The Great Big Sewing Community and A Bag Sew-A-Long.

One great thing about sewing these days is how one can be, if they choose, a part of a much larger sewing community than just close sewing friends next door or the great and talented folks at the local Sewing Guild. The possibilities for learning new skills, meeting new people, and seeing their work through pictures, is really limitless due to the Internet.

10 years ago or so it was hard to find a decent sewing pattern online, especially for garments, or to know much about like minded sewists who may live all the way on the other side of the world. Now, as you all know, there are literally thousands of avenues and areas and interests to pursue in the sewing world as well as a world of free patterns and thousands again of patterns for a few dollars or more. A world that can connect you with any number of sewing aficionados in an instant. A world that can set you up with others who share your passion. And it is a lovely world that should be delved in to and pursued by the home sewists!

There are any number of blogs about any number of sewing subjects. There are youtube videos (and other videos at other sites), entire pdf books and patterns ready to be instantaneously downloaded, linky parties (which link up blogs where the bloggers then discuss and share their similar sewing projects). There are professional designers such as Angela Kane, or Nancy Zieman with websites and memberships (free or not). There are the big three pattern company(ies) with their own sewing videos, affiliated sites such as Sew4home or Professor Pincushion with tutorials and communities as well as independent pattern shops producing custom designs from all over the world and doing sew-a-longs to promote their products. There are weekly giveaways and contests at any number of blogs and online fabric shops. There are opportunities to be pattern testers. There are Blocks of the Month and Garments of the Month.

While I am sure to have forgotten some other way to pursue sewing online I think you get the idea. There are countless opportunities out there.

Really, there are as many contests or as much education, help and assistance with any sewing issue or problem that anyone could need or want. I once bought a book on couture sewing and had a question regarding one of the techniques shown.

The Author was very friendly and quickly answered my question!

Why, I just emailed the author and received a very nice, detailed answer. The information, techniques and how-tos are just there waiting to be tapped, most likely free and usually pretty darn good. Take Sew-A-Longs (SAL). Here is a way to meet other sewers, brush up or learn new skills, and have a cool sewn item at the end!

A couple of weeks ago on a whim I googled "2013 sew a alongs". While things from earlier in the year popped up so did a few in progress or coming up.The Cooper Bag Sew A Long at Colette Patterns really caught my interest and I decided to take on the challenge.

The Cooper Bag does not seem all that complicated and the pattern is rated for beginners but the recommended fabric used for the bag is leather, vinyl, wax canvas or the like. In order to expand my experience with these fabrics, and I also happen to really LOVE messenger bags and their next of kin, backpacks and satchels, I put it on my newly developed SAL excel sheet and ordered the pattern. I did have to purchase the vinyl but the rest of the supplies I already had in my stash so it hasn't cost me a great deal to get involved.

The Cooper Bag SAL begins on Monday and runs until Dec. 13th. I am really looking forward to "working" and sewing along side other Cooper Bag sewers, seeing their finished product and learning some new skills along the way. All that and more in the comfort of my own home.