Come Sew with The Cottage Mama at The Martha Pullen School of Art Fashion

I cannot even begin to tell you how much sewing has been going on over here at The Cottage Mama. You wouldn’t even believe it if I told you…..it has been a lot! You know how much I love to share with you all, but most of it has to be kept as a big surprise until my book comes out next October. But that’s the way these things go and it is truly a blessed opportunity. However, I finally have some pieces that I can share with you and I wanted to let you know about a really fun event coming up this February.

Have you heard of the Martha Pullen School of Art Fashion? Yes, no, maybe? The Martha Pullen School of Art Fashion is a semi-annual, week long event held in Huntsville, AL that focus primarily on sewing for children. The majority of classes focus on heirloom style techniques, but they have started to incorporate some more modern sewing, adult fashion, pattern drafting and quilting.

Well, guess what? The folks over at the Martha Pullen Company have invited me to teach this February 2013! To say this was an honor is a total understatement. In my opinion, the ladies who teach at this event are the rockstars and legends of the heirloom and classic children’s sewing world. Not to mention that Martha Pullen is a legend in her own right. But they invited me. Can you believe it? I am pinching myself to have been given this amazing opportunity, but I am so excited to be part of this community.

I wanted to personally extend an invitation to all of you to come sew with me at the Martha Pullen School of Art Fashion. I will be teaching three pre-day classes as well as a full, four day school in a Pfaff classroom. The pre-day classes will take place on February 3 – 6 and the four day school will be on February 7-10.

The pre-day classes are each six hours long for one day and we will be sewing one garment from start to finish. My school is a bit different and it is four full days in the classroom with me. We will be sewing six pieces and you will find out every bit of information that is in my brain with regards to sewing……from mixing and matching fabrics, using trims, embellishing, machine embroidery, finishing techniques and more! The event includes meals, special events, not to mention that this will be Martha Pullen’s 70th birthday celebration!

When you sign up for one of the pre-day classes or the school, the price includes all the fabrics, trims and patterns. I have chosen to sew all of my classes with the Tilda fabrics from the UK. These fabrics are exclusively sold by the Martha Pullen Company here in the US and I thought this might be a fun opportunity for the students to use these fabrics that they may have not worked with before.

So what exactly will we be sewing? Here are the garments that will be completed during each class and we will be using these exact fabrics and trims. Plus I may have a few extras up my sleeve for my students.

We will be sewing the Charlotte Apron Dress by The Cottage Mama; however, I will be showing you how to make the apron as a separate piece that is also reversible and ties in a big bow in the back of the dress. The apron can be worn with the dress or also used by a little one for pretend play. We will applique the apron and there will be different design options available including the one shown, machine embroidery and several original applique designs by The Cottage Mama.

We will be using the Summer Separates pattern from the Sew Beautiful Collection to construct these darling bloomer capris / pantaloons. These can be worn underneath the apron dress or paired with the ruffle front shirt that we will be making.

We will be focusing on applique and embellishing techniques. Other options will include using machine embroidery and exclusive applique designs by The Cottage Mama.