(Yes, you can still order before Christmas! We can offer whatever express shipment the USPS will deliver by the 24th, and we only ever charge actual shipping costs!  Liz likes to chat with people in the Post Office lines, so that’s good.)

Right, so: just as you most likely have your Winter Project List, so do we! And we’d love to have your input to help prioritize some of the projects in the stack.

What would you like to see first?

More infant pattern options, including some neat whitework styles?

More freebie printables to share, like new paper dolls, and coloring pages?

Activity or lesson-plan aids?

More “life” research articles spanning 1840-1865?

Articles and resources on fitting for women and children?

Project tutorials?

Let me know in the comments… right now, if I live to finish all the items in my notebooks, I’ll be a chipper 326 years old.

Are you ready?

Are you a fan of historic sewing and particularly, historic sewing accessories?

Would you like to be able to make gorgeous, functional, accurate pieces for yourself? For gifts? As educational tools? As something just generally nifty to own?

Then you’ll want to order your own copy of Anna Worden Bauersmith’s

Fanciful Utility: Victorian Sewing Cases and Needle Books

Containing full-size templates and illustrated instructions for over 68 projects and variations! The options are truly unlimited, as you’ll learn the concepts and historic techniques that allow you to design your own sewing accessories for gifts or personal use. No sewing machine required! Make them with full historic styling for use in living history, or bring a unique flair to your modern sewing tools by adding creative new touches that express your personality in very modern ways.

Buy Your Copy Now in Patterns & Books or click through to access the shopping cart, see the book trailer and enjoy pics of some of the projects you’ll have at your fingertips! Read the rest of this entry »

Happy Independence Day, everyone! We’re having a lovely holiday full of patriotism and bagpipes here, and hope you’re doing the same.

The event season is in full swing all around the country, and we’re having a great time seeing the event pictures and notes from everyone!

Don’t forget the resources we have for you in the Marketplace, above, and in the Compendium as well. You can click through to the Academy @ Home forum and visit with a great community of like-minded historic souls, or contact us directly for help with your projects. We’ve a few things up our sleeves to show off in the coming months, so do drop by frequently!

And if you’ve been dragged into Facebook (I have been, thanks to my loving Auntie C, who is, in her own way, far more fierce than any Great Auntie Maude), do take a moment to visit us there: The Sewing Academy Facebook Page

Some time ago, a writer for the Education section of National Geographic’s site contacted me about participating in an article on Civil War reenactment… and of course, being a life-long reader of the magazine (and a home-schooling-Mom user of the site!) I said yes. The article was published today. Pop on over and take a peek!

Orders placed between 9 June and 24 June will ship starting Saturday, 25 June.

We’ll be available to answer tech support email throughout, however!

We’re pleased to announce a one-day series of Sewing Academy workshops in the Salt Lake City area, 13 June, 2011… yes, that’s just a little under two weeks away!

Seating is quite limited, so please reserve yours by phoning in your registration (208-523-3673) or emailing me directly before 9 June.

We’ll explore:

10:00 – 12:00  Your Historic Wardrobe

Take a look at the functional pieces you need in a historic wardrobe uniquely suited to your roles, activities, and personality. We’ll discuss nation-wide, regional, and personal specifics, and see the many ways your research applies to your clothing decisions. We’ll take things from the skin out, and share loads of resources for every portion of your wardrobe planning. Please bring your list of questions (or email them to me ahead of time!) This is a fantastic overview workshop, whether you’re starting from scratch, or looking to upgrade the accuracy of your current wardrobe! $15

12:00 – 12:30 Brown-bag Lunch Break

Some fridge space will be available if you have things you’d like to keep cold.

12:30 – 1:45 Having a Fit

We’ll look at several ways to get an excellent fit for any figure: starting from a published historic pattern (with pattern review notes!), draping with fabric directly on the body, and some very surprising, thoroughly modern ways to get a jump start on a customized historic pattern for your figure! We’ll also talk about re-fitting and re-working strategies if you have existing clothing you’re looking to upgrade. Please let me know if you’d be interested in being one of our fit models–you’ll go home with your basic bodice shapes. $15

2:00 – 4:00 Handwork Sampler

Our foremothers were extremely clever! Learn their tips and tricks as you create a sampler of mid-19th century handsewing techniques you’ll use over and over in your historic sewing. We’ll cover methods to handle fullness (gathering, stroked gathering, gauging, and pleating), closures (how to set hooks and eyes invisibly and securely), and finishing (bias binding, tiny piping, the most common hem styles, and even how to make a tiny rolled hem without cussing!) Your course fee include a materials kit. $20

4:00 – 5:30 Living Citizen History

With some great wardrobes in place, it’s time to get into the living history part of it! We’ll look at interpretive voice, ways to engage your visitors, and how to bring your own personal passion and research into high-quality interpretive work. Telling the stories of the past effectively does not need to be intimidating. You can do it! You’ll leave this workshop excited and ready to dive into active living history. $15

How to Register

Register by phone at 208-523-3673; we can take your payment information by phone

Register by email: elizabeth@thesewingacademy.org Please let us know your workshop selections, and we’ll give you a call to collect payment information.

