Here We Come, 2015!

2014 has been... interesting. We celebrated 8 years of business, which is no small achievement in today's economic climate. We watched our core market shift dramatically with all the technology introduced. We had some fantastic parties and guest teachers! Personally, I am still learning how to take care of a business and a two-year old - I wish there were classes for that. 

Weaving at our Holiday Bazaar

First off, I want to say a huge THANK YOU to all of you students and customers who have allowed us to stay in business for 8 years. Now for the changes: the bad news first. We simply cannot afford to offer the range of sewing classes we have in the past due to the proliferation of information available online. 

I firmly believe that learning sewing from an actual person is the way to go (that's why I started a classroom!) and will happily talk for hours about the benefits of in-person classes. On the flip side, I'm all for sharing information however it works, and these online classes are a boon for those who don't live near a great sewing shop! I also have good friends who are writing these classes, and I want them to succeed and be paid well for their hard work. So the first change is less sewing classes - a tough decision, but small businesses need to change with the market and stay flexible.

Moving stuff around!

And we have a silver lining: more fiber arts classes, more guest teachers, more amazing goods in the shop. The past few weeks, we have been reconfiguring the space to accommodate more retail, and along with that we'll have new hours for 2015:

Sun - Weds: 10am - 6pm
Thurs - Sat: 10am - 7pm

Mario rules!

Keep your eyes peeled for weaving workshops, dyeing classes, fantastic guest teachers, macrame, block printing and weekend sessions of your favorite classes!

We'll be open later for open sewing in our SewLab on many Wednesday evenings, plus we'll be scheduling Sewlabs on weekend days so everyone has a chance to use our awesome classroom space. We'll be scheduling more Project Workshops - open sewing with a teacher to ask questions - so everyone gets some practice on projects they want to sew. 

New fabric wall

Almost there...

Lux thinks it looks better over here.

Open space!

Our Kids & Teens After School sewing classes have exploded! If you know a boy or girl who wants to learn how to sew or get some help with projects, check out the website for dates. I'm continually astounded with how fast and amazing our kids are, and recently one of the first Kids Camp kids stopped in to visit - she's in the costume department of her high school and used what she learned at Sew L.A. every day. 

All I helped with was pressing - she did the rest herself!

We have been hard at work expanding our embroidery section - carrying Kiriki Press kits, Subversive Stitching cross stitch kits, Penguin & Fish kits and sashiko supplies along with our faves, Sublime Stitching. We'll be offering an Advanced Embroidery class in addition to the Intro, and look for a Crewel class soon!

Our first Weaving Workshop is on Feb. 7th with renowned local artisan Cameron Taylor-Brown! We are now carrying mini looms from Purl & Loop and lap sized looms from Harrisville Designs in the shop. I'm secretly most excited to have found the metal potholder loom frames - a must for any kid you know who likes to make things (and some adults too).

And we'll be adding some really lovely lines to our retail selection: tableware and linens from Lotta Jansdotter, beautiful paper goods from Rifle Paper and One Canoe Two, and my favorite - Sarah Watts from Cotton + Steel has a gorgeous line of journals and notecards. Some of these items are already in the shop!

So all in all, we take a few roughs with the smooth and continue on. Here's to another great year of growing, changing and learning! Wishing you and yours the very best in the New Year - Shaerie and everyone at Sew L.A.