Traci Gillespie answers a sewing question for Ella Tolbert, third grader at Swigert. Gillespie, the librarian at Swigert, recently started a business teaching kids how to sew—from coasters to clothes.
Traci Gillespie, a librarian at Swigert International School, lives so close to Swigert she can hear the school bell. With so many kids in the neighborhood, Gillespie decided to start a side business, Sew Creative, teaching kids to sew, both by hand and by machine.
“I teach them a skill, and then we do a project,” Gillespie explained. “I thought there would be more interest from the girls, but I actually had parents asking about enrolling their boys so I try to make it very open to both.”
Gillespie offers machine sewing for kids 8 and older and hand-sewing classes for kids 6 and older.
“I get a feel for the class and then base it (the project) on the class,” she said. “We’ll make a variety of stuff. The younger ones are too young to be on the machine if it’s not one-on-one. We did a doll and a kid’s skirt to wear in hand sewing. It could be by machine if an older child, or a child who has done it before.”
Fourth graders at Swigert Ella Tafoya, Lily Steffen and Avery Gillespie talk while hand stitching pincushions. “It’s very relaxed. We have a good time,” Gillespie says about the classes.
Gillespie shows Lily Steffen, a fourth grader at Swigert, how to fix a stitch in her pincushion.
In winter camps, the children made lounge pants that everybody is wearing. They aren’t just for girls. In January, classes will start making tote bags, and summer classes will include drawstring bags and blankets. Gillespie provides the materials, and the children take their projects home with them.
“The first project sometimes is making coasters that they can give for presents, and we sometimes make stuffed animals,” Gillespie said. “I teach them to sew on buttons and other basics.
“It’s very relaxed. We have a good time,” she said. “They have to take their time and be patient. They all work on the same project, but they all have their unique style. It’s great to see that.”
Classes starting in January will include Mondays and Wednesdays from 4:15–5:15pm., Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4–5pm and 5:15–6:15pm. Swigert students can walk to Gillespie’s home from school with her. She will give them a snack and then the class will start. Classes aren’t limited to Swigert students. Each class accommodates only six children. Each student has a sewing machine to work on. Children also can attend weekend workshops for two hours on Saturday or Sunday.
“Right now we’re looking forward to summer,” Gillespie added. “We’re trying to think about summer camps when the project is a fashion class like putting together a skirt or embellishing a shirt, putting more design into it. We’re discussing patterns, and they may make their own pattern. It’s more about clothes.”
Parents can arrange private sewing parties for their children. “At a recent party, kids made a tooth fairy pillow that showed their personalities. The best thing was that one of the girls at the party lost her tooth that night.”
At Sip ’n Sew events for adults, Gillespie provides the wine while attendees chat and make a pillow.
Gillespie lives in Stapleton with her husband, John, and their two daughters, 5-year-old Julia and 9-year-old Avery.
For class information for children and adults, visit www.sewcreativestapleton.com. To contact Traci Gillespie, email sewcreativestapleton@gmail.com or call her at 859.321.1817.
There should be a story about the under the radar, somewhat sneaky, 7-11 that is being built on Northfield Blvd. between Willow and Xanthia Streets. They just happened to put up an awning and put out their liquor licence application notice earlier this week, just a couple days after the release of the June edition of the Front Porch.
This gas station is dangerously close to new homes being constructed right there and I'm sure most if not all of them are disappointed if not devesated like my wife and I are who are are under contract for a house that just recently started framing within a stones throw of this new gas station.
First of all, I understand and respect the rationale behind Forest City's decision to contract a parcel along Northfield Blvd. to a 7-11 franchisee. I get the neighborhood needs gas stations and people like convenience. As Stapleton residents for the past 5 1/2 years, my wife and I fully understood the risk of living so close to an undeveloped commercial space in an urban community like we were in Stapleton's Eastbridge. (We happened to sell right before the disappointing news about another full-size King Soopers in our long awaited Town Center and feel bad for our neighbors that remain) I get why this makes sense in many respects for the 7-11 franchisee and in meeting some kind of need of the neighborhood but let's be real about it for just a second…
It's still a 7-11! It's a business entity with extended, or worse, overnight hours that sells gas, tobacco products, soda, junk food, lottery tickets and potentially malt beverage/beer!
No matter how it's designed, what it looks like, how it's landscaped and how well it's maintained, it's still a center of attraction for events and/or people that can certainly be unsafe or an unwelcome influence to a young family trying to put stakes in the ground for the long-term.
I really hope the Forest City team understands that. I hope they understand that it might not be what the Conservatory Green residential neighborhood wants that close to their homes whether they are within sight of a gas pump or not. Is this what Forest City thinks we want? I don't get it.