Looking for a program for your quilt or sewing guild? Pam Cobb, the owner of Revive Sewing LLC, has over 40 years of experience in quilting and sewing, and has spoken at multiple guilds on a variety of quilting and sewing machine related topics. Check out her latest guild lectures and workshops.
Guild Lectures
Each guild lecture is 60 minutes, including 45 minutes of content and 15 minutes Q&A. Lectures cost $475 plus travel from zip code 30114.
Sewing Machine Self-Care
The health and beauty routine your machine wishes you knew about.
Your sewing machine works hard to bring your creative visions to life—it’s only fair she gets a little pampering in return! In this lighthearted and practical session, we’ll explore the self-care rituals every machine dreams of. Think of it as a spa day, but with fewer cucumbers and more Q-tips.
We’ll cover easy, no-nonsense maintenance routines that keep your machine purring—no white robe required. You’ll learn about different thread types, and deep dive into choosing the right needle (not for acupuncture!). We’ll talk about tension and how to resolve issues with a few tweaks, not a full-body massage.
Whether you’re stitching daily or just on weekends, this session will help you keep your most loyal sewing companion in top shape—healthy, happy, and humming like she just had a full day at the spa. Bring your questions, your curiosity, and your sense of humor!
Each attendee will get a handout with maintenance tips and a suggested schedule. Please note, this is not a hands-on workshop. See workshops below for guided instruction and hands-on workshops.
Stitch Scandals: The Surprisingly Saucy History of the Sewing Machine
From prim petticoats to patent wars and philandering tycoons—it’s not all straight seams and straight-laced stories.
Think your sewing machine has a quiet, respectable past? Think again! Stitch Scandals dives into the unexpectedly dramatic history of the sewing machine—from fierce patent battles and courtroom showdowns to marketing breakthroughs and a scandal-prone sewing mogul with more than 20 children.
In this entertaining 45-minute presentation, you’ll meet the inventors, tinkerers, and troublemakers who transformed sewing from a slow, hand-stitched task into an industrial and domestic revolution. We’ll explore the early designs, gorgeous machines of the late 1800s, and the surprisingly juicy backstory of the Singer empire. Plus, we’ll trace how the sewing machine evolved in style and function through the early 20th century.
Packed with vintage photos, original patent sketches, and fun trivia, this talk is perfect for quilters, makers, and vintage lovers of all experience levels. Come for the history—stay for the scandals!
Workshops
Vintage Cast Iron Sewing Machine Maintenance
Step back in time and get your hands dirty in this all-day 6-7 hour, hands-on workshop dedicated to cast iron vintage sewing machines—the sturdy, no-nonsense workhorses that built wardrobes, quilts, and entire industries. We’ll focus on classic treadle, hand-crank, and early electric machines from roughly the 1880s–1950s, including beloved models from Singer, White, Wheeler & Wilson, National/Willcox & Gibbs, Davis, New Home, Minnesota, and a variety of midcentury brands manufactured in Japan. Whether your machine was rescued from a basement, inherited from a grandmother, or bought at a flea market “because it was pretty,” this workshop is designed to help you understand how these marvelous mechanisms actually work—and how to keep them stitching smoothly for decades to come.
Throughout the day we’ll cover:
- Safe cleaning and lubrication
- General care including, needles and thread
- Common wear points and tension systems
- Diagnosing “mystery noises,” and what not to fix with brute force or WD-40 (spoiler: almost everything).
Come prepared to learn, laugh, and leave with a machine that feels revived—and a whole new appreciation for the engineering brilliance hiding under that beautiful enamel.
See details and pricing.
Featherweight Maintenance
Coming soon!
Teaching Policies
- Travel includes airfare, mileage to/from my airport (Atlanta), baggage fees, shipping quilts and any other non-specified incidentals. It may also include a rental car depending on the distance from the airport to the hosting venue.
- I book my own airfare and I choose Delta flights and travel times to accommodate my needs (e.g. no super early, very late, or red-eye flights; nor extremely long layovers). Please note that this may not be cheapest flight, but it will be equivalent to standard coach rates.
- I will drive to locations within 250 miles of Canton, Georgia (northwest of Atlanta); standard IRS mileage rates apply.
- Meals, hotel lodging and travel expenses required for bookings outside the Atlanta area.
- As much as I love getting to know guild members and event hosts, to perform my best, I need to stay in a separate hotel with a private, clean & nonsmoking room rather than at anyone’s residence.
- Hotel lodging includes the night before the first event through the night of the last event.
- Hosts usually arrange and pay for hotel lodging.
- Meals are charged at the current IRS per diem rate per day including travel days.
- A screen (or HDMI TV) are required along with electricity and extension cords. I have a projector I can bring if needed, but prefer one provided by the host group to cut down on the amount I need to pack.
- I require a table to set up and share items I have for sale, including quilt-themed gifts, patterns, books, and tools and supplies for vintage sewing machine restoration. I will offer direct sales of my products to students unless specified otherwise.
- Lectures/trunk shows have unlimited attendance, but each workshop has a set limit. Please individual workshops for details.