Textiles SIG May 2026 Meeting Notes

May 2026 Textiles Sig Meeting

Tuesday, May 19th 6:30PM – 8:00PM

Meeting start – quick intro of everyone with names (5 minutes)

Budget update – breakdown of current budget (5 minutes, informative)

We will do this for the July meeting, going over the prior quarter and the total 2026 budget remaining

Year focus overview (5 minutes)

Basics quarter
Cosplay quarter
- Focus on collaborating with 3D printing and laser SIGs
- Garment construction – sleeves, structured layers, edge finishes
- Attaching 3D prints or EVA foam to garments
- Professional class – cosplay focus + EVA focus (2 classes)
Ren Faire quarter
- Focus on leatherworking – another 3D printing and laser SIG focus
- Leather cutting class + laser leather cutting
- Professional class for leathermaking
- Weathering
Holiday quarter
- Unique structural base for masks, large wing elements, furry masks, etc
- Functional items for gift giving and personal use
- Fitting class to assist with Halloween costumes
- Open working hours to assist with costume making

Quarterly focus for April-May-June (5 minutes)

Cosplay focus – learning how to make and adjust garments
Attach items to clothes using embroidery, cricut, and sewing
Emphasis on using industrial machine and sergers
Garment construction – skirts, pants, attaching zippers and sleeves
Work with us office hours for on the spot assistance
Monthly general themes:
- April: garment construction
- May: stretch material/alterations
- June: unusual construction/really big proportions/unique designs as fashion

Classes – authorization / instructional (15 minutes combined)

Industrial Sewing Machine (2 classes)
- Danielle – 3rd Monday of the month
- Sable
Serger (1 class)
- Jamie
Screen printing – June – announce ASAP, add events later
- Show and tell with limited open sign-up time, then hold the actual class later

Classes – make and take / workshop

Make and take
- Level 100
- Level 200
- Level 300
Non-sewing classes
- Cricut 101 – Robin
- Bookbinding is coming to Denhac!
Potential classes:
- Fabric introduction – what they feel like and what to use them with
- Potential drafting class – next steps in clothing construction
  - Come the next day to do the sewing and making
  - Provide instructions in advance for cutting and prep
Body double Sundays – hangout and sew / coworking
Maybe more demos – gauge interest, no formal class needed to start, then create the class from there
Write a blurb for instructors about each class – showcase what’s available and what skills attendees will walk away with

Class feedback and suggestions:

Google form / call for suggestions – ask members what class types they want, let them know we see a lower level
List of classes to gauge interest – instructor asks what people want to see
Refocus class descriptions on skills attendees will learn
People’s desire to dedicate time is an issue – move classes to evening time instead of weekend slots
Niche interests – consider how to address these
Split path: beginner path vs. “have you made clothes” path – highlight these clearly

Proposal: Learn With Me (LWM) – self-organizing co-learning/cooperative projects

A lightweight, self-organizing format where a member adds a project they want to figure out to a shared Slack canvas, others opt in, and the group works through it together – no instructor, no curriculum
Not a replacement for existing classes – fills the gap between “I want to try something” and “there’s a class for that”
Key points:
- Fully self-organizing – intended to add no meaningful lift for leadership or trainers
- No additional resources beyond normal member usage in most cases
- SIG leadership stays informed and retains veto/editorial power
- Space, calendar, and cleanup expectations mirror existing member rules
- Anything out of the ordinary comes to SIG leadership the normal way

Advertising and social media (discussion)

FLIERS FLIERS FLIERS
- Fliers on the doors, in kitchen, on wall, and on tables showcasing classes
Posting things in advance – break all items out as much as possible to make scheduling easier and get class notices out earlier
- Post class types in advance even without events live yet
Instagram and Reddit + Threads – get a yay/nay for each platform
- Get additional ideas for social media beyond room tours and class announcements
- Tag Denhac in Instagram posts
- Make a showcase of what people have made – use prior make and take pics from classes, encourage people who use textiles to tag us in their projects
- Insta intro page for each team member
Make a video about our offerings + a special class offer spotlighting sergers and industrial sewing machines
- Can be without a face – AI voiceover or one of us dubbing it
- Record how-to videos for all machines so people can reference them back
We regularly have classes – communicate that clearly so people know to come back

Hackdenhac Day (15 minutes for discussion and additions)(28th)

Deputize someone at SIG meeting
Two shelves – can be built
Canva list for all movements near embroidery machine
Two installations by the tufting area to allow for more space saving
Work towards leatherworking station
Move all embroidery thread over to embroidery station
- Move Denhac rug elsewhere to make room
Take random wood down + whiteboard down
Remove as many random unassigned knickknacks from SIG textile as possible
Move single needle machine – needs to get removed

Things we want done but NOT on the May Hackdenhac day:

De-lint the machine
LABEL THE IRON FOR WATER TYPE
- Jugs of distilled water will live under the irons – label them
- Write an iron maintenance wiki and print it out as a pamphlet to attach to the iron

Updates

Embroidery machine
- Labeling for clear instructions and clear visual labels
- Class update – Nick, Daniel, Andrew
- Donated embroidery thread – check in with Daniel
Temp channel for leatherworking – determine what materials to request from the board + table request
- Chisels – Jamie will send a link
- Get thread for the leather stitching machine
- Mara 30 for the machine
- Jamie will update on the leather situation – will need to put wiki up
Channel for gear – Sable made this!! 🙂
Iron water update – Jamie + Mohr on why we won’t be doing distilled

General discussion points (20 minutes or whatever time we have left)

Wiki