Class Schedule

September/October 2025

Beginning Tatting: Part II    •    Enchanting Spiderweb    •    An Easy Tatted Edging
   •    Victorian Dress    •    Pants Alteration

After Beginning Tatting Part I with Kevin Baum, check out the next step in skill-building and creating beautiful tatted works of art. Beginning Tatting Part II will teach you to refine the tools and techniques for shuttle tatting.
    In this session, you will learn to make tatted chains. The goal is to create a medallion of joined rings and chains. We will also discuss how to read various tatting instructions, introduce new threads as necessary, finish pieces, block, and stiffen completed work.

MATERIALS: Small scissors, tatting shuttle, and size #3/ #10/#20 cordonnet thread in white, plus a color of your choosing. A large-eyed needle is useful for finishing.

Download Registration Form | Register by phone: (510) 843-7290

As the nights grow longer and the air turns crisp, it's time to embrace the eerie elegance of the spooky season! Spiders have long been associated with magic, mystery, and the supernatural. These precious and important creatures, long revered in folklore and mythology, weave webs that capture not only prey, but the imagination.
    In this special Halloween-themed embroidery class at the Lacis Museum of Lace & Textiles, you'll dive into the dark and delightful world of the spider with Laura Tandeske's enchanting and inimitable Spider and Web technique.

    What You'll Learn:

• Basic Stitches: Perfect essential techniques like the Buttonhole and Lazy Daisy stitches.

• Advanced Techniques: Take on the challenge of more intricate stitches, including the Palastrina and Bullion.

• Glow-in-the-Dark Magic: Make your spider web stand out in the gloom with glow-in-the-dark thread, perfect for adding that extra touch of Halloween charm.

• Finishing Touches: Discover expert tips and tricks for framing your completed masterpiece, turning your work into a hauntingly beautiful display.

The kit fee is mandatory due to project design. (The spider web glows in the dark!) The kit includes black fabric with design, thread, stitch instructions, and needle, and is payable to instructor the day of class.

This kit is a detailed and involved project that will take time to complete, making it the perfect companion for those cozy, spooky evenings.

Celebrate the spooky season by creating something darkly beautiful. Secure your spot today and join us for a gothy, ghostly embroidery experience that's sure to thrill!

Download Registration Form | Register by phone: (510) 843-7290

In this class, students will be introduced to the art of tatting. Beginning with the fundamental double stitch, you'll progress to making rings with picots and then move on to create a simple yet striking tatted edging of joined rings using a single shuttle.
    The class welcomes both complete beginners and those with prior tatting experience who wish to refresh or refine their skills!

MATERIALS: Small scissors, tatting shuttle (MO04), and #10/#20 cordonnet thread in white, plus a color of your choosing. A large-eyed needle is useful for finishing. All supplies are available at Lacis!

Download Registration Form | Register by phone: (510) 843-7290

Step back into the elegance of the mid-19th century, 1830 to 1865, by creating a gown to wear for Victorian balls, Civil War reenactments, holiday fairs, or any special occasion. Using a Truly Victorian bodice pattern of your choice as a foundation, you'll learn authentic dressmaking techniques to create a custom gown that fits you perfectly.

This comprehensive course covers everything from measurements, pattern adjustments, and fitting to skirt-making without a pattern, period sewing methods, trimming, boning, hand-finishing, and more.

• Session 1: Explore the styles of the era, take measurements, trace pattern pieces, and construct and fit mock-ups. Begin building your bodice and finish by adding boning.

• Session 2: Focus on closures and facings before constructing and attaching the skirt.

• Optional Lab Session: Apply the finishing touches to your gown with personalized guidance from the instructor. (Lab Fee: $80.)

By the end of the course, you'll have not just a gown, but a living connection to Victorian fashion history!

PREREQUISITES: Students must know how to use a sewing machine.

SUPPLIES TO BRING: See the complete list here.

INSTRUCTOR: Catherine Scholar discovered the joy of costuming at age five after reading Little House on the Prairie. She learned to sew at her mother's knee and to embroider at her grandmother's, skills that grew into the passion for historic costuming that she has pursued for thirty years.     Catherine has taught numerous costuming workshops for the Greater Bay Area Costumers Guild (GBACG) and Costume College, and served on the board of the Greater Bay Area Costumers Guild (GBACG) for a decade as Newsletter Editor, Events Coordinator, and President.

Download Registration Form | Register by phone: (510) 843-7290

Have a pair of lifeless pants lying around with no inspiration to wear? Let's give them the Dr. Frankenstein treatment and turn them into something new and exciting!
    This workshop will offer you several design ideas to experiment with: a pleated skirt, an elastic bubble skirt, a high-slit ankle-length skirt, or bootcut panel extensions on pants. Bring other designs to the table, and we can work together to make it happen!
    Intermediate to advanced sewing students are welcome to execute more technically challenging ideas, and beginners are welcome. This will be a great way to dive into understanding basic construction, sewing techniques, and home finishes.
    No sewing machine? No problem! Hand-sewing is OK.
    Your instructor, Van, will have communal scissors, pins, rulers, seam rippers, fabric marking pens, fabric scraps, and other sewing notions to share.

MATERIALS TO BRING: A pair of pants (bring a few, and consider the outcome of baggy vs. fitted, high waist vs. low waist, denim vs. khaki, etc.) Sewing notions such as: pins, seam ripper, scissors, rulers, fabric marking pen, needles, sewing threads, thimble, and note-taking materials; sewing machine (hand sewing will be fine too). Optional: more upcycled materials, extra fabric yardage/scraps, trims, embellishments... Please note that students should wear fitted bottoms on the day of the class, such as bike shorts or leggings, for accurate fitting.

INSTRUCTOR: Van's greatest passions in fashion and garment making lie in sustainable practices such as mending, alterations, upcycling, and occasionally, natural dyeing.

Download Registration Form | Register by phone: (510) 843-7290