MEET THE EXPERTS

Christine Miksza

Education Manager
Sewing Machines Etcetera
Website: http://www.sewingmachinesetcetera.com
Phone: (905) 639-5525
Email: info@sewetc.com

VIDEOS

Spicing Up Your Home - more...

ARTICLES

Spicing up your home décor - more...
Spicing up your home décor - more...

There’s a difference between being a high school teacher and teaching adult classes at Sewing Machines Etcetera and that’s a good thing, according to Christine Miksza. After 32 years, she retired from teaching family studies at a Burlington High School and began teaching sewing classes at Sewing Machines Etcetera. The adult students are much easier to handle.

The Education manager teaches most sessions and also organizes the wide range of courses offered at the Burlington retail location that also accommodates a fully equipped instructional area. Sewing students sign up for everything from beginner classes to sessions specializing in home décor and garments to specific skills such as machine embroidery. An upcoming session will help participants explore the many functions of sewing machines that they have yet to utilize and experiment with. Seasonal classes are popular, especially Christmas projects that have included making your own Christmas crackers and creating a festive table runner.

Miksza comes up with ideas for classes and also takes suggestions from customers and class participants. She takes the ideas and decides how to approach the subject from a teaching standpoint. From the proposal stage, where materials, accessories and resources are identified, the program evolves. As Education manager, she needs to ensure there is inventory on hand for a particular class and that samples and additional resources are available.

Although she no longer teaches at a high school, teenagers are still among her students. They often are included in the broad age range that attend beginner classes, and are generally interested in creating clothes. You don’t have to own a machine to take a course, the store supplies them. Students often do want to own one after they’ve worked on the top notch Husqvarna machines set up for classes.

For Miksza, sewing is not only a profession, it’s a hobby. Her extended family benefits from her skills at the sewing machine and she even finds herself making “custom” gifts that are requested. At Sewing Machines Etcetera, she’s part of the sewing community and the very busy part-time job allows her to share her passion.