 Hi you guys, Lindsay here. Welcome back to my channel, Inside to Him. So if you follow me on Instagram or picked up on the videos that I posted last week, I took a trip from Charlotte out to Puyallup, Washington, still learning how to say that correctly, to attend So Expo. If you don't know what So Expo is, I'm going to tell you all about it today, not a sponsored video, this is just my experience of being there and all the awesome things I got to do and people that I got to meet and products that I saw and just in general how cool it was. So if you don't know, So Expo from what I overheard while I was there is the largest non-quilting, sewing, exposition, vendor fair, conference, whatever you want to call it, in the United States. It was really big. There were a ton of people there. There were a ton of vendors there. I've never been to any sewing, conference, quilting or otherwise, so I don't really have anything to compare it to. I just know that it was busy. So if it were the largest, it would make sense to me. But I grabbed their little program while I was there. Also full disclosure, this started on Thursday and I didn't get there until Saturday. So I missed two whole days, which was a bulk of the classes that were held. This was a last minute trip for me. I just couldn't get it together to A, get out there on Thursday and B, stay for four days. So but anyways, I grabbed this and I wanted to read off to you some of the classes that they had because I know that you guys will be interested in taking these because these are the questions that you guys are always asking me about in the comments. But there was, let me see, lingerie wardrobe. So all about sewing lingerie with Monica O'Rourke Bravo. That's who taught that. Easy fit with multi-size patterns with Karen LaPage. That would also be very interesting to you guys. There was one about, oh, here it is. Wait, there was one about Serger 911 with Kathy Rudy. You guys are probably like that. All about knits with Shea Ferris, also interesting. And then upcycling sewing tips with Michelle Paganini. So you can tell there was a ton of focus on garment sewing. I really feel like it wasn't a gimmick that it is the stichery and sewing expo and not like a quilting expo. I really feel like it lived up to being a sewing exposition for everyone, for quilters, needle workers, and also garment sewists. I mean, there were a ton, a ton of classes for garment sewers. There's also a lot of classes that kind of crossed over that would apply to both sewing and quilting, like classes on pressing, on ironing and pressing your seams, classes about using rulers, maybe properly. I'm not sure. Again, I didn't attend any of these. Something called ice dyeing. That sounds super cool. So next year when I go, I'll be sure to plan it out a little bit better and get there for all four days. I did have a little mini meet and greet on Saturday. So thank you to everyone who came, also just anyone who stopped me in the aisles or out on the street or whatever. It was really, really nice meeting all of you. And I know it's weird to stop somebody that you think you know, but they don't know you from Adam. I get that. I have the same thing whenever I am meeting the people that I enjoy from social media too. So don't worry about it being awkward. We're all in this together and I'm a really nice, sweet person. So I'll make it as least awkward as possible. If you've ever seen me out in the wild, please, please, come say hi. It really, really makes my day. Okay. So some of the people that I met, oh my gosh. Okay. So in person, I met Angela Wolf. She is just as charming, just as beautiful, just as sweet as you would gather from all of her stuff on Facebook and all of her videos and everything. I met Kathy Rudy who is just an OG and like she just carries herself like the, I don't know, like, like she's been around for decades. She was telling really great stories. She had this whole story about this knit dress that she made on a boat once. But it was cool and it like, you know, it stuck with me. It's probably a story I will remember for a really, really long time. I met Ann Whaley who came out from Australia. She is literally hysterical. She is just the perfect embodiment of what she represents online with her crazy hair and crazy glasses. She's like that in real life too. So it was, I mean, I met so many, so many great, wonderful people. But in terms of like sewing celebrities, those were probably like the top three. I also discovered a ton of vendors and a ton of companies that I had never heard of before. So I'm going to go over some of them. Full disclosure, I did not purchase any of this. It was all given to me as a gift. So but I'm covering it all. I'm not leaving anything out. So not picking favorites. But So So English fabrics, have you guys ever heard of them? They gave me this little sticker. I didn't go in there, Ruth. I didn't look at their fabrics. I can't even comment on the quality of them. But have you guys heard of them before? I know you're always looking for different fabric shops that you can shop online. So that might be a good one to check out. It's SoSoEnglishFabrics.com. I also met this lovely, lovely lady. Her name is Ginger Steele and she makes ceramic buttons. How cool are those? She gave me this and she gave me, oh, hold on, they're over here. Look how beautiful those are. She doesn't currently sell online. She said that she was like trying to get it together. And that she was really good at making things and not so good at selling or like selling and marketing them, which I thought was hysterical. But she does have an Etsy shop. So she ever gets it together. You can find her stuff on Etsy, Ginger Steele art. They're really cool, really, really cool. I also met, I forgot to mention Annie Unrain, who designs all the bags. And again, these people are like pros at personifying themselves so perfectly online. But Annie is little, petite, sweet, charming. She's just exactly what you would imagine from watching her product videos. She's literally just like that. And she gave me this pattern. She's been out for a few years, but I don't remember seeing it. It's called Pack It In. And it's those really cool packing cubes. So I might try and whip some of these up before any vacations that I take this summer. Love those. She also showed me a pattern that hasn't even been released yet. I guess it's something that she just made for herself once. And then people started asking about it. So she's like, okay, sure, I'll make that. It was really clever, really cool. It was basically like a hanging catty. I don't know how to explain it, but it was like flat, you know, not a catty like that your shoes would fit in a catty that like notions or smaller items would fit in and it lays flat. You can pack it away in your suitcase really easily. And it also comes with like a hanging loop hook, something