- By -Staff
- Around Town
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SewGreen, downtown Ithaca’s sustainable sewing center, will soon add a third space to its storefront location. A sewing machine tune-up shop will open in October next door to the existing classroom and fabric reuse store at 112 North Cayuga Street.
The tune-up shop will be staffed by SewGreen volunteers and interns who have learned how to clean, oil, and do minor repairs on vintage sewing machines.
“Our intention is to help preserve older sewing machine technology and keep these sturdy old machines running for a few more decades,” says SewGreen founder Wendy Skinner. In addition to tune-ups, SewGreen will assess older machines, show owners how to use and care for them, and sell refurbished machines.
In November, SewGreen is hosting three weeks of sewing machine repair classes taught by Ray White, a nationally-known expert based in Missouri. The instruction is intensive and thorough, says Skinner, who learned her repair skills from White when SewGreen hosted the classes in 2008.
“Ray is one of the few people in North America who is sharing knowledge about this craft. When he was in Ithaca the last time, students came from England, Canada, and all over the Eastern seaboard,” Skinner added.
In conjunction with the classes, SewGreen is offering internships in sewing machine repair to young people and adults with a strong interest in this type of vocational training.
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