First Friday in White River Junction

Tomorrow is the first Friday in December, which means it is time for what has typically been the largest First Friday event of the year in White River Junction. Just about every art gallery and studio in town is open, and several places you might not expect - the full list is on the Facebook event page. There's a limited amount of fibery action, but taking in work done in different media can be inspiring and educational. Many artists are on hand to chat, there's a lot of free refreshments, and at every turn you'll find a different live musical performer.

One of the organizers is Kim Souza, owner of one of the fiber-related locations, the clothing store Revolution on the corner of Currier and Main. There will be live music in the store, despite the apparent lack of space for it:

Since I have the picture, here's Revolution's wall of indie designers, most of whom are local:

You'll see more of them another time.

The block outlined by Currier, Main, and Gates Streets has many open studios. If you proceed north on Bridge Street you'll reach the Main Street Museum, collection of oddments, for an open house and Victrola music. If instead you go west on Main Street you'll reach the Tip Tip building, of which this is one of the many hallways:

Lots of exhibits, lots of studios. Continuing on will take you to the Upper Valley Food Co-op, which is having an open house with a shopping discount, and around the back of the building is the door that leads to the upstairs. There you'll find the raucous Vital Communities annual open house. Down the hall will be the substantially quieter Sew-op open house, the other main fiber-related location, where at least one of your two bloggers will be most of the time between 4 and 7. Hope to see you!

Holiday Project Round-up

If you're a crafter, you're probably often tempted to make what you need or want instead of buying it. But there's only so much time for projects, so how do you decide what to make and what to buy? The Modern Mrs Darcy has created a flowchart to help you decide.
Sew Mama Sew is just finishing up their 7th Annual Homemade Holidays round-up. Each day features easy to make gift projects along a theme plus printables, recipes and books. There are tons of gift ideas for everyone. Don't forget to check out past archives as well. I love these scrappy ornaments.
Coasters are an easy gift idea. They're small, and fast and don't take much fabric. If you're feeling ambitious you could stretch the size and technique to sew matching trivets, pot holders, napkins, placemats, table runner or even a throw pillow. Here's a round-up from Apartment Therapy. I like the felt coasters from craft snob. Pefect for my long ride to Grandma's house this Thanksgiving.
Happy Thanksgiving and safe travels, everyone!

An excuse to get to know the Sew-op

Hello again! Your perhaps less than loyal bloggers are back, and we've mapped out posts into the beginning of next year. Look for a link roundup from Jenn next week; I'll post again the week after that.

This week has been busy with final preparations for a craft sale on Friday to benefit the Sew-op. Last night we got together to finish getting ready, and there was quite a spread. Here's just a sample!



Cell phone bags, tea wallets, bags within bags, sleep sacks



Sewing kits under construction



Coasters and ribbon-tagged crinkle squares on top of drawstring bags

Jenn and I are both quite involved in the Sew-op, which is a community workspace centered on fiber crafts, a project of and located on the second floor of the Upper Valley Food Co-op in White River Junction. Anyone can come to take classes or use the equipment, notions, and fabric for their own projects. We are typically open Monday evenings 5:30-7:30, Wednesday afternoons 1-3, and Saturday mornings 10-12, and the calendar will tell you whether each session is a class or Open Hours. Open Hours are free, drop-in times to bring your own project and work with the resources of the Sew-op, both the equipment and materials and the experienced sewist (at least one) who is that session's aide.

Our materials are mostly donated, with money brought in through class fees and donations going to paying our teachers, purchasing necessities that we haven't had donated, and maintaining our sewing machines. The sale is partly a fundraiser, but our larger goal is making connections to people who aren't familiar with us. We would love more teachers, more students, more Open Hours aides, and more Open Hours attendees.

The Sew-op Sale is Friday, November 22 in the Upper Valley Food Co-op (where the carts usually are), from 11 AM to 7 PM. Come by and say hi!

Here are directions to the Co-op, at 193 N Main St in White River Junction. We'll take anyone who wishes on a tour of the Sew-op, and there will be a raffle every half hour, free to enter.

Greetings and Salutations!

Welcome to the Upper Valley Fiber Crafts blog!

We hope to become a useful resource for finding locally-owned shops and community groups with whom to learn and do all kinds of fiber crafts: sewing, knitting, crochet, embroidery, rug braiding, and everything else you can do with yarn, fabric, or thread. We'll maintain a calendar and directory, blog about upcoming classes, and profile local groups. You'll also see posts about projects that use leftover or secondhand materials, or allow items like clothing to have a longer useful life; these are particular interests of those of us who teach at the Upper Valley Sew-Op. We'll announce events outside the Upper Valley that local crafters are involved in or that are worth the drive. Of course, we can only blog about what we know, so all fiber crafters in the Upper Valley are invited to tell us about their activities and other news. Write us if you are part of a crafting group or teach or organize classes, or if you would like to write posts for this blog. All kinds of fiber crafting topics are welcome, as long as they are local, for any craft and any age range. We're excited to start this project, although it will be a while before it fulfills all the ambitions listed above!