Circling Back To Sewing

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One of the hottest trends is reconstruction or refashioning, in which parts of different pieces of clothing are sewn together to make a one-of-a-kind T shirt, skirt or jacket. Leslie Kinson, 19, a sophomore at Colorado College in Colorado Springs, says she cut out a cross-stitch pattern from an old apron and combined it with lace doilies and an embroidered pink fabric to make a knee-length skirt. Maria Azarraga, 18, who lives in Leesburg, Ga., sewed together parts of a panda-print sweater she bought on eBay with a second sweater from Goodwill and some faux white fur she found at a fabric store to make a black-and-white, hooded wool "bomber" jacket. When she posted pictures to the Sew Hip community on the site LiveJournal.com in early November, she got raves from other members, including Shay Silver, 23, from Potsdam, N.Y., who wrote, "That is a freaking awesome sweater."

Other websites like joann.com reprodepot.com and sewingpatterns com make it easy to find supplies, while online sewing groups help people with niche interests find kindred spirits. The blog Wardrobe Refashion is dedicated to people who choose to use only pre-owned clothing in fashioning new styles and designs. The Dark Threads mailing list on sfgoth. com caters to people interested in making their own Goth-style clothes. Robert Blaque joined the group when he was learning to make corsets and costumes to wear onstage with his San Francisco-- based band, Secret Secret. Although Dark Threads is a virtual community, Blaque says, "there's a really neat friendship among the listees," some of whom meet up to go to fairs or participate in AIDS walks in the Bay Area.

Those seeking real-world contact on a more regular basis head for sewing lounges like Make Workshop on Manhattan's Lower East Side and First Samples in the hip SoCo district of Austin, Texas, where sewing machines can be rented by the hour and experienced seamstresses are available to share their expertise. At a recent Saturday-morning class for beginners at First Samples, most of the first two hours were spent learning how sewing machines work--how to thread, what kind of thread to buy, how to load a bobbin, how to load needles and clean various parts. The attendees ranged in age from 25 to 46. "Any other class I took in sewing was so dull," says Lauren McFarland, the eldest in the group. "This appeals to younger people, and it's not really something stuffy that gray-hairs are doing."

With turquoise walls and elegant touches like the vase of pink roses and rosemary on the cutting table, First Samples attracts plenty of career women looking to try something new. Owner Shauna Smith, who opened the lounge in 2005, says she initially hoped it would be a place where friends and enthusiasts could gather and sew together, much like the "Stitch 'n' Bitch" knitting groups that were popular a few years ago. But teaching classes and renting out workspaces for $10 an hour has proved to be a much better business plan. "People look at sewing differently now," she says. "It doesn't always save you money, but it does empower you."

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