New round of sewing classes kicks off

By BRITTANY FHOLER 
Cove Leader-Press 

Sewing classes previously held at the Cove Art Lab are now being held at Refuge Ministries every Monday. 
The self-paced classes, taught by Amanda Nelson and her mother, Lorrie Coats, are for anyone seven years old and up and cost $50 per month. 
The classes, which started up again yesterday, are held every Monday from 4 5 p.m. at Refuge Ministries Cove Campus, located at 2602 S. F.M. 116. 
Nelson also is offering spots for a once-a-month class for those who can’t commit to coming every week. The cost for that class will be $15 per month. 
The classes used to be held at the Cove Art Lab, which closed the doors of its previous location last month. 
Nelson, a member at Refuge Ministries, approached the pastor about moving the classes to the church. 
The $50 or $15 covers the individualized instructions and patterns. Nelson also has extra sewing machines that she can bring in if a student does not have their own. During the hour-long class, students focus on one project but if they finish early, they are allowed to work on other projects and experiment with the different sewing skills they’ve learned. 
One of the students, who was in the Art Lab sewing class prior to Nelson taking over as the instructor, made a dress and entered it into a 4-H fair and won a blue ribbon last year. This student, who is 12 years old, went from making pillow cases and sewing a tissue packet to making a baby doll quilt and learning all the different things her sewing machine can do, Nelson said. 
Nelson and Coats typically have a 3:1 ratio of students to better focus on the students, but when they changed locations, they lost a few students, Nelson said. The youngest student Nelson had was seven years old. 
Nelson has been teaching sewing for the last seven years. She learned from her mom, grandma, friends and through watching YouTube videos. She has three kids and makes items for herself and her kids, she said. 
“Sewing is just something that I just really enjoy and had so much fun learning and I wanted to be able to teach it,” Nelson said. 
To sign up for either weekly or monthly classes, contact Amanda Nelson by phone by calling (254) 931-7326 or by emailing cookwithamanda@yahoo.com.