Creative Inspiration Sewing Expo Teams With Pros to Train Educators.

Lifestyle Editors/Business Editors

SAN ANTONIO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 4, 2003

Education is the primary mission of Creative Inspiration(TM) Sewing, Quilting and Embroidery Expo, which returns to San Antonio, Texas, Thursday through Saturday, February 13 to 15, 2003, at the Airport Convention Center, 8505 Broadway.

"For the industry to thrive, new people must be introduced to this diverse and satisfying creative art,"said Joyce Perhac, president of expo presenter ProShow, Inc. of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Creative Inspiration will provide two professional-level training opportunities.

"This is our fifth year working with Dr. Pamela Brown, consumer sciences specialist with the Texas Cooperative Extension Service, providing a venue for Master Clothing Volunteer Training," said Perhac. "This year, Home Sewing Association brings another training opportunity, providing its Trained Sewing Educator workshop."

Two-day Texas Cooperative Extension Service Master Clothing Volunteer training will be held Wednesday and Thursday, February 12 and 13, with show admission Friday.

A Home Sewing Association Trained Sewing Educator session will be offered Saturday, February 15.

The Master Clothing Volunteer (MCV) training program hones sewing and teaching skills of people who share their love of sewing with others. They, in turn, establish home-based businesses, create jobs and boost the economy. MCV is achieving its goal, illustrated through many heartwarming success stories.

"MCV helps people help themselves and others in their communities," said Linda Anderson, extension service communications specialist. "It has gone further, however, providing opportunities for people in prisons, shelters, and rehabilitation facilities." The program also has expanded to include quilting and other needle arts. "We want to be responsive to the needs of our community within the scope of our mission," Anderson said.

Participants attend three days of intensive instruction with Cooperative Extension faculty, experienced MCVs, and national sewing experts, in San Antonio to present at Creative Inspiration. Volunteers are trained to teach beginners, and receive introductory project ideas. New this year will be training on web and e-commerce sewing resources.

MCVs serve one year, minimum 50 hours, in exchange for training. "MCV training teaches sewists to work with groups and individuals, helping them expand their sewing skills as a lifetime resource and creative outlet for themselves and their families," said Anderson.

For more information, call Dr. Pamela Brown, [phone], or go to http://fcs.tamu.edu/clothing/clothing.htm. Registration deadline has been extended, and the $75 fee includes MCV notebook and resources, admission to Creative Inspiration plus three seminars.

The Home Sewing Association's (HSA) two all-day Trained Sewing Educator workshops provide detailed instruction on becoming a beginning sewing instructor. "One of the hardest things to do, for someone who has been sewing for any length of time, is to see this activity as a beginner," said Donna Pierson, HSA vice president for special projects and Internet services.

HSA's curriculum focuses on understanding sewing machines; types and purposes for various fabrics; notions; and completing projects using commercial patterns. The emphasis is on products and equipment available to the home sewist, and providing instruction on a gradient appropriate to the student.

"It amazes me to hear how our teachers use what they've learned in our workshops," said Pierson. HSA's Trained Sewing Educator Program, barely a year old, already has turned out more than 300 professional sewing teachers in every part of the country, working independently, in public schools, retail establishments, and private sewing schools. "We have teachers taking their skills into reform schools and rehabilitation centers, too. Our focus on returning to the basics has proven invaluable, to our teachers, and their students."

Upon completion, teachers receive a 36-lesson curriculum for beginner sewing classes; a package of HSA guidelines, which are educational sheets on single sewing topics; marketing guides; an after-school curriculum; information on how to get educational materials on textiles and swatch kits; and an introductory letter to the local sewing community. There is a $175 fee, covering course and materials.

For more information, call Donna Pierson, [phone] or go to http://www.sewing.org

"These programs elevate the art and skill of sewing and sewing instruction, and bring professionalism and standards to sewing education," said Perhac. "ProShow is honored to participate."

For the thousands of current sewing enthusiasts who flock to Creative Inspiration, the draw is the more than seventy-five classes, seminars, workshops, stage presentations, fashion shows and demonstrations ProShow packs into three days. Free with $7 admission, daily designer fashion shows, stage presentations and demonstrations round out three exciting days of inspiration, innovation and education. Seminars begin daily at 9 a.m., the exhibit hall is open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Call [phone] for a free brochure, or go to http://www.sewingevents.com to download a brochure or register online.