Dewey Street store displays family’s crafting legacy

Something crafty is going on at Dewey Street. The studio, tucked away from the street at 2960 S. Durango Drive, Suite 111, offers a refuge for those who foster a love for craft hobbies of all types.

The studio is the brainchild of Cindy Nickerson and her daughters, Laurie Nickerson and Lindsay Burden. All three have been lifelong craft enthusiasts. Classes at Dewey Street start at $20 and include sewing, how to make school albums, care of house plants, do-it-yourself book binding, block printing, puppet making, flower arranging, and the list goes on.

Dewey Street plans to offer kids’ craft camps from 10 to 11:30 a.m. June 10-14. The projects will be geared for kids ages 8 to 12. For more information, visit dewey-street.com.

The idea was to open a space that spurs creativity through interaction.

“It’s great working with other people, whether you’re doing the same project or a totally different one, because you can feed off the energy of each other, and that’s what this space is all about,” Laurie Nickerson said. “It’s about sharing knowledge, learning new things and socializing. A lot of times, crafting is very isolating. You do it in your house. You do it at night. You’re not really talking to people. I call them ‘closet crafters.’ They do all these wonderful things at home, but no one ever sees them.”

The studio space was initially going to be just a place for Cindy Nickerson’s professional quilting business. Her 15-foot computerized Gammill longarm sewing machine dominates much of the back of the shop. The $38,000 machine stitches quilt fronts to backing material, creating a professionally finished product. Some examples are hung on the store’s bright blue walls.

Soon after securing the 1,200-square-foot space, the three of them realized there was so much additional space, they should do something with it. Dewey Street was born.

All three women were inspired by Cindy Nickerson’s mother, Joan Faust, who lived much of her life on Dewey Street in West Springfield, Mass.

“She grew up during the Depression, so she had to make do with what she had,” Cindy Nickerson said. “She was always finding these innovating ways of creating things, making toys for us, or keeping us busy (with projects); we were always doing crafts.”

Laurie Nickerson said, “That trickled down to my sister and me. She would come over once a week to baby-sit, and she’d bring a craft. Every Wednesday, we were at the kitchen table gluing pom-poms together.”

As children, they would also go to their grandmother’s house, and the Dewey Street location became known as the place for doing crafts.

Faust died in February of Alzheimer’s disease. She was 90. The studio was seen as a way to honor her memory.

They set about securing antique tables at which people could work on crafts. That task proved to be a bit of a stumbling block. In Massachusetts, it’s easy to find old furniture. Not so in Las Vegas, they found.

“The city’s not even that old,” Cindy Nickerson said.

Dewey Street opened in March.

“One of the things about this space is that you don’t have to be a professional to come in here and do a project and have fun,” Cindy Nickerson said. “They can come here and learn the craft.”

Organizations are welcome to rent the space. The studio has contacted groups such as scrapbookers, knitting clubs and organizations such as the Girl Scouts. It also plans to book nationally known crafters to give special classes.

There’s even a UFO (Un Finished Objects) retreat planned about once a month for completing those projects one never got around to finishing.

Their casual, welcoming approach spills over into how they view errors. The women call mistakes Waldos. Jabbers are when people prick their fingers. Some errors make the craft better, they said.

On the last Sunday of each month, Dewey Street will be available to nonprofits, a way of giving back to the community. The owners will choose an art or craft project suited to that group. For example, if a group of women from a women’s shelter came in, they would do an art project on empowerment and self-esteem.

Interest seems to be there. Theresa Martinez stopped in to ask what the studio space offered. She was interested in taking a sewing class and took a class calendar.

“I looked around (at classes), but everybody does it when I’m at work,” she said.

Classes are always being added as ideas spin among the three women. Classes coming up include designing textiles and new, nontraditional quilt designs.

What would Grandmother Faust say about the studio?

“She would love it,” Cindy Nickerson said. “She’d be right in here getting her hands dirty along with everybody else.”

Dewey Street is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays, after hours by appointment and during scheduled class times. For more information, call 702-767-0338 or email dewey
streetdesign@gmail.com.

Contact Summerlin/Summerlin South View reporter Jan Hogan at jhogan@viewnews.com or 702-387-2949.