Sew Social NG Page

Sew Social is led by Co Leaders Carolyn Robinette and Jan Yeh. For meeting and program information please contact them. 

 

Meetings are held on the 1st Tuesday of every month from 1 to 5 pm at the Venice Police Station Community Service Room. The address is 1575 East Venice Ave, Venice, FL.

Please Note: The room runs on the cold side year round; bring whatever keeps you warm-i.e. socks, neck wrap, long sleeves, sweater. The room is spacious and allows sewers to spread out. Bring a cutting mat, pressing board and iron for individual use. 

 

Please check with your NG Leader for program, venue & time changes as the information on this page is subject to change at the discretion of the NG. 

 

Click HERE for PHOTOS

 

2024 Community Service Project- Pending Information

2024 Programs

Each month we'll offer projects where you can machine stitch and hand stitch. Examples of projects will include: machine sewing, slow stitch, fashion accessories, hand sewing, wearable art, home dec, appliquè, upcycling, boro, and sashiko. Bring your sewing machine and sewing supplies to all meetings. 

April - Comfort Dolls using repurposed clothes & textiles


Comfort Dolls Program on Tuesday, April 2nd at the Venice Police Station Community Room located at 1575 East Venice Avenue, Venice. Note the time is now 1-5pm. If you bring a lunch or snack, please bring a way to remove all your trash. Also, remember to bring a jacket, scarf, sweater, socks-whatever you need to keep warm as the AC runs cold and cannot be adjusted throughout the building.

 

Comfort Dolls  

Design a soft whimsical character doll inspired by the shape of a fruit or vegetable.

Make 1 for yourself and 1 to donate to the Oak Park School for special needs children.

Expect to complete 1-2 dolls (the body, arms and legs) during the program time. At home you may start/finish the face features.

What you need to bring:

• Purchase a large bag of polyester fill (Poly-Fil) from Joann’s or whatever supplier you use.
• Fabric to make the vegetable or fruit of your choice.  Look at your stash, or for more fun, go to a thrift store.
o Gaze at all the colors. See if the color “speaks” to you. For example, does an orange color remind you of a mango or a papaya? How about a yellow fabric-a pineapple?  I like to find a purple to represent an eggplant or a green to represent a zucchini or cucumber or avocado!
o Touch the fabric. Fabrics that work well for this project are denim with spandex, cotton knit, or velveteen. Quilting cotton is fine if you already have it and want to use up leftover pieces. 
o For yardage 1/3 for 2 dolls is plenty or a pair of women’s pants or one dress will yield plenty of fabric. I tend to browse through the largest garments. 
• Fabric scraps for the arms and legs. 
• Hand sewing supplies to stitch facial features. embroidery floss, felt scraps).
• Sewing machine, foot pedal, power cord.
• Usual sewing supplies- threads, pins, clips etc. A topstitch or 90/14 needle for going through multiple layers when constructing the arms and legs.
• A dual feed attachment (optional).
• Scissors to cut the fabric. We won’t need a rotary cutter.
• A type of paper or lightweight cardboard to trace or make the pattern. Pattern paper or freezer paper may be used. The pattern for the doll body will available for you to trace.  Alternatively, you can draw your own shape freehand!
• A regular pencil or marker.
• Personal iron, pressing mat, cutting mat are all optional for this project, not required.


May - Embellish a pre-made, small cross-body zippered pouch 


June - Degen Sayer a Venice bag maker and textile artist will show how she selects materials (the hardware, the fabrics-cork, African wax prints) and makes the fabric for her custom designed bags and purses. You will be delighted in her presence.


July to Dec- Check with Leader

Community Service: We track our reported volunteer time and money donations and report the information to CAB. If you sew for local, national and international charity agencies and organizations please download and submit the form to your NG Leader.