The Machine Sewing class has been a great success.  We have progressed from: “How do you turn on this machine?” to the satisfying final stitch of a completed garment.

The first class brought a group of folks who had never used a sewing machine before.  We discussed how a sewing machine works.  We covered the theory behind threading a sewing machine and applied it on the two machines present. This approach enables the seamster to figure out how to thread any machine they sit down to use and how to trouble shoot a machine that is not working due to a threading error.

The second class had one return seamster and a beginning level seamster.  They both left wearing the garments they had worked on.  Our return seamster made her first skirt, while the other seamster revitalized the elastic waistband on her favorite skirt.

Coursera is an website where lots of different universities offer free online classes. Their most recent “semester” begins today.

From their about page:

We are a social entrepeneurship company that partners with the top universities in the world to offer courses online for anyone to take, for free. We envision a future where the top universities are educating not only thousands of students, but millions. Our technology enables the best professors to teach tens or hundreds of thousands of students.

Through this, we hope to give everyone access to the world-class education that has so far been available only to a select few. We want to empower people with education that will improve their lives, the lives of their families, and the communities they live in.

A full listing of classes can be found here. Please note the dates! Only a few classes begin today.

I am taking their compiler class and will report back on the experience.

Our planning meeting tonight will be held tonight at 7pm 230 Buckingham Place, in West Philly. If you are interested in helping us with our upcoming session or learning more, please come out!

Free Skoolers,

The freeskool is back in action, and we are gearing up for our spring session. We will be having a meeting on Sunday, March 4th at 7pm. The location is TBD and largely depends upon the turnout, so if you are planning to come please email us at learn@phillyfreeskool.org!

And if you want to help us spread the word, please print out and distribute our handmade flyers at your local coffee shop, library, or community center!

We look forward to seeing you on March 4th!

Collectively-Run will be meeting at Occupy Philly tonight, specifically at the library on the south side of City Hall.

This Saturday, October 8th from 3-6pm, come learn the basics of growing your own sprouts and preserving the summer harvest by making delicious and healthy sauerkraut! This workshop will be led by two members of The Food For All Collective and will take place at the beautiful Mercy Street Community Garden, which is located at 521-536 Mercy Street in South Philadelphia.

For anyone who wants to come to the next Collectively-Run class (it’s never too late), here is the reading: Community How-To by the Lorax Manner Student Cooperative

BTW if you read the article but don’t have time to call to the class, please feel free to leave a comment to this post! All thoughts are welcome and appreciated. Just a heads up, however: to avoid spam all posts are held for moderation. All comments related to this post will be approved.

Here’s a reminder about what you can look forward to: Continue reading →