Hey y’all – I’m briefly interrupting my sundress series to day to recap my favorite sewing event of the year, Common Threads, which is put together by Baby Lock Sewing especially for the bloggers and businesses they work with. You can see previous years recaps here and here. And make sure to read the whole post to see how you can win your own swag bag like we got!
There are so many reasons I love this event. From the gifts we give and get from each other (some of my favorites shown above) to the fresh flowers on every table…
To this room (which I call “The Happiest Place on Earth”) where we get to hang out, but most of all to SEW!
Since sewing is my job, it’s so nice to have time to sew without pressure and play with different machines. It’s a luxury I rarely get. I had a lot of fun with this zipper clutch made entirely on the serger/cover stitch.
And one of the reasons I LOVE Baby Lock is how much charitable work they do. This year, the founder of Little Dresses for Africa came in to talk with us, then my friend Lindsay of The Cottage Mama taught this class on pillow case dresses. And if you want to get the pattern to make the same pillowcase dress we made, Lindsay posted it on her blog here.
Photo from The Cottage Mama
But the biggest, best part of Common Threads is the people. Whether it’s talking shop during lunch with fellow bloggers
Pictured, left to right – Kelly of Kelby Sews, Katy of No Big Dill, Miranda of One Little Minute, Kelly of Baby Lock, me, Â Dana of Made Everyday and Patty of ModkidÂ
or meeting new friends and admiring their skills during open sew time
Truly Alvarenga of Pink Elephant Designs did some beautfily draping with this Riley Blake knit
or progressing to pancakes at midnight
the connections and relationships fostered at this event are some of my most treasured business connections. It is a rare experience to get to work with this kind of company, and to find this kind of love and support from a group of (mostly) female entrepreneurs supporting each other. And for building that community and including me as part of it, I am forever grateful to Baby Lock.
Top to bottom, left to right: Lindsay of The Cottage Mama, Vanessa of The Crafty Gemini, Kelly of Kelby Sews, Elizabeth of Simple Simon & Co, Truly of Pink Elephant Designs, liZ of Simple Simon & Co, Cindy of Riley Blake Fabrics, Heather of The Sewing Loft, Amy Ellis of Amy’s Creative Side, Amy Smart of Diary of a Quilter, Stef of Girl Inspired and Evy of A Bit of Stitch.
This playful wall (below) in the St Louis airport on the way home just seemed like a good endcap, until I get to see these friends again.
Check out more Common Threads recaps..
Michelle
That looks like tons of fun!!I wish I was there with you talented ladies!
Melanie C
That looks like so much fun! I’ve been trying to talk my husband into getting me a new Babylock machine, but he just doesn’t understand why when my older machine still sews fine 😉