Instructor: Beth Van
Beth Van has been sewing since she was ten years old when she learned how to make a drawstring bag for her first year of 4-H. As she learned more and more through the years of 4-H, she became hooked on sewing. For her 16th birthday she didn't ask for a car; she asked for a sewing machine! She still sew on that same machine. She has sewn just about every type of clothing, but she also sews accessories and household items.

Organization: Urban Threads Studio, NFP


The world around us is changing quickly but our need for communal gatherings in a nurturing and creative setting is not. Urban Threads Studio is a D-I-Y (do it yourself) collaborative studio that hopes to introduce you to the wonderful ancient craft of sewing and textile art with a 21st century twist. You may just want to rediscover a skill you learned as a child, experience the calm energy of a day of crafting or pick up an altogether new or more advanced skill like dyeing or felting. Our program hopes to accomplish all that and much more. All of our classes are offered at a nominal fee and all proceeds are used to bring textile arts to urban youth in Chicago in form of after school programs, summer programs, and internships.