The six week session is designed to teach you how to read and understand pattern layout and directions and how to put it all together.  We will cover setting sleeves and collars, setting a zipper, waist bands, pockets, easing, top stitching and making fitting it to your particular shape and size.

Children’s clothing, lap quilts and bridal wear are all popular subjects of my classes.  Spring brides – think of a group class with two or three brides maids and make the  dresses!  Wonderful memories are made as well as dresses you will love.

Registration is $175 for 6 weeks – discounts for groups making bridal wear.

You will still need your quilt on the bed a bit longer – what? you don’t have a quilt?  If you’d like to learn how to make one – for yourself or perhaps as a gift for a Spring Bridal Shower gift – sign up for Thursday morning Quilting Classes that will start on Feb 19th.

Classes run for 6 weeks  – Registration is $175

845 549-3323  or e-mail: needleartsguildhhv@gmail.com

Portrait – woman by Henri-Francois Mulard

Regency Era - Emprire Dress

This Spring I will be making historical apparel – and giving sewing classes in making historical reenactment apparel.  The Hudson Valley’s very own Boscobel Restoration’s history begins in the Regency Period 1809, I believe, and I will making these Empire Waist dresses that had a  strong Grecian influence.  They are just lovely and oh, so much more comfortable a style to wear than the gowns of just fifty years earlier.

I make these dresses to sell as well as to wear to reenactments or to embroidery workshops.  If you are interested in commissioning a gown from this period or the earlier Revolutionary War period – please e-mail: needleartsguildhhv@gmail.com – they are custom made to your measurements in historically accurate fabrics that are available today.  This style of gown is especially lovely for anyone interested in having a historical or period wedding – they are ultra feminine in fine muslin and silk – with wonderful trains flowing behind – reminiscent for simpler and more elegant time – a wedding at a historical site in this dress would be memorable indeed!

Instructor Mary Ann Kronk will teach two 6 week courses in sewing for  period dress of the mid 1700s.  Revolutionary War Era apparel is her passion.  Ms. Kronk makes and sells reproduction apparel for local Hudson Valley reenactors and museum docents.  This one time course will give you the opportunity to make your own period costume, learn the basics of sewing in drape-to-fit technique.

Courses are designed for the beginner using this  Period Impressions Pattern  

When:     Tues  or Wed  9am to 11am or 12pm to 2pm

Where:       Needle Arts Guild of  Historic Hudson Valley

48 Fulton Avenue

Beacon

To Register Call :     845 549-3323

e-mail:  needleaguildhhv@gmail.com

http://nacientneedle.wordpress.com

Registration Fees:  $175

The Needle Arts Guild of Historical Hudson Valley is offering an 8 week Quilting Class that will meet once a week on either Mondays or Wednesdays in Beacon from 9am to noon.

The class is for beginners/advanced beginners – for those who have always wanted to try quilting, but were hesitant to try to tackle it on their own -  give yourself a belated Christmas present…I will take you through the entire process – step-by-step – and you will have a lovely quilt to take home.  8 week course fee: $200 plus a $50 materials fee.  Please call to register as class space is limited.

Call Mary Ann: 845 549-3323

Beacon NY is in Southern Dutchess County – near Metro North’s Hudson Train line.

This soft and warm coat and hat by the Nacinet Needle makes a wonderful Holiday gift.  This coat has a retro look, but the elegance and classic style is timeless.  You won’t find this in the stores!  Lovely in faux fur or fleece….Comes in sizes 10 – 22  – includes hat -

Lined $180 or unlined $130  – matching bags sold separately 

Call 845 549-3323 or e-mail: needleartsguildhhv@gmail.com

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Register for Sewing Classes now

Mondays and Thursdays

 morning and afternoon class times

 6 week classes – you will learn how to read and understand a pattern and put it all together.  If you’ve ever wanted to learn to sew – now is the time!  Its fun, its practical and it’s a skill that lasts a lifetime.  – Spaces are limited to ensure one-on-one instruction. – classes meet for 2 hours, one day a week for 6 weeks – fee $150

Call Mary Ann 845 549-3323          http://nacientneedle.wordpress.com

Make a Victorian Christmas Stocking - Call for Class Registration - 845 549-3323

For Locals:  I will be offering this new class in Vintage Christmas Stockings.  This class will begin and meet for three 2 hour sessions beginning Nov 21 to make these lovely Victorian Old World Style Christmas Stockings.   We will be using lovely fabric scraps pieced together with bits of lace, buttons and ruffles to create a beautiful piece that will be cherished for years to come – give them as gifts – stuffed with little gifts!  Unique and personal gifts like this are a wonderful way to “keep Christmas”.  This will be a fun and creative class – no two stockings will be alike! Class is offered on several days a week so call to book now before the Holidays get away from you!!

