Tribeca Citizen | New Kid on the Block: Stitched Tribeca

New Kid on the Block: Stitched Tribeca

October 10, 2013 • Services, Shopping

Need proof that Val Chan loves to make things? The Battery Park City resident took over the storefront at 72 Warren on Labor Day, and she opened her crafting center/shop, Stitched Tribeca, just one month later.

“I had always wanted a space to make,” she says. “Over a series of conversations with friends, I’d present my perfect situation—and I realized I was talking about it because it was something I really wanted to do.” (She had been math/stats teacher, including at Columbia and NYU, before staying home with her two sons.) Already friendly with the Church Street School folks, she made her case, and voilà. While the space has had a series of tenants—Aminah et les Amis children’s boutique, the Rondo thrift shop, a temporary gallery—Chan says that Stitched is most definitely not a pop-up.

Stitched has classes for adults and for kids age eight and up, and as the name implies, most involve needlework. The current offerings for kids include Kid Meets Machine (how to use a sewing machine) and Kid Makes by Hand (sewing by hand). “Every class is project-based,” says Chan, so kids get the satisfaction of actually creating something—and because the kids’ classes are four weeks long, there’s not a huge commitment. Adults, meanwhile, can take Survival Sewing (learning to deal with mishaps) and Intro to Sewing Machine. Starting in January, Sewing 101 will have students making a series of bags of increasing difficulty, each requiring new skills. Or adults can drop by for the monthly craft night, which also involves wine. Tonight’s project is needle felting, which is apparently easy enough that I could do it.

As Stitched gets its footing, Chan envisions broadening the crafting possibilities—crocheting, knitting, embroidery, and beyond. “It’s really a matter of who we’re going to connect with,” she says. “I met an Upper West Side mom who makes these amazing handmade moccasins. They’re too complex for us to do here, but she might be teaching a workshop about making an endless braid bracelet.” Chan has two main rules: No messy crafting, and—understanding that people are busy—you should be able to start and stop every project.

Those moccasins, however, might end up in the Stitched store, on shelves along the west side of the room. There are supplies for the workshops and classes, but mostly it’s a gallery where makers can sell their wares. “Nothing is mass-produced,” says Chan. “I’m looking for upcycling, anything that can inspire people to think twice before throwing stuff away.” You can expect handmade blank books, books made from cereal boxes, adorable detergent-bottle animals, and more.