Gertie's Inaugural Beacon Sewing Retreat

I have returned from Gertie's Inaugural Beacon Sewing Retreat, deliriously happy and flush with fabric from New York's Garment District! As promised, I have many photos to share with you, several borrowed from my new friends! Here I am with the woman herself.

Here's the whole gang! All the women were such a pleasure to spend the weekend with. Sewers really are the nicest people. I will steal a line from Oddfellow Orphanage that sums it up quite nicely, "It surprised her that people she just met could make her feel so special."

Photo from Gertie. Left to right: Marie, Blanca, Jenny, Jacky, Fleur, Me, Alison, Joanna, Kim, Kristen, Annelieke, and Emily

In particular, I got to meet the delightful Jenny of Cashmerette. I will add my voice to the chorus of sewing bloggers that proclaim how wonderful it is to meet your virtual sewing friends in real life. It was grand sewing with Jenny all weekend, and she kept me in stitches (if you pardon the pun). Upon meeting, we promptly hugged and took a silly-faced photo like old friends.

Photo by Jenny, @cashmerette on Instagram

We spent the long weekend at a lovely hotel in Beacon called Roundhouse overlooking the Hudson River. Here's a snap of us at breakfast by the fire.

Photo by Jenny, @cashmerette on Instagram

We got a sneak peak of Gertie's book coming in September, which is going to be sensational, and got to look in detail at many of her handmade masterpieces. Gertie also did several demos, including sewing gussets, bound buttonholes, and how to add boning to your garments.

Since I knew we'd be working on boning, I brought the Bombshell Dress from Gertie's Craftsy class. Here I am in my second muslin, once all the fitting was done! I'm posing by Gertie's dress of the same pattern.

Photo by Jenny, @cashmerette on Instagram

I intend to construct a bustier for the finished garment out of a retro glasses print. I got everything cut and prepared for sewing before we had to part ways, spending most of the retreat on fit. I decided to match the pattern at the seams, and I was getting a little loopy after so many hours of cutting cross-legged on the floor!

Photo by Fleur, @frau_fleur on Instagram

The weekend came to a close far too quickly, but my adventure wasn't over yet! I took a train into Manhattan next to take the Garment District by storm. I was armed with suggestions from Gertie and Fleur, local pros, as well as tips from other sewers.

I felt like a kid in a candy store! I managed to make it to Mood, Metro Textiles, and B & J Fabrics before my wallet and hunger overcame me. Here I am, staring bright eyed at my choices at B & J.

In the end, I did quite a bit of damage, and I'm pleased as punch with it. I wish I could have gone back a second day for more! I must go again. I know I barely scratched the surface.

There's some Liberty in there, double knit, some great cotton stripes, a seafoam green wool suiting, and a total splurge of an embroidered black organdy that is the exact fabric Gertie used in her strapless party dress from her first book. I stared at it longingly all weekend at the retreat, and when I saw it in the store, I knew there was no turning back!

Source

Here's the handmades I wore from the photos above:

• Hawaiian Shirtwaist Dress from Gertie's New Book for Better Sewing. I actually made this on a retreat with Gertie last year, and it was my first blog post! 
• Simplicity 2195, a 1950s blouse. First and second.
• Plaid Hallettsville Shirtwaist Dress, pattern drafted by me. 

If you just can't get enough of this glorious weekend, you can find more photos on Instagram with the tag #gertieretreat. I'll be looking at them longingly for weeks! I'm so glad she plans to host many more of these retreats!