Vicki has a certificate from the School of Fashion Design, on Newbury St, in Boston. I met her many years ago, when I needed someone to help me sew my products. She has an amazing talent with fabric. And, she has the ability to think creatively about overcoming a sew challenge.

Most of her freelance sewing is in the bridal arena. She has custom-made many bridal gowns and bridesmaids dresses. She knows how to fit clothing and has a far-reaching knowledge of sewing techniques.

Vicki is a good friend, support and wonderful teacher. If you take her class, you will come away with a wealth of knowledge. We hope to see you on Tuesday morning in January.

Komra is my sister. We grew up in Wisconsin and when I moved to Massachusetts, she was living in California. Now, she lives in Watertown. When she and her husband decided to move here 2 years ago, I found a place for her to live. The landlord the mother of one of my sewing students, Kim Swift. After being so far from close family, it has been great to have Komra only 10 minutes from me.

Komra has always been a talented artist. She has a deep love of horses and other animals. She could draw whatever she wanted when she was young. We would be coloring with crayons in a book. I would be trying to color within the lines and she would be shading and mixing colors. And, she is only 2 years older than me.

Komra went to college for art and left to do a coop program with a veterinarian. She found her way into the graphic arts field, working with weekly publications and print media. Over the years, she found her way into web design. She is a rare talent since she can not only design the visuals of a site, but build it herself. She is on contract with Budget/Avis and other successful companies around the US.

Komra has been pursuing her interest in Fine Art prints with her photographic mandalas. I will ask her to put links to her site here, so that you can view her work.

I am lucky to be able to have her talents available. Many of my students come to me through the web and the Wirkkala Designs web site. Now, we have this site dedicated to sewing and crafts. Don’t you think it is gorgeous? We were going for an Arts & Crafts/William Morris look. She found the fonts for the window lettering and logo, plus the borders and backgrounds. She makes everything easy, that would be nearly impossible for me to do. I am grateful for her gifts.

It has been a little while since I have posted. We worked very hard in the last 2 weeks and Christmas was in the middle of it.

My sister, the talented web designer who built my 2 sites, and I took a day trip to IKEA last week. It was the perfect time to go. Hardly anyone was there and I had all the help I needed from the kitchen and office designers. We ended up with 3 carts and they all fit in my sister’s Honda Element. They man who packed it did an amazing job fitting it all in.

The traffic back to Arlington was a breeze. When we got to the shop, we started unpacking the vehicle and it seemed a daunting task. I spied 2 strapping young men walking buy and offered to pay them to help us. They unloaded everything in a matter of 15 minutes and offered their services in the future. It was a great topper to a busy day.

Just this week, Donna found a fellow who assembles “anything in a box.” His name is Paul Dennehy. He and his son showed up Wednesday morning and by 6 pm, everything was built and installed. They were pleasant and hardworking. Since the doors and drawer fronts are being shipped, Paul will be returning to install those for me, too. I will post his phone number for anyone who is interested in using his services. His price was reasonable and relieved me of a large chunk of work.

That same day, I had 2 electricians by, and 4 old friends of mine showed up to do whatever needed to be done. I likened it to a Marx Brothers movie. Have you ever seen “Night at the Opera?” There is a scene where Groucho Marx’s character is shown to his stateroom, which is barely bigger than his bed. While he is there, every service imaginable comes into his room, from the maids to room service to a manicurist to the engineering crew. It felt that busy for me that day. But, it also felt like everything is working well and that I have a huge amount of support for all these changes going on in my life right now.

Yesterday, Tricia O’Neill, came to do the window lettering on the shop. It looks wonderful. The 2 large panes of glass say, “Laura’s Sewing School & More + website address.” The doors has a list of areas of interest taught. Let me know what you think. I do have some pictures. I will be learning later this week how to load them onto this site. It will make it all more interesting to look at.

I am pleased to announce that we will be offering a class on pattern fitting starting in January.  It will be meeting Tuesday mornings from 9:30am-12:30pm.  The teacher is Vicki Massaro.  She has a certificate from the School of Fashion Design in Boston, MA.  Vicki has done many bridal gowns and bridesmaids dresses.  She always has a solution to fitting and construction problems.

Vicki has worked on contract for Wirkkala Designs for many years.  She has been a great sounding board for me.  She embodies the teaching philosophy I have.  She is flexible and encouraging and positive.  Don’t miss this chance to get some great insight on how to make your patterns fit you beautifully!

Begins January 9, 2007.  Cost is $210 for 6 weekly, 3 hour classes.  You must be an experienced seamstress to take this class.  Working with a commercial pattern, of your choice, you will be making a “muslin” of it to learn how to adjust to your body and transfer those markings and knowledge to your pattern.  Feel free to contact us for more details.

Today has been a big day for the website.  It is now posted!  It includes a list of new classes starting in January.  These are for all ages.  Two classes a week will be dedicated to kid’s sewing.  If they cannot make it during the posted after-school times, they are welcome to sign up for any of the other class sessions listed.

There is a map link to our new location.  Click on the address lines in the left column or the “view map” line.  It will take you to Google maps.  I think this is a very clear map and google maps has great features.

Soon, you will be able to register and pay for classes online.  I can accept registrations through my Wirkkala Designs web site.  The link is near the bottom of the links in the right column of this page.  And, you are still welcome to pay by check or call and register over the phone.  We accept MC, Visa, AMEX and Discover.

I have started writing a book, mainly on home dec projects. I will be posting information on that on the site. I will also be asking a group of students to be my test group for the projects to give me feedback.

My web designer is just about done making my new Sewing Web Site. I will also be revamping and expanding my Accessories Site. I am hoping that the new sewing site, www.laurassewingschool.com or www.laurassewing.com, will be up this first week of December.

It will include a gallery of my sewing and other projects. Plus, a gallery of my students’ projects from the last 4 years. There will not only be class information, but lists for tools, stores, resources and links to other helpful sites. I will be bringing in other teachers to expand on class offerings and skills. Especially in the realm of fashion and fitting.

The items are an office chair slipcover, a shirt that I copied from another purchased shirt that I love, a decoupaged dresser, a beanbag ottoman, a dog bed I covered and a lampshade. Also, I hung a quilt top that my grandmother made on her treadle sewing machine.
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I have set up a living room area at the front of the shop. I found a loveseat on the curb in my neighborhood, a couple of weeks ago. It was in great condition, the fabric was faded and could use a new slipcover or reupholstering. I just got some fabric samples from Fabric Place. They are having a 25% off Everything Sale, now through December 6th. I plan to make 2 slipcovers. One to match the chairs as they are. And, one to match the slipcovers I plan to make for the chairs. I have placed items near the window and have posted information sheets on the windows about each item that I made.