DIY industry’s biggest names team up to create ‘The Sewing Party’

Spurred by a lack of sewing education in the schools, several of the biggest names in the DIY industries are teaming up to create The Sewing Party.

The Party is a day-long event on Saturday, November 8, featuring more than 30 interactive sewing classes taught by some of the top sewing and quilting bloggers. The classes are on everything from quilting, to creating cosplay costumes, to successfully selling crafts on Etsy and will remain available for 90 days after the event, so participants can re-watch and take as many classes as they like for one price of $40.

The event is meant to reach 18- to 40-year olds who have not taken sewing classes in Home Ec, but are learning to sew and craft on the Internet through blogs and YouTube videos, said Ann Bragg-Korhnak, vice president of education and consumer engagement for SVP Worldwide, the world’s largest manufacturer and distributor of sewing machines, including Singer, Pfaff and Husqvrana Viking.

“We know that this age of consumer, that is where you are. You’re online, you’re on YouTube,” Bragg-Korhnk said. “There is a big community out there of people who are doing it, so we wanted to bring it all together.”

Other big name sewing and DIY industry sponsors of The Sewing Party are Etsy, BurdaStyle and Joann Fabric.

Blogger and art quilter Malka Dubrawsky, of A Stitch in Dye, will be teaching her Strips and Bricks quilt in her online class for The Sewing Party.

Dubrawsky began quilting after she graduated from art school and didn’t have the expensive equipment she needed to do printmaking. She bought a used sewing machine, taught herself to quilt and started dying her own fabric and making art quilts.

Eventually she started designing patterns other quilters could recreate and use in everyday life, which is where Strips and Bricks came in. A relatively simple, modern pattern, Dubrawsky designed it using low volume prints, a term she coined to describe quilts made with fabrics that are all cream or white. But the pattern also works in very intense colors as well.

“My design philosophy is I like things to be very graphic, very simple and the aesthetic to be very clean and modern,” said Dubrawsky. “It really struck a cord with a lot of people. … Not only could it function in the muted color world, it could also function in this intense color world. To me, modern is multi-functionality.”

Dubrawsky is excited to be a part of The Sewing Party, delivering sewing classes to the next generation of quilters.

“They’ve picked people based on their interaction with social media today,” Dubrawsky said. “It will appeal to contemporary and young quilters because these are the things they want to make.”

Click here to sign up for The Sewing Party.