Calgary Sews
A community for garment sewists in the Calgary, Canada region
Category: Meetup Recaps
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Newsletters
Our newsletter goes out every couple of months — and it’s way more fun when it’s filled with your ideas, makes, and discoveries! 💌✂️ Anyone can contribute, and you don’t need to be a “writer” — just share what you love. Here are a few ideas to spark your creativity: ✨ Store or pattern reviews — Shout out…
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Upcycle a T-shirt into a Shopping Bag
Courtesy of Calgary Sews member @LadyOttesonSews on Instagram This is one of those quick projects that uses things that we all have on hand. Maybe you’ve got a ton of shopping bags and don’t need any more … how about making one of these to wrap a gift, or sew some for charity! We know…
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🎄 Quick Holiday Projects
14 December 2025 In this post, we share five quick holiday projects that are recommended by our members. Some are for decor, others are gifts. None require great sewing skills! These aren’t for just Christmas or December holidays. Use different themed or coloured fabrics for birthdays, Valentine’s Day, Easter, summer holidays, Canada Day, etc. Gift…
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Hand Worked Buttonholes
One of the things we love about our get togethers is learning new techniques. And at our November 15, 2025 Meetup, we learned about hand worked buttonholes. Our member, Daphne (who sews amazing couture garments!) showed us the technique and we worked together on samples. Hand worked buttonholes are excellent for fabrics that are bulky,…
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RECAP: What Needle Do I Use? 🪡
Presentation by SCHMETZ Needles on October 15, 2025 Rhonda Pierce, educator from SCHMETZ Needles joined us for a Meetup on Zoom. Rhonda shared a lot of very helpful info on sewing machine needles. Here are the highlights! đź“– RELATED: Everything You Need To Know About Sewing Machine Needles by The Sewing Machine Man on Substack…
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Dazzling Denim
Meetup Date: April 12, 2025 At the April 2025 Meetup, Nora and Mona inspired us with creative techniques to add flair to our favorite denim pieces! From hand and machine stitching, appliquĂ©, sashiko, piecing in decorative fabrics, to glitter, pearls, and even painting — the possibilities are endless Mona painted a cow on the back of…
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Eyelets, Grommets and Rivets oh my
Calgary Sews Meetup – March 14, 2025Â Recap by Jessica Foltinek Tara Sinclair designer and owner of Uh Oh Creations was the presenter for the March 2025 Calgary Sews Meetup. Tara is a member of the Calgary Sews Meetup Group. Uh Oh Creations is Calgary-based and Tara has designed many amazing bag patterns that have…
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Meetup Resources – The Burn Test
At our August 13, 2024 Meetup, the topic was ‘burn testing’. What’s a burn test? It’s a way to determine what fibres make up a fabric. If you’re like many of us and you shop at charity sales, or you buy deadstock fabric, or you’ve got fabric in your stash and you can’t recall when…
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Meetup Materials – Online Sewing Resources – July 22 ’23
At our Meetup on July 22, 2023, member Andrea shared online sewing resources that she has found helpful as she develops her garment sewing skills. Andrea is on Instagram as @Shihtzugrlsews Thank you Andrea for leading the group on July 22!
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Meetup Materials – Measuring Bodies – May 13 & 17 ’23
The documents and materials on this page were shared at our Meetup group. Thread Theory Designs Inc. has a lot of patterns – and many for men. This measuring chart came from their website. Renowned pattern designer and teacher, Linda Lee, runs The Sewing Workshop which is based in Topeka, Kansas, U.S.A. The Sewing Workshop…
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