Think Outside the Store is a wearable art studio in downtown Silver Spring where local residents can explore alternatives to store-bought fashion. We provide everything you need to make and model your own unique, eco-friendly clothing, jewelry and accessories, including:

Personalized instruction: Whether you've never sewn before or you're looking for help with an advanced project, we can tailor personalized sessions to fit your needs.

Wearable art workshops: Our sewing and jewelry making workshops are designed so that participants can complete a project in one afternoon, with a focus on upcycling used materials.

Eco-friendly materials: The studio space provides hand tools, foot-pedaled sewing machines, and a variety of salvaged sewing and jewelry-making materials for use during sewing sessions and workshops.

Fun with photography: If you want to model your creations, we've got colored fabric backdrops and basic studio lighting for you to play with.

Sewing parties: Looking for something fun to do with your friends? Host a sewing party at a fully equipped sewing studio.

Who we are

photo by Elissar Khalek

Sarah Gingold

Founder/Clothing Artist

Sarah Gingold began making her own clothes in high school as a form of self-expression. While pursuing an undergraduate degree in Government and Politics at the University of Maryland, College Park, she read "The Travels of a T-shirt in the Global Economy" and developed an interest in studying how clothing affects world culture and politics. In January 2009, while researching water issues at an advocacy nonprofit, she made a New Years resolution to make all of her own clothes, and to make them as eco-friendly as possible. She invested in a foot-pedaled sewing machine and began sewing, thrifting and swapping with a passion, focusing on using simple sewing techniques to restyle old articles of clothing. She is still working on it.

In 2011, she opened Think Outside the Store to share her love of clothing art, and provide inspiration for socially conscious clothing-lovers in the D.C. area.

Collaborating artists

photo by Elissar Khalek

Jamillah Abdullah

Jewelry Designer

Jamillah Abdullah is an independent artist in Silver Spring who joined Think Outside the Store in 2011. She specializes in jewelry design, but has been sewing and crafting since the age of thirteen.

Jamillah is a part-time art tutor and has been teaching since 2006. She is currently the Office Administrator for CREATE Arts Center. She received her BFA in Art Management from Marymount University.

Jamillah is the instructor for the "Jewelry with Jamillah" monthly workshop series at Think Outside the Store. She teaches wire and bead jewelry making techniques, as well as sewing methods that can be used to make jewelry out of fabric. You can check out her blog and see more examples of her work at Jamillah's Jems.

Special thanks to

Think Outside the Store in the news/blogosphere

For more thoughts on thinking outside the store, you can also check out Sarah's blog on the Silver Spring Patch