The idea of slöjd—using natural materials, simple tools, and your innate creativity to craft the things you need and use every day—applies just as much to cloth as it does to wood! Before the industrial revolution, humans sewed every single textile we needed by hand. Hand-sewing can still be more flexible, more precise, and stronger than sewing by machine. In this course, we'll build skills for sewing slöjd as you make a zipper pouch to hold your essential tools, a needle book, a scissor sheath, and a custom-fit leather thimble, all sewn by hand. We’ll also talk about how to use these skills on bigger projects: everything from mending to sewing garments. Get answers to your textile-related questions, and leave ready to integrate hand sewing into your everyday skills.
Consumer culture encourages us to use things for a short while, then toss them and get new ones. Making and mending our own textiles can be a way to choose another path, a way of caring for people and our planet. As part of this course we’ll explore what it means to practice sewing in the modern world, and how we can share these skills with our communities. Students ages 14+ may sign up for this course. Youth ages 10+ may attend if accompanied by an adult. Adult/child pairs will complete two projects and pay two materials fees. A 25% tuition discount applies to the youth registrant when registering with a full paying adult; call to register.
Required Tools
- A small sharp sewing/embroidery scissors
- Fabrics for your zipper pouch (these can be new or repurposed textiles and scraps, you will receive an email with specific suggestions)
- All other required tools/materials are provided by your instructor and North House and will be available once the course begins.
Optional Tools
- Needle-nose pliers
- Any other hand sewing tools you already have and like to use (needles, pins, thread and beeswax will be provided)
