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BRD class serves as creative outlet for teacher, students
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| By THERESE APEL, DAILY LEADER Staff Writer |
November 02, 2009 |
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Sue Junkin learned how to sew when she was 9 years old in West Virginia, and now she's teaching others about the perks of being able to make their own wardrobe from scratch.
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Junkin teaches two sewing classes at the Brookhaven Recreation Department, and she said sewing is something anyone can learn to do if they just take the time.
"If you can follow a recipe or drive a car, you can sew," she said. "The machine is just like driving a car - it takes the gas pedal to make it go."
The rest can be a matter of following directions, Junkin said. Once you've learned the lingo, it's all downhill from there.
"Just following the pattern is a lot like cooking, because there are certainly terms you have to learn and know, but once you learn them you can put together whatever you want," she said.
She said the class started with the basics, and their first project was one that is easy, but practical.
"The first thing we're doing, we learned to sew a straight line, then what different seam allowances are," she said. "We've made a pillowcase, and machine appliquéd a letter on that. Then we're making a pair of pants."
The pants were a big project for the group of seven that meets on Thursday night, with each student bringing fabric of their own choosing to turn into outerwear, and excitedly clustering around to watch how to cut out the pattern.
Junkin said that in the past, sewing was a less-expensive option to buying clothes, but with the rising costs of fabric, the two are about equal.
"At the last class, (one of the students) said, 'It cost me $16 to buy this fabric, and I could pretty much go out and buy some pants for that,'" she said. "Fabric is not cheap anymore. If you're going to end up getting some really cute fabric, it's going to cost almost as much as just buying clothes off the rack."
Junkin said, however, that there are still good reasons to sew, and a lot of it has to do with creation and personal touch.
"It's therapeutic for me. It's a creative outlet," she said. "It's the personalization. I can make whatever I want. I have three children, and my youngest daughter, I can make her jumpers and little things like that."
The class began as an idea that sprung from some of those creations, she said.
" My favorite birthday gift is a personalized pillowcase, and I don't know how much the kids like it, but the mamas love it," she said. "I think most of the kids like it, though, and I've given several away. Several people have said they want to learn to sew, so I went to the recreation department to see if this is something they'd want to do."
And based on the positive response this time, Junkin said there will be future classes. For the next one, there are already four people on the waiting list.
"I'll probably do another class in January, and I'll limit it to eight students absolutely," she said. "I want to give each student individual attention, and that's hard."
But whether the students come out as advanced fashion designers or just proficient enough to make a pillowcase here and a jumper there, Junkin said the point is just the being together.
"The goal of the class as much as to learn how to sew is to have fun. It's a creative outlet," she said. "That's what I told them first class, if you don't find this fun, don't do it. What's the point?"
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©The Daily Leader 2009
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