Sewing Classes in Austin

The Austin School of Fashion Design has added some exciting new classes to our already full schedule, but I think that everyone will agree that they are an extra bonus. Julia Plume's class on Manufacturing a Collection has been very very popular......full from A to Z with information on marketing and manufacturing. Her class is always full.

For the students who have taken all of the classes but still want a "real world" hands on experience of creating and sewing a collection.....we now have added that class. Mary Margaret is teaching it and so far we have a nice collection.

Kim and Ashley are teaching all of the sewing, purse design, hat design, and felting classes. I am expecting everyone in those classes to be in our fashion show in June, which will be held again at the Mexican American Cultural Center. More on that later.

The children's summer program is already posted on the website, and we have added some more classes to that program also.....knitting, and crochet. Last summer, the program was an enormous success, and as of today we already have 20 enrollments for June. Parents are planning ahead this year, so if you are planning to register your child, please do it before the class fills up.

For those of you waiting for our next Project Runway, Season 6...it looks like we are still going to be waiting for a while. Later, Mary Margaret

Monday, January 26, 2009
Sewing Camp for Children in Austin, Texas
Children's Sewing Camp at ASFD


Since Project Runway shined a light on the world of sewing and design, we have a new generation of kids that want to learn to how to make their own clothes and designs. Ironically, many of their moms don't know how to sew....we were all out there getting liberated and it left little time for this skill. But, nevertheless, the current youngsters want to learn.
Generations in the past learned from their mothers or grandmothers, but, the last few generations opted out of learning any skill that would continue to label them the "inferior species". So typing, cooking, sewing...out the window. Get your own coffee!
The children today are crazy to learn....everything. My niece knows how to cook, how to sew, how to skate, swim, play soccer AND make great grades! She is 13, but learned these skills when she was very young. She is driven to learn ...already wants to work in Australia with sharks!
She is not that unusual, from what I see here at the school......the children leave our classes wearing their skirts (or tool belts, for you guys).....proud to show off what they learned. They sew their garments over and over, wanting to get it right! Every once in a while, I will get a day dreamer, yawning and sleepy throughout the class....but usually it is because of too much sugar. It is almost always their diet...so I try to talk to them about what they are eating in the morning. ....and we talk while we sew.
I just realized that it is sort of like the old time quilting bee, women talking about their lives and sewing. These kids talk about everything while we are sewing....and in the end, they have learned a few things about themselves, and they get to wear their new garment out the door! I can always see a change in their self esteem. I try very hard to notice the shy kids, and pull them out to help teach the class. It is always always amazing to watch the change!
The drawing classes are really the most fascinating. People have such a mental block about learning to draw. But the students that took my first class had no prior drawing experience....the were all around 10-11 years old. We learned a new lesson every day for five days straight, and at the end of the week, all of the kids were drawing beautifully! I was flabberghasted! I hated for the week to be over....I had learned so much from that class. I really cried the day they finished. When people learn to draw, it is so exposing, and you cannot help but get really close to the student. As, you can see, I love this class.
In the summer, starting June 9th, we have one week classes for the kids....sewing, intermediate sewing, purse design (they love this class), and hatdesign. Just check the class schedule, and register your children early...the classes fill up quick! Mary Margaret

December 27, 2008

Learning to create and 2008.

I just finished reading an article in the New York Times about the effect of the economy on gift giving this year. Fabric stores and craft stores were packed with customers, needing to hire more sales help to assist the shoppers. The malls, on the otherhand, were practically giving merchandise away. 75% off...80%, buy one get four more for free! But there was still not a lot of buying....except at the craft stores!

Whether people decided to make their own gifts to save money or to make the gift of a more personal nature, who knows. But a lot of people got hand made presents this year and I am glad for it. Not because I own a school that teaches my students how to design clothing.....far from it. It has to do with the nature of gift giving and since this is my blog....hear me out, please.

The gifts that always mean the most to me are the ones that are hand made. There is always a lot of heart in those gifts. I keep those treasures forever. I have a key chain that my 45 year old brother made for me when he was six. I love it, and it means so much to me that he made it.

When Jonathan Livingston Seagull was a big deal, everyone had read the book....well, I embroidered a seagull on the pocket of a denim shirt for my brother. He wore that shirt until it turned to shreds, and then he turned it into a rag, but not before he cut off the pocket with the seagull and saved it. He now has it pinned to the wall of his bedroom along with his most treasured photos of his daughter and family.

Most of us threw creativity, along with our bra, out the window when women's liberation freed us to do other more important things. No more typing classes, home economics classes, sewing or quilting lessons, dance classes, or music lessons. We were going to be liberated...like the men were.....and that meant the end of these domestic salt mines.

We all decided that typing, sewing, quilting, knitting, getting coffee for the men, cooking sunday dinnerss come from the need to create. One of my most treasured cards, a birthday card, came from my mother. It was 1984, I had gone through some personal losses, and my mother decided to make a card for me. My mother will tell you that she cannot draw My family sort of quit giving gifts a long time ago.....with eight of us, not counting granparents or cousins, aunts or uncles, it was a lot of gifts to buy. But when we were young, both of my parents when absolutely nuts at christmas. They drowned us in gifts ....you couldn't even walk in to the family room because hand wrapped presents covered the entire floor. My mother stayed up the entire night wrapping the presents......getting the last one under the tree just in time for Christmas morning. There would always be at least ten gifts that she would bring in at the end and say "Santa didn't have time to wrap these." After two hours of wild paper tearing and excitement over our new stash, the room would be knee deep in crumpled gift wrap and toys. The adrenalin rush of the early morning havoc was already depleted.....we were already crashing from all the excitement, and my parents were exhausted. Every christmas you could find my mother in bed taking a nap while everyone else ate lunch at my grandmother's house. She was pooped!

