For these craft nights, everything needed to create is provided – the space, the materials, the tools and the scheduled time. Mamas just need bring themselves and a little wine or beer if so inclined. At the end, walk away, completed project and new ideas for life, living and the pursuit of happiness tucked safely in hand.

For the Fall season the Collective craft nights will focus on holiday crafts – advent calendars and greeting cards.  All craft nights will be from 7:15-10:00pm. $25.00 per night.*

• Saturday, November 7th: Advent Calendar This is a two-part workshop during which we will create an advent calendar to countdown to your family’s holiday of choice – be it Solstice, Hanukkah, Christmas, Festivus or New Year’s Eve. Attend two workshop nights for completion as this project it will take 5-6 hours total. Mostly hand sewing with machine sewing optional. Another option is to come one night and finish up at home.
• Thursday, November 12th: Advent Calendar canceled
  
• Saturday, November 14th: Advent Calendar
• Friday, November 20th: Holiday collage cards or Advent Calendar
• LAST ONE OF THE HOLIDAY SEASON!!! Saturday, December 5th: Holiday collage cards or Advent Calendar completion Bring family photos to create your own holiday greeting cards or skip the photos and make cards to send or give as gifts. All materials provided.

If you can email futurecraftcollective@gmail.com ahead of time and let me know you’ll be attending, that’d be great.  Register here with Paypal** if that makes things easier.

*If money is an issue, please let me know. I’d be happy to work something out.

**A nominal paypal fee is added to the price of admission.

So, it’s not actually a competition of course. And each one really does have its attributes beyond what we could ever count. But there is no doubt teaching 8 kids ages 8-12, 2 days a week for 2 hours after school is a totally different experience than teaching 7 moms on a Saturday afternoon all of whom have left their kids at home and I can’t help but put them side by side for a little comparison.

We laugh hard in the kid classes because they are just so raw and open and bring us back to that time of life of being 9, 10, 11, 12 years old. We can remember the disjointed-ness of that age and the geekiness and the feeling on the verge of coolness and trying it on in a fun(ny) way.

We talk seriously in the mama class about ritual and sentimentality and connection and setting our families up with traditions of our own.They are there to make something for their families and there is much talk about many aspects of family life from infancy onto nearly teen-hood.

The kids sew fast. Sometimes furiously so. They are not so mindful of aesthetics as much as they are with completion. We do talk to them about enjoying the process and all that but sometimes, I’m afraid, it just becomes sort of background noise. Or maybe they hear it and they’ll remember later, somewhere down the road, those sewing teachers they had that talked about being in the moment.

The mamas are more thoughtful and maybe even a little hard on themselves worrying about colors and layout and making it look perfect because they are all after all making an heirloom and they’re hoping they’ll still enjoy the aesthetics of it all when it is being used for their own children’s children. They are able to look to the future because when watching children grow the velocity of time becomes all too clear. To them too we speak of trying to enjoy the process but it is hard when the time is limited to one 3.5 hour chunk on a stolen Saturday afternoon.

After each class we are exhausted but for a different reason. With the kids it is manual labor in a way with all their technical difficulties and the need for much hand-holding. We hope we can give them enough and we try our very best to do so.They let us know instantly if they feel neglected or ignored or if they aren’t getting what they need and came for. They are not shy about that and while it is tiring sometimes, it is at least clear-cut.

With the mamas we can only hope we have given them enough. We ponder whether they got what they came for but with each coming perhaps for different reasons it’s really hard to know whether we’ve reached that goal or not. They leave with a mostly finished product that we hope they get finished in a timely manner. We will nudge them virtually to do so but it’s in their hands now.

For each class we are grateful to offer the space to sew and create and think about sustainability and reuse and recrafting. And for each class too we are grateful for all we learn in the midst of our teaching. And believe me that is a lot – each and every time.

Check out the mama class story and more pics on the blog of our dear pal Average Jane Crafter.

By Kathie Sever and Bernadette Noll
email us to enroll

From the minds that brought you Ramonsterwear clothing, Creating Family Goodness, Homeschool Designs and The Future Craft Collective comes this innovative and inspirational sewing and family ritual class.
Crafting Family Goodness is about inspiring mamas to handcraft family tradition and connection that will last for generations to come. It’s about understanding ways of establishing family rhythms and rituals and at the same time, spending time together with other mamas and making some really cool stuff. Because it’s a Future Craft Collective endeavor, be assured will be reusing, recycling, and reclaiming materials helping us keep out of the consumption loop.

Classes are held in the backyard-sewing studio of Kathie Sever located near the corner of S. Lamar and Bluebonnet.

Class Number One: What you Appreciate, Appreciates

May 17th 2:30-6:00 p.m. $55.00 each class (or sign up for both for $100.00)

In this class we’ll make Family Appreciation Banners that will keep gratitude on the forefront of every family member’s brain. Each banner will have a pocket for each member of the family, friends and a pocket for Universal thanks as well. There’ll be space for materials too so you can say “thanks” whenever the spirit moves you. We’ll discuss just why appreciations are so helpful in family life and ways we can encourage our children and partners to recognize and indeed appreciate all that is around them.

Class Number Two: Happy Birthday to You! (and you and you and you) May 24th 1:30-5:00. $55.00 (or sign up for both for $100.00)

In this class we’ll choose from three different birthday projects that you will be able to use year after year and child after child.

1. Birthday Wish Flags

These little flags are drawn from the idea of Tibetan Prayer Flags and can be hung up for each family birthday. Each flag holds a special birthday wish for your children for the coming year. Some folks have also added lessons learned in year’s past as reminders of where we’ve been and thoughts about where we’re going. Flags can be added for each birthday until the family string can be stretched across the whole house sending wishes far and wide.

2. Birthday crowns

Okay, we may find those little cardboard cone hats to be a link to our own childhood, but why not build a whole new birthday hat tradition that will be used year after year. We’ll make a special adjustable crown that can be worn with sentimental pride by each child for every birthday.

3. Anticipation Calendar

Think of this as a way of extending a birthday into a weeklong celebration of fun and anticipation. These little banners hold seven pockets each one holding a tiny treasure and a secret message for the honoree. Your child will be able to see for themselves just how many more days until their birthday (leaving the constant questioning of it at bay) and you’ll both have an entire week of count-down fun.