Join the Sew Beautiful Class Club!

An absolutely easy A-line Christmas jumper tops the Class Club menu this month. Four digitized embroidery designs are included in the download for a jumper project that teaches beginner sewists how to adapt patterns, sew buttonholes and make reversible linings. This simple project can be completed in one day, so you’ll go home from your Class Club event with a finished garment -- two dresses in one!

The 5 x 7 embroidery design on our lime gingham jumper adorns an added hem band with three festively decked trees. We also digitized each tree individually for the 4 x 4 hoop, so you can choose a favorite for the dress front decoration. Apply jumbo rickrack over the seam and pair this delightful dress with a purchased knit top for a fabulous Christmas outfit. Add the tree embroideries to other garments, table linens and gifts to spread holiday cheer.

Express your creativity and design your own dress for the reverse. Make a loving look for a special Valentine, or whip up an easy jumper in a Halloween or Thanksgiving theme. (There were several autumnal ideas in the Sew Blessed pictorial in our previous issue.) We chose to make a second Christmas dress on the reverse, working with one of the super-cute “Isabelle” prints and the new machine embroideries from Anna Griffin’s collection. This is the easiest dress you’ll ever make, so double your fun and make it reversible.

Sign up for a class with your local Sew Beautiful Class Club dealer. Find a dealer at sbcc.marthapullen.com, or invite your favorite sewing store to join by downloading the flyer at sbcc.marthapullen.com/sbcc-share.html.  –SB

Sewing community donates to Joplin, Mo.

After the tornado devastated Joplin, MO this past spring, Susan Stewart encouraged the sewing community to help Joplin recover with Project First Day. Sue shares her effort to provide new clothing to Joplin children for their first day of school below...

Thank you so much to all of you who made Project First Day an awe-inspiring, overwhelming success!!! Give yourselves a hand, and a pat on the back! I received a total of 1474 garments/outfits from generous seamstresses all across the country and Canada. On Friday, Aug. 12, we loaded up 38 big plastic storage tubs and a couple of boxes into a rented U-Haul and took them to Irving Elementary School. Actually, Irving had been destroyed in the tornado, as had 90% of its students' homes, so an old retired school, Washington Elementary, was quickly refurbished to serve Irving's students. Someone had "Irving-ton" T-shirts made for the children! Besides the garments, there were tables of new donated shoes, and boxes and boxes of books for the taking. The distribution was on Tuesday evening, Aug. 16, on the eve of the first day of school. It was crowded, noisy, and exciting. I know we made some children happy, and we also made some mommas get teary-eyed! There were plenty of garments, with lots left over. Those will be taken to other schools which were either destroyed or had a large percentage of students affected.

You may have seen these, but here are links to some of the media coverage...

• Local Pittsburg newspaper
• Local TV station
• Joplin Globe - this article was picked up by the Associated Press, and was published all over the country
• Good Morning America
  
• CBS Evening News
• Joplin Globe follow-up

I was also interviewed by CBS Radio News (national) and a local radio station in Madison, WI. The Quilt Life magazine, published by AQS, is writing an article about this, and I may even be on The Weather Channel!

Again, thank you!!!!

- Susan Stewart