Indy Sewing Studio teaches stitching skills for all generations

by Charles Cassady

Dana Rowan, founder of the Indy Sewing Studio, said her new business in Independence perseveres, in an art and industry that is literally hanging by a thread.

“My family made a lot of garments,” the Indiana transplant said. “We sold our own clothes. People in the old days would do that. They would do it as families. They would do it as a church group, or as a community.”

In today’s discard-filled, discount-consumerist culture, she said, too many torn or worn textiles are simply “thrown around or packed into a corner because it’s not fixed. It’s important to know how to fix.”

Thus, the mission of Indy Sewing Studio was born: to introduce learners of all ages to the fiber arts, mending and up-cycling through group and one-on-one lessons and events.

The boutique-craft space opened this past winter in the back of 6594 Brecksville Rd. Before that, owner Rowan held numerous stitchery workshops and “pop-up” weaving events at the city’s Civic Center and other local venues.

“It was a nice thing to do. It tested the market before we opened the brick-and-mortar shop,” she said.

Rowan does not define herself as a “seamstress,” but rather as a “sewist” – somebody who does not exclusively work on garments but on the broad range of fabric crafts. “We do a little of that [clothing] in the studio, but we also do crochet, embroidery, quilts,” said Rowan.

She said she is the fourth generation in her lineage to be adept with needle, thread or crochet hook, and the first to open her own commercial-address location, which she emphasizes is not a retail outlet but a “service business” – serving to teach techniques that, Rowan said, seem to have skipped the last few generations.

“People don’t have the basics or the specific skills,” she said, citing a few local tailors and sewing/alteration business that have closed with the owner’s retirement, with no new talent to fill the void.

The Indy Sewing Studio, she said, offers a low-pressure, even meditative destination for people to come together and, well, patch things up. “It’s quite a relaxing, quaint space and an inviting, welcoming scene,” Rowan explained.

Sewing machines are provided, though workstations also allow seasoned practitioners to bring their own machines if preferred. The cost for classes varies.

“If it’s a project-based class, $25 to $45, generally,” Rowan said. More ambitious projects, though, can climb to the $300 level. Private lessons are $45 to $65. “Just like you might go to the gym or the yoga studio,” she said.

What brought Rowan (also a registered nurse) from Indiana to start the business in Independence?

“We were season ticket-holder Browns fans,” she said. “We had a five-year plan to move to Cleveland because we love Cleveland sports. Then my husband’s job opening turned our five-year plan into a one-year plan.” The couple’s arrival was concurrent with Rowan’s pregnancy with her second child.

Another thing about Cleveland of which Rowan approves is Esperanza Threads, a local nonprofit that serves the textile and fashion industry, incorporating sustainable practices and social-justice-oriented hiring. “We buy our materials through them,” she said.

As the Indy Sewing Studio approaches its one-year-anniversary, Rowan plans to hire more educators and have a full schedule of autumn events, the latter half of the year being traditionally filled with hand sewing as well as gift-creation.

“With the holiday season coming we’re going to have a holiday ‘pajama party,’” she said. There, families create matching sleepwear tops and bottoms together.

For more information and a full schedule of offerings, visit indysewingstudio.com. ∞

Photo: A group of instructors set up materials for a craft. Dana Rowan takes the photo (front, right). Photo submitted.