The teaching assignment
Last week I was asked by Ebami Tom to co-host a sewing workshop at “Made in 4 Havens”, a maker space, located in the harbor area of Rotterdam West. Our assignment was to implement several skills and techniques on different levels for a small group of women. Most of them had little sewing experience, but we needed to challenge teaching the ones with more skills.
Made in 4 Havens
At the studio here at Made in 4 Havens, production of fashion items are made by local women for several clients already.
We could implement all these requirements, by teaching them how to sew a cotton tote bag with volume and pockets. Since I am a bag designer, I showed them a couple of bag designs that illustrated the different orders and difficulties. The students could choose to make one with a loose hanging inner pocket or a volume pocket on the front. They also had to make an application on it.
Coöperation
Kim and I gave instructions on how to use the industrial sewing machines and the lockers. The first step was to make a square test cloth on these machines. During class, we attended the students personally, guided them through the whole process of design and executing at the different stages of making a tote bag.
Eventually, all the students had used different skills at their level and made a personalized tote bag.
Kim van Eijnatten is a fashion specialist that, apart from teaching how to sew, keeps her footprint small by selling rare second-hand finds at “Nonsens Vintage.”
Ebami visited my studio in Heijplaat a couple of years ago in search for Rotterdam Designers, and later on, I attended the Design Market at Made in 4 Havens.
We were all excited about working together and hope this trial will result in a future series of sewing lessons.
