Welcome to the San Diego Chapter of the American Sewing Guild

A Brief History: We received our charter to ASG in 1987 after a group of ladies who had been meeting as a sewing group for many years decided to join this national organization of home sewers. Presently we have over 300 members.

Our Chapter Now: Currently we have nine neighborhood groups that meet each month, with several more groups in the planning stages for the 2007 year.

Each meeting offers the opportunity to learn a new technique, share tips, get advice on sewing problems, see wonderful creations during "show and tell", and make new friends. Also, each year we plan special events for our members. These events include a variety of opportunities: community service sewing, road trips to area fabric stores, seminars, workshops, and our annual election meeting in October.

Our members receive a newsletter, Needle Network, published every other month. It contains news about our Chapter as well as events going on in our area and educational information. Our members enjoy the benefit of discounts for sewing-related materials and tools, Notions Magazine (an ASG publication with articles written exclusively for us), the exciting ASG National Convention which members attend for a discounted price, the latest news from the sewing industry, a national membership which allows our members to attend any ASG meeting anywhere and the special camaraderie that comes from sharing with other sewers.

Because ASG is always adding new features, it's a good idea to visit us often. Don't forget to tell your friends about us, too! Please take a few minutes to browse our pages and see what's going on inside the greatest organization for sewers in the world. Here's an article that appeared in the Union Tribune North Costal Edition and features the members of the North Coastal Neighborhood Group! Click Here

Why Join ASG?

• Are you looking for new friends who share your love of sewing?
• Would you like to learn new sewing techniques and share what you already know with others?
• Do you like receiving discounts on sewing supplies?
• Do you enjoy participating in charitable community projects?
• Do you enjoy attending workshops, luncheons and events with nationally recognized sewing experts.

Then the American Sewing Guild is for you!

Join ASG Today!

ABOUT AMERICAN SEWING GUILD

An idea that dates back to the Middle Ages, yet is as new as tomorrow—the sewing guild. Sewing is just as much in tune with today's idea of expanding your potential as gourmet cooking, organic gardening, recycling, or taking up tennis and jogging. Our particular sewing revolution begins here... By the mid 1970s, sewing education had already been dropped from many school curriculums, and great numbers of women were entering the workforce and were neither sewing themselves nor teaching their daughters to sew. They simply did not have the time. The American Home Sewing Association (a trade organization of notion, pattern, fabric and sewing machine manufacturers and is now the Home Sewing Association, or HSA) needed a way to rejuvenate the industry, and thus was born the idea of starting a sewing guild. They ran large display ads in the Denver, Colorado and Indianapolis, Indiana newspapers, looking for 500 founding members for the newly formed American Sewing guild, and must have been shocked when they received over 3,500 requests from Indianapolis alone! Out of necessity, the founding membership was limited to those experienced sewers who met certain educational and organizational priorities to insure the best chances for a lasting organization. Jan Schenck served as the first National Administrator for the ASG, interfacing with new Chapter Administrators in Denver and Indianapolis. The American Home Sewing Association provided generous funding to get things started, and the founding members were given free membership in the first year. The programs scheduled by the Fall of that first year were: "Make It A Workable Wardrobe," "Make It For Christmas," and "Make it A Warmer Winter." Times have changed. The guild incorporated in March of 1993, is nonprofit 501 (C)(3), and now has 18,000 members and over 100 chapters across the nation. It is governed by an elected national Board of Directors who hired an Executive Director to run the day to day business of the organization. It is very much driven by the volunteer power of its membership who sponsor local special events, community service projects, membership drives, fashion shows, produce local newsletters, establish educational programs, run Neighborhood Groups, and much more.