Chicago Sewing Museum Opens In Avondale With 100 Sewing Machines Through The Ages

AVONDALE — A giant purple sewing machine sculpture glows from the Sewing Do Museum window, with colorful fabrics and buttons in the background that welcome the inner child. The museum and maker space at 3050 N. Milwaukee Ave. brings the history and evolution of sewing machines, textile design, fabrics and the buttons that stitch them all together to Avondale as the city s first dedicated interactive sewing museum. The quirky museum has 100 sewing machines dating back to the 1800s sourced from collectors, donations, online shops and garage sales, plus historical needles and irons, threads, buttons and more. Helmed by Katie Esslinger, who has sewn clothes since she was a kid and made her own wedding dress, the community museum seeks to be a place to learn, make and celebrate historical sewing and tailors. It s kind of like an adult children s museum, Esslinger said as she stood near the purple sewing machine she made that can also serve as a photo opportunity for visitors. Ne