Sewing & Stitchery Expo, Puyallup, WA, Feb 25-March 1, 2009

The Sewing Expo in Puyallup was absolutely fabulous!!! I heard it was a little smaller than before, but it was plenty big enough for me and my 3 friends from the Kansas City area!

We arrived in Seattle on Wednesday at 10:30, and our first stop after getting the rental car was at Fabrics for Less in Renton. This is a great store for dress up, costumes and ethnic sewing. They had lots of accessories and trims as well as RTW for saris. (Friends, I don't think we are near Kansas any more!) Then we drove to The Shibori Dragon in Lakewood after a lucky find to eat at Salty's on Redondo Beach. That is a wonderful store! They had fabrics for quilting, garments, needle felting, and other embellishing, plus a yarn and bead shop. A specialty of theirs is fabrics, stencils threads and kits for Sashiko quilting, which I'd never seen but tried 20 some years ago. On Thursday evening we went to Pacific Fabrics where they had an after-hours shopping and crafting party. I wish we had this store in Kansas City. The Puyallup branch had a really good blend of garment and quilting fabric, home dec and crafts. Three of us spent at least $40 and we each got a colorful tote bag!

Thursday we woke to a cold gray day with snow and rain. I needed every layer I took, and was so glad one of the list members suggested taking a small seat cushion, because the more temporary the building, the flatter and colder the chairs were. Friday through Monday it was warmer, which was good, because I lost my all-weather coat! More about that later.

I attended 17 seminars. The Kansas City area show seminars cost $20 each, so I rarely take them. At $4 each, I was more willing to try new things. I was impressed that most teachers gave handouts, and they all had door prize drawings at the end. Most of the classes held 100-200 people, but they used video and slide projectors so everyone could see. My favorites included Bob from Superior Threads (thanks Janome list) and I took two hands-on knitting classes and learned Continental and Fair Isle knitting. I attended three classes related to quilting, because after a year of being on the yahoo list of Janome 6600 owners I'm getting more interested in quilting. I also signed up for classes with instructors I've liked before-Marsha McClintock, Patti Otto and Tammy O'Connell, plus some I'd gotten acquainted to on my lists like Bobbi Bullard. I learned from seminars on Stabilizers, Bindings, Slipcovering, and Top Stitching. I'm going to make some totes and garments with Fusible Vinyl, and try a Chenille project or two again. I am most satisfied with nearly all the classes I took, and that's saying a lot coming from someone with my advanced skills.

My friends and I attended the Go Red fashion show Sunday morning, which had many of the instructors plus some others modeling outfits they constructed in red. The variety was wonderful, and we got some nice free stuff in one of those wonderful Pacific Fabric Tote bags. The Mark Lipinski show Saturday evening was amazingly hilarious! Look him up online if you haven't heard of this published quilter who has a crazy outlook on life and isn't afraid to express it. None of us had heard of him, but we enjoyed the show.

As for the shopping? It was overwhelming and wonderful. I thought the show was a nice mix of all types of sewing, and very little junk. I found most of what I went looking for, and more. I came back with some wonderful new batiks and other fabrics, new notions and sewing aids, paint, thread, trim and stencils for embellishment, and some patterns. One fun thing was the booth where you could fill a plastic bag with notions for a mere $5. I did one for my daughter-in-law and myself, then went back to fill one to make goodie bags for some Girl Scouts we are going to sew pillowcases with for ASG. I watched the Fast Turn man demonstrate, and bought a book and a couple of accessories to help me use my tools I already own. It was fun to see vendors that I'd seen before, but plenty that I hadn't at the Kansas City show, ASG conventions, and one trip to Novi. I only attended one free fashion show, as I was too busy shopping in between my many classes, but they had some great ones. I wore a pedometer, and walked 5 miles in 3.25 days of the show!

