The Susan Khalje Paris Tour has been a “bucket list” item for me ever since I can remember learning about it! It was one of those dreamy ideas, one of those someday I’d love to ideas. And then one day I found myself in the position of going, why wait for someday! My NG co-leader and good friend Wendy Grossman and I discussed it and decided well, why not?!?!?! So we signed up for the 2019 Paris trip and oh what a trip it was!
If you have never been to Susan’s website I encourage you to go and take a quick read of the description of the tour. https://susankhalje.com/pages/the-paris-tour
Did the tour live up to the description and my expectations? YES and took it to levels that I never expected! Now, I will be honest, this trip is not for the faint of heart. It is expensive but it was worth every penny. It is also a physically challenging trip. Not physical in like you are riding bikes or power walking for miles, but physical in like the days are jam packed with wonderful things, there is a lot of time spent on your feet and in/out of the train system and public transport, walking on lots of cobblestones and in general just a lot of activity for 9 straight days.
Highlights of the trip- the biggest thing for me was that at every museum or special exhibit that we went to we had a private guide plus several of them were done prior to the museum’s regular hours. Talk about a wonderful treat! Each guide was specifically knowledgeable in the area of expertise and it was such a treat to be in some of these places before the general public! 
Each of the fabric stores that we went to was exquisite in their own way. Susan knew the owners and the products and gave us a good debriefing before each one. She was also there for questions and mini-consultations while discussing fabrics and how much to buy. The fabric shopping was just amazing!!! This trip I planned on my fabric purchases and packed an extra suitcase!
There was a superb mix of learning, meeting people in the fashion trade and shopping, and of course… eating! The food in Paris is wonderful and they drink champagne to celebrate our wonderful life all the time. Contrary to the popular myth, all of the people we met and had dealings with were just lovely!
There were several amazing workshops and visits to ateliers that were just beyond wonderful.
Sew & Tell began with status reports on our 2020 challenge, a jacket or coat. Check out the progress on our 2020 Challenge page.
Liz H. and Sue also treated us to a preview of the samples Liz is working on for their upcoming ASG Chicago workshop on the Camp Shirt. Here is Liz with a sample in striped linen and an innovative pocket she adapted from the book Pattern Magic.
Liz is also teaching an advance knitting class at College of DuPage and showed us samples of the challenging projects she has in store for her student.
And Linda was thrilled to show her first JStern Tee, which is also the first project she’s completed entirely on her serger!
Happy Sewing!!
Sew Chicago 