Kitemaking Workshop
#1 Update

More Than A Sew Sew Day!

On April 25th twenty people gathered for our first kitemaking workshop.

As they arrived one and two at a time at the empty restaurant site where the workshops were to be held they realized why there was no limit to the class sizes and why we chose the site... A LARGE space with a panorama view of Marina sights, dozens of tables (perfect for sewing machines) and chairs and bare plywood floors. Geese we don’t even have to be careful!

In one section Nathan Sendan with the help of Lee Thrall helped everyone set up their machines. For most of us this was the first time we had sat down in front of one of those mysterious things, a sewing machine! Patient care was given to all as tensions were adjusted as we sewed back and forth on scraps of ripstop. In time we were all ready to go!

Nathan instructions were easy to follow and soon the room was full of ripstop strips whirring sewing machines and the occasional uncontrolled giggle or out and out scream of glee as our tails began to take shape!

In another section of this space J.R. Tolman was masterfully taking his group through the step by step methods used for centuries in Japan to Build these traditional Suruga kites.

As the kites began to take shape, I kinda wished some how I could have done BOTH classes....sigh!

By the end of the day some of us had wonderful new kites to fly and some of us had the most awesome 50 foot tails...(mine with a ball in it!) And we all had made new friends, giggled all day and were bit by the Kitemaking bug!

As the day went on I began to hear "when is the next one!" and "Don’t make us wait till December"! Lets do it every month!

I guess they liked it!

I would like to thank Nathan and Cathy Sendan and Lee Thrall for their time and expertise.

Tom McAlister for arranging the room and coming through with Material when UPS didn’t.........

And J R Tolman for a great job.

Brian

This page was last updated March 14, 2003 02:10 AM