EVENTS NEWS Inetz 3 min read

Common Threads 2016

Enjoy patterns, articles, and secret surprises! Become a Charter Member of our brand-new digital sewing membership Makers Club.

I was the lucky “chosen one” to attend this year’s Baby Lock Common Threads event. And boy the hype did not disappoint! For those of you who do not know about the Common Threads event, it is a place where the top industry professionals and the best bloggers out there get together and make magic happen!

Off to St. Louis, MO!

Upon arrival I received an AMAZING swag bag filled with goodies from Baby Lock and other attendees.

Swag Bag Treats

Welcome to Baby Lock Common Threads event!

entrance

Everything is set up for three days of fun!

Arrived

A lovely opening welcome from Steve Jeffery, Senior VP Sewing Sales.

Welcome to

Did you know that Tacony is celebrating their 70th anniversary this year and Baby Lock will be celebrating their 50th anniversary next year?! There is a reason when a company reaches such a milestone. They truly care for their employees and customers as if they were family.

Tacony Tour baby lockWelcome to the Tacony tour!

Tacony Tour1

Craig Meyer, Senior VP of Marketing (who is one of the sweetest people I have ever met) gave us an inside look to Tacony’s warehouse.

Tacony Tour2

My “Journey” though the warehouse!

Tacony Tour journey

You could say that there were machines for days! Scratch that. Machines for YEARS!

Tacony Tour3

Even Heather of TheSewingLoftBlog.com wanted her photo by the mass amounts of machinery.

Tacony Tour Heather

Even though these machines looked sad, they were in working order.

Tacony Tour working machines

We were even allowed access to their print workshop.

Tacony Tour print

Miranda of OneLittleMinuteBlog.com couldn’t resist the color shot!

Tacony Tour print miranda

After a nice night of sleep we arrived at the headquarters in the morning to start our first project of the day.

Evy of aBitofStitch.com introduced us to the Baby Lock’s Destiny and we created our first appliqué project. I am lucky enough to work with this machine in our office, but I learned a few new tricks! This embroidery machine is INCREDIBLE! It may look intimidating but believe me, it is almost effortless.

destiny emb1

In progress!

destiny emb2

Tada!! She is complete! (Or at least the embroidery and appliqué are).

destiny emb3

After the embroidery process, we finished the project off by creating these adorable handbags! Not to mention how darling the display was!

destiny emb4

After we broke for lunch we returned to to start a new project put on by Lindsay of TheCottageMama.com. This project was extra special and I encourage you all to take part in this charity. Little Dresses for Africa is a project built on providing on just that, giving little girls in Africa clothing, dresses in particular. Many of these girls go without clothing until they hit puberty. When they receive these dresses not only are they given clothing but they are also given love, support and encouragement. Feeling loved and looked after goes a very long way. You can find all the information needed to help and send dresses of your own by going to www.LittleDressesforAfrica.org. They will even provide you with instructions on creating a pillowcase dress. So simple, so meaningful.

dresses1

We decided to make the dresses extra special with little appliquéd and embroidered birdies and sweet “Dainty Darling” fabric from Riley Blake Designs (which Lindsay designed and will be released in February 2017)!

dresses4

How cute! Am I right?! My charming partner Truly of Pink Elephant Designs (who is an extraordinary couture designer) shows off our finished dress!

dresses2

Here is Lindsay in her “Dress Shop” filled of our gifts to the little girls of Africa.

dresses3

We finished the night by a panel of experts. Vanessa of CraftyGemini.com gave great insight on industry standards, partnerships and the importance of brand identity. Dana of MadeEverday.com gave us amazing tips on how to get your Instagram to be one of the bests! These women were amazing! I learned SO many great tips! I am so thankful for their time and efforts.

instagram dana

Free Sewing Night! We had some fun and the creativity was flowing! Here is a look at Truly’s one night creation.

free sew night1

free sew night2

free sew night3

The next morning was our last. We had a fun “speed dating” round where we could all get to know one another a little bit more.

speed dating

We took a group photo and all signed the community wall and answered, “What does sewing mean to you?”

community wall

One last project was hosted by the lovely Sara Gallegos! We were able to make a zippered bag entirely on the Baby Lock’s Ovation Serger! And it was all completed within two hours! Amazing!!

serging

And that’s a wrap!

Thats a wrap

I had the MOST amazing and memorable time at the Common Threads 2016 event. A BIG thank you Baby Lock for all of the love and compassion they continue to share to the sewing community. To check out more stories of this year’s event, simply click here.

-Jessica

Jessica Z Head Shot Cropped 200

Join the Conversation!