For Out-of-Towners: Classes are held in Beacon in the beautiful Hudson Valley – about 1 1/2 hours north of New York City.  I will offer 3 hour classes on Saturdays for day trippers for $50 – all material provided.  You will design and make your own stocking to take home.  Come and spend the day in this lovely and historical Hudson Valley city on the river.  Beacon has wonderful shops, art studios and galleries and the Cup and Saucer Tea Room can provide a lovely resting spot after a day of sewing, shopping and site seeing.

Call to register: 845 549-3323  Fee for three 2 hr classes $80

Make a Victorian Christmas Stocking - Classes Start on Nov 21st - 845 549-3323 Classes are held in Beacon.

This is a good way to recycle old formal wear – the fancy fabrics from dresses worn years ago make beautiful Victorian Quilts and Stockings and  you’ll get those old dress out of your closet!!

  Call Mary Ann: 845 549-3323

This workshop requires advanced registration and a $25 materials fee.  All will be provided for you to make (some sewing will be completed in advance) and take home a lovely holiday table top.   Following the workshop the ladies will have Open House – tours and discussion.  Tea will be served.  This will be a special day to step back in history to the Revolutionary War days.

http://melzingah.awardspace.com/id5.htm

Hopefully we can persuade some of the fine DAR members to don their period clothing to set the mood of Thanksgiving in the year 1776. Some famous personages may make an appearance!

Bring the family and enjoy the beauty and history of the Madam Brett Homestead.  Call 845 549-3323 to reserve your place at the workshop as places are limited.

Mary Ann

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I teach sewing in Beacon, New York in the Hudson Valley (approx 60 miles north of NYC and an 1.15 hour train or car ride from NYC).  Flexible Times and Week End classes are available and registration is $150 for 6 weeks or $200 for 8 weeks.

Call to schedule your individual or group sewing course at least 10 weeks before your big event to ensure you will have a gown ready to wear and made by your own hands! (Try not to upstage the bride, ladies…)

845 549-3323 – Mary Ann

If you have some sewing experience then a 6 week session is for you.  Beginners – sign up for the 8 week session.

Projects will include:

and…………….

and ……………………

Registration: $75 for 6 week sessions.  Spaces are limited so call to hold your spot.

845 549-3323

Beveir House Museum Hand Embroidery Workshop set for Sunday, September 18th

Fall classes are underway and Thursday Classes are almost full!  I will be taking my boys over to the Van Wyck Homestead tomorrow for the Fishkill Historical Societies big Revolutionary War weekend.  It should be fun and I will be a greeter at the door – in full 18th Century attire!! Finally found my mob cap!

Sunday I will be giving a hand embroidery workshop at the Bevier House Museum – Ulster County Historical Societies lovely Civil War era home.  It is packed with lots of interesting artifacts and memorabilia from the Civil War, I am hoping to step them back further into time by introducing some Revolutionary War era into their setting.  I bet the 1860s would have seemed incredibly modern to Betsy Ross – it is amazing what 100 years and a Civil War can do!  The Industrial Revolution was a fascinating period in our collective history.

Sew on and Sew on…..

Mary Ann

Learn Quilting This Fall

For your convenience I will offer the classes in the mornings from  9 – 11 am and afternoons from 12 – 2.  Flexible arrangements can be made to accommodate busy schedules.

Advanced registration is required and spaces are limited so call  845 549-3323 or e-mail: needleartsguildhhv@gmail.com.

Fee:  $200 plus a $35 materials fee  – will include all you need to make a traditional twin sized quilt

[contact-form subject="Needle Arts Guild of Historical Hudson Valley - Sewing & Embroidery of the Nacient Needle Quilting Classes to start in October in the Hudson Valley- Call 845 549-3323

Vogue Jacket - embroidered edge on hood

Sewing Student Amy Benjamin has been taking classes with Needle Arts Guild and has been working on this Vogue Jacket.  I will be offering this Vogue pattern as a Fall class.  She is almost finished – we just have to put the button holes and button on and do the hem.  By adding some decorative trim along the sleeve cuffs and hood and adding a lining (not called for in the pattern)  it has been a good learning project.  There were some bumps along the way, but the overall project has turned out very nicely.  The lined jacket has a rich quality and the fine, fine fabrics that Amy chose make this a beauty.  I love the deep hood, the silky soft lining and the cashmere like feel of the camel colored wool.  Here are a few pictures of the nearly complete jacket…

Vogue Jacket - lining added for a rich feelVogue Jacket - nearly completeVogue Jacket - very soft!

