By Janet Eastman
FORGET gathering in stuffy church halls or cozy living rooms in front of a fire. Knitting and stitching circles are meeting in wine bars.
Tease Restaurant in Ashland hosts a Monday night Stitch and Bitch session starting at 7:30 p.m. and ending when the last squeak of disenchantment or last squeal of delight has been emitted. Hot tea is available for puritans, but co-owner Julie O’Dwyer, who started knitting to relax five years ago, prides herself on her wine selection from France, Spain Italy, Argentina and Oregon.
At least once a month, Liquid Assets Wine Bar in Ashland reserves its long bar for women who want to drink wine and watch someone else sew. In October, that someone was Sandi Globus of Fabric of Vision Quilt Shop and Fiber Art Gallery in downtown Ashland who showed how to create totes for holiday gifts. “It’s ridiculous how fast you can crank these out,” she said. “But I still want you to make something that looks handmade, not homemade.”
Teaching a sewing class at a wine bar is like holding a gymnastic class in an elevator. You’re dealing with incredible spatial constraints, makeshift equipment, lots of unrelated action going on and distracted participants. But Globus conducts classes here rather than during the day at her small shop because, as she told the busy women, “I have no space and you have no time.”
Although wonderfully designed for enjoying wine or beer, Liquid Assets was a bit challenging for a sewing demonstration. Every light was turned on and up, but the narrow bar could barely accommodate everyone’s printed directions and wine glasses. But Globus chugged through it.
She moved her green mat to the center of the bar, between pillars of Black Butte XXI beer taps and empty wine bottles. She found her scissors near a row of wine glasses at the ready and began cutting the fabric. She was slightly slumped. “It’s easier to cut when you’re not leaning over a bar,” she said.
With her Pfaff sewing machine set up at the end of the bar, she zipped away at shoulder straps and “paper bag” bottoms. “You can probably sew a little straighter and neater than I can standing at a bar,” she said, encouragingly.
Sometimes she’d have to project her voice over the crowd’s cross talk. The 19 women who paid $18 to see the demo, taste three wines and take home a pattern to make their own tote were sometimes distracted from the project and asked about the wine (“When was this bottle opened?”), Liquid Assets owner Denise Daehler-Piotter’s sparkling necklace (“Where did you get that?”), the brooch Globus was wearing (“Is that a Aztec or a Trick or Treater with a monster mask?”), Globus’ oft-referred-to beer (Her favorite: Blind Pig IPA) and her beer opener, a Pope-shape “church key.”
At one point, Globus waved a piece of fabric like a surrender flag and told a group in the corner that they were getting rowdy. At another time, she tinked a wine glass with a Hera marker to get everyone’s attention for a critical part of the process. “Tearing is much straighter than cutting,” she said, snipping a corner of the fabric, then ripping away. “Can any of you cut an 18-inch square this straight?”
Well, not after tasting three California wines: 2007 Angeline Chardonnay, 2007 Leese-Fitch Merlot and a 2006 Morro Bay Cabernet Sauvignon.
In two hours, Globus finished the totes – one canvas, one made of bamboo felt that she called “luscious” – and answered everyone’s questions. She did have a few shortcuts: “In a normal world, I would pin this, but there’s a beer waiting for me over there.”
Swig & Stitch classes at Liquid Assets are scheduled through the spring.
On Friday, Nov. 19, Globus will show how to create wraps and scarves.
Dec. 9 will be quick holiday projects made with leftover fabric.
The crowd let out a long aaaaaaah! when Globus announced the project for January 6 and 21: skirts!
Also in November, Katie Ketchum of The Websters Handspinners Weavers & Knitters will offer a knitting class.
Check the Liquid Assets’ calendar for times and dates.
Reservations for Sandi Globus' classes: Email globus@opendoor.com or call (541) 482-4009.
For more info: There are websites like www.ravelry.com to let Ladies with Needles find a meeting to drop in on when they’re traveling. As one man remarked: “What the world needs. Angry, drunk women with long needles.” Ladies, let's show him.