Business & Tech

New St. James Business a 'Renaissance of Lost Art'

Atelier: The Art of Fashion will feature a variety of homemade goods, from food to soap, in addition to providing sewing classes and more.

Sewnonymous was on the real estate market just six months ago, and while there will be a new awning soon on the building there will be a familiar face and similar business inside.

Tia Skurn, who owned Sewnonymous, is set to open Atelier: The Art of Fashion, an artist’s workshop that features sewing classes and more.

For those looking to attend the sewing classes Skurn held at Sewnonymus you’re in luck, as she will still be holding them. What will be new to longtime Sewnonymous fans are the other homemade goods they’ll find inside. 

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“We thought wouldn’t it be cool to start something up and make it like an artisan workshop with people that made their own homemade things like soap, kind of like a renaissance for all the lost art,” said Jean Piemonte-Lehman, owner of Sebastian Cakes. 

Sebastian Cakes is a company created by Piemonte-Lehman that specializes in gluten-free, dairy-free and vegan food. The company, named after her son, was created in response to the health needs of some of her family members who are afflicted with food allergies. After developing food allergies Piemonte-Lehman needed to learn new ways to cook and cater to her family’s needs, which she now uses to feed others.

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For Skurn, the idea to have a business of all unique, homemade products was organic. 

“It was just an idea. I have the place and just did it,” she said. 

The storefront is not limited to just Skurn and Piemonte-Lehman’s businesses as they both confirmed that other vendors would be featured in the location after Thanksgiving.

Hurricane Sandy delayed the opening of the business, which Skurn said was supposed to be open Nov. 15. There is no exact date set for the official opening of Atelier.


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