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Report from Sew Pro 2016

September 21, 2016

Sew Pro

I’ve just returned from a wonderful weekend at Sew Pro, a brand new conference for sewing professionals that took place in Chicago on September 16-17. The event was organized by Sara Lawson of Sew Sweetness and Brenda Ratliff of Pink Castle Fabrics. Between the two of them Sara and Brenda have designed fabric for two different companies, designed PDF and print patterns, had a thread collection with Aurifil, taught on Craftsy and at shops, written books, run a brick-and-mortar fabric shop, blogged, and so much more. They have lots of industry experience to draw upon when organizing an event like this and that really shined through.

Leading up to the conference attendees were invited to join the Sew Pro Facebook group which served as a place to plan transportation, find roommates, and figure out what to wear and what to bring. Now that the conference is over the group continues to be a valuable place. This morning Pat Sloan asked what everyone is working on post-conference and I found reading the replies to be so motivating. Everyone is working hard to put what they learned to use including reviving blogs, reworking Pinterest boards, writing query letters, and formatting patterns. Facebook groups are a really valuable accompaniment to conferences and definitely served to build community for this one.

There was a mixer on Thursday evening which I missed (it was back-to-school night here), but I arrived Friday morning just in time to see Pat Sloan’s opening keynote. Then it was off to classes.

MimiG at Sew Pro

The first class I went to was MimiG’s session, “Creating a Following and Brand Loyalty.” One of the things that going to in-person events does is clarify who people are and what their work is all about. When you mostly operate online sometimes it’s hard to grasp all of what a person does.

Although I’d heard of Mimi G and had visited her site, I honestly didn’t totally know who she was or what she offered. Seeing her presentation I was incredibly impressed. I especially loved her honesty about her background. She was a teenage mom, never graduated from high school, and spent periods of time being homeless in Los Angeles. Today she’s an incredibly successful fashion sewist, blogger, and business owner, plus a dynamic and hilarious teacher. I came away full of admiration for all that Mimi G has accomplished.

One of the reasons I attended Sew Pro was to help promote Craft Industry Alliance (CIA), the trade organization for craft professionals that I co-founded with Kristin Link almost a year ago. Although Kristin and I work together every day we’ve only met in person once (at Quilt Market in Houston last fall). It was great to see her again!

Kristin Link and Abby Glassenberg

Craft Industry Alliance at Sew Pro

We gave a presentation during lunch on Friday which included panel discussion with some CIA members who were at the conference. The members who spoke were truly awesome and I think we succeeded in showing that CIA provides the same kind of information and community as Sew Pro, but all year-long.

Abby Glassenberg and Mickey Krueger of Windham

After the formal sessions were over on Friday I recorded a podcast interview with Mickey Krueger, the president of Windham Fabrics, and I invited people to sit in on the recording. This was the first time I’ve had a studio audience for a podcast and it was fantastic. Typically I record the show alone in the front room of my house and all of the feedback I receive is virtual. To be surrounded by listeners during this recording was so good. Thank you to everyone who came! The episode will air on Monday, October 3, and Mickey was a very forthright and interesting guest. Fabric is a fascinating industry.

Sunday began with Tula Pink’s keynote. Tula has tremendous stage presence and great stories to tell. She showed her process step-by-step and the whole room was riveted.

Sharon from Free Spirit Fabrics gave the lunch lecture.

Tula Pink and MimiG

MimiG talking with Tula Pink.

One of the things that really struck me about Sew Pro was that it brought together fashion sewists like MimiG and quilters like Tula Pink. I’m not sure these two groups are often in the same room discussing business, yet the synchronicity is definitely there.

Later in the day on Saturday I went to Tula’s session, “You’ve Designed a Fabric Line – Now What?” in which she really dug into the strategic business decisions that have led to her success. At the end MimiG came up and gave her a big hug. That was really neat!

The overall atmosphere at Sew Pro was warm and encouraging and the teacher lineup was outstanding. Kudos to Sara and Brenda for a well-organized inaugural event. I hope to go again in the future!

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Comments

  1. Laura @ Prairie Sewn Studios says

    September 22, 2016 at 1:19 pm

    Thanks for sharing this recap. I’m hoping to attend this sometime in the future now!, and am checking out your CIA in the meantime.

  2. Mimi G says

    September 22, 2016 at 2:13 pm

    Thank you so much for including me in your post. I had a wonderful time!

  3. Sandy Maxfield says

    September 22, 2016 at 4:18 pm

    Great summary thanks! Makes me want to attend the next one for sure.

  4. Jessie Zeigler says

    September 28, 2016 at 10:22 am

    I had an amazing experience as a Sew Pro attendee. I think it was the practical information combined with the inspiration that made it so valuable to me. And it was fun to meet you, Abby!

    • Abby says

      September 28, 2016 at 3:15 pm

      It was fun meeting you, too!

  5. Jenn Rossotti says

    September 28, 2016 at 11:39 am

    SewPro was so amazing for me. I really feel like a switch was flipped and I am finally ready to get serious and start approaching what I do as a business. The event helped me focus, organized my thoughts, and figure out exactly what the next step for me is. All of the speakers were so inspiring. I came home so revved up to get to work. Huge congratulations to Saran and Brenda for making the first go round of this event such a success for the students. I am so excited about the future.

  6. pat sloan says

    September 28, 2016 at 9:50 pm

    it was a great conference, thanks for sharing that I did the opening keynote!

  7. Anne Beier says

    September 29, 2016 at 9:59 am

    It was great meeting you in person, Abby. Is it possible to access the podcast you recorded it Sew Pro? If so, how? Thank you.

    • Abby says

      October 1, 2016 at 8:34 pm

      It will be up on Monday. My podcasts get published on the first and third Monday of each month.

  8. Tina Dillard says

    November 5, 2016 at 1:46 pm

    Sound like a great conference to attend, I hope to do next years. Do you know when the Registration will be up for next year.

    • Abby says

      November 5, 2016 at 3:49 pm

      I think they plan to do it every other year.

  9. Stephanie Grams says

    March 11, 2017 at 1:02 pm

    I’m SUPER excited to have found your blog. I’ve been sewing since the age of 7…”sew” over 30 years! Long story short, the artist craft of hand-stitching ended up being used as a tool to bring healing to my brokenness after my youngest of 5 daughters, passed away unexpectedly. Thank you for sharing your journey and creating a space for us to learn.

Welcome! I'm Abby Glassenberg and I'm glad you're here. While She Naps is a blog about designing and sewing stuffed animals and running a creative business.
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