Convergence 2020

Handweavers Guild of America – Convergence 2020

Cochenille Design Studio will be vending and hosting classes at Convergence 2020

Save the Date! This international fiber art experience will take place in Knoxville, Tennessee July 24 – 27, 2020.

Susan Lazear, owner of Cochenille Design Studio, will be teaching, “Prototyping Garments and Measurements and Patterns”

Please check back to this page, more information about Convergence® Knoxville 2020 and our classes will be available in the future.

From the convergence website:

First-time visitors are typically amazed by all Knoxville has to offer. In this one, unique location, mountains meet music… art meets adventure… culture meets cuisine… and no one meets a stranger. The pure walkability of downtown allows people to explore and discover vibrant murals, local music, historic sites, art museums, parks, greenways and more. With its sophisticated mix of culture and cuisine, served up with genuine hospitality, Knoxville will surprise you.

Knoxville is conveniently located just off I-40 and I-75, just minutes from I-81
Knoxville is within a day’s drive of half the continental U.S.
Knoxville boasts 120 daily flights from more than 20 nonstop destinations from McGhee Tyson Airport (TYS), 12 miles from downtown.

Convergence^® will be held at the Knoxville Convention Center in Knoxville, Tennessee. Additional Sessions will be held next door at the Holiday Inn World’s Fair Park: Downtown Knoxville Hotel.

New for 2020:

Meals: Share stories of your Convergence^® adventure as you dine with old friends and new. Tickets for the Fashion Show and the Keynote both include dinner. You may also purchase a meal plan for additional meals so you may stay close to the fiber action.
Skein Competition: Spinners enter your work to be judged and placed on exhibit in the Marketplace.
Panels: Each afternoon we offer an informational panel on opportunities for artists and crafters. Learn from those who have done it. A special evening panel will take place Sunday when Cathryn Bergeman moderates a panel on her graduate thesis topic: The Handweavers of Modern-Day Southern Appalachia: An Ethnographic Case Study. Admission is included with the purchase of a CVP or Day Pass.
Silent Auction: HGA has some fiber goodies we’ve collected. Get in on the action and join us in the Marketplace and place your bid. All proceeds benefit HGA’s Fiber Trust.
Thread Talks: Share with our audience your story or one of your fiber art experiences.

Conference of Northern California Handweavers 2020 (CNCH)

Cochenille Design Studio will be vending at the 68th annual Conference of Northern California Handweavers.

The theme of this year’s conference is “Finding the Artist Within”. Find out what tools we can offer your inner artist by stopping by our booth, trying out or design software and/or viewing a live demonstration. We will be offering show specials on our wide array of software and design aids.

We will have more information about where you can find us in the near future. Check this page for updates or email us at info@cochenille.com with any questions you may have.

Stitches United 2020 Hartford, CT

Stitches United 2020

Name: Convergence 2020
Start: 2020-06-24T09:00:00-07:00
End: 2020-06-27T16:30:00-07:00
Location: Knoxville Convention Center

Cochenille is heading eastward to Hartford, CT! It has been far too long since Cochenille has visited our friends out East and we are excited to meet with our users, host fun inspirational classes, offer special pricing on our products and present live demonstrations of the program’s abilities.

STITCHES United 2020 will take place at the Connecticut Convention Center & Marriott in Hartford Downtown Hartford, CT on March 26th-29th, 2020.

In addition to being the Owner and Creative Director of Cochenille Design Studio, Susan Lazear is a Professor of Fashion at Mesa College in San Diego where she has taught various fashion courses including Textiles, Patternmaking, Textile Design, Clothing Construction and Fashion History. Susan designs wearable art, mixed media clothing (e.g. sewing and knitting) and is a computer graphic artist.

Susan Lazear, has taught fashion and design workshops around the world and now she will traveling across the country to teach at STITCHES United 2020. Don’t miss this opportunity and sign up today!

