Meet Sheryl Belson | President-Atlanta American Sewing Guild

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sheryl Belson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sheryl, what’s something about your industry that outsiders are probably unaware of?
Very often when we tell people about American Sewing Guild, they are surprised that we are nationwide organization with approximately 125 local chapters and have approximately 250 local members just in the Atlanta area. Then as we tell them about the things we do, they are also surprised that there’s an organization out there that supports the art and life skill of sewing in real life through regular meetings, workshops, challenges and special events.

Sewing in general is a solitary craft. Most people sew at home alone without a sewing community to connect with. Finding solutions to design or construction problems, or finding inspiration and encouragement to try something new is only available through communities online. And while those communities can be vibrant and educational, they don’t provide the side-by-side support that American Sewing Guild does. That is the gap we fill here in Atlanta and the national organization fills across the country.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I personally began sewing when my children were small. At that point in life, it was an economic decision, not a creative one. I would frequent department store fabric sales and purchase whatever was on sale that looked like a kid would enjoy it. I always bought patterns on sale and reused them over and over again. However, as my kids got older, it was far less cool to wear clothes mom made than to wear trendy brands. My sewing machine got shelved for probably 10 to 15 years.

I pulled it back out when my daughter took a job in the Middle East. At that time we lived in Texas and it was summer. She needed culturally appropriate clothing that was just not available during the hot Texas summer. So out my sewing machine came again to make several very simple tops with sleeves below the elbows, hems below the hips, loose fitting all around.

Those simple, sewing projects worked great her first year, but she was promoted in 2012 when she returned her second year and wanted things that looked a little more professional. As soon as I began to try to construct those, I came face-to-face with just how rusty my sewing skills were, as well as how much had changed in the home sewing industry! I definitely needed help!

My googling revealed very few options that seemed like they would meet my need until I stumbled on an American Sewing Guild annual conference in Houston Texas. It was only a 4 1/2 hour drive from my home, so I signed up and attended. That was the moment that my sewing life changed!

Not only did I learn so much at the conference, when I came home, I became active in the local chapter. I was so amazed by how welcoming all of these fellow sewists were. I learned so much at the monthly meetings and workshops. And I loved being able to take a project I was struggling with to a meeting and get insight and help from people that were much further down the sewing journey than I was at that point.

Now, 12 years later, I’ve become one of those sharing knowledge from what I’ve learned. I have moved from struggling with basic construction to challenging myself with projects I wasn’t sure I could complete successfully. I decided to try making my own jeans and guess what… I did it! And I like them better and they fit better than anything I had bought before . I challenged myself to learn to make a collage coat and with the help of an ASG instructor, I created a coat that I love and wear often.

More recently, as President of the Atlanta chapter, I set forth a chapter challenge that we called Start with Art. As a chapter, we voted on six different famous paintings. The winner was the Gustav Klimt painting, commonly called Woman in Gold. The challenge was to create anything that this painting inspired you to create. In conjunction with this chapter challenge, we invited the Textile Design students from a local university to join in the challenge with us. Several of our members not only participated in the challenge by creating an entry, but also spent time in the classroom with the students, encouraging and advising them as they made their own entries. At the challenge reveal, members and a curated set of six students presented their entries. and at the university’s invitation, we then held a joint exhibit of all of the creations in an exhibit hosted on the university campus.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
If they were sewing friend, I would take them to two fabric stores – Gail K and Fine Fabrics. Those are both huge facilities with an unbelievable selection.

But as I reflect on Atlanta in general, some of our favorite places to take visitors include:

Ponce City Market Rooftop for a great view and a meal if it’s adults and lots of fun games if it includes kids.

A new favorite restaurant is near the Marietta Square called Kiosko. It is some of the best Mediterranean food we have enjoyed since we moved to Georgia in 2020. It’s a cute, smaller place and the service is great.

If the center of downtown is what we target, we love the Skyview Ferris Wheel for a great view of the city. We love the aquarium, the Coca-Cola museum, and the Atlanta Children’s Museum.

And if you’re not opposed to a bit of a drive north, Gibbs Gardens is a beautiful place to wander.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
At Atlanta ASG we recognize that we are better together so my shout out would be to our entire membership. Every month we host over a dozen group who meet across the Atlanta metro area. And each meeting includes an inspirational or educational program presented by one of our members. We recognize that sharing the load like this both increases the diversity of what we learn and protects our members from burn out that too often comes from any one person carrying the responsibility alone.

In addition, we have chosen to develop a leadership board with this same shared responsibility philosophy. Almost every board position- Special Events, Education, Community Service, etc – is filled by 2 members who share the responsibility. Our goal is the same – increase diverse ideas and protect against burn out.

Website: https://asgatlanta.org

Instagram: @asgatlanta or my personal IG is @sherylbelson

Facebook: American Sewing Guild -Atlanta Chapter

Youtube: @asgatlanta7402

Image Credits
All were taken by me. No credit required.