Electro-Sewing Workshop; update

Hello again! The Electro-Sewing Workshop was last night in tog, and again, I think we all had a good time! Personally I had a great evening and was delighted at how quickly everyone picked it up. Even with having to listening to me waffle aimlessly to a slide-deck for a while, by the end of the night we had amassed quite a beautiful bouquet of LED flowers!

Attendees at the electro-sewing workshop sitting around a table

A bouquet of electro-flowers made at the workshop

As yet there aren’t any more workshops planned, but as interest was high I’ll be seeing if there is a more complex electro-sewing project to move on to, or maybe even a Lilypad Arduino class. Ooh, I am looking forward to see what my lovely students go on to create!

Hand-Sewing Workshop; update

Hey all, I’m not long home from the Basic Hand-Sewing Workshop, and just wanted to say how much fun I had, how great it was to meet such good students, and to throw up a picture of their handiwork (that I’m very proud of)! They came in unable to sew (mostly) and left with finished (mostly), functional bags!

The drawstring bags made by the workshop attendees

Some workshop attendees sitting around a table

Next up is the Eletro-Sewing Workshop, where we’ll get to put our new found sewing skills to good use!

Workshop: Electro-sewing

We would like to invite you to Tog’s first ever electronic sewing workshop! As a simple first project, we will be making nice looking flowers with a LED centre.

We’ll be working with silver conductive thread (instead of wire), and creating a small circuit to power the LED (small light) from a coin-cell battery. The circuit will be hidden in the body of the felt flower, and the whole lot attached through a clip. You will get your choice of fabric and LED colours, so you can make something you could actually wear 🙂

If you’re interested in attending, ideally you already know how to hand sew (if not how come you missed our previous hand-sewing workshop!), but if not we’ll do our best to show you enough to complete the project on the day.

When: Friday, October 21st, from 7pm to 9pm
Cost: €5 for non-members, free for members (all materials provided on the day)

Space being very limited, please sign up using the form below the break. and we’re full-up now! If you’d like to contact us about similar events in the future please feel free to use the form below.

Continue reading “Workshop: Electro-sewing”

Recognition As A Charitable Organisation

One of the earliest questions we had when starting TOG in the spring of 2009 was how much would it cost to keep a hackerspace in Ireland running? All of us can probably think some of the regular costs; rent, electricity, gas, internet, insurance, etc.

A less common known cost is rates. Rates is a form of local property tax paid directly to the local council. It is only paid by the occupiers of commercial or industrial properties.

The amount to be paid is calculated after an independent valuation by the Valuations Office which is multiplied by an amount set each year by the local council. For TOG our local council is Dublin City Council. Continue reading “Recognition As A Charitable Organisation”

Workshop: Basic Hand-Sewing

There are many reasons you might need to learn how to sew. Maybe you’ve noticed that it’s only a month until Hallowe’en and you need to get started on a costume. Maybe you need to work on costumes for a short film or play you’re a part of. Maybe your favourite top has ripped, or popped a button, and you need to fix it. Or maybe it’s part of a greater plan to learn how to make and fit your own clothes (and so freeing yourself from the shackles of fashion trends).

Well, now’s your chance. We’re running a basic hand-sewing workshop; Tuesday, October 11th, from 7pm to 10pm, in TOG. We really will be covering the basics, from threading your needle, to finishing with a knot. You’ll learn straight-stitch, back-stitch, and overcasting. Then we’ll work on a little project so you can practice your new found skills.

Full disclosure; I’m not an expert, but I can help you get started if you need it. This class is most definitely for beginners, if you’ve sewn before you will be bored.

There are only 6 places, to make sure everyone gets enough attention, so sign up sooner rather than later! It is free, if you bring your own materials. If you don’t have any materials some can be obtained for you, for cost. Meaning, for €10 you’ll get pins, needles, thread, and assorted other useful bits and bobs you’ll need to sew that you get to keep.

Cost: Free! If you bring your own supplies. Otherwise supplies can be bought for €10.
Materials: Pack of hand-sewing needles, needle threader, wheel of pins, thread, etc.

Date: Tuesday, 11th October.
Time: Between 7pm and 10pm.
Place: TOG space. See: http://www.tog.ie/location/

So if you’d like to attend please use the form below. And if you’ll need to buy materials, please make sure to mention it!