September Salutations
Fall classes and shop updates!
Well, it’s nearly the start of Fall and boy did I have a busy summer! Patchwork alternated between being a quiet refuge from the hustle, a chaotic workshop where I completed several very complex projects (one of which I’ll share below!), and a bustling community space filled with folks working on beautiful creative projects.
The Patchwork studio, mostly tidy on a typical day between classes.
This Fall, I’m ramping up classes again and have a roster that includes some classics as well as some fun workshops we’ve run in the past that you’ve loved! I hope to see you in the studio for a class soon. Don’t forget, you can always make an appointment to shop our reuse center, packed full of gorgeous fabrics and interesting notions!
In this newsletter…
Fall Classes ✤ Updates from “Coaxing Summer onto Cloth” ✤ A Whimsical Wedding Dress ✤ Internship Opportunity ✤ Recent Favorites from ‘The Web’ ✤ and of course the monthly Studio Playlist!
Fall Classes
This Fall, we’re going back to basics with some classic offerings folks have loved in the past. Taken one of these classes before? I’m happy to announce that many classes at Patchwork now have the option to Level Up! If you choose to level up, you’ll join the class with a new project that builds upon the skills of the first.
September kicks off with an evening series of our popular Make Your Own Patterns class starting September 10th. This class is offered as a Hybrid, meaning you can take it remotely on zoom as well as in person!
That week, we’ll also run our 3rd session of Coaxing Summer Onto Cloth on Sunday, September 15th. We’ve still got a few spots left in this class, so grab one while you can!
Later in September, join printmaker Alexandra Williams for another session of Block Printing on Fabric on September 28th. This class was jam packed and such a blast last time we ran it.
In October, come make the perfect cozy fall pullover in Sew A Sweatshirt starting October 3rd. We’ll use the Stadium Sweatshirt pattern and you’ll learn how to do fun, sporty inspired felt applique to give your sweatshirt a personal touch. Leveling up? Make the button up front version and learn how to use the serger!
Back by popular demand: For those with a little more sewing experience who want to level up their skills and try something new, check out Sew a Baseball Cap on Saturday October 5th. In this class, students will make a custom cap and even have the opportunity to add custom embroidery to the front.
On October 19th, come learn how to create a pattern of your favorite garment without taking it apart! Save time on alterations and avoid frustration by creating a pattern from something you already love in Clone Your Clothes on October 19th.
A new sessions of Make A Quilt starts on October 21st. Come learn how to make your very first quilt! If you’ve taken this class before and have caught the quilting bug, sign up again and Level Up. You’ll make a bed sized quilt and learn some fun new blocks to experiment with.
Do you love to sew but struggle to get the right fit from the garments you make? Come to Make It Fit starting November 7th. In this 3 week class, we’ll review selecting sizes, paper alterations, and making a muslin mockup to fine tune the fit of your dream garment. Bring in a new project or something you’ve made before and want to try again.
If you’re a total beginner, we’ve got sessions of our Learn to Sew: Patchwork Tote Bag class on Monday September 23rd from 6:30-9pm, Sunday October 6th from 1-3:30pm and Tuesday November 12th from 6:30-9pm. It covers all the basics of using a sewing machine and you’ll leave with a beautiful and useful tote bag.
Host your party at Patchwork Community Craft!
Birthday coming up? Organizing a work bonding activity? Celebrating something special? Want to just plan a night of fun with your friends?
A collection of cyanotypes from a group class, a great project for a party!
Patchwork can host the crafty party of your dreams! We can even organize catering from other local businesses. Visit our website to learn more about our private event offerings.
And of course…
If you’d like to get some one on one instruction and get help with a specific project, you can sign up for a private lesson! You can also learn how to use your Serger in Serger Skills or work on a project of your own choosing in Open Sewing Studio.
Coaxing Summer onto Cloth: First two sessions recap!
This July, Maggie Ruth Haaland and I launched a special seasonal course called Coaxing Summer onto Cloth! So far, we’ve held two sessions and they were spectacular.
The cohort explores along a path at Old Exit 17 Farm on our way to a secret clearing for some flower pounding fun
In July, we visited Old Exit 17 Farm, a locally owned flower farm in Franklin, MA, just minutes down the road from Patchwork. We spent the afternoon touring the farm with Ben, the owner, exploring his family’s gorgeous farmland, a hidden gem right in the middle of Franklin. Afterwards, we gathered in a secret field and created prints by pounding some of the amazing flowers Ben had to offer that month, including Coreopsis, Scabiosa, and Black-Eyed Susan, and Marigolds. (Old Exit 17 Farm has a CSA and sells flowers at the Franklin Farmers Market, btw).
We also made flower presses so we could preserve the leftover blooms for our next two workshops!
When August arrived, folks brought their dried flowers and a variety of other fun projects to make Cyanotypes, a type of sun print using a photographic process that dates back to the 1800’s.
