Textiles Area
Contents
General Information
MakeICT's Textiles area is in Room 8 of the makerspace across from the Ceramics Studios. This area was created and setup by Studio Arts BD Jess Bechtelheimer, Geoff Kisch and a handful of other volunteers in 2016 at the old 1500 Douglas location. It has several home sewing machines, a serger, irons, padded work table for ironing and pinning, mannequins, a full-length 3-way mirror, a coverstitch, an industrial sewing machine, and more.
Donations are currently being accepted in the form of fabric, thread, machine needles, sewing/fabric scissors/shears, large lint roller refills, distilled water, sewing notions (such as zippers, buttons, etc), adjustable dress forms & mannequins, pins, bobbins, hand sewing needles, yarn, tape measures. etc. Please contact the Area Lead, textiles@makeict.org to make arrangements for donations.
A needle chart about Machine needles can be found here. NEEDLE CHART
Malissa Long is the Textile Area Lead as of 2017-2021.
June Huie is the assistant lead specializing in Quilting.
Tarka Ellips is the assistant specializing in Leather work.
Access Policy
- Those who wish to access the textile room must read and follow the Textile Room Guidelines posted on the Wiki. (The guidelines will likely be updated and evolve over time. Users are expected to review and comply with the current guidelines.)
- Use of the equipment requires authorization by one of the approved authorizers listed on the wiki.
Approved by the board on December 4, 2016
Textile Room Guidelines
Guidelines will be updated periodically at the discretion of the Textiles Area Lead.
The Room
- The Textile Room is a CLEAN SPACE. Please be thoughtful of food and drink inside the area, preferably drinks with lids and food without lots of liquid. In particular, do not place anything besides the clothes iron, clean laundered fabric, pins and notions on the padded work table. If something has been on the floor or anywhere dirty, it should not be on the work surface.
- Put things back where you got them (or put them in their proper place if someone else happened to leave them out).
- Clean up after yourself. (Lint roll the table, sweep, etc)
- Children under 6 are not permitted to use the equipment and must be supervised.
Ironing:
- The padded tables are for cutting, ironing, and pinning projects together
- Always use the distilled water provided in the Textile Room to fill the irons and spray bottles.
Cutting:
- Use only scissors, shears or fabric rotary cutters on the cutting mat, it is not made for leather. Use a light touch when using a rotary cutter. Do not use a box/utility knife on the cutting mat.
- Textile scissors and shears have been labeled as “Fabric Only” or "leather scissors" and are only to be used to cut the following Acceptable Fabrics. Do not cut material from the Unacceptable Fabrics list below. If the material you would like to cut is not on either list, ask the Area Lead if it is safe.
Acceptable Fabrics: are woven or felted up to ⅛” thick. Some examples are cotton, linen, wool, cashmere, polyester, rayon/viscose, nylon, spandex, silk, leather... Unacceptable Fabrics: Some examples are heavy metallic, kevlar, fur, faux fur, or anything above 15 oz per square yard… (Fur and faux fur are cut from the back side with a straight edge knife or ripped on grain.)...
Serging:
- We currently have 2 sergers one set in black and one set in white thread. Anyone can use the sergers.
- If the thread breaks please let the areal lead or an assistant know.
- You may use the sergers, authorization is only for changing the thread or repair and upkeep.
- Home sergers only have size 11 and 14 needles please stick to fabrics in those ranges that ravel on the edge. NEEDLE CHART
- You can get authorization to change the thread by demonstrating the ability to change it or taking the Know Your Serger Class.
Techsew and Sailrite:
- Have notebooks and videos. If you're still uncomfortable with the machines I can give you a lesson, please contact me.
Sewing:
- All our current machines are Brother cs-6000i you can find a video in the equipment list.
- If a machine is broken, place a sticky note on the machine and email the Area Lead asap so we can work to get it up and running again.
- Machine needles are available on the honor system for $2 pack. Machines will typically be found without a needle. If you take or break one, please deposit the appropriate amount in the Needle Fund jar.
- Long pile furs such as rabbit require a furrier machine which we do not possess at this time.
- If using a fusible web such as Heat and Bond please use silicone on the machine needle to prevent build up while sewing and a Teflon sheet when ironing.
Equipment List
| Picture | What | Manufacturer | Model | Status | Authorizers | Video link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Industrial Sewing Machine | TechSew | 5100 | Working | Malissa Long | watch |
 |
Portable Walking Foot | Sailrite | LSZ-1 | Working | Malissa Long | watch |
 |
(4)Sewing machines | Brother | cs-6000i | Working | NA - Read Guidelines | watch |
 |
serger | Elna | 704 DEX | Working | NA - Read Guidelines | watch |
 |
BabyLock Serger | BabyLock | Imagine | Working | NA - Read Guidelines | watch |
 |
Padded Work Table | Geoff & Jess | 001 | Good Condition | NA - Read Guidelines | |
 |
Iron | Black&Decker | IR1350S | Working | NA - Read Guidelines | |
 |
Iron | Rowenta | DW2090 | Working | NA - Read Guidelines |
Authorized Users
| Machine | Authorized User | Date | Authorizer |
|---|---|---|---|
| TechSew 5100 | Malissa Long | 2016-12-28 | Jess Bechtelheimer |
| TechSew 5100 | Jess Bechtelheimer | 2016-12-28 | Jess Bechtelheimer |
| TechSew 5100 | Geoff Kisch | 2016-12-28 | Jess Bechtelheimer |
| TechSew 5100 | Paul Wilson | 2016-12-28 | Jess Bechtelheimer |
| TechSew 5100 | Tim Collins | 2016-12-28 | Jess Bechtelheimer |
| TechSew 5100 | LaLana Webster | 2017-07-09 | Malissa Long |
| TechSew 5100 | Brian Norton | 2017-08-20 | Malissa Long |
| Sailrite | Malissa Long | 2018-1-14 | Malissa Long |
| TechSew 5100 | Alysa Bumgarner | 2018-01-26 | Malissa Long |
| Sailrite | Alysa Bumgarner | 2018-01-26 | Malissa Long |
| TechSew 5100 | Kevin Bumgarner | 2018-01-26 | Malissa Long |
| Sailrite | Kevin Bumgarner | 2018-01-26 | Malissa Long |
| TechSew 5100 | Mike Buffington | 2018-01-26 | Malissa Long |
| Sailrite | Mike Buffington | 2018-01-26 | Malissa Long |
| TechSew 5100 | LaDeana Dockery | 2018-01-26 | Malissa Long |
| Sailrite | LaDeana Dockery | 2018-01-26 | Malissa Long |
| TechSew 5100 | Tracy Hoover | 2018-01-26 | Malissa Long |
| Sailrite | Tracy Hoover | 2018-01-26 | Malissa Long |
Classes
- Brother CS6000i Intro
- BWAM Bags We All Make
- Boomerang Bags Wichita Chapter
- Intro to Pattern Making
- Just Add Pockets
- Know Your Sewing Machine
- Learn to Sew
- Make a Travel Reading Pillow
- Making Pillows
- Make a Scarf Dress
- Marbling on Fabric
- Printing on Fabric with Found Objects
- Scarf Dyeing Workshop
- Serger Threading Basics
- Sewing Fabric and Metal
- Techsew and Sailrite Authorization
- Textile Tribe
Textiles Wish List
A list of equipment or tools that the Textile area would like to obtain. If you would like to donate one of these tools please contact the Textile Lead before dropping the tools or equipment off or having it shipped.
