Friday, September 30, 2011

Classes cancelled!

Due to lack of interest, Spinning and The Stretch (to be held Oct 3 and 10) have been canceled and replaced with open studio hours, 5:30-7:30 both nights.

Embroidery for Oct 17, 5:30-7:30 pm, is still on! Class description:

Hand Embroidery
Come learn some basic embroidery stitches and ideas for their use, and take home an instructional handout. We will start with the basics: fabric and thread, embroidery hoops and stitching evenly. We'll practice on some of the Sew-Op's fabric stash. Finally we'll look at examples of accents, art pieces, and functional stitching made decorative via embroidery. Bring something you would like to embroider and we'll brainstorm the possibilities.
Taught by Rebecca.

Sign up by the registers at the Co-op food store, or by emailing or calling Kye Cochran (802-295-5804). $20 Co-op member, $25 non-members.

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

DIY lunch containers

A quick post because Epbot pointed me to a craft idea that I just love:
http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/reusable-lunch-containers-785113/

Make a sandwich box out of the bottom of a milk jug or a snack box out of a waxed carton, from a half-pint to a quart. The only added material is a velcro dot to close it, and when you consider the waxed cardboard milk and juice cartons aren't recyclable, you're reducing waste twice over: the carton and the plastic bag it's replacing. Plastic milk jugs can be recycled, but that takes energy, so this cuts out the middleman (of course, recycle the rest of the jug, and your sandwich box when it needs to be retired).

Of course you can always add decoration with markers and stickers.

Reduce and reuse come before recycle and this does both of them!

Friday, September 16, 2011

Sew-Op Pictures

As promised, here are a few pictures to introduce you to the Sew-Op.





As you walk in, you'll see a small table with sign-in sheets and writing implements to your right.  Beyond it is shelving that mostly holds sewing machines and accessories.  In the middle of the room is the main workspace, which may be fairly clear or may have six sewing machines set up on it.  If you are very lucky, it will also have a Martha and a Birdie.




The wall to your right as you walk in the door holds all the fabric as well as yarn, thread, needles and pins, sewing scissors, and other notions.  You can see there is a lot for the taking!




If you walk a ways into the room and turn around toward the door, you'll see the bulletin board and a small bookcase with lace, ribbon, buttons, and other trims, as well as our small library of books on sewing, quilting, and other fibercrafts.  The ironing boards are stored behind the door as well.

I hope you will find time on a Monday or a Saturday to come see it in person!

Monday, September 12, 2011

Schedule - Edited and Augmented

Excellent. I am Blogger-challenged and cannot for the life of me find the place to edit the schedule pages, so I will just post that information here.  All days are Mondays except where noted.

September 19: Basic Sewing Class, 5:30-7:30 pm, registration required
September 24 (Saturday): Open Hours, 10:00-Noon
September 26: Open Hours, 5:30-7:30 pm

October 3: two classes in separate rooms, 5:30-7:30, registration required for each:
                 The Stretch (making kids' clothes fit them for longer)
                 Spinning, part 1
October 8 (Saturday): Open Hours, 10:00-Noon
October 10: Open Hours in one room and Spinning, part 2, in the other, both 5:30-7:30; registration required for Spinning only
October 17: Hand Embroidery Class, 5:30-7:30, registration required
October 22 (Saturday): Open Hours, 10:00-Noon
October 24: Open Hours with a Halloween theme, 5:30-7:30
October 31: Open Hours, 5:30-7:30

November 5 (Saturday): Open Hours 10:00-Noon
November 7: Open Hours 5:30-7:30
November 14: Basic Sewing Class, 5:30-7:30, registration required
November 19 (Saturday): Open Hours, 10:00-Noon
November 21: Open Hours, 5:30-7:30
November 28: Basic Sewing Class, 5:30-7:30, registration required

December 3 (Saturday): Open Hours 10:00-Noon
December 5: Open Hours, 5:30-7:30
December 12: Alteration Class, 5:30-7:30, registration required

And we're back!

I spent the earlier part of this evening at the Sew-Op, at our first Open Hours of the season. Later this week I'll post some pictures of the space, so any of you who have never been can get an idea of what the place looks like.

A brief description, again, of what we do and are for: about half the time we have classes. Basic sewing, knitting, spinning, mending, stretching the life of kids' clothes, and embroidery are all on the docket for this year, all on Monday evenings 5:30-7:30. Classes are $25 ($20 if you are a Co-Op member) and registration is required, which can be done in the Co-op at the front (by the cash registers) or by emailing or calling Kye Cochran (802-295-5804). Next week (September 19) we have a Basic Sewing class with spaces still open!

On Monday evenings when there is no class, and now on every other Saturday in the late morning, the workshop is open to the public for free and without any registration necessary. Open hours are a time for people to bring projects to the Sew-Op to work on (it needn't be sewing), where they can be inspired by others working around them, have company while doing a boring task like hand hemming, and get advice on completion of the project - a Sew-Op volunteer is always present.

Check the schedule for the rest of September and October and check back at the end of the week for some photos of the Sew-Op!