I arrived at Etsy Labs a few minutes early and was greeted by the sewing teacher Cal Patch from hodgepodgefarms. I sat down and was greeted by her teeny tiny dog (and assistant) Gertie, who confirmed that I have good ear rubbing skills.
I noticed there was crochet sticking out of her bag (using gorgeous Noro yarn) and I asked her about it. She's a crochet designer too and has published in a few mags including Crochet Today. Also, she's the author of the Unseamly Sweater in the Stitch and Bitch, Happy Hooker book. No wonder her name sounded familiar! As soon as I realized I was going to learn to sew from a fellow hooker, I knew it'd be a good class.
We learned to measure and cut fabric, how to thread a machine (still needs lots of practice on this one), how to operate a basic sewing machine, practiced on scrap fabric, and how to gently use a foot pedal. Cal mentioned that we should think of the foot pedal as if we were driving and that helped me a lot to not slam my foot down on it and to let up on it if something is going wrong, like when my machine started only sewing backwards!
I can't quite sew in a straight line yet but I was getting better towards the end of class. We also practiced a simple hem. Quite honestly, I'm amazed I was able to sew at all. I even yanked at the fabric to see if the seam would fall to pieces just because I made it, haha.
Cal agreed to take a pic for me when I mentioned I had a blog. I whipped out my camera only to discover I left the memory card at home. D'OH! There's always next week!
I won't leave you with just oodles of text. Here's a pic of a preemie afghan I made for charity with a nice sized ball of leftover Joanns Rainbow Sensations Boucle. Its sooooo soft.
I'm off to get ready. I'm having brunch with fellow Brooklyn hooker, Janet!
4 comments:
Yes, definately a car gas pedal!!! HOw cool that you got lessons at Etsy labs!
I agree with Bezzie - that's so awesome that you got to take a class at Etsy labs! You New Yorkers have all the coolest stuff!
There's this other place in NYC I heard about that you might like too - it's called Make Workshop - the lady who runs it is a crochet/knitting/sewing designer, and teaches all kinds of craft classes. http://www.makeworkshop.com/
Cute blanket! I can't crochet with any kind of boucle yarns - too hard to see my stitches@
That's so great Christina you is getting it. On your first day of class you is getting the hang of it. I wasn't there but, I will give you a A plus anyway lol. Good luck keep up the great work. Love the blankie.:)
Yay, I'm so excited for you to be sewing. You're going to be hooked. On sewing, I mean. I can't wait to see all your projects. That blanket is adorable. I can't work with that yarn, it makes my eyes go bonkers.
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