Prints are made by sandwiching materials and treated fabric between glass. The covered areas stay white and the uncovered areas turn the signature cyanotype blue, very reminiscent of Indigo.
Our next session will focus on using flowers to create eco-prints and natural dyes. There are still a few spots in this session if you’d like to join us and explore natural dyeing!
Finally, we’ll be combining these textiles into a one of a kind wall hanging, quilt, or other project. We still have space in this one too, if you’d like to join both. I can’t wait to see these beautiful projects evolve!
A Whimsical Wedding Dress
I rarely take on commissions, but this summer I made an exception for my dear friend Callan. In fact, I think I offered to make her wedding dress! Wild, right?
I knew it would be an incredibly fun project when Cal shared her two main inspirations: The book The Rainbow Fish and Austin Scarlett’s corn husk dress from Project Runway season 1.
I sketched up a dress based on this inspiration, including some design elements we had discussed, and went to work create the custom piece. Here’s the initial sketch which ended up being pretty much how the dress turned out: a rarity in sewing and design! Cal was a blast to collaborate with and I think the ease of our collaboration really brought this design to life with few hiccups.
For the halter dress, I drafted a pattern based on her measurements and did a preliminary fitting to nail the fit. It was a bias cut dress and draped beautifully, so it only needed a few style and fit tweaks to be just right. I used a delicious viscose twill from Patchwork’s reuse center. (We have, like, 8 colors of this magical fabric BTW. Hit me up if you’re interested!)
For the scales, we looked at a ton of fabric swatches and ultimately landed on this selection: Linen cross weave, silk taffeta, and lurex textured jacquard from Mood. I also threw in some linen hemp blend from Patchwork, which we ultimately decided to paint.
We looked at different ways of finishing the edges of the scales and Cal decided she wanted texture. So, each scale is individually hand distressed by wetting and agitating the fabric to fray the edges. Well, except for the metallic lurex fabric…that frayed like crazy, so it received an edge coating of fray check. The linen hemp scales were painted with silver and lavender fabric paint. Each scale was hand sewn on by me! What a labor of love 💜
As the scales were sewn on, we worked together to refine their placement and ended up with what you see below.
I finished the dress just in the nick of time and we were beyond pleased with the results. It was, however, a little more sheer than expected 😬! I ended up creating a slip from the self fabric at the last minute and, luckily, it worked perfectly. Crisis averted! To say that Cal was happy about the dress was an understatement. I’ll let this image of her getting a first look with her makeup and hair done speak for itself!
In case you’re wondering, I still typically don’t take on commissions. I would, however, love to help you design your dream project and help you make it yourself, every step of the way! If you’re interested, please get in touch!
Internship Opportunity
Patchwork is currently seeking a fall intern! Want to join our tiny team (it’s just me, lol)?
This opportunity is available to people of all ages, but is ideal for a high school or undergraduate students looking for experience in running a creative arts space. The position is 1-3 hours per week depending on availability and need. This is a paid internship and the rate is $15/hr, plus use of the space and unlimited free fabric and sewing supplies from our reuse center. There is also the option to barter for additional work hours in exchange for instruction in sewing, pattern making, design, etc.
Responsibilities will include helping to organize reuse center inventory, developing marketing materials and social media content, and helping plan and potentially teach classes! Textile lovers with some extra time on their hands, this internship is for you!
You can apply for this internship here! Applications are open through September 15th!
Recent Favorites from ‘The Web’
Tomato Pants by Red Hat Creative (Image via https://redhatcreativemt.com/) Jeans featuring multiple delicious looking heirloom tomato appliques.
Lately I’ve been inspired by summer treats and landscapes in textile form.
These translucent ‘Grass Quilts’ made by Wally Dion are breathtaking, bringing together quilting traditions and indigenous wisdom to visualize the prairie landscape. Dion has also made amazing quits from other less conventional materials, like circuit boards.
In other conversations between nature and textiles, I really enjoyed these silver fish toggles on a velvet coat designed for a duke (via thefashionableexhibit on instagram)
My tomato crop was a bust this year (too hot? too dry? not sure…) but luckily I was able to behold these abundant tomato applique pants by Red Hat Creative. An amazing vest from the collection is not on the site, but you can see it on instagram.
I recently stumbled upon a new podcast called Clothes Minded and I can’t wait to give it a listen. It’s created by South African designer and writer Khensani Mohlatlole (who also has a newsletter called Hanger Management ) and is focused on, ‘decoding the language of fashion through an African lens.’ Khensani also has an excellent instagram feed where she shares her sewing projects and outfits.
…and, just in case you’re not into podcasts, here’s a silly little number if you like listening to techno while you sew!
This Month’s Studio Playlist
Here are some soft, sultry September salutations for y’all!
I hope you enjoyed this newsletter! Feel free to share with a friend.
Thank you for the mention and kind words! Also you’ve now inspired a new fixation: cyanotypes! And the fish scale dress looks amazing!
TOMATO PANTS!!!!!