Qristy Kurtz became obsessed with fashion when, as a teen, she took a sewing class at Mountain View High School. She earned a business degree in college and worked in fashion retail in Bend and Portland for many years. Fast forward to present day, and Kurtz is animated while talking about her new venture, Fashion Workshop — a mobile sewing classroom. She registered as a nonprofit in July and created a female board of directors.
Kurtz wants to teach useful skills and ignite a passion for sewing, like she has, especially in rural areas. Her Fashion Workshop trailer is fully contained with a generator, wi-fi and packed with supplies including thread, fabric, patterns, needles, scissors and sewing machines. “The idea is that we can take it anywhere and provide access to sewing and design education and community wherever it’s needed,” Kurtz says excitedly. “It’s really ingrained in me, this concept of equity and inclusion and being able to, not just have this thing available in the center of Bend but be able to take it to Madras or Culver or John Day or La Pine.”
Kurtz plans to partner with local entities like the Redmond library as well as create local stop-and-sew events at places like farmers markets. She envisions pulling out her vintage Singer sewing machine which is featured in a giant picture on the trailer’s exterior. “The idea with that is like, ‘Oh, my grandma has a machine like that.’ OK, let’s use it. Do you have five minutes? Do you want to sew something? We have a really cool leather patcher machine, too. I envision having little kits for leather coin purses. So, people can stop, do a little tool design and…they can make themselves a little coin purse and then walk away.”
As she gets Fashion Workshop off the ground, she has sewing classes scheduled in March at the Redmond and Prineville libraries. She also plans to attend Rubbish Renewed in May which is an eco-fashion show and fundraiser for local schools. Kurtz also plans to be at the Open Arts Center on a weekly basis once it’s fully open. She wants to be responsive to community needs.
“Something that makes us unique is that we provide everything. So, you can take a sewing class, and we will provide the sewing machines. We will teach you how to use it. It usually takes 25 minutes to learn to sew.”
Kurtz also wants to offer a class through Central Oregon Community College’s continuing education program. “One of our first main classes is going to be a blanket coat class… If you have an old quilt, a family heirloom, a blanket or something that you love,.. let’s turn it into a coat, which will be really fun.” Repurposing or recycling old materials is an important part of her theme, “Make it new. Make it you.”
Kurtz says she’s funding her dream with her own money and donations. She’s also selling sewing supplies through her website and, for a fee, offering private socials of around 10 people for birthday parties or girls’ night.
“This is definitely a labor of love… This is such an emotional thing… I really want it to be: ‘Fashion Workshop belongs to the people who are part of it’… My dream would be to have a regular rotating schedule of after-school programming so that we can do more of that career and technical education.”
Kurtz sews every day. She’s currently working on an art project called “100 Dresses.”
“It’s based on an old children’s book from the ’50s that deals with prejudice and bullying and some of these different topics that weren’t popular back then,” she explains. At the time of this interview, Kurtz had made 89 of the 100 dresses and was wearing number 45. “I’m hoping to do a performance art component where we video theater students trying them on and then get reactions… They’re all made from the same base pattern but they’re all incredibly different. So, there’s just this wonderful inspiration…You can have something that’s exactly the same but all of us make it incredibly different.”
While Fashion Workshop has been a dream of hers for at least a decade, she also sees it as an extension of Oregon’s history. “How do we get us all to connect about this thing that we super love? That’s a big part of Oregon’s heritage, really! The sportswear industry in Portland is mad with Nike and everything else.” Kurtz is determined to do her part, by making fashion and sewing accessible to everyone, everywhere.
Sewcials
Thu, Mar 5 4-6:30pm
Redmond Library
827 SW Deschutes Ave., Redmond
Wed, Mar 11 6-8:30pm
Crook County Library
175 NW Meadow Lakes Dr., Prineville
fashionforeveryone.org/event-list
Free
This article appears in the Source February 26, 2026.
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