By Susan Khalje
DIY-Do It Yourself Network
Technology has reached the sewing world, and I'm not just talking about today's sophisticated sewing machines. The idea of online sewing classes has long been discussed, and I'm happy to report that two of my favorite colleagues are involved with a new online teaching enterprise.
I get calls all the time from frustrated sewers, people who are dissatisfied with the relatively few good sewing books on the market and the difficulty of getting good local sewing instruction. The problem is beginning to be solved in one way with the advent of online sewing classes.
Colleen Jones, an industry veteran who is responsible for the technical design of lingerie for Victoria's Secret and Avon Apparel, among others, and who consults-world-wide for other manufacturers, and Lisa Taranto, whose experience includes training at the School of Fashion in Boston, and a number of years in the ready-to-wear garment industry, own the successful Needle Arts Institute near Boston, and they've joined forces with www.PatternReview.com, to offer five of their most popular classes online, with hopefully many more to follow.
The format will be a series of live chats, downloaded instructional materials, online message board questions and a final follow-up chat session. Most classes are in the evening in the East and early evening on the West Coast. Some classes feature optional critiquing of your final samples or projects.
You mail them to Jones and Taranto, and they'll help you improve the project for your next attempt. And wouldn't it be fun to take a class with a sewing friend in another part of the country? Classes run the gamut from home decorating pillow classes to garment pattern adjustment to lingerie classes.
If you live in the Boston area, you'll want to check out the in-person classes that Jones and Taranto offer, too. Upcoming sessions include shirt tailoring; hems and zippers; serger basics; tailoring; and more. Their classes are first-rate, and I'll be doing some teaching for them myself ? we're doing a couture techniques weekend on June 6-8.
They also take twice-yearly fabric-buying trips from Boston to New York with a busload of their students.
I hear from a number of friends in the sewing world that there has been tremendous interest lately in sewing classes ? especially beginner classes ? and a number of my former students are now branching out into teaching. It's heartening to see all this renewed interest in sewing, and I encourage you to get back to the classroom yourself, either in person or online.
Contact Jones and Taranto at the Needle Arts Institute, in Stoneham, Mass. (inside Ann's Fabrics), at (781) 279-1911 or (603) 382-3989, or online at www.needleartsinstitute.com
(Susan Khalje is an author and host of DIY-Do It Yourself Network Sew Much More. Contact her at skhlaje@aol.com or Box 51 Long Green, MD 21092. For more information, visit www.SusanKhalje.com or www.DIYnet.com.)
)
