Meeting Kenneth D. King

Whew! I'm embarrassed at how long it has been since I last entered a new post. It has and still is a busy month for me. I have several new magazine articles in the works which means putting together a half dozen new projects. I have done several new samples for upcoming classes and best of all I met Kenneth D King. 

What a fun couple of days that was. The fabric store where I teach here in the Detroit market, called Haberman Fabrics, hosted an event featuring the great Kenneth D. King. The celebrated couture designer, FIT professor and contributing editor for Threads magazine is, indeed, as vivacious and colorful as he comes across in his writings and many teaching videos. I can't believe how much I learned from him.

The event included a full weekend of instruction and hands-on training by Kenneth. Sewers from surrounding states and fashion design students from Kendal College in Grand Rapids along with many Detroit areas sewists were in attendance. 

I attended Friday's opening event that provided an interesting look into how he came to be who he is today. It included a showing of many of his celebrated designs that have been featured in many Threads articles and in his books. I was blown away by his creativity and ingenuity. His creations are truly pieces of art and rather awe inspiring. 

Saturday's event concentrated on teaching the room how to draft and complete shawl and notched lapels. His instruction was superb  - detailed, logical, and practical.  He must be a fun professor to have at FIT. I haven't tailored a jacket in some time so his presentation brought back all that I had once learned, and re-inspired me to put his tricks and tips to work. 

What I especially enjoyed was his review of how to draft a sleeve. That's an area I continue to struggle with. Getting my sleeves to fit and hang perfectly off my forward leaning shoulder has been a constant challenge. No matter how hard I have tried I just can't seem to get them perfect. He explained both the math and art to them, so I am hoping his instructions will finally solve my issues once and for all.

Throughout the day he offered many helpful tips about sewing in general. Lots dealt with taking an out-of-the-box approach, which I was so glad to hear. I have found through teaching so many first time sewers, the methods and sewing techniques sewing books and textbooks advocate are not always the best or easiest way to do things. I have  re-engineered many techniques and was so glad to hear Kenneth espouse many of the very same sewing alternatives I teach. How fun is that!  

All in all it was a fun couple of days. I learned a lot and got to connect with other sewists who share the same passion for sewing as I do. Kenneth's enthusiasm for  sewing was wonderful to witness and though only for just a few hours it was great to be a part of.