Future Craft Collective just finished up its first month of afterschool classes and all agreed it was completely awesome. Seriously, every member to the one used that word again and again (and again). The classes were all about deconstructing, reusing, upcycling, creating, stitching, laughing, singing, even eating cupcakes for one special occasion and oh yeah, sewing.
We learned about The Story of Stuff and sustainable crafting and owning your own style and using less and seeing more and making it ourselves and innovation and improvising and each member walked away at the end of each class with some really cool handmade items: ransom note t-shirts and t-shirt skirts, appreciation banners, recycled journals and our own little ugly dolls. (and we mean that in a nice way) All this in the name of not only learning a truer, deeper meaning of value and worth, but seriously honing some mean sewing skills in the process!!
Round two of afterschool classes is starting up on May 5th.
Classes will be held each Monday in May from 3:30-5:30 p.m.
In the sewing studio on DeVerne just off of S. Lamar at Bluebonnet.
Check out the blog for camps and other info about the Collective.
This next session will be $85.00 plus a $10.00 supply fee.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
gratitude banner
today we made family gratitue banners in class. the banners have pockets for each family member, plus one for friends and extended family, and one for the universe. each time someone thinks of something they are grateful for, they can jot it down and stick it in the appropriate pocket. this serves us in many ways- we can visit the banner and look in our pocket to read all the ways we inspire gratitude in our family members AND we can reread all of our previously written notes of gratitude to remind ourselves how full our lives are and how much we have to be grateful for...
thanks to the amazing and always inspired bernadette for introducing this to us. i'm grateful to have you in my life, bern!!!!
Thursday, April 17, 2008
upcycle, re-T
our april future crafters had an afternoon of attacking a pile of old t-shirts to see what they could come up with. we worked with patterns for both a skirt or a handbag, or they had the option to take a t-shirt who's artwork was less than inspiring to them and embellish the heck out of it.
everybody left with something totally unique and they had a great time making the stuff.
i felt lucky just to be there and bear witness to this cool posse of kids going to TOWN on this big old pile of shirts that otherwise would have been languishing at the bottom of a drawer, taken to goodwill (or the dump?), or used as a rag.
these kids got a glimpse of creating their own brand! way cooler than anything they could buy at target!
i'm totally inspired by these kids and the energy and enthusiasm they bring to their projects.
the future IS now, my friends!! wa-hoo!!
Thursday, March 27, 2008
April is our flagship session!
mondays in april, from 3:30- 5:30
max 8 kids
$85
We'll start with a group viewing and discussion of The story of stuff, and go from there-
deconstructing, upcycling, creating, stitching, laughing.
All in the name of learning a truer, deeper meaning of value and worth, and honing some mean sewing skills in the process!!
email us to enroll.
max 8 kids
$85
We'll start with a group viewing and discussion of The story of stuff, and go from there-
deconstructing, upcycling, creating, stitching, laughing.
All in the name of learning a truer, deeper meaning of value and worth, and honing some mean sewing skills in the process!!
email us to enroll.
FUTURE CRAFT COLLECTIVE SUMMER CAMPS 2008
email us to enroll.
Sew Boy: For boys ages 8 to 12.
monday june 9 through friday june 13
9 am till 1 pm
max 8 kids
$200
A heavy piece of electronic machinery with a sharp object that could potentially hurt the user – what more could a boy want? Sew Boy will introduce boys to some sewing basics that will de-gender the world of sewing and bring it to them with totally boy-friendly projects. In a girl-less class they’ll be able to truly explore the thrill of handmade without having to pretend that sewing and crafting is “too girlie”.
This week will start off with a trip to the thrift store where boys will be able to search for potential yardage among the linens and drapes and blankets. We’ll appeal to their competitive selves by making a contest out of getting the most from the yardage they choose. We’ll explore the hidden crafts in random household objects too such as plastic bags, cereal boxes, and the endless t-shirt collections which come from all directions and infiltrate every American household. They’ll never look at the garbage or recycling bin the same way ever again.
Has Beens: Lessons on not taking out the trash For girls ages 8-12.
monday june 16 through friday june 20
9 am through 1 pm
max 8 kids
$200
Packaging represents about 65% of household trash. More than 20,000,000 Hershey's Kisses are wrapped each day, using 133 square miles of tinfoil. In a one-mile stretch of the average U.S. highway, you will find nearly 1500 pieces of trash.
This week will focus on the packaging we bring in, what we throw out and what we recycle, and how we can reclaim it in some very cool ways. We will discuss the importance of reducing what we use and what we toss thereby minimizing our impact in some very big ways. We’ll explore sewing with paper and cardboard, reclaiming burlap and other heavy duty packagings, the many uses and re-uses of Tyvek and other modern packaging. Your child, and therefore you, will never look at your trash or your recycling the same way again.
Bed, Craft and Beyond: What to do with linens and things*
monday august 11th through friday august 15th
9 am through 1 pm
max 8 kids
$200
It’s easy to walk into a fabric store and pick through the various bolts and samples in order to make the things you need to make. But it’s way more fun and adventurous, not to mention more eco-minded, to give new life to items that have already served their time as something else. We’ll begin with a trip to the thrift store to dig through the linens and drapes and blankets and things. We’ll look for extra groovy fabrics of different weights and patterns and sizes. We’ll teach the kids to examine the wear and usability of the pieces to determine just how much life is left. Then we’ll get to work with our patterns and figure out just how many things we can make out of the chosen pieces. The kids will be amazed, and you might too, at how much life is in those old fabrics. This is not recycling, this is upcycling – giving old objects brand new life.
