This shop teaches kids to sew backpacks, hoodies. Adult pottery classes are coming
The gentle whirring of little machines filled a bright, warmly-lit space off of Pioneer Way on a February afternoon in Gig Harbor.
Cora Furman, 11, was working on a giraffe hoodie, which is just what it sounds like: a soft yellow sweatshirt with fuzzy brown spots on it. There’s a pocket for her hands to stay warm in front.
Her favorite thing she’s made in “Ms. Jenny’s” sewing class? A sushi costume for Halloween, she said.
“It was super hard,” she said, breaking into a smile. “But it was really cool.”
Creative Little Studios, home to sewing school Stitch-O-Roo & Art Too, nearly doubled the square footage of its art studio in January after expanding into a space next door. It’s part of a vision owner Jenny Czyzewski has to offer more clay and art classes outside of sewing, as well as increase her offerings for adults in the space at 7805 and 7801 Pioneer Way.
Czyzewski had been hoping to expand the business, which she took over from owner Donna Atwood in 2019, in the next couple of years. When she found out that Gretchen Giese Artworks, a painting studio next door, was moving out of their space at 7801 Pioneer Way, she decided the time was right to expand, she told The News Tribune via phone. She moved her sewing supplies into Giese’s space and plans to turn her former room into a space for pottery and clay arts.
While she’s taught clay and pottery classes during the summer, the new space will allow her to increase her offerings year-round.
“It’s great to have a clay space that is separate from a sewing space, because those two types of crafts really don’t blend well,” she said with a laugh, adding that the fabric absorbs all the dust from the clay.
Czyzewski said she feels lucky that she can operate out of two neighboring spaces in downtown Gig Harbor, which gives parents the option of dropping their child off to class and taking their other child to the park, or do other things nearby while they’re waiting for class to finish. It also lets her walk her students right down to the waterfront during summer camps, like when she collaborates with Harbor WildWatch to teach students about sea creatures and then have them create their own sea creature sculptures or stuffed animals.
Czyzewski and her staff offer weekly sewing classes during the school year for kids and teens, including some for homeschoolers to take during the regular school day. Every student’s first project is a backpack, which allows them to learn basic sewing skills and then use that backpack to store later projects. They can also choose from various patterns Czyzewski has in class to make stuffed animals, pieces of clothing and other items, or bring in their own ideas for what to make.
Creative Little Studios also offers workshops and creative happy hours for adults, as well as custom birthday parties and private events, according to the website.
She’s also enjoyed helping her students use their art to benefit the wider community. Last year, she had her students create and paint small clay stars to hide all over the city of Gig Harbor for others to find and keep, she said. Another project she led at the Science and Math Institute in Tacoma was helping kids make “goat coats” for the Point Defiance Zoo goats to wear.
The studio will start offering what Czyzewski described as “tester classes” on the weekend in her new clay space in April and May. The full expanded offerings should be available in June, she said.
Her hope is to offer pottery classes simultaneously with her sewing classes starting next school year.
“My grand vision is that (parents) can drop their kid off for sewing and then they can go next door and they can try their hand at pottery for an hour, and see if they like that,” she said. “So then that way everybody gets to be a little bit creative, and then they can all leave happy.”
