Silverdale ASG Chapter’s Fall Fashion Fling with Robyn Spady (by Sew & Sews member Vicki Steigner, photos by Sew & Sews member Cathy Berg)
Thanks to the Silverdale Chapter of ASG for hosting an excellent presentation and hands-on workshop on couture passementerie (paz-man-tre) on October 12. Passementerie is a French term describing a multitude of embellishment techniques for garments and interiors. Think braid, tassels, cording, embroidery, beads, handmade buttons, frogs and jewelry! Robyn Spady, a master weaver and fiber artist, talked about the history of this interesting element of couture design and shared her collection of fabulous vintage garments made by premier French designers. The garments ranged in age from the Edwardian era to the 1990s illustrating a wide range of techniques. She let us handle, inspect, and even try on these wonderful garments!
Her talk included hands-on directions for making buttons, several types of trims, frogs, clasps, and jewelry from a wonderful pile of gorgeous yarns, cording and ribbon that was provided along with tools and gadgets to make construction easy and fun. We all left with completed samples and one lady left with a new frog closure sewn on her jacket!
We had fun visiting. The lunch was great! And we all left feeling inspired and accomplished. If you ever get a change to attend one of Robyn’s workshops, do it! You won’t be disappointed!
South Puget Sound Chapter 