Feeling Quilty? Sewing Shop Specializes in Patchwork

Quilting is inevitable. But patchwork is optional.

When the seasons turn chilly, it makes sense to layer blankets for warmth. Eventually, you accumulate so many layers that you need to pin them together to keep the padding from shifting. That’s the definition of quilting.

But there’s no practical reason for the topmost layer of your blanket sandwich to be decorative. No reason at all why somebody should piece hundreds of blocks of cloth into exuberant tessellations. Unless, of course, they had discovered that doing so offered a profound pleasure that far outweighed the time-consuming work.

The staff at Slow Life Patchwork want to help you make that discovery. They’re part of the Slow Life movement, whose emphasis on authenticity, thoughtful consumption and quality-over-quantity aligns quite naturally with DIY handcrafting. These proud advocates of hand-quilting offer courses for hobbyists (RMB 380-1,200) as well as for certification (RMB 3,500-3,800). They’ve even become a quilting hub. Experts fly in from Japan once a month to give workshops that are attended by aspiring instructors from all over China. You can see why patchwork might appeal to Chinese crafters. As compared to other needlecrafts, quilting is less unforgiving than crewel-style embroidery, allows more scope for creativity than cross-stitch, is more abstract than rustic appliqué.

Slow Life Patchwork is filled with soft toys, tchotchkes and handbags – the smaller projects that they start novices off with. (Proprietor Katie Zhan does offer instruction in English.) The store also stocks a rainbow of fabrics and buttons, and all the quilting tools (rotary cutters and mats, gridded rulers and guides) you’ll need to create perfect seam allowances.

Also try: The Red Pomegranate DIY Sewing Center, China Culture Center

Slow Life Patchwork. Daily 10.30am-9pm. Unit 2406, North Tower, Soho Shangdu, 8 Dongdaqiao Lu, Chaoyang District (134 8865 5984)
朝阳区东大桥路8号Soho 尚都北塔4层2406号

By subway: 300m south of Dongdaqiao station (Line 6)

Photos: Sui

This article originally appeared on p42 in the March issue of the Beijinger.