#makers classes

[professorpski]

Bluprint | Watch + Learn

World-class experts, guidance for all skill levels, and learning that fits your lifestyle — whether you have two minutes or two hours.

Bluprint is offering maker classes free. Click through the link and see if you can find some solace by making while sheltering in place.

[professorpski]

Weaving Ties at Sow Spun Silk

In the small town of Allegan in Michigan, which also boasts the marvelous Michigan Fiber Festival every August, I found a fiber arts spot full of tempting buys called both Old Mill Yarn and Sow Spun Silk. The silk tie rug you see at the top was made by Deb Leverence who cut the ties into strip but allowed the tie ends to decorate the surface. She also wove the beautiful scarves an shawls you see at the bottom runs runs the shop with her husband Joe. You can try your hand at weaving there on a set of looms already set up with warp threads, or buy a used loom that they have lovingly refurbished. Deb also teaches weaving classes and we had fun talking fiber. I bought both yarn and a niddy noddy and if you are wondering what in the world that is, I will explain next week. 

They also carry knitting yarns from the locally sourced Icelandic sheep that you can see as well as from far away, like the rayon yarn on cones in an assortment of golds, and the gold and green which I will be knitting into scarves. . There are tools, books, etc., all located in a repurposed old mill next to the river.

To see more images of their work and more of the store, and shop online, go here: https://oldmillyarn.info/

[professorpski]

Makers in South Bend

When I was talking last month in Lexington, KY to the needlework guilds and the master clothing experts, I introduced the word “makers” to many of them for the first time. A recent wave of DIY enthusiasm have splashed across the country, but for some of the older women, who have been making for decades, this was a new word to call themselves. Some of them said, “Oh, so now I’m a maker?” Being a historian, I tend to use older words like artisan instead of maker and dressmaker instead of sewist. I just can’t help it. And being a historian, I realize that interest in creating with your own hands has come in waves. Check out any women’s magazine from the 1950s chock full of home and family projects from decorating dens to knitting baby gear or the books that came out in the 1970s when they did a lot of macrame.

In order to make it possible for people to try some making of their own, studio workshops have been set up across the country, including here in South Bend, where both kids and adults can take classes in everything from sewing to printing to metal work to creating bath bombs. Honestly, that is part of the range of classes offered here.

So, if you are interested in signing yourself up, taking an evening class with a friend, bringing your kids, or hosting a making party, search the web and find out if there is a local place where you can try your hand at making. Discover what else you can do with your hands.

For Make South Bend, go here: http://www.makesouthbend.com/