Aya Fiber Studio

Amy Nguyen was such an inspiring instructor. I learned so much. AYA is a very well equipped and ventilated studio. The layout of the workspace easily accommodated the 9 people in the class. Suzanne has thought of everything to make the experience special. She generously shared her knowledge of fibre art with us and provided information about how to get to Stuart, where to stay, and some of the local sites.

“Patterning the Pattern” is about deconstructing and transforming dyed fabric patterns into new pieced/quilted fabrications for actual use in simple garment silhouettes. Overall, “Patterning the Pattern” covers an informative and valuable topic taught by a thoughtful, experienced designer/teacher. I would definitely take this class again.

Amy is unique in her ability to bridge textile design with quilting and garment design. She generously shared her exceptional knowledge base using clear phrasing and life metaphors. The numerous samples and garments were inspiring and provided insight into her design process. Amy facilitated learning by offering time to explore, develop, and refine our individual skills from our unique perspectives. She works at providing balanced feedback to all students and also accepts input and the expansion of ideas from all. My great “aha moment” came when Amy explored ways to deconstruct and reconstruct patterns from dyed textiles.

This course was a natural followup to her 5-day workshop, “Process + Awareness + Connection”. Amy (and AYA) forged new territory by offering a class that moved beyond 2D surface design and gave participants the courage to move into garment shape-making with the potential to assemble their garments after the class. She did a great job of introducing simple garment patternmaking to these participants. It’s ambitious to make and fit, even a simple garment, in a 3-day workshop. I’m glad this was part of the content, but wonder how it might be consolidated in the future? Perhaps begin with textiles, followed by garment shapes and integration? That way, anyone with more patternmaking experience (like me) could begin working with textile patterns. And, as others worked on garment patterns, if they finished their muslin earlier, they could work on stitching.

Great topic, class, community, and facility! This was a good follow—up to the first class but needed a few more days in the studio. While we left with lots of ideas to follow-up on at home, I wish I had more concrete examples to take with me as a few people did. Sewing machines would have been helpful to create samples; handwork takes a lot of time. I’m conflicted about the draping to create a pattern. While it was a neat experience, it took a lot of time and still requires a long way to go before becoming a garment. I would suggest considering a simpler approach by giving a choice of a friendship jacket or something else. It could still be tweaked for each person but allow for time to experiment with different ways to play with the surface pattern through paint, quilt or puzzle piecing, etc. All of the other elements of the class would still be included while allowing for experimentation, trouble-shooting, sharing , peer in-put and collaboration. A finished product doesn’t have to be the goal but I’d like to feel as if I had a better foundation or more confidence in the tools, techniques, etc. that I was exposed to. Rather than feeling overwhelmed by a plethora of choices, limited options might allow more people to get into the play/experiment mode more easily or quickly even without a solid sewing background. I enjoyed it all: a wonderful few days with really lovely, supportive people. I look forward to seeing what we all come up with! Thank you, Amy, Suzanne, and all my textile friends!