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<\/a><\/p>\nCome to Sunny Florida, get away from it all and take a\u00a0Sewcation<\/a>! Pattern drafting, adding special details, handbag construction, silk ribbon embroidery, smocking galore, fun contests, and soaking up the sun with your friends \u2013 what could be better than attending the annual Smocking Arts Guild of America convention in Orlando, Florida from Sept 17 to 21 at the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress? \u00a0SAGA\u2019s annual convention is filled with creative classes in smocking, embroidery, fine machine sewing and related needle arts.\u00a0 Look at all the classes offered in this year’s brochure<\/a>! Pardon me, it’s hard to type for the drool \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n This year is shaping up to be one of the best, with a slate of Debut Classes\u00a0being presented by talented teachers on topics that include pattern drafting, adding smocking to an adult garment, a stunning silk ribbon smocked purse, and a lady\u2019s Madeira nightgown – there is something for everyone. Registration for all these never-before offered programs opens May 1st – you can register online or by phone.<\/p>\n But not only will there be wonderful instructors like Judith Adams and Jeannie Baumeister, SAGA will also be welcoming\u00a0Kenneth King<\/a>\u00a0and Liesl Gibson<\/a> as special guest teachers.<\/p>\n Classics with a Twist 2014<\/p><\/div>\n Kenneth King, renowned for his exquisite couture techniques, will be teaching a handbag construction class and presenting a lecture entitled, \u201cEvolution of an Evening Wrap\u201d at the opening reception. Come hear about Kenneth\u2019s design process and see a creation go from design concept to finished product. Bringing her fresh and youthful style, Liesl Gibson, the creator of\u00a0Oliver + S<\/a>\u00a0patterns, will be offering a free lecture, open to the public, entitled \u201cMany Looks, One Pattern.\u201d She will also be teaching a series of classes designed for the novice stitcher, entitled\u00a0\u201cClassics with a Twist.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0The classes will cover basic pattern alterations, details that make a difference, as well as a wallet construction class.<\/p>\n This year’s slate of classes, speakers and events is one of the best convention line ups I’ve seen in years (they’re always good, but this one is *especially* good!) \u00a0The organizing committee has been working gangbusters on another great event and they’re especially hoping to encourage new smockers, new sewers and new attendees to come out this year. \u00a0They’ve even put together a\u00a0tutorial<\/a>\u00a0to help you register. \u00a0I want to encourage everyone to go. \u00a0It’s not about being a perfect sewer or a perfect smocker. \u00a0Everyone’s got something new to learn and everyone is happy to have you there.<\/p>\n Not able to join the fun in Orlando? \u00a0You can still be a part of SAGA. \u00a0Go to www.smocking.org<\/a> to find a local chapter near you and make some new stitching friends, or connect online through the websmockers<\/a> chapter and SAGA’s\u00a0Facebook<\/a> page. If you want to learn to smock, they have correspondence courses, a popular SAGA Stitches programs and through their chapters, a mentoring program. Members also receive our quarterly publication, SAGANews filled with interesting articles and projects. See you in Orlando!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Do you have May 1 circled on the calendar? If you love smocking, embroidery or heirloom clothing you definitely should have a big, red circle round the date because that’s when registration for the 2014 SAGA convention officially opens. Come to Sunny Florida, get away from it all and take a\u00a0Sewcation! Pattern drafting, adding special […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,7],"tags":[260,261,165,301],"class_list":["post-2958","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-smocking","tag-convention","tag-orlando","tag-saga","tag-smocking"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clairemeldrum.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2958","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clairemeldrum.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clairemeldrum.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clairemeldrum.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clairemeldrum.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2958"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.clairemeldrum.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2958\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2968,"href":"https:\/\/www.clairemeldrum.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2958\/revisions\/2968"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clairemeldrum.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2958"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clairemeldrum.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2958"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clairemeldrum.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2958"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a>