Natalie has a deep history with Penland School of Crafts where, more than 30 years ago, she first received a studio assistantship—an experience that opened her eyes and mind to the incredible world of design and craft. In 2012, she revisited the North Carolina mountain school to teach a course on hand sewing. Natalie documented her time at Penland with a series on the Journal. Read through to get an idea of just how amazing and magical this place is—the people, the food, the surroundings—allowing you to dream and create and relax and restore.

This summer, as part of Penland’s Summer Session, Natalie has been invited back to teach a two-week course: Explorations in Hand Sewing.

This class will focus on fabric manipulation using various stitching, stenciling, and coloration techniques. Students will learn how to hand sew using time-honored techniques like appliqué, couching, and a variety of thread and embroidery work in contemporary embellishment methods. Using signature Alabama Chanin and The School of Making 100% organic cotton jersey, we will explore inspiration, color, and layout for fabric design. Class members will complete sample blocks that can be used for reference or pieced together to create scarves, shawls, pillows and/or a range of diverse products. (This class does not focus on garment construction.)

Session 4: Sunday, July 9 – Friday, July 21, 2017

Penland School of Crafts
Penland, NC 28765