like that. Okay, so I mentioned before the upcycling class from Michelle Paganini. She actually has patterns designed for upcycling. I know that kind of sounds confusing, but anytime I do a refashion, I'm always hearing from you guys in the comments about how like, oh, I could never do that. My mind doesn't work that way. My brain doesn't work like that. Well, she walks you through exactly how to like this one, for example, takes three dress shirts and turns it into that dress. And she had a whole bunch of them made up. And depending on which shirts you choose to use and the patterns on those shirts, you can come up with some really cool, very unique garments. So I might try and do one of these for one of my upcoming refashions. I just thought the concept was really neat. There aren't necessarily pattern pieces. It's more of like a process that you follow. But yeah, I've never heard of that. And I'm like out here refashioning all on my own every single month. Here's another one that she gave me. This is the patty shirt. So you can see the front still looks like a button down, but the back has that cute little like skirt peplum type thing to it. So I thought that was really neat. Really cool concept. I met Dana Marie from Dana Marie Designs. She was just wonderful, so smart, and just very, very passionate, I guess, would be the way she just you can tell she just really loves doing what she does. And you know, when you're at a conference, you're meeting vendors, especially the owner of the company, not all of them are great at being out in front of people. You know, sometimes, you know, we're introverts, you know, crafty people can be very kind of closed off and introverted. That is not how she is. She's very, very outgoing. It made me feel very comfortable talking to her. I really enjoyed it. So she gave me this super cool jacket pattern, right? Isn't that so neat? This little thing is just like an overlay. So I can see myself applying it to, I mean, all kinds of garments, it can go on anything. So maybe a dress or a top, I don't know, that little thing is probably going to find its way in every kind of garment that there is. So you've never heard of Dana Marie, go check her out. And then lastly, I have a, like a charitable organization. And this is something I feel like we could do a better job of like spreading the word about these companies who use sewing to help less fortunate people. There were two that I can remember that were at So Expo. One of them helped girls who were caught up in sex trafficking. I can't remember the name of it now. But then another one is called So Powerful. And basically you go on their website and you go on their website and order this kit to make this bag. Then you make the bag and it, and they stuff it with feminine hygiene products. And they send it to girls in Africa maybe, I'm doing a terrible job at this, to help them stay in school. It says, our mission is to combat extreme poverty. We do that by training and equipping young adults in Lusaka, Zambia with good paying jobs. They create purposeful products like school uniforms, reusable feminine hygiene products and soap, all designed to keep kids in school and enable academic achievement. So yeah, you download the free purse pattern. So as many purses as you like, send them in and then they send them off to the girls, I guess. So that was a really cool company. If I can remember or find the name of the other one, the sex trafficking one. Somehow she used like Batik fabric or Indonesian something or another. Anyways, I'll put that in the comments. And I mean, sorry, in the description box, if I can remember who it was. But then I also stumbled across the, oh Lord help me, who I should know this, I'll top of my head. Oh Nancy's Notions Booth, which I just thought it was so neat that like posthumously, they were still carrying on her legacy, like as if she were still here. Like everyone was still very upbeat. I don't know, I guess that shouldn't be surprising to me when she has like an empire. But, but yeah, it was just really cool. And they gave me a single needle, which I was like, listen, one needle, I'll take it. I'll probably use this whenever I'm like, oh no, I'm out of needles. I never run out of size, 80 universal needles, but then you do and then you're like crap. And then you're like, oh thank goodness, I got that one needle from So Expo. Anyways, there were so many other vendors there, obviously, style maker fabrics, who sponsors videos from time to time when she was there, they had a very active booth, tons and tons of people were there. I got to meet, gosh, just so, so many wonderful people. And even though I was literally only on the ground for like 21 hours, it was still a wonderful experience. And I highly, highly recommended it. I'll say about Puyallup, Washington, which is about 30 or 45 minutes from SeaTac, the airport. Not much going on in Puyallup, Washington, other than, I guess they have the state fair there. So, that So Expo was held on the grounds, the state fair grounds. But other than that, yeah, it's a pretty small little town with not much going on. If you've never been to Washington State, I had never been. It was very impactful in terms of the scenery. Like, I'm just not used to seeing lush green mountains with white snow on top and all of that. Like, I just don't go to the mountains or live near the mountains. So that was really beautiful to see. I got even to see Mount Rainier from the rental car shuttle bus. So not, not the best tourist advisor here in terms of like the best way to take in the views. But hey, you got to do what you got to do. And I saw it. I can check it off the list. I don't know if it's like a national wonder or whatever, but seen it with my own two eyes. So it counts. I didn't even technically make it into the city limits of Seattle. I didn't have a single cup of coffee. In terms of like visiting Washington, it definitely like wasn't. It should hardly even count as me saying I went to Seattle. I mean, I really didn't. But So Expo, I feel like I'm making my way toward expert level on So Expo. So anyways, I really hope you guys enjoyed this little hall and hearing a little bit about my experience there. I hope that you will check it out and come next year. Like I said, I'm fully planning on attending again. So there will be more meetups. Maybe I could see about teaching a class of some kind. I don't know. We'll kind of have to wait and see about any of that. But you can start planning your trip now. Next year is a leap here. Crazy. So I don't know. It's the last weekend in February, something like that. You can go to soexpo.com and learn more about next year's Expo, who the vendors will be. I mean, maybe not now, but as the year goes on, they'll have all that information there for you. So hope to see you next year. And as far as these videos go, I will see you all very soon. Bye!