Part of the fun of shopping was seeing and meeting people. Kathy Parish and Charlotte Trayer found me, and I found Jessie at CNT, Keri at the Viking booth, and Penny at Buzz Tools. I missed a few others I looked for, but had a nice chat with Welmoed, Karen and Lisa at the Wild Ginger booth, and Paul Shanley when he flagged me down in the Pavilion, plus other instructors I've met in the past. I really appreciate all the advice from the list about packing food, wearing good shoes and rainwear, and things to do. Karen Campbell, I ate chicken artichoke crepes for supper Saturday before the show, and they were so good I complimented the lady running the stand.

So, my only disappointment of the trip was I dropped my fairly new raincoat between the 2:30 and 4:30 class on Friday. I checked most of the booths I visited and the Lost and Found several times, but it must have left with someone. I'm most unhappy that my magnetic sunglass clip that matches my glasses was in one of the pockets, and I fretted quite a bit about getting cold and wet, because it was sure to rain again before we left on Monday. I thought about having my friend drive me to Penney's for a new raincoat, but had another idea that led to what will probably be one of my main memories of going to Puyallup. Shopping at one of the booths, I saw a quilted fabric with fleece on the inside. "Oh, if only I could wrap up in that for rain protection," I thought. "But it's not drapey enough." The light bulb went off. I stopped by Seattle Fabrics and bought 3.5 yards of black microfiber. Then I went to a class and thought about how I could turn it into a wearable rain poncho but leave it fairly intact to make a coat from it later. After the class, I dropped by Marsha McClintock's Saf-T-Pocket Pattern booth to purchase a separating zipper and borrow her scissors. I cut half a yard off for a hood. Then I cut a hole for my neck in the center and slit along the fold from one edge to the neck hole. My next stop was the Janome booth, where I asked two men from South Sound Sew & Vac if I could ask a huge favor and sew a few seams on the Janome 6600 like I have at home. They said yes, but did I mind the light blue thread? I would have preferred a darker color, but beggars can't be choosers. So I sat down and fashioned a hood with by folding the front edge and sewing one back seam, put the navy zipper into the front, sewed the side selvedges up with holes for the wrist, and sloppily sewed the hood on. About half an hour later I had a somewhat creepy but functional garment and a good story!

We left the show at 10:30 on Sunday, quite shopped out and worn out. On our agenda was 24 hours in downtown Seattle before returning to Missouri. We visited the Space Needle, Pike Place Market and Pioneer Square, and saw more of the famously wet, gray weather, mountains and Puget Sound. But it was a wonderful trip, and I hope to return in a few years.

Kathy shops Fabrics for Less

Dresses at Fabrics for less

Shibori Dragon

Arriving at the Puyallip Fairground

Kathy raises Shirley's hood-cold-snow

Phyllis arrives at Puyallup Fairgrounds in coat

Fair Showplex scene

Busy show booth

Phyllis and Welmoed meet

Welmoed Sisson and Lisa Shanley of Wild Ginger

Phyllis with Carol Campbell

Shopping the booths

Puyallup Showplex from edge

Shirley, Janice shop Pacific fabrics

Scene Pacific Fabrics

Shirley, Phyllis, Kathy in Pacific Fabrics

Pavilion booths early

Lucious yarn booth

Quilt booth

Outside Showplex sunny day

Phyllis impromptu sewing at the show

Phyllis in emergency rain garment

Phyllis at the Lipinski show

Our gang at the Lipinski show

Kay Wood outrageous outfit

Lipinski patriotic quilt

Lipinski blue quilt

Wedding dress quilt

Lipinski whole cloth quilt

Go Red audience

Rite Farro Go Red

Thread Bangers Go Red

Go Red rainwear

Project Runway winner

Kay Wood wore her Go Red quilt

Go Red Finale

Contest entry backpack

Sewing expo tote bag

A few months after the Seattle trip, I ordered some more fabric and made a reversible raincoat from the "emergency rain poncho." The style was inspired by the Saf-T-Pockets Flight Jacket, and the pattern drafted in Wild Ginger's Pattern Master Boutique.