Pattern Review Weekend 2018 Stratford, Ontario, Canada

 I arrived at Stratford early Wednesday afternoon and since no one else had arrived yet I decided to take a walk into town (about a mile walk). I enjoyed the neighborhood I walked through, beautiful gardens and then I got to the river where I captured the view above.

I was looking for the Shakespeare Gardens which I found and while they were small there was another pretty view of the river (below)

 I then walked towards the main street where all the shops and restaurants are. I found the pretty fountain below.

Back at the hotel later I met up with Karin (who came all the way from Sweden!) and we walked back to town where we had a very nice dinner.

All through Thursday people started to arrive. Karin and I made plans with Markita to do some extra shopping in some out of town shops. We had a great time, including a delicious lunch.

Karin, Me, Spool and Spindle shop owner and Markita
Selfie by Markita

Enjoying lunch at Marbles, Waterloo, Ontario

Later in the hotel lounge we said hello to old friends and got to know new ones.

With Jacki and Sherril

Friday is the official start of the weekend and some of the members were still arriving. This was the day for presentations and some other fun activities. First thing we took a tour of the Strtaford Shakespeare Festival Costume Warehouse. I was in heaven! And in the end we got to play with costumes.

After the tour we went to the venue, a church in town (Knox Presbyterian Church), for presentations and other activities. We heard from Deepika, Gillian (Crafting a rainbow blog), Jalie Patterns and BraMakers Supply. Connie did a demonstration of a favorite technique and some of us helped others take those measurements that are almost impossible to take on our own. We also had a chance to apply the tips that Gillian was giving us on how to take better pictures, including selfies. Below are my attempts.

We had fun!

After a break we returned to the church and had the wonderful surprise of live entertainment by Connie's ukelele band!

The rest of the evening the multiple contests were judged and we had a wonderful dinner.


Saturday was all about shopping and somehow I did not manage to take a single picture. You can see what everyone was up to here (Deepika's story of the weekend) Below is my modest stash after the day was all done.

I had one more dinner with friends in beautiful downtown Stratford.

The next morning those of us that were still around got together at Romeo's for brunch and one last group picture.

So happy to have spent a long weekend in such a wonderful place and in company of so many friends! Looking forward to Portland, Oregon!

Vogue 9237 A line dress

I was so busy with work this past semester that I did not sew a single thing. But as soon as the semester ended (and grades were in!) I started sewing. Of course I did have some incentive Pattern Review Weekend in Stratford, Ontario.


He estado tan ocupada con el trabajo este pasado semestre que no cosí nada. Pero en cuanto mandé las últimas notas me puse a coser. Por supuesto tenía una meta, el viaje a Stratford, Ontario con Pattern Review.




The first project was this Vogue dress that I had had for quite a while. I came across the fabric in my stash (bought during PR weekend in NYC, but not last year's trip, at Metro Textiles). It is a cotton with some stretch with good weight to show off the A line shape of the dress. I chose to make the view with the neckline opening.


El primer proyecto fue este vestido de Vogue. La tela estaba en mi gran pila (la compré en New York pero no en el viaje del año pasado en Metro Textiles) Es un algodón con un poco de Lycra, un poco paradito para que funcionara bien con la línea A del vestido. Me gustó mucho el modelo con la abertura en el cuello así que ese hice.

I made all the usual alterations I always make, no extra changes or issues with fitting.


Todos los ajustes al patrón son los normales que siempre hago. No tuve ningún problema.

This print combines some of my favorite colors and I love the dress.


Este estampado tiene unos de mis colores favoritos, me encanta el vestido.




Pictures were taken by Ellen (@eebashaw). We paired off during the weekend in Stratford to practice taking better pictures following the tips Gillian (Crafting a Rainbow blog)gave us during one of the presentations at PR weekend. I think she did a great job!


Las fotos las tomó Ellen (@eebashaw). Nos emparejamos para practicar el tomar mejor fotos aplicando los consejos de Gillian (Crafting a Rainbow blog) que presentó durante la reunión de PR. ¡Yo creo que tomó muy buenas fotos!