Sew Special 2016/Come Meet Me In Peoria

I was surprised and delighted when I was contacted by the Peoria, Illinois American Sewing Guild to be their featured speaker for their yearly conference. The conference will be held the weekend of October 1, 2016.

To kick off the conference, I will be doing a hands on class on Friday, September 30th,  where I will guide the participants through making a bag that I have specially designed for the conference. Sadly, their are only 12 spots available, so I've been told that the class will fill quickly, and is only open to members of the Peoria ASG chapter. The good news is that once the class is over, the pattern will be available to all. 

The Saturday program is open to all. So if you are anywhere near Peoria, Illinois, I would love to have you join me for the day! Sign up information will be posted later this summer. In the meantime, if you would like to check out their newsletter, you can find it here, http://www.peoriaasg.org/files/SewCiety_News_WinterUpdated.pdf

Below is the article that was featured in their newsletter that tells a little about the conference and a little about me too.

Sew Special....16

Featuring Rhonda Buss

The featured speaker for Sew Special…16 is Rhonda Buss of Chicago. Rhonda is a past president of the Haute Couture Club of Chicago. The event will feature a hands-on handbag workshop for 12 participants on Friday. Rhonda will be designing the project that will teach participants about zipper application, pockets, hardware and other handbag construction techniques. Saturday will feature all things sleeves including how to change garments by restyling the sleeves. Samples will be available for the different sleeve variations. Rhonda will demonstrate how to draft, cut, slash and construct each sleeve variation. You don't have to be an expert because these techniques can apply to even a simple t-shirt style garment. There will be a trunk show of some of Rhonda's fashions. The afternoon will conclude with a make it take it wool flower accessory suitable for a lapel, hat, bag or where ever. A small kit fee will apply. In addition, the Saturday Sew Special….16 will feature a noon style show by the state Make It With Wool contestants. Some would say that Rhonda was born with a needle in her hand. Her first project was an embroidered handkerchief that she made with the help of her grandmother at the age of five. Once in high school, she took every sewing and design class that her school offered. With nothing more to offer, she was sent to the local community college where she had the opportunity to study fashion illustration and costume design. While in college, she took the limited fashion design classes that were offered, but finally had the opportunity to truly hone her skills at Ray College of Design in Chicago where she graduated with a degree in Fashion Design. In her final year, Rhonda won numerous awards for her designs, including fur and millinery awards. After graduating Rhonda worked as a designer for a dress manufacturer. From there she did costume design and returned to teach tailoring and design at Ray College. In recent years, Rhonda began writing for Sew News Magazine. She has also been featured in Threads magazine, Sew It All, and Sew Stylish. Her design was on the Spring 2014 cover for Sew Stylish magazine. In 2012, Rhonda won The People’s Choice Award in the Passion For Fashion competition at the American Sewing Expo. In 2013, her design won third place. In her popular blog, Rhonda’s Creative Life, Rhonda features easy to make designs made from simple shapes. She has a passion for sharing her knowledge and believes that everyone can sew and create. They just need the basic knowledge. 

"Come meet me in Peoria," sounds a little like a line from a country  western song! I grew up listening to country western music and thanks to Tammy Wynette, it's how I learned to spell, d-i-v-o-r-c-e!!! That's really true! But, all jokes aside, if you aren't too far from Peoria, and you have a little time to spare, I would truly enjoy spending the day with you.