SPECIAL CLASSES

Portland Sewing Memberships

Monday-Saturday, 1-6 pm (Starts January 7)

with design coaches Cindy Persson and Kattie Louie

Take patternmaking then use Portland Sewing as your creative space with your PS membership.

Use Portland Sewing as your creative space.  Become a Portland Sewing member for just $150/month.  Take the prerequisite classes* to get qualified, then get access to our:

-- Large pattern tables

-- Professional dress forms

-- Home sewing machines and sergers

-- Knitting machines

-- Industrial machines.

Our design coaches are there to answer your questions and keep you on the path to success.

Want to take your ideas from other classes to the next step?  Need help creating your clothing collection?  Then try Advanced Pattern and Construction.  For one-on-one help, sign up for a Private Lesson.

* Prerequisite classes include:

-- Apparel Construction Series

-- Patternmaking Intro

-- Draping

-- Industrial Machine Sewing

-- Knitting by Machine

Shoemaking with Jennifer Holcomb, Art Institute

Thursdays, May 30-July 11, 6-9 pm

No class Thursday, July 4.

$189  + $60 kit fee ($249)

At last!  A shoemaking class for fashionable shoes in Portland -- one that you can afford!

Learn to design and construct a pair of flat leather sandals.  The class will evaluate market trends in footwear, and each student will develop their own sandal design from inspiration.  Students will translate their design into flat patterns, in addition to creating a pattern of their own foot.  Then students will follow a step-by-step process of constructing and finishing their own sandal design.  Prerequisites:  Beginning Sewing, Leatherworking 1

Just Pockets

June 1, 2-5 pm, $48

Before you add a pocket to your favorite garment.  Before you sew another skirt, shirt, pant or jacket.  Take this class.  Perfect your pocket-making skills from patch to slash and side seam to cargo to double and single welt pockets.  Learn to add buttonholes, button loops and other closures to your pocket.

Open to all makes and models of sergers.

Use your serger:  The Sergery Series

$89 each or $165 for both

Sergery 1: Basic Serger Techniques.  Saturdays, June 8-22, 2-5 pm

Find out all your serger can do. Learn the parts of your serger, how to thread and manage the tensions and how to trouble-shoot problems while creating a book of techniques — from overlock to flatlock and rolled edge — in the first class. Serge a patchwork tote in the second class, a knit top in the third.

Sergery 2: More Serger Techniques/DecoSerging.  Saturdays, July 20-Aug 3, 2-5 pm

Your serger is an awesome machine! Discover all the wonderful ways to use it. Add to your book of sample techniques. Create blocks of DecoSerging with flatlock, rolled edge, heirloom, beading, ruffling and other techniques.  Learn how to use specialty threads.  The blocks you create will be suitable for a lap quilt, pillows, totes -- or just for fun and practice.

Make a tote with 4-thread overlock in one session.

with Jennifer Holcomb, Art Institute.

Summer Class:  Tuesday-Thursday, July 9-11 & July 16-18, 2-5 pm

$189 + $60 kit fee ($249)  

This six-week course teaches the fundamentals of leatherworking while you make a belt and clutch.

Learn how to cut, bevel, crease and burnish edges. Mould leather around buckles and rings. Learn about skiving and channeling, plus techniques for applying dyes and finishes. Create a swatch library of handstitches. Sew hem samples by machine. Explore the many different kinds of leather, its qualities and potential. Become proficient at using and maintaining hand tools.

Kit includes leather for samples, belt, and part of clutch, hardware, stitching awl, linen thread, harness needles, burnishing tools, leather conditioner, plus dyes and finishes to experiment with in-class. You will buy a small amount of light leather for half of the handbag and the sewing machine samples. You also will bring basic sewing supplies and a home sewing machine for one class.

Class limited to eight students. This class is designed for people with little or no previous experience, and for those who want to go back to the basics in working with leather.

Take this class and Industrial Machine Sewing to get ready to take "Sewing Leather Garments" class this Fall.

Prerequisite: Beginning Sewing

Class policies

Surface Design:  Screenprinting

Saturdays, July 20 & 27, 2-5 pm; $96 

In two quick sessions, learn the basic steps to design and hand screen patterns onto fabric.  Use a photo emulsion process to burn your image onto a silkscreen.  Measure and print the patterns onto fabrics of your choice using fabric pigment.  Use these skills to create fabric, add details and make art on your garments.