This class will focus on slowing down and using hand-stitching techniques to create a simple and beautiful drawstring bag out of linen and bits of hand dyed remnants. Inspired by the Japanese Komebukuro bag, the traditional pouch used to carry rice offerings, this class will employ basic running stitch, embroidery, and appliqué techniques to create our own fabric pouch that tells a story with needle and thread. In keeping with the simple but spirited manner in which Komebukuro are found, Karen will lead us through ways to add pattern or figurative elements with embroidery to make an even more meaningful object. This bag is perfect for carrying around your favorite stitching supplies, a knitting or crochet project, or as a small handbag for essentials.

You will learn hand sewing skills that can be applied to any other sewing project. You will gain an arsenal of skills that will allow you to approach other sewing with a kind of slowness and mindfulness only hand stitching can bring. Whether a keepsake on its own, or intended as keeper of personal treasures, these techniques and this pouch will bring joy to your heart.

Dates
Two sessions: Sunday October 24th and Sunday November 7th, 2021

Time
3pm – 5pm

Location
Zoom, a link will be sent to participants the day before class.

Cost
$70

What to Bring
See materials list above. You can also buy a kit for the class by HERE. This is a great project to incorporate special pieces or scraps of cloth you have at home.

CLASS MATERIALS

• 1/2 yard exterior fabric
• 1/2 yard interior fabric (remember it can be reversible!)
• 16” of 1/2” twill tape
• 2 yards of 1/8” or 1/4” cording
• various embroidery threads/needle
• sewing thread and needle
• scraps of fabric for patching

Kit are also available for this class.
Quick add to your cart below.

OUR TEACHER
Karen Stevens

For the last 25 years, Karen has been a freelance CAD instructor, training textile and fashion designers to create knits, prints and wovens for the garment industry. But these days you are more likely to find her in her creatively cluttered studio than on her computer, adding one more vintage patch to a favorite pair of jeans or double gauze shirt. Her love of visible mending, natural fibers, hand dyed fabrics and slow stitching has recently turned into a small side business, creating one of a kind stitched curiosities.

Karen lives in rural Northwest CT with her family, a menagerie of pets wearing party hats, and an indigo dipped laundry line.

“You repair the thing until you make it completely.”    – Louise Bourgeois