You can view Susan’s STITCHES United class schedule listed below

Moving into the Electronic Age: Designing Knits or Sewn Clothing on your Computer

Thursday 03/26/2020, 9:00 am – 12:00 pm
Thursday 03/26/2020, 1:30 pm – 4:30 pm

This hands-on class is designed for people who want a refresher on the use of Garment Designer and Stitch Painter software or for those who want to test drive to determine if computer design may work for them.

In the morning we will walk through the use of Garment Designer to show you how to create patterns for sweaters — bottom-up, sideways, top-down — in any gauge or stitch pattern. Sewists will add hems, facings, and seams to their designs.

Learn how to tweak patterns for fashion, style, or fit.

In the afternoon, we will move to Stitch Painter, a grid-based software program (perfect for knitting, crochet, beading, etc), where you will learn how to design colored charts on a grid, using repeat modes, pre-determined palettes, etc. We will explore some of the more advanced features such as designing with symbols, importing a photograph, building motif libraries, etc.

If you are test driving, you must pre-arrange a digital download through Cochenille.com. You will be able to use the software for the day; Windows or Macintosh compatible.

Upcycle and Design: A Signature Jacket (or Top)
Sunday 03/29/2020, 9:00 am – 12:00 pm

Upcycling and sustainability is all the rage. Why not join the movement and create a signature jacket from a well-loved sweatshirt?

Bring your knit/crochet/sewing/weaving skills together by making the piece with an existing (oversized) sweatshirt as your base. You will begin the process of adding yarn, swatches, fabric pieces, and embellishments to the base. This hands-on experience offers a lot of inspiration as Susan Lazear shares her ideas as you begin. The sweatshirt offers a quick-fit opportunity where you can focus on surface design and assemblage to create a contemporary and unique piece.

Sewing & Stitchery Expo 2020

Save the Date for February 27 – March 1, 2020, Cochenille Design Studio and Susan Lazear will be coming to Puyallup, Washington to offer show specials, demonstrations and classes!

Please come back to this event page for updates on where you can find us at the show and the schedule for Susan’s fun and informative classes.

If you have any questions, please contact us at info@cochenille.com

Stitches West 2020

We are pleased to announce that Cochenille will be returning to Santa Clara for STITCHES West 2020 for another weekend full of excitement (and shopping!)

Cochenille will be vending at STITCHES West 2020 in Santa Clara, CA February 20th -23rd, Booth# 308. We will have show special pricing on our products and live demos. Be sure to register for our classes as well as Susan Lazear, creator and owner of Cochenille, has a great class schedule lined up for the whole weekend.

In addition to being the owner and Creative Director of Cochenille Design Studio, Susan Lazear is a Professor of Fashion at Mesa College in San Diego where she teaches various fashion courses including Textiles, Patternmaking, Textile Design, Clothing Construction and Fashion History. Susan designs wearable art, mixed media clothing (e.g. sewing and knitting) and is a computer graphic artist.

She has taught fashion and design workshops around the world and now she will be teaching at STITCHES West 2020. You can view her STITCHES West class schedule below:

Moving into the Electronic Age: Designing Knits or Sewn Clothing on your Computer

Friday 9:00 am – 12:00 pm Friday 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm

Learn how to tweak patterns for fashion, style, or fit.

If you are test driving, you must pre-arrange a digital download through Cochenille.com, Please email info@cochenulle.com. You will be able to use the software for the day; Windows or Macintosh compatible.

Sewing Techniques for Combining Yarn Crafts with Fabric

Saturday 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Why not add mixed-media techniques to your creative repertoire? Learn to combine knit or crochet with commercial fabrics. Using hand-techniques, you will make samples that can be used along with your knit and crochet swatches in a garment or accessory.We will sample joining techniques, cut-and-sew our knits, add edgings, finishings, etc. and discuss knitting and crochet techniques for finishing your designs beautifully. Mixed Media is simple when you have the right techniques!Note: Basic sewing skills required. Susan will also discuss machine sewing techniques, so bring your own machine if you’d like to try them in class.