River Center plans community crafting event with a purpose

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, June 3, 2026

Attending programs and events held inside Rainshadow Hall at the Dungeness River Nature Center can be, to put it bluntly, a pain in the patoot.

While the programs and events themselves might be quite enjoyable, the same cannot be said of the folding chairs. At least that’s the message River Center staff have received from guests.

The River Center is doing something about that, with help from Nikki Pyle, an AmeriCorps Environmental Educator serving on the River Center’s education team. On Saturday, June 6, from 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m., Pyle will lead a community crafting event to make reusable “sit-upons,” or cushions, for use by those with sensitive backsides.

All ages and skill levels are invited to help with the project.

“We’ve had a lot of our patrons come up to us and tell us that these chairs are just really uncomfortable,” Pyle said. “One day I was like, ‘Well, we could just make a simple solution to this,’ and everybody seemed to like the idea.”

Pyle said the event is designed to be welcoming for both experienced crafters and complete beginners.

Some sit-upon designs will involve sewing machines, while others can be completed with simple hand-stitching techniques. One beginner-friendly pattern comes from a Girl Scouts project Pyle remembers making as a child.

“The easiest pattern is you take a hole punch, and you punch around three sides of the fabric,” she said. “Then you put your foam and your stuffing on the inside, and you just use yarn and sew through the holes that you punched.”

Pyle will be there to provide instruction.

“If you don’t know how to sew, that’s totally fine,” she said. “I can show (them) that beginning part, and then they’ll get it super easy.”

The River Center will provide materials and snacks, although attendees are encouraged to bring old or unused fabric from home as part of the project’s upcycling focus. People with sewing machines are also welcome to bring them for more advanced cushion designs.

Pyle said the event is intended to be as much about community connection as it is about crafting.

“It’s going to be a lot of community, a lot of just spending time with each other and crafting and having something to do together,” she said.

The handmade cushions will be available for visitors to borrow during both indoor and outdoor programs hosted by the River Center.

Pyle said the gathering also reflects the River Center’s broader mission of community education and engagement. In her role as an AmeriCorps educator, she works primarily with local students through environmental education programs focused on topics such as river ecology, salmon, hydrology and invasive species.

The collaborative crafting event is free, and participants do not need to stay for the entire afternoon. Organizers encourage community members to RSVP in advance at dungenessrivercenter.org to help estimate attendance, although walk-ins are also welcome.

The Dungeness River Nature Center is located at 1943 W. Hendrickson Road in Sequim.