted to update on my progress that's happening in my custom sewing services. The Millennium Luxury Coach Pillows that I talked about last week are now complete and look Beautiful.  This was a really wonderful sewing project and I will post some pictures ASAP. Who can tell, these pillows I made may well be touring the East Coast of the US in a matter of weeks from now.

I’m now starting a slipcover project today on another French Provencal chair with a cushion.  I will be making a pattern for this chair so that I will be able to make multiple slipcovers for this type of chair and that should save a lot of time on  future projects. Slipcovers for chairs make such a huge change to existing furniture. This should be a great project and I will post pictures soon as possible.

Thank You.

Elaine Massingale

Elaine’s Custom Sewing

321-377-1201

What  motivates some folks to learn custom sewing skills? Is it driven by artistic creativity or by the drive to master the mechanics? Maybe its the soothing sound of the sewing machine, as it makes its train-track journey through the fabric.

In the end maybe the drivers are as different as the people, each one telling of a different story, woven from the fabric of their own life story.  In any event I might be able to do  some research on the subject ,as I plan to start up my new custom sewing training course.

My idea is to offer individual training in all aspects of custom sewing. The class size will be small, from one person to a maximum of three persons, focusing on improving the participants skill base. The participants will need to already have some basic sewing skills and will need to bring their own sewing machine, as well as the fabrics that they wish to use for their chosen project. By the end of the classes they can walk away with something of value as well as the skills that they have learned during the course.

Their chosen projects can be anything they want in the areas of slipcovers, pillow, cushions or any home décor item.  The venue for the course will be my workroom, here in Sanford Port.  see my contact page for directions to my workroom. The courses will be schedule to suit the calendar of the folks who express interest and I expect the training session to run over two or three days, depending on what skills the participant(s) want to add. 

Please use the contact link to my website or you call me direct on (321) 377 1201, if the course is of interest. I am really excited by the idea of my custom sewing course and helping folks improve their ability to produce their own custom sewing projects.  It should be exciting to spend time with fellow sewing enthusiasts too. And I will be able to do some of my own research too, of how folks got involved in custom sewing in the first place.  

Have a great week 

Elaine.

www.elainescustomsewing.com

What a great month October was here in Central Florida. The weather finally cooled down and our local fall festivals started to happen. I visited our local "Oktoberfest" here in Sanford, which gave vendors a chance to show off some great hand-made crafts and clothing items. At the festival I met one nice lady who makes kids custom clothes from men's shirts. That's the great thing about custom sewing, you can start out with one item and end up producing a totally new purposed item. It was so great to see this example of repurposing clothing in action. It's like the custom pillows I produce from tee-shirts, a new use for an existing item that most likely has sentimental value (maybe a special holiday tee-shirt or a concert tee-shirt). I know these repurposed tee-shirts bring so much joy to the customers, and they are growing in popularity as word of them gets out there. I must watch out for more examples of this reuse & repurpose concept, and once I start to look I'm sure I will see examples everywhere.

The idea of repurposing fabric is something our parents and grandparents would have been well familiar with. Custom clothing and custom sewing were concepts that went well beyond making a custom made new suit or new dress. Custom sewing also meant resizing and repurposing. Large families, tight budgets and a shortage of supply called for local sewing skills, as clothes were passed on to siblings or to extended family members. I believe that repurposing still has a big role to play in order to get the most use out of expensive, exotic or sentimental items of fabric,  and I get a great delight when I'm asked to take an existing piece of fabric and turn it into something new, one that will bring years of extended joy to the owner. So before you discard a lovely item of fabric, be it silk, linen, cotton or whatever, take a minute to consider how it might be repurposed. Taking the time to turn a nice piece of fabric into a custom made pillow case and maybe posting it to your friend in Ohio, or your daughter in Miami will make for a very unique and memorable gift, one they will value for years to come. How did I get on to all this anyway? Yes, the lady selling repurposed shirts at our local Oktoberfest. I took away a small but valuable lesson from her on the value of reusing what we hold dear - that's the real message of my blog.

I hope you are enjoying this sudden cold spell and here's looking forward to more cool weather and more local festivals in this part of Central Florida.

Have a great week.

Elaine.