We "Stepped into Spring"

Spring Fling this year was held on March 21 – the first day of spring.  The room at the Springfield Hilton was brought to life with centerpieces of sparkling spring pumps and flowers on hot pink and lavender tablecloths.  The tables were graced with shoe shaped luggage tag favors that brought surprise and giggles to the attendees.  You won’t lose track of your suitcase with these! 

Before lunch we had time to visit and take photos, meet newer members, enjoy the speaker’s display of Victorian sewing-themed items, and look at the door prizes.  Then we enjoyed an elegant buffet with a selection of meats, cheeses, salads, breads, fruits, and dessert pastries for lunch.  Table conversation at lunch was fun and friendly.  We all had time to reconnect with friends from our own and other neighborhood groups.  

The program “Stitches in Time” was presented by our speaker, Caroline Hottenstein.  She set up a gallery of examples showing Victorian era garments, trims, hand needlework, and tools to illustrate her theme.  The experience was even richer because Caroline allowed us to examine and handle the pieces from her collection.  We enjoyed it all.  Even those who don’t do much hand sewing complimented her collection and program. 

The fashion show came together beautifully.  We had exquisite examples of the creativity and skill that abound in our NOVA ASG chapter.  We viewed a range of creations beginning with a black and red “faux bias” skirt, to a colonial reproduction dress worn by Abigail Adams (with a matching doll dress), to a set of four embellished fleece jackets, to a white dress decorated in a black ink design with a steampunk  theme.  

There were many lovely door prizes.  Some were generously donated by our members.  Special mention goes to Sarah Veblen for donating one of her fitting books, Caroline Hottenstein for donating a selection of her greeting cards, and Robert Hines from Sun-Sew-Vac for donating a sewing machine toolkit.

Some of the post-event comments include:

“The program was particularly interesting: I learned so much about the lifestyles of our foremothers, and the need we all share to create beauty.” 

“Lunch was perfect, the service was excellent, the style show was very well run, and I LOVED the high heel motif used!”

“I loved the free jeweled shoe ring, the luggage tag, and of course I loved my door prize …  If you wondered whether this would be a fun event to attend, believe me, you missed a great time. But then, I find all of our ASG events are fun!  It was so wonderful to see everyone and chat!”

Special thanks go to the Alexandria Seamsters for being the hosts of Spring Fling 2015.  Any group of members or neighborhood group who wants to organize the event for 2016 may contact the Seamsters for more information on planning and organizing.