Neighborhood Group Meetings Are Held on Zoom!

 

Are you worried about possible exposure to COVID-19, but still want to connect with your sewing buddies? We have the answer, and it's ZOOM!

All of our Neighborhood Groups are meeting virtually to share our love of sewing, no matter what form that might take---embroidery, quilting, crafting, and garment sewing. We are also still meeting at the same Neighborhood Group meeting times listed on our site, and we have sought out subject matter experts to do special event presentations on what we call "Fourth Saturdays!"

We have found that Zoom meetings have increased attendance as driving, distance, and traffic frequently present barriers to gathering. Zoom is an app that can be easily mastered and there are plenty of tutorials to help you adjust to this new normal. 

If you're not on our list to receive information about our Zoom meetings, contact one of the Neighborhood Group leaders on our site. We also post our meetings and reminders on Groupworks.

If you're sewing masks, we'd love to know how many you've sewn so we can add that to our tally. This helps us support our charitable organization status as a chapter of the American Sewing Guild. 

Swagger and Inspiration From Clothing in "The Gentlemen"

If you're a fan of British bespoke tailoring and appreciate exaggeration of traditional English clothing as well as the social class it might represent, you'll definitely want to put "The Gentlemen" on your "Movies to See" list. You'll see clothing styles adopted by wealthy drug-lords, nouveau riche mafia bosses, street gangs, and council estate boys. The ladies? They don't really figure here, except for Michelle Dockery's character, Rosalind Pearson, who exudes her own power and charm from atop Christian Louboutin 5-inch black stilettos while running a women-only auto garage.

In fact, near the beginning of the movie, there is a discussion between Mickey Pearson (Matthew McConaughey) and Matthew Berger (Jeremy Strong) where they discuss their suits at a dinner party. “Oh, I like to make a splash whenever possible,” says Matthew Berger. It would be so easy to say that the clothing stands as shorthand for each character, but that is wrong. Rather, the clothing become tribal threads and second skins.

But the real style that is exuded is Colin Farrell and his team of "good lads." Every time they entered a scene, I could not take my eyes off them! Custom suiting, check! Matched plaids, check! Exquisite tailoring, check!

It is over-the-top street style, and in interviews with the costumer, Michael Wilkinson, you see how exaggerating a traditional fabric and design can really create a bold style statement. Wilkinson explained that they used designs based on classic English suiting fabrics, which we enlarged, brightened and printed onto a modern quilted technical fabric.

Incidentally, if you're looking for more costuming by Wilkinson, check out "Seberg," starring Kristin Stewart.

If Colin Farrell and his "Toddlers" have you aching to pull out that bright plaid in your stash, you can check this blog post by McCall's for ideas and links to fancy zippers and rib knit to match or contrast that can add incredible flair to your project!