Service Description

Fashion, not worksheets. This is where teens design what they actually want to wear. Every Fall session in the Community Room at Whidbey Coffee in Burlington, high schoolers grab a machine and start building real fashion — bags, accessories, and customized pieces they've designed themselves. No kits, no patterns, no "craft class" energy. This is real garment construction and design work, taught by someone who's lived it. Think design studio, not sewing class. Students build real skills — cutting, construction, embellishment, alterations — and apply them to projects they actually care about: a custom tote, a statement accessory, a thrifted jacket reworked into something no one else owns, a piece built entirely around their own sense of style. No two students walk out with the same thing, because no two students are designing the same thing. Bring an old hoodie, a plain bag, or a thrifted find and leave with something that actually looks like you. Projects build in skill over the season and layer in new techniques each time a student returns — zipper installs, structured bags, garment alterations, custom embellishment, pattern drafting from scratch — so there's always a next challenge, never a repeat. For teens thinking about fashion, design, or textiles beyond high school, this is real hands-on experience building an actual body of work, not just a hobby project. Taught by Stephanie Philbrick, founder of Positively Sewing — a self-taught designer with 100+ pieces across 10 collections and 17 fashion shows. Real design mentorship from someone who's actually done it, in a small enough group that every student gets real, one-on-one feedback on their own work. Includes a sewing machine and all fabric, thread, and notions for every project (bring your own machine if you'd rather). 9 sessions, October–December, scheduled around the Burlington-Edison School District calendar. Mondays, 5:30–7:00pm. Making instead of buying isn't just a design choice — it's a sustainability one. Every reworked jacket, every custom bag, every piece built instead of bought is one more thing kept out of a landfill, and one more skill a student carries for life. Grades 9-12. Community Room at Whidbey Coffee, Burlington. Sign up today — design something nobody else has.