*Our apologies for the title but we just couldn’t resist.
The Land of 10,000 T’s
monday august 18th through friday august 22nd
9 am through 1 pm
max 8 kids
$200
Our houses are full of them. They come at us from every direction: from teams and clubs and concerts and camps and camps and more camps. Well, this camp too will provide your child with a take-home T or two only this one will be uniquely crafted, cut, stitched and stamped – no two alike. We’ll explore the hidden uses in those thousands of t-shirts by deconstructing, remaking, printing, stamping and ironing on. If you have any favorites of your own, you may want to hide them from your kid after this camp because they’ll never see a T-shirt they won’t want to remake into something unique and fabulouso!
Sew Boy: For boys ages 8 to 12.
monday june 9 through friday june 13
9 am till 1 pm
max 8 kids
$200
A heavy piece of electronic machinery with a sharp object that could potentially hurt the user – what more could a boy want? Sew Boy will introduce boys to some sewing basics that will de-gender the world of sewing and bring it to them with totally boy-friendly projects. In a girl-less class they’ll be able to truly explore the thrill of handmade without having to pretend that sewing and crafting is “too girlie”.
This week will start off with a trip to the thrift store where boys will be able to search for potential yardage among the linens and drapes and blankets. We’ll appeal to their competitive selves by making a contest out of getting the most from the yardage they choose. We’ll explore the hidden crafts in random household objects too such as plastic bags, cereal boxes, and the endless t-shirt collections which come from all directions and infiltrate every American household. They’ll never look at the garbage or recycling bin the same way ever again.
Has Beens: Lessons on not taking out the trash For girls ages 8-12.
monday june 16 through friday june 20
9 am through 1 pm
max 8 kids
$200
Packaging represents about 65% of household trash. More than 20,000,000 Hershey's Kisses are wrapped each day, using 133 square miles of tinfoil. In a one-mile stretch of the average U.S. highway, you will find nearly 1500 pieces of trash.
This week will focus on the packaging we bring in, what we throw out and what we recycle, and how we can reclaim it in some very cool ways. We will discuss the importance of reducing what we use and what we toss thereby minimizing our impact in some very big ways. We’ll explore sewing with paper and cardboard, reclaiming burlap and other heavy duty packagings, the many uses and re-uses of Tyvek and other modern packaging. Your child, and therefore you, will never look at your trash or your recycling the same way again.
Bed, Craft and Beyond: What to do with linens and things*
monday august 11th through friday august 15th
9 am through 1 pm
max 8 kids
$200
It’s easy to walk into a fabric store and pick through the various bolts and samples in order to make the things you need to make. But it’s way more fun and adventurous, not to mention more eco-minded, to give new life to items that have already served their time as something else. We’ll begin with a trip to the thrift store to dig through the linens and drapes and blankets and things. We’ll look for extra groovy fabrics of different weights and patterns and sizes. We’ll teach the kids to examine the wear and usability of the pieces to determine just how much life is left. Then we’ll get to work with our patterns and figure out just how many things we can make out of the chosen pieces. The kids will be amazed, and you might too, at how much life is in those old fabrics. This is not recycling, this is upcycling – giving old objects brand new life.
*Our apologies for the title but we just couldn’t resist.
The Land of 10,000 T’s
monday august 18th through friday august 22nd
9 am through 1 pm
max 8 kids
$200
Our houses are full of them. They come at us from every direction: from teams and clubs and concerts and camps and camps and more camps. Well, this camp too will provide your child with a take-home T or two only this one will be uniquely crafted, cut, stitched and stamped – no two alike. We’ll explore the hidden uses in those thousands of t-shirts by deconstructing, remaking, printing, stamping and ironing on. If you have any favorites of your own, you may want to hide them from your kid after this camp because they’ll never see a T-shirt they won’t want to remake into something unique and fabulouso!
Monday, March 3, 2008
sew boy!
sunday marked the debut of a new series of classes i've begun that are specifically for 8-12 year old boys. we had five boys and one dad- a full house indeed! i was, admittedly, quite nervous about five itchy 8 year old feet raring to put the pedal to the metal, so to speak.
But much to my delight and surprise, (and with a little help with damage control from our studio dad), the boys were so wrapped up in getting to know their machines they hardly remembered to whack each other upside the head or make fart jokes. (i said they HARDLY remembered... thank god they DID manage to squeek in a whack and a fart here and there, otherwise it may have gotten downright dull...)
it became apparent to me that sewing really is a great gender equalizer, even though boys do seem to still battle the whole "you SEW? but you're a BOY." mentality . i mean, it's all about getting to know and work a MACHINE, right? a MACHINE with a SHARP POINTY thing that could, potentially, do a good bit of hurting to an unsuspecting operator. how much more macho do you get? but, once you add in the elements of patience and care that we often associate with our fairer gendered children, you get one talented sewer. yin, and yang. balance.
what the kids want to sew, however, definatly varies depending on gender. so, with that in mind, as well as the intention to create a space for boys to explore the world of sewing devoid of potential gender issues, our boys class was born.
who-hoo! sew boy!!!
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