Register for the full series, and receive a special Sewing Academy edition of our Dressmaker’s Guide (with bonus content only found in the series editions!), a $30 value!

Or, register for one, two, or three workshops and save 33% on your copy of the Sewing Academy edition of the Dressmaker’s Guide: only $20

Pre-registration is required, as seating is limited, and kits and class packs must be assembled for each individual. Please request your seat before 9 June, 2011!

We’ll send you a registration confirmation by email with the workshop location and map (we’ll be just a smidge north of SLC, in beautiful Bountiful).

Plan to bring yourself, a brown-bag lunch, your favorite pen or pencil, and a favorite pair of fabric scissors or thimble if you like. Dress for comfort; period clothing is *not* required. If you’d like to dress out, feel free; please do not wear hoops, as space is limited!

 

February 18-20, I’ll be in Aberdeen, South Dakota, presenting several workshops at the Frontier Army of the Dakotas Mid-Winter Conference. I’ve never been to the Dakotas, and though I’m sure February is not the time to see them at their most scenic beauty, I’m going to enjoy the company!

Sunday, 20 February, we’ll have three Sewing Academy workshops that will stretch a bit earlier than the main Conference focus: the late 1830s, 1840s, and 1860s. Pre-registration is required, and you’ll find the South Dakota Registration Form here (phone or mail in your registration request).

As part of the FAD Conference on Saturday, 19 February, I’ll present an overview of women’s clothing and a handwork class in the morning, and a workshop on Sharing the Frontier World in the afternoon. I’m particularly excited to share my own enthusiasm for the American Frontier… and to do a bit of dancing at the party that evening!

Happy New Year!

We’re looking forward to some great product additions in 2011 (most of which will launch toward the end of summer, but we thought we’d whet your appetite a tad by veiled references months ahead of time), and very much looking forward to meeting some of our customers and friends at upcoming speaking and teaching engagements, including the Mid-West Conference in late January, and the Dakotas conference in February!

If you’re ready to start on some wardrobe updates in anticipation of events this winter or spring, let us know how we can help! And if the china doll you fell in love with this fall was not under your tree this Christmas, get in touch! We have some gorgeous dolls in stock, including the last of the Civility heads until this summer.

I hope everyone celebrating Thanksgiving here in the US has had a great holiday…David and Beth made an appearance as Father Christmas and Holly Elf for a fundraising 2-5-10K race on Thanksgiving morning. Beth can now steal my 1860s shoes! It was a fantastic start to the season.

If your house is like ours, now is the time to swing into Christmas surprises and projects!

We’re busy prepping a big stack of orders to ship this week. (Remember to place your Christmas-delivery orders by 10 December, please!)  I can’t wait to see pictures of the clothes and dolls everyone will be making! You can send them to me here.

Here’s the best news: we have SIX additional Civility china dolls for you this Christmas! Sandra Jusak creates and hand-paints the beautiful glazed porcelain head, hands, and feet; I create and assemble the bodies, and ship them to your doorstep. These six are the last Civility dolls before spring, so if you’ve been wanting one, now’s the time. Check out the Doll Case in the Marketplace tab above. Don’t forget to take a peek at the other gorgeous doll options we have in stock!

And of course, there’s our lovely Cloth Doll pattern, available in Patterns & Publications!

I’m also working on a few new pattern surprises (one may be ready in time for Christmas delivery!), and working out presentation details for the Mid-West Conference in January. It’s a busy time of year, but gorgeous with all the snow!

I’m very excited to let you all know that I’ll be a keynote speaker at the 2011 Mid-West Civilians conference in Springfield, Illinois, 28 – 30 January.

I’ll be speaking on two of my favorite topics:

The Awkward Years: Dressing Teens and Tweens Children in the 10 year to 18 year range have great fun at living history events; going properly dressed just adds to the ambiance and realism! We’ll focus on the positives, and how to recreate accurate clothing for this exciting stage of life.

Westering Home: The Settlement of the American West I’m a western girl by birth and inclination, and I’m very excited to share a bit about my beloved region’s settlement with everyone! We’ll look at settlement patterns across the western US, and the lives people established for themselves mid-century. Western settlement touched virtually every US household in some way, and should be a solid part of every living history enthusiast’s understanding of the era.

If you’re in the Mid-West, and attending the Conference, please do introduce yourself! I love getting to meet everyone, and can’t wait to be with everyone in Springfield!