Awwwwww yeah. In July I taught a week-long art/science class for middle schoolers called Inflatable Worlds. It was through Alliance for Youth Achievement, and if you're in San Jose, check it out for your kids next year. The camp is called Art & Design Thinking Camp, and it runs for 6 weeks, each week a different topic and teacher. And I teach there!
We used patterning skills from sewing, but instead of filling things with stuffing, we used air. That gave us room (ha!) to make things bigger. We spent the week learning about different ways of constructing with light plastics, trying our best to reuse plastics we already had.
The best example of no-waste art was the plastic collage, which lead to us making some great upcycled plastic tote bags. It was so fun, I decided I'd do a whole class on it for teens and adults!
Plastique Collage Tote Bags is a 3-hour workshop at my studio in San Jose. I'll do the first one on September 16, from 10am-1pm. All materials provided, and no sewing experience necessary. The focus of the class will be on experimenting with a familiar but new material (discarded plastic), learning how to heat weld and designing the panels for the tote bag. I will help with the sewing for those who have not used a sewing machine before. You'll leave with a gorgeous unique bag, and the confidence to play and experiment into the future.
I'll also teach a workshop for kids and teens called FRANKENSTUFFIES on October 21st. It's a 2.5 hour workshop where kids will learn hand sewing, how to take things apart and put them back together. They'll leave with their own usable eyeball pincushion. Sign up here.