Makeup bag by Veronica Magnelind. Photo by Mandy Marksteiner
Veronica MagnelindBy MANDY MARKSTEINER
Los Alamos
Veronica Magnelind is addicted to fabric. And sewing.
Her enthusiasm and love for sewing is infectious. You can’t help but get excited when you take in all the dresses, cardigans, pants and pillows that she has made for herself and her family.
“I want Emma (daughter) to have colorful and fun clothes,” said Magnelind, who will be teaching a Sewing with Knits workshop at Biodidact’s new co-work space on Orange Street.
Magnelind’s sewing obsession began when she moved to Los Alamos in 2009. She started sewing little blankets with cute fabrics. When her daughter was born she started sewing hats and bibs. Now she sews a lot of her daughter’s clothes, because she loves doing it so much.
If you’ve grown tired of all clothes covered in gender stereotyped prints, layers upon layers of tulle for girls, and popular cartoon characters on everything, you’ll love her class! She’s made pants with pandas, cat silhouettes and tigers, and sweaters with stars and monsters. She said, “When I go to the store, I could never find this in the girls’ section.”
All of Magnelind’s pieces start with great fabric.
“Last year I hoarded fabrics,” she happily admits. “A lot of people in my sewing Facebook groups are fabric-aholics.”
Magnelind said she once read in an article that you should ‘never buy fabric unless you have a project in mind’ and judging from her amazing collection of fabrics from around the world, she obviously doesn’t agree.
She is originally from Gothenburg, Sweden. When she started to miss the things that she could buy in her hometown, her friends and family began sending her Swedish fabrics. “Here, if it’s a knit fabric, it will be thick. But in Sweden, it’s softer and stretchier.” She also looks for patterns and fabrics online. She especially loves Danish and German designs, fabrics and patterns.
“Prisca (Biodidact owner) asked me if I wanted to do a workshop in her new space, because she wanted to learn how to sew,” Magnelind said. “I started brainstorming and I had so many ideas. But I thought I would love to start with sewing with knits.”
In her class, she will reveal the secrets of sewing with knit fabrics, things that she wished she knew when she first got started. It’s so much easier to sew a flattering dress for an adult using a knit fabric.
The first class will cover the basics of sewing, like choosing the right needles and the best fabrics, and questions that you should ask when buying a sewing machine. During the second class students will make a pattern for a hat and then sew it. Magnelind has other ideas, like getting together before Christmas to sew cute makeup bags to give as gifts, making costumes for Halloween or making fun stuff like toys.
The first class is Friday, May 27. Sign up online or by emailing Hello@losalamosmakers.org.
The Community Lab is a community science lab that also offers a maker’s space that anyone can use to work on projects or have a class. They offer workshops and field trips, hands-on lessons for classrooms, and research opportunities.
The Community Lab is behind Los Alamos High School, next to Family Strength Network at 3540 Orange St., Suite LV1.
Child’s top by Veronica Magnelind. Photo by Mandy Marksteiner
Toy by Veronica Magnelind. Photo by Mandy Marksteiner