Sew, What’s Half of a Jalie Garment Sewing Retreat?

That’s what happens when you plan a sewing retreat for the last part of November.   A snow storm is forcast.  Snow comes.  The 401, a major road, is closed in areas.  The forcast was for as much as 40 cm in some areas for day 2.  It became half of a Jalie Garment Sewing Retreat.

Sew, we had a 1-day retreat instead.  And I forgot to take photos!

And how did it go?

REALLY WELL! Considering that set-up AND take-down had to happen the same day.  Each person had a table to themselves, and a few brought their sewing machine and their serger.  I had 2 large tables on risers for cutting, plus 2 ironing stations and the flow went very smoothly.  

I LOVE Jalie sewing patterns and have sewn most of them, giving me the experience of guiding others.

One of the Eleonore sewists needed to make fitting adjustments to her pattern, she did that, cut them out and had them almost complete.  Another Eleonore sewist didn’t arrive until 1 pm, her’s were cut out and she also made great progress.

I showed my Mimosa sewist how to alter her pattern for round shoulders, and her tee was almost finished by the time we had to pack up.

Melanie was being sewn with flannel in a plaid print, which can be a challenge, but it was coming along really well.

2805, “Women’s Tee’s” was almost completed by a beginner garment sewist!

A Laurent Sweat-shirt was cut and completed!

A challenging Bella dress was taken on, traced, cut out, and partially sewn.

I wish I had taken some photos.

My Take-Away

Don’t book something that out-of-towners have to travel to in November!

It was a positive experience for everyone who came.  There was plenty of space for us to move around, and the 2 raised tables made cutting easy on our backs.  The Keurig coffee maker was a nice touch as were the snacks and bottled water.

I WILL do this again, in May 2023.  As soon as I have a firm date, I’ll announce it here on my blog, facebook and instagram.  

Half of a Jalie Garment Sewing Retreat is better than nothing.