Meg G.
Yelp
Overpriced, unhelpful, and underwhelming.
My friend and I got a Groupon to take a class here. We immediately tried to sign up for a 4 week basic sewing class, and that's when we found out only a few spots in each class were held for Groupon users. OK, that's annoying but totally fair. We ended up having to wait 2 more months to get into a basic dress class - while we waited, we took a basic sewing class at Flirt's Home Ec [http://www.yelp.com/biz/home-ec-brooklyn] that was fantastic, and a fraction of the cost.
When the class finally started it was one ridiculous thing after another:
* Fabric was supposed to be provided, but we were told "most students prefer to use their own." Considering the only fabric option was a horrible Little-House-on-the-Prairie floral print, no kidding.
* We were told we'd need to come in on open studio weekend hours in order to finish the dress and If we'd had the time for open studio, that would've been great. But the class was advertised as having students make a dress in 4 weeks, in 4 2 hour classes, and there'd been no mention of studio hours. Considering this was the first we'd heard of it, neither my friend nor I had planned out the time to come in (this is NY - people are constantly overbooked - the school should've let us know before a class was bought that additional hours were required.)
* We were also told "the goal isn't to finish, but to learn the skills." I'm sorry, for a couple hundred dollars I'd like to not only learn the basics of making a dress, but to ACTUALLY HAVE MADE A DRESS.
* We spent the ENTIRE first class cutting out the Burda pattern - this makes sense in that the TAC is sponsored by Burda, but it doesn't make sense in that this is a skill specific ONLY to Burda and that all other patterns you would use would take 20 min to lay out and cut, instead of the 2+ hours this did. Total waste of time.
* The teacher's skill level was far too advanced to be teaching beginners or near beginners (many of us had sewn before, but were coming in after years of not sewing or of being self-taught). She seemed frustrated that we were behind on her lesson plan, but would waste time going over one step multiple times though everyone grasped it. When she wasn't overexplaining something simple, she'd jump into complex instructions midway, without explaining the tools she was using or the basic first steps a total beginner would need to know. And when she talked about how important it was to measure correctly, her example was, "Because if you're shipping your design overseas to be manufactured, one wrong inch can ruin your entire line." Yes, that's right. When us beginners start manufacturing our own lines, we must remember to get the measuring right.
And to top it all off, the dress itself was the most hideous thing I've seen since the start of the 80s revival. Every woman in the class (except 1) cringed when the teacher showed it to us, saying "This pattern looks great on everyone." If you are shaped like a 12 year old boy, then yes, a paper sack with darts on it will look lovely on you. The other 95% of us in the class though, are wasting our time.
Textile Arts Center is very sleek and comes with a Burda craft stamp of approval, but all that cachet is style, not substance. The classes at Flirt or at any of the Brooklyn skillshares are far and away a better learning experience - for attitude, helpfulness, money, and enjoyment.
