Today I was lucky enough to slip into a spare spot in Nikki‘s Choosing and Using Interfacings class.  Nothing like a last-minute decision – the best one I’d made all day!  Although I have tested many a pattern for Nikki, I have never taken part in one of her classes.  And wow, what a wonderful class it was!

I have been hankering to make an interfacing swatch set for some time (very nerdy, I know). I’ve known what a difference good quality interfacings and waddings make for quite a while, and threw out the cheap non-woven fusible a long time ago. It was such a good thing to actually try different combinations of quality woven interfacing, non-woven interfacing and waddings in different combinations of weights and layers, in order to achieve different results on our fabrics. Nikki’s class is aimed at choosing and interfacings for bags in particular, but she is very happy to extend her knowledge to what works well with clothing. We got to feel different bags and purses and discover what combinations of interfacings and waddings were used in different parts of each of them, then had the chance to sew some bag elements and learn a few more of Nikki’s tricks of the trade.

We played with calico samples and worked on seams and the magic 3cm rule, understitching, when to trim and not to trim, and lots of other exciting bits and pieces. Although some of the information is available in the You Sew, Girl! book, but there is nothing quite like the extra knowledge you gain by doing a class. I thought that I knew a lot already – well, now I know lots more!  Many thanks to Nikki and the other lovely women that took part in the class – some who came from as far away as Tasmania and Greece!  (Yet I, coming from one suburb away, was the person who was late….)

Today is actually my fifth bloggiversary! Who’d have thought that I’d still be doing bloggy show and tell five years down the track! I celebrated in anticipation with a little stretch fabric shopping/therapy with Nikki last week. Guess which one of these Stella chose? And speaking of classes, this year I have enrolled in two of the online sewing classes run by Craftsy. I am undertaking both the Sew Retro Perfect Bombshell Dress and The Couture Dress.  Do you detect a theme?  I am hoping that I will do some “slow slowing” this year and put a number of techniques that have been all theory for me into practice.  I don’t actually anticipate that I will get a great deal of wear out of either dress myself, but am focusing more on what I will learn.  I like the format, in that I can take the classes entirely at my own pace and re-watch segments as often as needed.  And one day I might want to make one of my daughters a “bombshell dress” (but thankfully that is a long way away).