About My Handwork Studio

Our History...

Located just seven miles outside of Philadelphia, PA, The Handwork Studio, LLC. is passing down the tradition of teaching needle arts and fashion to kids ages 4-16. In our cozy quarters, thousands of kids have passed through the studio doors to participate in our award winning after school classes, camps, troop programs and birthday parties.

Now in our eighth year, The Handwork Studio has become a leader in teaching children knitting, crocheting, needle felting, embroidery, hand and machine sewing, fashion and crafts.

As the founder and president of The Handwork Studio, I was first inspired to create the business after seeing how needle arts was an integral part of the curriculum at the local Waldorf school. As a curious mother, standing and observing in the basement of the small pre-school, I was so moved - watching 1st graders knit, 2nd graders crochet and embroider - and thought this kind of work embodied love, warmth and nurturing - what every mother wants for their child. As a previous marketing manager for a financial consulting firm in NYC, I saw the business value in the idea…and so The Handwork Studio was born.

In our first year, I hired the local Waldorf teacher to come and teach the neighborhood kids how to knit at my kitchen table. 12 kids immediately signed up and I knew then we were onto something. In year two, we expanded to the dining room table, hired more teachers and taught 10 classes. In year three, a great building in Narberth became available and I had to make the decision to run this as a business or a hobby. So I closed my eyes, bought the building and built a full class schedule. Over the next five years I dedicated my time to learning everything there is to learn about running a business, needle arts and kids, child safety, kids’ trends and styles, how to run a camp and…oh yes, continued raising a family of my own.

During the school year, we run a lovely and varied needle arts program from September to May. Classes meet two to three hours every weekday afternoon and throughout the day on the weekends. We quickly learned the bulk of our business was in camps. We could run camps for 12 weeks, all day long. So in 2007, we expanded our camp program to our second location, at Rosemont College, in Rosemont, PA. We now offer four different camp programs; Handwork Day Camp for kids in grades K-6, Machine Sewing Camp for kids in grades 5-10, Fashion Boot Camp for kids in grades 7-11 and our latest program, Interior Design, also for kids in grades 7-11. In 2009, our camp program will expand yet again to Chestnut Hill, PA, and offer a sleep away camp option at Rosemont College, allowing kids from around the country an opportunity to participate in the unique program.

Today, over 200 kids come through our studio for after school classes, birthday parties and troop visits. During the summer months, over 350 kids attend camp and that number is growing.

Our lofty goal for the future is to reinvent handwork for today’s kids and make it available to children everywhere. And so I present to you our new website, MyHandworkStudio.com. Let your children explore!

I would welcome your comments, thoughts and suggestions as we evolve into the first ever interactive, needle arts and fashion, educational site for kids….that’s loads of fun! And if you’re not careful, you might learn something too.

Laura Kelly