Artisans Find Common Thread at Sewing Expo

A soft whir of sewing machines added sound to the many colors of fabrics, threads and fiber arts pieces filling a showroom in Novi's throughout the weekend during the annual . 

Vendor booths, many of which offered make-and-take projects showcasing their materials and tools, provided attendees at the annual Expo with a full palette of fabrics, yarns, patterns, finished works and creative ideas to satisfy everyone from the accomplished to novice sewer, quilter and fiber crafter.

Twelve-year-old Meagan Mowbray and her grandmother Ginny Mowbray were among those to try their hand at needle felting at the Back to Back Fiber Products booth run by Linda Lundstrom of Milford and her sister Sue Bunch of Arizona.

The pair run an online fiber products business using materials created from Ms. Lundstrom's alpaca farm, as well as doing shows such as this. Mrs. Mowbray, who primarily sews and likes making wearable art jackets, was interested in learning more about felt, and in passing on the tradition to her granddaughter, whom she has brought to the Expo for two years now.

Mere aisles away, Debbie Heuchert of Macomb was creating her own felted piece using a hi-tech felt loom invented by Lanette Freitag and Don Bowles of Sharpsburg, KY. Wrapping her finished scarf around her neck, she laughed, exclaiming, "It matches my hair!"

In addition to the vendors, seminars and classes, fashion shows were held onstage, and displays highlighting unique clothing designs and fiber artwork from designers across the country, as well as regionally, were shown.

For many, the show provided an opportunity to view and purchase materials for the crafts of their choice, while for others it was an opportunity to explore new avenues and expand their creative potential. 

But for some, the show held deeper purpose. Elena Dinu of Farmington Hills has been sewing for 30 years and is primarily self-taught. She also knits, crochets and quilts.

"I'm in love with everything" related to sewing and fiber work, Dinu said. She began learning the craft while working in the alterations department at Jacobsen's many years ago. This weekend marked the first year of her husband's passing, so the show offered her a positive outlet for her time and attention doing something she loves and which her husband always supported. 

That kind of peaceful solace was not lost on other exhibitors and spectators. Jo-Anne Kristensen, a teacher at Leabu Sewing Center in Ann Arbor, who was stationed near a computerized, hi-tech embroiderery machine, noted the more deeply personal benefits of sewing. "I used to think, 'oh, people are just here to take the class,' but not always. Sometimes it's therapy; sewing is very therapeutic."

And it can also be the thread that binds relationships together. Henrietta Orzechowski of Dearborn has been making her family's clothes for years. She, in turn, passed the skill on to her daughter Janice Walsh of Brighton. The pair slowly made their way through rows of fabric bolts in search of new project materials.

"We like to sew together," Walsh said, her mother Orzechowski adding, "And we're sewing together after all these years!"