About Home Ec. Studio
Home ec. studio is a place where youth and adults can learn how to sew whether it's hand sewing or machine sewing. We teach everyone in the spectrum from elementary to college students, medical professionals to lawyers, aspiring fashion designers to teachers. We have seen them all. Some have never touched a sewing machine, some received sewing machines as gifts, some have inherited a sewing machine that has been sitting in a closet collecting dust. We have taught people who never sewed a day in their life, people who took home ec. in high school but have forgotten, experienced people who just want to sew with a nice group of people. At the end of the class, everyone feels comfortable with their skills on the machine and is ready to tackle new projects. That's what we like about our job. Sharing this craft with people so that we can MAKE a community.
Our Teachers
Yvonne Apodaca has been sewing since she was a young girl. Ironically, she was "forced" to learn this craft because her mother enrolled her in after school sewing school and was a prize winning sewer in sewing competitions in her teen years. Ask her about the "jodphurs" if you ever take a class from her. After graduating from NYU, she had a successful career in Radio and Media and worked at MTV Studios before starting a family and settling down in San Diego where she started and co-owned her own successful baby clothing line, Little Maries. At this time of pre-etsy, custom bibs and burp cloths were still unheard of especially in San Diego. Aside from the studio, she works at Sara Elizabeth Day Spa as an aesthetician under her company Wax and Glow.
Roselle Ellison learned how to sew from her mother at the age of 7. She started out sewing the hems of old sheets that her mother would meticulously seam rip so that she can practice her 5/8" seam allowance. By her teen years, she was sewing her own clothes and also sewing clothes for best friends. One of her friends even trusted her to sew a prom dress (a velvet nightmare with boning nonetheless). And although her dreams of going to fashion school were thwarted by her wonderful Tiger Mom, she continued to sew while pursuing her degree in Chemical Engineering. After a glamorous career in biotech, she started a family and became a stay at home mom. The hands could not stop making and she started La Bête Handmade making custom heirloom plush toys for children (and adults) made with luxury yarns like organic cotton, angora, cashmere and then to vintage and recycled fabric. Aside from the studio, she is active at her children's school and enjoys (sometimes) doing community service.
Roselle Ellison learned how to sew from her mother at the age of 7. She started out sewing the hems of old sheets that her mother would meticulously seam rip so that she can practice her 5/8" seam allowance. By her teen years, she was sewing her own clothes and also sewing clothes for best friends. One of her friends even trusted her to sew a prom dress (a velvet nightmare with boning nonetheless). And although her dreams of going to fashion school were thwarted by her wonderful Tiger Mom, she continued to sew while pursuing her degree in Chemical Engineering. After a glamorous career in biotech, she started a family and became a stay at home mom. The hands could not stop making and she started La Bête Handmade making custom heirloom plush toys for children (and adults) made with luxury yarns like organic cotton, angora, cashmere and then to vintage and recycled fabric. Aside from the studio, she is active at her children's school and enjoys (sometimes) doing community service.
Jeanne Reith is a costume designer at renowned theaters in Southern California. Several of her productions have received awards for costume design. She has also owned her own interior design line of home decorative accents. She currently teaches and mentors at Fashion Careers College (FCC) teaching draping and apparel construction to striving fashion design students.
Regina Herod is a painter and sculptor and arts educator. She has conducted visual arts workshops for children in schools and independently for the past 15 years, with the concentrations in the areas of printmaking, puppetry, book arts, mask making and collage in addition to running workshops inspired by the works of historical visual artists. She obtained her art degree from San Diego State University, taught art at The Tubman Village Charter School, and is currently working on her Master of Fine Arts, getting ready for her solo exhibition in 2013.
Barb Montfort became interested in sewing 10 years ago when she lived in a small town in Eastern Oregon where It snowed a lot and the local quilt shop was the place to hang out. She bought her first sewing machine, named the machine Daisy, and was hiked down to the shop often. Barb is inspired by the fabrics, shapes, colors and textures in quilting and sewing. She has been a teacher in the public schools for over 17 years, and enjoys teaching and tutoring sewing, art, and writing in her spare time. She is an active member of the San Diego Modern Quilt Guild. Follow Barb at her blog http://quixoticmoxie.com/.
Therese Rossi is a painter with an MFA she earned back East. She started The Young Artist Program about 20 years ago and has brought fine art classes to many grade schools including Fairbanks Country day, La Jolla Elementary, St. Didicus , and Stella Maris Academy. She's an ardent advocate for creativity and imaginative play and teaches Drawing, Painting, and Writing to kids and adults.
Regina Herod is a painter and sculptor and arts educator. She has conducted visual arts workshops for children in schools and independently for the past 15 years, with the concentrations in the areas of printmaking, puppetry, book arts, mask making and collage in addition to running workshops inspired by the works of historical visual artists. She obtained her art degree from San Diego State University, taught art at The Tubman Village Charter School, and is currently working on her Master of Fine Arts, getting ready for her solo exhibition in 2013.
Barb Montfort became interested in sewing 10 years ago when she lived in a small town in Eastern Oregon where It snowed a lot and the local quilt shop was the place to hang out. She bought her first sewing machine, named the machine Daisy, and was hiked down to the shop often. Barb is inspired by the fabrics, shapes, colors and textures in quilting and sewing. She has been a teacher in the public schools for over 17 years, and enjoys teaching and tutoring sewing, art, and writing in her spare time. She is an active member of the San Diego Modern Quilt Guild. Follow Barb at her blog http://quixoticmoxie.com/.
Therese Rossi is a painter with an MFA she earned back East. She started The Young Artist Program about 20 years ago and has brought fine art classes to many grade schools including Fairbanks Country day, La Jolla Elementary, St. Didicus , and Stella Maris Academy. She's an ardent advocate for creativity and imaginative play and teaches Drawing, Painting, and Writing to kids and adults.
Jaimee Brant is a fashion designer who has been designing apparel for the surf industry for ten years. She just returned to San Diego after designing and brand managing the Split girl line in Orange County. An avid blogger and crafter, she will be launching a new online store and design blog this fall called prsmn (pronounced persimmon!). Jaimee has been sewing since she was a child. Her love of sewing has led her to teaching knitting, sewing and embroidery for UCSD and San Diego high schools. Follow Jaimee's adventures at her blog http://thecrabtastic.blogspot.com.
Elsa Atzori comes from a long line of teachers and artists and she is happy to say that she inherited both talents. After studying illustration at the Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan, she moved to San Diego to complete a B.A. in Linguistics and Teaching English as a Second Language. She currently teaches part-time at San Diego University of Integrated Studies. In my free time she works as a freelance artist, doing murals, portraits, illustration, and textile arts. In addition, she teach workshops based on environmentally sustainable crafts, like paper-making, crochet, and sculpture. Art enhances her life in so many ways that she can't help but be excited about sharing it with others. She feels lucky to have found a career that she is so passionate about.
