Chicago - July 18, 2007

Needle in a Haystack

The Needle Shop

For your twelfth birthday, Mom gave you the baby blanket she started sewing when you were in utero.

You appreciated the gesture. But the swaddling look wasn’t so hot in junior high.

Too bad The Needle Shop wasn’t around when she needed it. Created by Rachel Epperson, a former fashion designer/decorator/carpenter, the shop gives beginner, intermediate, and advanced classes on the needle arts (fashion, sewing, crochet, knitting, and embroidery).

Sign up for stitching workshops in table setting (place mats and napkins), bedding (duvet covers and shams), curtains (shower and window), and more. Or design your own class based on what you want to do (upholster Grandpa’s old chair, make a quilt). With expert instruction, machines, and fabrics on site, all you need to bring is patience.

You never knew it could be sew easy.

The Needle Shop, 2054 West Charleston Street, at Hoyne Avenue (theneedleshop.net).