Needles and Knots is a sewers’ sanctuary

On the northwest corner of Campbell Avenue and Fort Lowell Boulevard sits an inconspicuous mid-century modern building that houses something unexpected: sewing machines, irons and spacious worktables.

Overseeing the room is a dress form replete with a ready-for-action, hot, red silk slip dress. Cut on the bias, this baby is form fitting. One thing is certain. This is not your grandmother’s sewing room.

This is Needles and Knots Sewing and Design Lab, a place to learn to sew or improve skills. The studio is the brainchild of Shauna Smith, who also teaches the classes.

“Who doesn’t want to have clothes that fit?” she asked rhetorically.

Tissue paper patterns and pinking shears, sure, but today’s sewers are now employing electric and knife-edge scissors and rotary cutters. They use decorative silk pins and pattern weights. Today’s sewers use machines made by Husqvarna, Bernina and Juki. They draft their own patterns for a perfect fit, and they work hard to use natural fibers such as cotton, silk and linen.

They can learn to use those tools and wield a needle at Smith’s shop. She is calm, patient and an experienced sewer, pattern drafter and teacher. She will show anyone of any age, any size and any body shape how to sew clothing that will make them look good and feel good.

Smith runs any number of classes every month for people of every level of sewing skill. Those who don’t know how to sew should start with Stitch x Stitch, a one-day, learn to sew workshop. This is where a sewing journey begins.

“I feel like a lot of sewing classes out there, when they get you at the entry level, they just put you on a machine that already works, and have you sew a cute bag, and by the time you’re done you really don’t know what you did,” she said.

“I (have you) take apart the machine and oil it, look at all the parts and really get to know the machine so that when you go home and break a needle or jam a bobbin, you’re not afraid of it, and you know you didn’t do anything wrong. You can handle it. That, I think, is the most important part of having a good relationship with your sewing machine.”

Those without a machine are in good shape, as there are six in the studio. Plus, “I encourage you not to buy a machine before that class because I tell you about things to look for in a good sewing machine,” she said.

For those at the other end of the sewing spectrum, there’s this class: “Pattern Making Primer: Tools of the Trade and How They Are Used.” In this class, students learn to make patterns for their own bodies, copying ready-made garments. Then there are the classes for students who fall between rank beginner and know-it-all. That’s where the bias cut silk dress class falls.

On this day, three of the four students — all women, two in their 20s and one in her 30s — were working on their silk dresses. This is not a beginner’s class, and for the women here this is not the first round of classes they have had at Needles and Knots.

Elizaveta Brotherton came to class with a year’s sewing classes and experience, so she is a quick hand with the slippery silk. She has a new clothing brand, Anaveta, with a small line of fashions. Her goal is to make her own samples, and, as a new transplant from Alaska, to meet new friends as well.

“I was super excited about this class because sewing silk dresses is my goal, and that was the first thing that really started our brand,” Brotherton said. “We had this blue dress and I had designed it. It was very popular; it got a lot of traction on TikTok. That was my goal so I’m very happy to be able to work with it now.”

Her biggest challenge was overcoming nerves when working with silk.

“I had a lot of fear and anxiety about working with the fabric,” Brotherton said. “Shauna has taken me out of that mindset. I can always go in and unpick it. I’ve built some confidence with it whereas before I was terrified.”

Kalani Gill, a junior fashion industry and technology major at the University of Arizona, came to class even though she was without a car. Still, she sat down and got to work. Gill said she’s only been sewing since receiving a sewing machine for Christmas.

“I want to make my own clothes and eventually make my own designs,” she said.

The most challenging part? Wanting to be as precise as possible.

“This is only my first bias slip dress so you can’t expect it to be totally perfect,” Gill said of the perfect-looking garment.

“This is the third thing she’s ever made,” Smith added with some amazement.

At 32, Lauren Prushan is the oldest in the class. She works on her grandmother’s sewing machine that was manufactured the year she was born. She has six months of experience under her belt, but this sewing silk stuff, she said, is not without its frustrations.

“This is definitely the hardest fabric I have worked with,” Prushan said. There’s lots to remember, like “being really careful and precise and taking a deep breath before you start the next thing so that you’re really focused on what you’re doing.”

Still, from the first class, Prushan discovered a love of sewing.

“I didn’t ever think I was just going to make my own clothes that I would wear,” she said. “I thought maybe I would make some pillow cases, some curtains. Then, when I took the (first) class, I was like, I love this. I feel like this is the hobby I’ve always wanted and just didn’t know.”

Of course, the students wouldn’t be as accomplished without the help of their teacher. Smith knows her stuff. She graduated from design school in 1992, then worked with a “big name pattern maker” in New York, she said, working on patterns that would go into catalogs.

Besides classes, Smith also hosts monthly get-togethers. There are hand sewing, sit-and-stitch and textile socials.

“I feel like fabric has been dumbed down so much by (large box stores) so that people don’t even understand what fabric is,” Smith said. “I teach students, and they come in, and they don’t even understand the difference between a woven and a knit. They don’t understand the difference between a fiber and a fabric…I want to bring people together in a casual environment to just talk about fabric, to learn something from each other about fabric, and share their fabric and their fabric stories.”

Brotherton encourages everyone to give it a whirl.

“If you have a desire to sew or you ever thought about it or wanted to give it a try, you’re watching people make things online and TikTok videos, just go ahead and give it a try,” she said. “It seems so overwhelming before you begin, but if you have that desire, you’ll continue to come back to the machine and you’ll practice and you’ll get better. You can really surprise yourself if you put in the time.”

“(Needles and Knots) is a good place to start,” Smith said. “Come on out of your kitchens and bedrooms and see if you like it.”

Needles and Knots Sewing and Design Lab

1735 E. Fort Lowell Road, Suite 8, Tucson

520-261-9548, naksewing.com

This article appears in Apr 6-12, 2023.