The sounds of whirring sewing machines echo throughout a discreet 500-square-feet space on 4th and McKinley streets near the Downtown campus, which was unoccupied prior to Jan. 1.
The sound can be attributed to 1st Stitch, owned by Tina Eaves, a seamstress who offers sewing classes in the evenings out of her small storefront.
Eaves is also the owner of Alterations and Creations on Roosevelt and 3rd avenues, a clothing alteration business she began 23 years ago.
She said she chose the 4th and McKinley streets location for 1st Stitch because of her familiarity with downtown Phoenix and its growing art scene.
“I had been in the arts area for quite a while,” Eaves said. “I knew this area was going to become popular.”
The beginning sewing classes are offered free for children and $10 per hour for adults. On Saturdays, Eaves offers mother-daughter sewing classes.
“Sewing together creates a platform for mother and daughter, and if they have a machine at home, they can do something together,” Eaves said. “That’s the benefit — there’s a bond.”
Eaves said she believes learning to sew is a valuable skill to have during the current economic downturn.
“I’ve always wanted to teach sewing,” Eaves said. “I think that the U.S. has been given an opportunity to make rather than buy, and to manufacture for ourselves again.”
Since its January opening, 1st Stitch’s sewing classes have been host to a wide variety of students.
ASU alumnus Mike Chesworth had his second sewing lesson with Eaves Wednesday evening.
He said he found out about the classes during January’s First Friday Art Walk. He was interested in learning the skill because he grew up around women who sewed, he said.
“I’ve been looking for another hobby,” Chesworth said. “I’m a photographer and a filmmaker, so I needed something that was very, very different.”
Chesworth is very excited for his newfound skill set.
“I can’t wait to go see my grandma and great grandma and show them that I can sew,” he said.
Phoenix resident Lily Williams was also taking her second sewing class Wednesday evening with her 9-year-old daughter, Grace.
Williams said she believes sewing can be a valuable skill for Grace as she grows up.
“If she grows up and learns how to sew, it’s just one more skill that she has,” Williams said of her daughter. “If she needs a job someday and they say, ‘we need someone who can sew,’ she can do it.”
Williams also said she believes 1st Stitch is valuable to the downtown Phoenix community.
“A lot of stuff in downtown is geared toward really young people or people who have a lot of money to spend,” she said. “This is something that can bring everybody together. It’s something everyone can be a part of. It’s a good mix of people in here.”
Eaves’s love of sewing and teaching radiates throughout her classroom. Williams said it is obvious she truly enjoys what she does.
“I wouldn’t do anything else,” Eaves said.
Reach the reporter at kmmandev@asu.edu
Click here to subscribe to the daily State Press newsletter.
