The first thing visitors notice inside Make-Modern isn’t the sewing machines. It’s The Wall.
Stretching across one side of the light, bright Bailey Avenue studio, horizontal shelves and diamond-shaped cubbies boast skeins of color-saturated yarn, bobbins of bright embroidery floss, glass jars of fluffy pom-poms, spools of textured ribbon. It is a riotous rainbow of possibility—equal parts art installation and working supply cabinet.
It is also, in the most literal sense, form following function: a foundational principle of the modernist movement.
“Part of crafting is falling in love with the materials,” says Erika Allen, Founder of Make-Modern. “That’s why we put these beautiful supplies on display so artfully. They’re not just decoration—we’re putting them out to inspire the students. The kids, especially, become enthralled when they get to choose something from ‘The Wall.’”
That philosophy—that beauty inspires creativity—is the lens through which every part of Make-Modern is viewed. The goal isn’t simply to teach someone to sew, knit, or crochet. It’s to create something beautiful that students—and their parents—are proud to wear, display, or give as a gift.
“Kids love fabric with dancing avocados,” Erika says, “but kids will also love an amazing block print floral from India. And there’s the win. Because kids know when a parent thinks something is beautiful—when it goes up in the hallway or on the sofa or when they wear it to school. We talk a lot about how beauty and quality are really motivating.”
Ridgefield marks the fourth Make-Modern location, joining studios in Darien, Greenwich, and Westport. The studio opened at 9 Bailey Avenue in the spring, and the warm welcome from Ridgefielders has exceeded Erika’s every expectation.
“Everyone here has been so wonderful,” she says. “Every person we meet is so smart, so kind, so fun. We have several Make-Modern employees who are first-time homeowners, and they are all looking for houses in Ridgefield now!”
Running a brick-and-mortar handwork studio in Fairfield County—much less four of them—was never the end goal for Erika. Or, at least, not at first. Her path to Make-Modern could easily have been clipped with a pair of pinking shears for all its zigzagging.
Erika spent the first act of her career as a college professor and a lawyer. She laughs as she recalls dating someone in law school “largely because he had a great mom.” “I thought she had the perfect gig,” she says, “as the mom of two charming boys.”
Erika got exactly what she wanted. She became mom to two charming boys, now both in their mid-20s and local enough to sometimes help out at Make-Modern birthday parties.
When the boys were young, they attended a Waldorf School, where they experienced a holistic, play-based curriculum rooted in imagination and hands-on learning. The Waldorf philosophy emphasizes a “whole child” approach—mind, body, and hands. Children learn knitting, crocheting, hand-sewing, embroidery, cross-stitch, wet felting, and more. Erika honed her skills right alongside her boys.
“As a Waldorf parent, you’re expected to make a lot of art yourself,” she says. “It’s just part of the community—you’re not on the sidelines… you’re participating.”
When Erika’s family relocated to England for a stretch, she joined other “trailing spouses” in teaching handwork and sewing to local children at the school her sons attended.
It was there that she noticed something remarkably transformative about handwork.
“Throughout the day—in class, on the playground, in the cafeteria—these children were not always so friendly to one another,” she recalls. “But there was something about working with one’s hands that brought out positive social interactions, and I was struck by it.”
Erika hypothesized that, because handwork is neither competitive nor collaborative, it fosters a unique kind of social environment. Students work alongside one another rather than against each other—everyone absorbed in their own project, each feeling free to encourage those around them.
“I loved how kind the students were to each other,” Erika says. “And I was having so much fun being around them.”
When the Allens returned stateside, they settled in Darien, where Erika continued to practice law—and also spent countless unbillable hours costuming shows for her theater-loving son.
“If you can sew—and if you have a theater kid—you end up costuming shows,” she says wryly. “So I ended up costuming shows for a bunch of years, and set a goal: when I turned 50, I would retire from practicing law and start a handwork studio. That would also give me the opportunity to teach the techniques I love.”
Erika piloted the initial version within a studio share, test-driving the name “The Handwork School.” But one year in, she decided to rebrand to avoid the regulatory quagmire that comes along with calling something a “school.”
“What we wanted to do is help people—both girls and boys, kids and adults—take traditional handwork techniques and create projects that feel completely of the moment. That’s where the name ‘Make-Modern’ came from.”
Make-Modern eschews the drive-by, drop-in feel of a painted-pottery place. The thoughtfulness of the curriculum, the originality of the projects—which are not repeated at the same location within a two-year period—and the quality of the materials set Make-Modern apart.
