Don’t Deny Your DIY- Interview: Jen Neitzel of DIY Lounge

DIY Lounge is a super fun, crafty workshop space in Portland, OR. They are located in an adorable arty store, Collage and offer a ton of crafty classes. As a testament to the thriving Craft market in Portland, DIY has recently opened a second location to offer even more crafty goodness.

I had the pleasure of teaching my Recycled Clothing workshop there last August and I had a blast! I will be teaching 2 more really fun recycled workshops at DIY on August 2^nd– so if you are in the Portland area- definitely check it out!

I got the opportunity to talk to Jen Neitzel, owner and all around crafty superstar about the DIY Lounge and all her crafty ventures.

So first off, how did the DIY Lounge come about? DIY came about because I was working the craft/vendor circuit and meeting so many creative people who were making their own tools to make their art, creating one-of-a-kind work and often using recycled materials. It was all so unique and original. Most of them were struggling to get the word out about what they were doing and not making much money. I thought I could create a space where people could teach to supplement artists income, with a website that could also double as a marketing tool for teachers/artists to get the word out about their art.

So tell me about your label Knot Ugly. Knot Ugly is much older than DIY Lounge. It is the first creative business I ever embarked on. Originally I began with just knit and crochet, but over time I really wanted to sew with recycled materials.

How did you venture into recycled sweaters? I have been sewing with recycled materials for most of my life. When I saw the movie Pretty In Pink in my teens, I was really excited. I had been refashioning clothing for a few years by then. For me refashioning started as a way that I could wear vintage clothing that fit me, as well as being a great way to have great clothing on a dime. After I started Knot Ugly Designs I was ready to start doing some new things and working with recycled sweaters creating my own designs was just a natural extension of what I had always done. I felt that sticking with knitted sweaters was keeping with the knit and crochet and would appeal to the audience I already had.

I am always curious how people get their start- how did you learn to sew? I am a very creative, somewhat rebellious type of person and was even more like this as a child. I was obsessed with my mother’s sewing machine. I used to fain sickness and while my mother was at work I would spend the day sewing. By the time I was ten I was a much more proficient sewer than my mother. I had no formal training, my mother wasn’t skilled enough to teach me much. Almost everything I know is based on instincts. I am left-handed and from what I have read, lefties are often blessed with an ability to mentally construct 3-d images in their head. I am a classic lefty. I see things in my head and can even manipulate them and see them from different angles. I sometimes jot down sketches, but often don’t need them because I can see dimensional things in my mind, if that makes any sense. This is also what draws me to knit and crochet, converting things from flat 2-d to vivid 3-d! I just love it.

What sewing machine do you use? I have a couple of phaff machines. One that is older and one that brand-spanking new. I have to admit that my favorite machine is my Baby Lock Image serger. I have been having a passionate love affair with this machine from the minute I bought it 2 years ago. It makes everything look so finished with a certain rawness too that puts a smile on my face!

What would you like to see more of as far as crafts or the whole DIY movement goes? I feel like macramé never got it’s turn in the what was an old craft is now a new craft, like knit, crochet and embroidery did. I also want to see some of the tacky but cool crafts return like all of the kooky wall art of the 60 and 70’s. I really love the aquarium gravel and gold cording mounted on wood creations of the 60’s. I want to teach this class at DIY Lounge in the future. I keep seeing a skull and crossbones gravel art with cording image in my head that I need to work out when I can find the time.

Ooh gravel art, that would be so fun! I also wish String Art would make a come back!

Who are your crafty idols? I think the people I admire most are creative and business minded. Creativity is very right brained, where business is left brained. There are few who can master both of these at the same time. I really admire Rebecca Pearcy of Queen Bee and Jenny Hart of Sublime Stitches.

What inspires you? I love to see other people making original designs using unique, ideally reclaimed materials. Nothing gets me more excited.

I also love to see really ingenutive ideas (okay so I recently realized I made up this word. It is a word I have been using most of my life to describe what inspires me. I thought it was a word and I think it should be, but at this point the only word close to it is ingenious, but this doesn’t capture what I mean. To me ingenutive means creative, discovering a fresh idea that no one else has thought of, and a new beginning.)

What music can you usually be found listening to when you are creating? When I am doing most of my work I rarely listen to music. I am really into the archival radio shows of This American Life, To The Best Of Our Knowledge and Radio Lab that you can find online. I love to listen to great stories and find that when I am really into them hours can pass and I don’t even realize that I have been working the whole time.

When I knit and crochet I do listen to music. I find it helps me keep a good pace. Because of this, I try to listen to faster music with a strong beat. I find that Queen is always good knitting and crocheting also Fugazi is great needle and hook music.

For a good time, visit DIY Lounge!
DIY Blog
Original location: 1639 NE Alberta St. Portland, OR 97211
New location: 4429 SE Woodstock Blvd. Portland, OR 97206
Phone: 503.804.2526

(photos Jen Neitzel, and from DIY’s Embroidery Class and DIY Sweater People)