Children's Sewing Camp at ASFD

Since Project Runway shined a light on the world of sewing and design, we have a new generation of kids that want to learn to how to make their own clothes and designs. Ironically, many of their moms don't know how to sew....we were all out there getting liberated and it left little time for this skill. But, nevertheless, the current youngsters want to learn.

Generations in the past learned from their mothers or grandmothers, but, the last few generations opted out of learning any skill that would continue to label them the "inferior species". So typing, cooking, sewing...out the window. Get your own coffee!

The children today are crazy to learn....everything. My niece knows how to cook, how to sew, how to skate, swim, play soccer AND make great grades! She is 13, but learned these skills when she was very young. She is driven to learn ...already wants to work in Australia with sharks!

She is not that unusual, from what I see here at the school......the children leave our classes wearing their skirts (or tool belts, for you guys).....proud to show off what they learned. They sew their garments over and over, wanting to get it right! Every once in a while, I will get a day dreamer, yawning and sleepy throughout the class....but usually it is because of too much sugar. It is almost always their diet...so I try to talk to them about what they are eating in the morning. ....and we talk while we sew.

I just realized that it is sort of like the old time quilting bee, women talking about their lives and sewing. These kids talk about everything while we are sewing....and in the end, they have learned a few things about themselves, and they get to wear their new garment out the door! I can always see a change in their self esteem. I try very hard to notice the shy kids, and pull them out to help teach the class. It is always always amazing to watch the change!

The drawing classes are really the most fascinating. People have such a mental block about learning to draw. But the students that took my first class had no prior drawing experience....the were all around 10-11 years old. We learned a new lesson every day for five days straight, and at the end of the week, all of the kids were drawing beautifully! I was flabberghasted! I hated for the week to be over....I had learned so much from that class. I really cried the day they finished. When people learn to draw, it is so exposing, and you cannot help but get really close to the student. As, you can see, I love this class.

In the summer, starting June 9th, we have one week classes for the kids....sewing, intermediate sewing, purse design (they love this class), and hatdesign. Just check the class schedule, and register your children early...the classes fill up quick! Mary Margaret

Austin School of Fashion Design Fashion Show!

May 18, 2008

First things first!

The Austin School of Fashion Design Annual Fashion Show will be held June 7th at the beautiful Mexican American Cultural Center at 600 River Street. It is on Town Lake and is just a wonderful building, with plenty of room for our event. The exhibit of the illustrations and draping will start at 7pm and the fashion show starts at 8pm. We will be showing the students work. Please come!

Back to the blog......

Since we are now officially into summer, I thought I would use a summery text color just to brighten up the page a little. I have to stop myself from going any farther, for fear I will start decorating the borders and adding all sorts of "pretty things"! Stop me.

My best friends, Beth, Judy, and Laura have made it an annual thing to get together during the easter celebrations and decorate something....eggs, shoes, etc. They are not your normal easter eggs...I will try to download a few to show. Mainly, we just laugh ourselves into oblivion, getting together and pushing our "artsy fartsy" talent far as it will go! A few years ago, we decided to decorate shoes...we all went to walmart and bought a pair of open heel sling back shoes ($8.00)...did I mention the heels? $8.00 heels...ouch!

We all brought every box of craft stuff from our homes that we could carry, threw it all on the table, got out our favorite glue guns, and poured the wine. On your mark, get set, go!

Now, I want you to know that all of us are pretty good artists, all of us make our living at art, so you can imagine the potential here. But put four good friends together, and a box of glue guns, some fake flowers and plastic beads, and stand back, Ellie!

After a couple of hours of trying to outdo one another, we had our finished masterpieces....but the best part was actually putting them on our feet and walking out the door to go to dinner!!!!We all decided to wear our shoes out that night, and take a walk down Congress Avenue after our dinner. Man, oh, man....those were the most painful shoes that any of us had ever worn, but we hobbled along, laughing and crying at the same! But what a fun day!

My point in telling this story.....how did everything get so busy in all of our lives that we just don't have time for these get togethers? I hardly have time to look up, much less find my glue gun! But our friendships are so treasured...there is just so much love and laughter!

In the last two years, the school has take all of my free time...I'm not complaining, I would rather be there than almost anywhere else. I love watching the students learn and coming up with new ideas in fashion. Everyone is so driven to learn. But I forget that I have not seen my friends in ages and I miss playing with them. Judy, Beth, Laura, Jan, Virginia,Barbara, Connie, Carol.....my friends who have supported me every step have all taken a back seat to my school.

Hopefully they will all be there on June 7th, and some of you can enjoy them as much as I do.

Now that summer is here, the kids are out of school and we start all of the summer programs for the kids.....beginner sewing, intermediate sewing, illustration, hat design, purse design. The kids have a great time, and I am so impressed at how focused they all are. The classes last five days each, one week, for two hours a day. So the kids have an opportunity to take several classes if they wish. Kim Allbright and Ashley Raines have done a wonderful job in creating great classes for the kids...and the kids seem to really appreciate the creativity of the courses.

The adult classes stay the same, however, we don't teach the morning sewing classes, because there is not enough room with the children's classes. So, for just the summer the morning sewing classes change. We do still teach flat pattern in the morning.

I hope to see many of you at our fashion show, wearing your designs, or showing your illustrations, or just being in the audience supporting the students and admiring their creations.

Regards, Mary Margaret