Brides Maids Gowns

Watched the Royal Wedding this morning and had great idea!!!

Brides: Get your brides maids together one night a week for 6 or 8 weeks to make all the brides maids dresses - it would be so much fun, treasured memories/pictures and you all learn to sew.  It would be a great way to make your gowns affordable and personal – and have a great time one night a week for 6 weeks!

Or, how about you brides maids getting together to make the bride and groom a wedding ring quilt.  You will be making a gift that is traditional and very personal.  The labor and effort will show them how much they mean to you.  A quilt is a gift that will be with them for generations - and you learn quilting! 

If you are interested in either of these ideas, please let me know because I’d love to do it over the summer (Jul/Aug)- for a fall wedding or in the winter (Jan/Feb) for a Spring wedding.  Classes offered in Beacon – call me! 845 549-3323

Mary Ann

Hand Embroidery - Spring Floral Design for the beginner – Sunday,  April, 10th at 11am – Stony Kill Farm

Needlework of 1800s – embroidery workshop with lecture on the history of needlework in Colonial Times
Saturday, May 7th – Howland Art Center in Beacon NY

Embroidery/Crewel Work - learn the unique craft and artform of hand needlework – discussion of the influences that developed this particular type of needlework
Sunday, May 15th at 1pm – The Old Stone House Hasbrouck NY

Quilt – Block – a History of Pioneer Days – this is a mother-daughter workshop and story telling event  to be offered in June – check back for more details.

Embroidery - Spring Workshops

Here is the design we will be working on this Sunday at the Stony Kill Farm workshop.  If anyone wants to come that did not register, please feel free to just show up – as of right now we are not fully booked.

I still have to finish up a few little bits here and there.  I’m not all together sure I didn’t overdo the colors here but I like the way the blue egg turned out – (and if you can zoom in) I like the French Knots in the center of the yellow flowers.  The eggs are where I let myself get crazy and try whatever comes into my head.  I may still put some speckles on the green egg.  Any comments would be welcome – suggestions, critics please be gentle.

New workshop to be offered in June:

The Quilt-Block History – of Pioneer Days

 This is a hands-on sewing and story telling of the Pioneer experience through the eyes of Sarah Cobb.  Girls (and their moms) will be instructed in piecing together a 4×4 quilt of their own.  Sarah Cobb is a young pioneer traveling with her family in the year of our Lord 1852.  Sarah’s family leave their home in Philadelphia – selling most of their possessions – and begin a long and difficult journey West. 

 Travel with Sarah over the Cumberland Road with her family and make a quilt with her as they go.  Sarah has the idea to make a travel memory quilt and has stashed away little scraps of fabric from their home in Philadelphia.  Her family and friends also give her some bits to add in so she can remember them.  Along the way they meet other families and her bits of material grow.  In the early evenings when they settle down for the night, Sarah records the day’s events and sews her pieces together.  At the end of the journey in Independence Missouri she presents the travel memory quilt to her mom and they display it proudly over the mantle in the cabin they build.

 Designed to encourage an interest in and to develop skills in sewing and an appreciation for our American History.  The girls and their moms will be encouraged to recycle old clothing and bits around the house to make their own memory quilt.  Create an artful and creative display of your own history that will be cherished for years to come.

 Registration:  $25

If you are interested in hosting a Quilt-Block History of Pioneer Days Workshop please contact me.

Mary Ann
The Nacient Needle

Nacient Needle

My trip to the Old Stone House in Hasbrouck New York last night lifted my spirits as the dedicated individuals who are working so hard to save this old house and restore it to it’s former glory really appreciated the “Nacient” concept.  Saving and restoring hand embroidery and basic sewing was my plea to them last night when I asked them if I could use the house to teach sewing classes and  workshops.  But I was preaching to the choir as they understood immediately.  Therefore….

The Needle Arts Guild HHV
is pleased to offer
Work Shop on Hand Embroidery and its History
hosted by The Old Stone House
Hasbrouck, New York
May 15 from 1 to 3pm
(a 2nd session to be offered from 3 – 5pm  if we get a big response)

registration is only $15 –  please call:
845-549-3323 or e-mail
needleartsguildHHV@gmail.com

Monthly workshops will be scheduled in a wide range of sewing related topics – dolls, quilting, stump work.  A big, big thanks goes out to the board of directors of this wonder old house on the hill in Hasbrouck!!!

All supplies are included. Tea and light repast will be provided.
(additional supplies and kits will be available for purchase)
Registration is limited so call to hold your spot: 845-831-1617
The fee is $20 per person.

Stony Kill Farm Work Shop Design