SEWING LAB

The Sewing Labs (TSL) recognizes that sewing is a transformative art. Through the act of sewing, individuals make a material change in the world. As sewing turns simple fabric into beautiful, functional pieces of clothing and art, it also creates new real-world conditions. The Sewing Labs uses sewing to transform lives, empowering individuals to harness the skill to earn employment, build resilience, and create community. TSL offers workforce development, job skills training, and job placement in the industrial sewing industry. Through its Sewing Salon Training Program, a 30-week apprenticeship, The Sewing Labs trains apprentices to become industrial sewing machine operators. The Program is a Registered Apprenticeship with the US & MO Department of Labor. Upon completing the program, apprentices receive an official certification and are linked directly to the job marketplace with site visits to active workrooms with sewing entrepreneurs and businesses in the Kansas City area. In recognition of art’s ability to improve mental health, The Sewing Labs offers art therapy classes. Lead instructor Robert Lackie, a licensed professional mental health psychotherapist and registered art therapist with over 20 years of experience, offers an art therapy experiential called, “Emotional Confetti.” Through this program, TSL strives to provide safe and meaningful creative experiences that can benefit individuals’ mental health. “Emotional Confetti” fits within a broader history of community traditions that have used sewing to organize, build relationships, raise awareness, grieve, heal, and produce products. Testimonials from past and present students report increased connections, transformation, and resiliency. The Sewing Labs serves as a hub for Kansas City sewists. It has a deeply engaged community of volunteers and students and offers a variety of sewing classes to students of all levels. These classes enable sewists to learn new skills and connect with a community.