Williston
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FEBRUARY 29, 2024
WILLISTON’S NEWSPAPER SINCE 1985
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Sewing teacher opens Taft Corners studio
BY JASON STARR Observer staff
The bridge over the Allen Brook near Williston Central School has been closed for more than two months after flood damage in December.
Town receives $30K estimate for Allen Brook Trail bridge fix
OBSERVER FILE PHOTO
Engineers are estimating a cost of $30,000 and an end-of-year timeframe for reconstruction of the footbridge that connects the Allen Brook Nature Trail with Village Community Park, according to Williston Conservation Planner Simon Myles. The bridge — a connection for Williston Central School students who walk to school from neighborhoods to the north — was damaged in December flooding. Winooski Valley Park District trail-builders have installed temporary supports, but the bridge has been closed for more than two months. Myles said the fix would involve relocating the bridge over the Allen Brook’s new main channel that was carved out in the Dec. 18 flood and strengthening the streambank to
prevent erosion in anticipation of future flooding events. “If we’re fixing it, we’ve got to make it resilient,” selectboard member Jeanne Jensen said during a Feb. 20 meeting when the board was updated on the project. Town Manager Erik Wells said funding from the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) could be used for the project. The town is working with Engineering Ventures of Burlington to redesign the bridge. Myles expects final designs to be submitted in March followed by two weeks of construction. It’s not yet clear when the work would take place. “They can squeeze it in this year,” Myles said. — Jason Starr
Williston recently gained a master sewist with a calling to teach others what she describes as a bit of a lost art. After moving to Vermont from Berkeley, Calif., last summer, Sophie Hood transformed a former Taft Corners lawyer’s office into a teaching studio bursting with color and eye-catching examples of the many items that can be produced through the craft of sewing. “Once you’ve learned the basics of the sewing machine, it’s pretty amazing how fast you can make usable, wearable (items),” Hood said. “I think it’s something that everybody should learn a little bit of.” Hood opened Little Bird Sewing Studio on Day Lane in November. The studio’s main room has six sewing machine stations where Hood teaches first-timers of all ages, and adults interested in rediscovering the craft. She also hosts specialized workshops in things like stuffed animal-making, sewing machine set-up and repair, alterations and upcycling. Private in-studio and remote online lessons are also available, as are coached group open sew sessions at the studio. Back in Berkeley, Hood built a career in costume design, making pieces for Broadway plays, Disney shows and
Sophie Hood stands in her sewing shop in Taft Corners, where she introduces and reintroduces people of all ages to sewing. OBSERVER PHOTO BY JASON STARR
ballet performances — putting her master’s of costume production degree to good use. She also began teaching from her home. A California native, Hood moved to St. Johnsbury as a teen and graduated from St. Johnsbury Academy then Dartmouth College. So her move last year to Vermont was a homecoming.
She has put aside her costume-making endeavors for now to focus on growing her instruction business beyond what she was able to do out of her basement in California. “My dream was to open up a bigger space and offer more classes and expand,” she said. “This is what I’ve always see SEWIST page 3
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