ASDP Annual Conference -- Wolf Form Company

I returned a week ago from the Annual Conference for the Association of Sewing and Design Professionals. The conference was held in Secuacus, NJ this year--not the most glamorous place, but close enough to NYC to allow for some great adventures.

I arrived on Thursday, October 14th, and the fun began right away. I've made many dear friends and always look forward to catching up with them at conference, though we keep in touch via email and Facebook. You may not think that a bunch of seamstresses/sewing teachers could be a fun group, but we are.

This year was especially exciting for me, as I was a finalist in the Threads Magazine Challenge "Suit Your Style" and taught my first formal class ever. (more on both these topics later).

We had 3 options for Friday, and I chose the tour of the Wolf Form Company and Deerbrook Fabrics, both in New Jersey.

Stephen Wisner of New Jersey was our tour guide. He is very knowledgeable and has a fondness for diners, so we ended our day with a late lunch at the TickTock Diner in Clifton.

Our first stop was the Wolf Form Company, makers of high quality standard and custom dressforms.
I was really impressed that everything is still done by hand, from laying the paper-mache like material in the cast to form the foundation of the form, to sewing and shrinking the Irish linen cover to fit.

The owner, Mr. Ferri, walked us through the entire factory and explained every step of the process. This may sound boring to some, but to a sewing geek like me (and my sewing peeps), a dressform is an essential (though often luxury) tool. To see how something so important to our craft is made was a treat.

Next up: Deerbrook Fabrics--even cooler stuff for the nerds among us!