Ruby Chevreuli, founder of Sew Susty, offers sewing classes in Portland to promote sustainability and share the craft. (Submitted by Ruby Chevreuli)

This new brick and mortar is sew good, and there’s nothing “sus” about it, despite the name, other than its sustainability-focused mission.

Ruby Chevreuli, founder of Sew Susty, is bringing her sustainable sewing studio to downtown Portland. There, she offers classes to share the art form and encourage sustainable practices.

“I’ve been excited to be a part of this almost artist renaissance they’re trying to start downtown,” Chevreuli said.

Located off Southwest Fourth Avenue and Harvey Milk Street, Chevreuli promotes her message, “Stop doom scrolling, start sewing,” through her soon-to-be-open, brick-and-mortar location.

Before landing this spot, Sew Susty was taught at a makerspace.

“Sewing stuff is overflowing out of my studio, out of my garage, so it’s time to expand,” Chevreuli said.

Californian becomes Oregonian

Chevreuli was born in Los Angeles and grew up in San Diego. She lived in Tijuana for about six years, crossing the border each day to get to school.

She completed her education in community studies and sociology at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and spent the better part of 10 years “meandering” around and living in Los Angeles.

“One day, my now husband was like, ‘We should move to Portland,'” she explained. “And I said, ‘Where is that?'”

The stereotypes hold up, Chevreuli joked, saying that when she lived in Los Angeles it was like being in a bubble.

At the time, Chevreuli worked for a startup company in the social media and customer care department; her goal was to work at a tech company. After scoring a scholarship to attend a Portland conference, she said she felt confident it was the place for them.

“I texted my boyfriend and said, ‘Oh, we need to be here,'” Chevreuli said.

The signs were clear, as she explained seeing her name everywhere in the city during her visit: Ruby Jewel, McMenamins’ Ruby Ale and a coffee donned with “Ruby” in the conference room.

“The universe was telling me,” Chevreuli explained.

One year later, in 2019, the couple landed in the Rose City.

Chevreuli said she loves the ethos of Portland and seeing how people build community.

Learning to sew

Laid off from her job at the startup and searching for work, one of Chevreuli’s mentors suggest she take time to get to know what she wanted to do with her life.

Sewing was something she always had dreamt of learning. She inched closer to achieving this when her mother-in-law gifted her her sewing machine.

“I guess I’ll just look for work and learn to sew,” Chevreuli decided. “I was fun-employed and I was sewing my little heart out for everybody and everything.”

Chevreuli started focusing on ways to promote sustainability, so she created things like reusable produce bags, utensil holders and more. She said she felt inspired by the zero waste movement, and that’s when she launched and Instagram account called BIPOC For Zero Waste.

When the COVID pandemic hit full force, Chevreuli said she sewed at least 300 masks and was able to donate them to places lacking personal protective equipment.

“Airborne infections are something I still feel passionately about,” she said.

In her workshops, participants are required to wear masks, which she said is a big draw for immunocompromised people seeking safer activity options.

Chevreuli also suffers from chronic illness, so it helps ensure she stays healthy and can be well enough to keep teaching.

Then came Sew Susty

On March 15, 2020, a workshop called “Sew Sustainable” was scheduled. It never happened due to the pandemic. Guests were to create reusable tote bags which would be donated to farmers’ markets.

A few years later, Chevreuli taught her 5-year-old neighbor how to sew. That gave her the bug for wanting to teach.

“That planted the seed,” she said. “Teaching is really fun.”

Sew Susty was born in 2024, offering a chance for people to get interested in sewing and use it as a tool to be self-sustaining.

“I think everybody should know how to sew, even if it’s hemming your pants,” Chevreuli said. “You don’t have to be making king-sized quilts.”

Sewing is an art form and a form of protest, Chevreuli explained, from using it as a creative outlet to using it as a means of self-sufficiency.

The classes

For anyone attending a Sew Susty workshop, it’s likely they’ll be told not to nit pick. Stop picking apart every stitch, or what could’ve been better, and soak up the pride of creating something instead.

“It’s okay that it’s not perfect,” Chevreuli said she likes to remind people.

The focus is on the power of creating something with their own two hands.

“We are so used to just consuming that when someone says, ‘I like your bag,’ or ‘I like your shirt,’ there’s a bit of pride in saying, “Oh, I made this,'” Chevreuli explained.

From a functionality standpoint, sewing empowers people to create items tailored to their wants and needs: Clothing is suited perfectly to their body, custom bags or decor fit their aesthetic needs and gifting handmade items can feel extra meaningful.

How it works

Chevreuli offers beginners workshops, which includes all necessary equipment, fabrics, tools and even snacks. They last about three hours, with a break built in.

The workshops have about one hour of lecturing, showing students the “bits and bobbins” of the equipment, so they can comprehend the anatomy of a sewing machine.

“Then, you get to work,” Chevreuli said.

Class sizes are about seven people at a time, allowing for the needed one-on-one attention. They also are offered on a sliding scale to improve accessibility.

Chevreuli also hosts a beginners-plus workshop for people who have limited, but some, knowledge of sewing.

Her sewing circles, called “Stitch and Bitch,” are as they sound. People come together to sew and talk about whatever is on their mind.

Up next, she plans to offer monthly open studio memberships, so people can come by and use the space.

“My goal is to just get people to sew,” Chevreuli said. “Whether you learn with me, or you learn with one of the other wonderful studios in town, just learn how to sew.”

Find more at sewsusty.com.