“Our ethos aspires to be Dover Street Market by way of a Waldorf school,” Erika says. “We work really hard to scaffold the projects so that everybody walks out of class with a finished product that is displayable, giftable, or wearable.”
The process of developing that curriculum is as labor-intensive as it is inventive. Erika and four other women on the corporate creative team—Laurie Duarte, Katie Schorr, Sara Brindisi and Hannah Jaeger—spend months researching, designing, testing, and refining projects for weekly classes, workshops, and camps. The summer camp curriculum alone boasts more than 100 bespoke projects over nine weeks.
Every location’s studio manager holds a degree from an art or design school, and each brings a different specialty to the table. There is a wedding dress designer, a macramé specialist, a graphic designer. Maggie Seidenberg, who manages the Ridgefield studio, is also a digital illustrator.
But credentials are only part of the picture. Another prerequisite? The teachers have to be phenomenal with children.
“One of the critical pieces of the Make-Modern essence is, as an instructor, you need to make the kids feel loved,” Erika says. “To truly feel loved when they’re in this experience.”
The classes themselves span nearly every age and stage of making. The youngest group, Crafters, introduces kindergarteners through second graders to a new creative medium each week—hand-sewing, resin, polymer, and more—in a 75-minute session designed to let them start and finish something beautiful in a single sitting. Beginner (grades 2–5) and intermediate (grades 3–6) machine-sewing classes build confidence before students move into Fashion Foundations.
Adult offerings range from sewing and knitting to crochet, needlepoint, and specialty workshops. For the fall semester, workshops include stitching a custom quilt coat or upcycling a mockneck sweatshirt. Whether learning a new handwork technique or refining an existing one, classes are equal parts skill-building and social outing. Guests are welcome to BYOB, with paper goods and wine glasses provided.
Whatever a student pays for a class, Erika says, they should leave with something they would have purchased for that price. Because the goal is not just learning an invaluable skill—it’s also to make something beautiful.
Make-Modern’s Marketing Director, Hannah Jaeger, first came to the studio as a customer before joining the corporate team. She attended a craft-and-sip event for incoming kindergarten parents at the flagship Darien location and was swept up by Erika’s infectious enthusiasm and joie de vivre.
“So many of the activities kids are doing these days are high pressure—a means to an end,” Hannah says. “Tutors, music lessons, competitive sports. But there’s all this indisputable research showing that learning a skill, a craft, is very good for your mental health. Erika believes that the whole point for kids and adults is not a means to an end—it’s joy and confidence.”
As a busy working mother, Hannah had long since let go of the handwork hobbies that once brought her joy.
“I used to love crafting,” she says. “But I just didn’t have time for it—or rather, I didn’t make time for it.”
Since becoming part of the Make-Modern community, Hannah has reconnected with that crafty, creative side of herself.
“I’ve consistently had some sort of project going,” she says. “Being able to take an idea and use my hands to create something—it’s been such a mental health boost. It’s brought me so much joy at this stage of life, and I love that my kids get to see what I can make when I focus and put my mind to something. It’s lovely to model creativity and inspire them to create something of their own.”
Scheduling joy is at the heart of Make-Modern—and it’s something Erika has been quietly building toward her whole life. It began with the handwork she learned alongside her sons. It grew during long days as a corporate lawyer, when fabric and yarn became a creative refuge. And it was reinforced in England, watching children slow down, work with their hands, and be genuinely kind to one another. Sometimes, all it takes is someone to teach the first stitch.
“Parents say it to me all the time: ‘I just want to get my kid off screens,’” Erika shares. “And I always tell them—kids have to want to do something more than be on the screen. That’s how you get them off. Give them a skill. If they learn how to make pom-poms, they’re going to want to go home and make pom-poms.”
From its bright, colorful walls to its warm, gentle instructors and thoughtful projects for both children and adults, Make-Modern is a place built for joy.
“Don’t you want to schedule some joy into your life?” she asks. “A moment where you’re doing something that’s good for your soul, good for your brain—something that simply feels good?”
From Erika, it feels less like a question than an invitation.
Make-Modern is located at 9 Bailey Avenue. To see their fall semester offerings, visit make-modern.com. Follow along on Instagram at @MakeModernStudio to see recent projects.
“Don’t you want to schedule some joy into your life? A moment where you’re doing something that’s good for your soul, good for your brain—something that simply feels good?”—Erika Allen, Founder of Make-Modern