GREENWICH VILLAGE — If you don't know your warp from your weft, a new arts-education center on West 8th Street can help you untangle your yarns.
The Textile Arts Center opened a new location at 26 West Eighth St. on July 18, kicking off with the class Weaving 101. The location promises to teach Village residents everything they ever wanted to know about textiles.
The center's co-founder, Owyn Ruck, said she thinks knitting, weaving and other crafts have grown in popularity because New Yorkers want more fulfilling real-life experiences in their technology-saturated lives.
"How many hours did you spend on Facebook, when you could be doing something that feels more fulfilling?" she asked.
The center opened its first location in Gowanus, Brooklyn, in April 2010. But the West Eighth Street space is tailored more for Manhattanites, offering business-oriented classes on how textile artists can sell their wares, as well as beginners' classes for people who just want to dabble.
To celebrate its opening, the center is offering two free workshops this month: a day of sewing on Sat., Aug. 13 from 1 to 5 p.m., and a day of weaving on Saturday, Aug. 20 from 1 to 5 p.m.
The 900-square-foot space full of looms and sewing machines will launch a full program of classes, including T-shirt making, dyeing, weaving, block printing and moccasin making starting the first week of September.
The center will also offer after-school programs in weaving, sewing and fashion, needle arts, and printing and dying, Monday through Friday for seven-week sessions. Clothing, jewelry and items by local artists will be sold in the front of the store.
Ruck said she and her business partner, Visnja Popovic, saw an opportunity on the centrally located, highly trafficked stretch of West Eighth Street.
"It used to be all head shops and shoe stores here, but now it's going in a different direction," said Addison Walz, who manages the Manhattan location.
She said she hopes Village residents and visitors will be pleased to discover what they can create.
"The most incredible thing you can do," Walz said, "is make something from nothing."
