Creativ Festival Day 2

Spent all of Friday at the Creativ Festival.Did a bit of shopping and 2 classes.



First class was with Janet Pray of Islander Sewing Systems, called "Kick it up a Notch."She presented info to help improve your sewing, and covered things like understanding how the feed dogs on your sewing machine affect your seam, great top stitching, and no-gap fronts on V-neck tops.Most of it I had learned in the Craftsy class she does, called .Her techniques are really good, especially if you're ready to start improving your sewing skills.




Second class was "Pants: No Fail Front Fly Zipper" with .She called it her "goof proof" method of zippers, but I was half brain dead so goofed at all 6 steps.Got the gist, though.



Every year, Creativ Festival offers workshops in all kinds of creative arts including knitting, beadwork, fiber arts, scrapbooking, sewing and more.The value is that you can immerse yourself in your favorite craft, and expand your learning in a short period of time. It's a great way to pick up hints and tips, and to create samples of specific techniques.



The other reason I go is for the trade show.There's a pretty extensive list of vendors with booths at the show, so you get a chance to find out who sells the supplies you need for your hobby.Over the years, the makeup of the vendors has changed:when I started going in 1989, sewing was much more popular.Now, beading, quilting and scrapbooking are very popular, although knitting is holding its own.Sewing, not as much, but it's hanging in there.



Many vendors offer hands-on experiences in their booths, which is a great way to try things out.Of course the sewing machine manufacturers are there, so you can try every type of machine imaginable.Some of the big names in yarn were there (think Rowan), plus big stores like Michaels.You could try beading, knitting, soap making, scrapbooking, weaving, spinning (my head is spinning!).



Needless to say, I think it's a pretty good event.If you've never tried it, I encourage you to visit and see what's coming up next spring, or fall.
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