Friends catching up
JAN 9, 2018
Atlantic Sewing Guild started the New Year right – with something completely different for us. We were joined by Jackie and Joseph Clairmont who are a wonderfully creative sister/brother duo. As soon as they started the presentation about their Cosplay adventures, they were inundated with questions from Guild members. This was a particularly good result, as several of the most interested questioners had been self-confessedly totally uninterested in hearing about something so far from their usual experience as the world of fantasy creations!
Joseph started making his costumes way back in high school and Jackie thought this was a very peculiar pursuit – until she was later also bitten by this particular creative bug. Now Joe fosters Jackie’s costume-sewing explorations & her studies in the Nova Scotia Community College Entrepreneurship Programme. He approaches his work like it is “foam smithing”.
Joseph sculpts, casts & moulds many different types of materials into fanciful costumes & characters, with (and in) which he travels across Canada and as far afield as New York, where he attended Comic-Con with 200,000 other aficionados
! (Comic-Con is a pop-culture conference phenomenon for people with interests as diverse as comic books, card & video games and which crosses genres as diverse as horror, animé and independent film.) Can you even imagine being there with so many other people also enrobed in their fantastical dreams?
Once Jackie got interested in creating her own Hallowe’en costumes in high school, she began to see in Joe the perfect older brother guru, who introduced her to this world of most intriguing characters. Joseph sculpts while Jackie sews.
She drafts and alters her own costume patterns and after NSCC is hoping to begin a costuming clinic. Both are inspired by the challenging aspects of creating characters who exist first in the mind or from far-gone eras, then bringing them to life as interpretations with their artistic vision. Jackie & Joe have met new friends from far & wide while also contributing to various charities through their participation & guest appearances.
Questions didn’t stop throughout the talk & beyond, members learning many new terms and concepts. Before this evening, who of us could discuss the use of materials like ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA), or the upcoming Geekquinox in April? We even got to meet Ed Head, who serves as a base for Joe’s sculpting.
All in all, this was a fascinating glimpse into a new world for ASG. And who could fail to be impressed with the obvious regard and respect for each other that Joseph and Jackie Clairmont shared with us this first meeting of 2018? (and yes, they sometimes do commissions)
ASG had a propitious start to 2018,
filling up more boxes with materials for our community sewing day on February 3 *(SEE BELOW). We are collecting warm hats, scarves and mittens for the homeless of our city. And we will meet for a group sewing day to make pyjama pants from the warm donated fabrics.
We were able to glean some warm fabrics from Joy’s Finds 
for our PJ purposes. And this last grouping of Joy’s fabrics was again gratefully received by many members.
Janet kept her hands busy & Carolyn enjoyed the goings-on,
while Karen kept track of us and Sheila kept up with notes for us.
Wait a sec – who’s that?
SEW AND TELL
Edgar shows us how to successfully mix it up in his Christmas shirts (& he actually used real buttonholes for these!) McCall’s 6044
Tory also shows us how to mix it up, adding fly-front, pockets & waistband to her Jalie jeans. In October, she gave her popular class to sew the Eleanore pattern in a day (seriously – one!). Tory’s Jeans in a Day Class
Pat is ahead of schedule with her self-imposed 2018 quantity sewing. She showed iterations of Jalie’s Marie Claude 3667 in some lovely knits from Mill Yardage of New England.
Nancy‘s raglan dress was cozy & just perfect for winter (although we did miss her Twirly-Whirly) Butterick 6494
Anita, with one of her most favourite TNTs: the Jalie Helen cardi
Leanne showing us she is not being accosted by her clever neckpiece creation & in stitches as we discuss her very sharp Colette Phoebe dress
Nasira shows us another pattern she has recently been happy to complete (great job with Simplicity 5463!)
We wrap up the evening with Carolyn in her Love Notions slims with their Sloan sweater; and our President Lorna taking a bow in her version of the Jalie Jean.
