In mid-October, Block Club Chicago reported that the new Sewing Do Museum at 3050 N. Milwaukee Ave. would be open on weekends and add hours later. The added hours came in November. The museum's posted schedule now runs Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 4 to 7 p.m., Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The Insect Asylum is fewer than 200 address numbers south at 2870 N. Milwaukee Ave., and it keeps those same five days. For the first time, this short stretch of Milwaukee has two small hands-on museums open on the same days, including weeknights. You can fit both into one evening after work.
The schedule that lined up in a month
Sewing Do's founder, Katie Esslinger, told Block Club that The Insect Asylum, which opened in 2022, helped inspire her to bring her museum to this block. "This is an artistic strip so I thought this place would fit in well," she told Block Club Chicago. With the November hours, the two now share a week:
| Day | Sewing Do Museum, 3050 N. Milwaukee | The Insect Asylum, 2870 N. Milwaukee |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Closed | Closed |
| Tuesday | Evening class only | Closed |
| Wednesday | 4 to 7 p.m. | 3 to 8 p.m. |
| Thursday | 4 to 7 p.m. | 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. |
| Friday | 4 to 7 p.m. | 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., sensory-friendly hours 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. |
| Saturday | 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. | 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. |
| Sunday | 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. | 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. |
Sewing Do closes earlier every day, so it sets the order. On a weeknight, start at 3050 before 7 p.m. and walk south to The Insect Asylum, which stays open until 8. Both welcome walk-ins. The Insect Asylum says it sometimes closes for private bookings and posts those closures on its Instagram, @theinsectasylum.
Why Wednesday is the cheapest night for both
Standard adult admission adds up quickly. Sewing Do charges $24, which includes the materials for a small project you make there. The Insect Asylum charges adults $25, seniors 65 and up $18, students and educators with ID $18, children ages 2 to 13 $15, and children 1 and under nothing. Two adults visiting both on a Saturday pay $98 before any add-ons.
Wednesdays cost less. The Insect Asylum runs a recurring "Community Day at The Insect Asylum: $10 Admission for Everyone," ticketed on Eventbrite with the listing priced from $12.51 once fees are added. One adult visiting both museums on a Wednesday pays about $34 in base admission, compared with $49 on any other open day.
A Wednesday visit to both looks like this:
- Arrive at Sewing Do, 3050 N. Milwaukee, soon after 4 p.m. With the $24 "Sew Your Part of History!" visit, you stitch by hand, sew on a button and use a vintage machine, and you leave with a finished small project.
- Leave before the 7 p.m. close and walk south on Milwaukee to 2870.
- Use The Insect Asylum's last hour or more on the $10 Community Day admission. It closes at 8 p.m.
What each museum asks you to do
Both museums are built around making something, which is the strongest reason to do them together.
Sewing Do has 100 sewing machines dating back to the 1800s, gathered from collectors, donations, online shops and garage sales, plus historical needles, irons, threads and buttons. Esslinger told Block Club that its Necchi collection is the most complete of the brands on display. Two of the machines came from the building's previous tenant, a European drapery store that ran for more than 20 years. The landlord gave them to the museum. Classes meet in a workshop area behind the exhibits, and a separate makerspace room is in the works.
The Insect Asylum's classes run on the same idea, using pins and specimens instead of thread. Its Eventbrite collection lists these sessions for the rest of November:
- Butterfly Pinning Workshops, Saturday, Nov. 21, 5 p.m., from $28.52
- Full Moon Mini Cloche Workshop, Wednesday, Nov. 25, 6 p.m., from $28.52
- Crafting Curiosities: Owl Pellet Dissection/Jewelry Making Workshop, Saturday, Nov. 28, 3 p.m., from $28.52
- Beetle Pinning Workshops, Sunday, Nov. 29, 2 p.m., from $28.52
Each listing shows additional dates. The museum recommends booking classes ahead because spots are limited. In February 2025, WBEZ also reported that the classes often sell out. The gift shop carries work from more than 60 local artists.
Sewing Do's longer classes are filling up the same way. The $90 Tailoring and Mending workshop on Nov. 15 is listed as filled, and a second session is set for Saturday, Dec. 5, from 1 to 4 p.m. It covers clothing repair and alterations. The $90 Beginner Sewing Workshop on Saturday, Nov. 14, from 1 to 4 p.m., includes all materials. On Tuesdays, when both exhibit floors are closed, Sewing Do runs Intro to Sewing & Creative Design. It is seven classes and 14 hours across November and December, 6 to 8 p.m., for $380 with materials included.
Thanksgiving week splits the schedule
Holiday week is the one stretch where the two calendars come apart, and the difference is on Friday.
- Wednesday, Nov. 25: Both museums keep their regular hours. The Insect Asylum's Full Moon Mini Cloche Workshop starts at 6 p.m.
- Thursday, Nov. 26: Both are closed for Thanksgiving.
- Friday, Nov. 27: Sewing Do stays closed. The Insect Asylum's posted holiday closures don't include the day after Thanksgiving, so its regular Friday hours apply.
- Saturday, Nov. 28, and Sunday, Nov. 29: Both reopen. The Insect Asylum has its owl pellet session on Saturday and beetle pinning on Sunday.
If you're hosting out-of-town family that weekend, Saturday is the day to bring them to both.
The rest of the walk between 2845 and 3050
Esslinger described the block as an artistic strip, and the storefronts between the two museums back that up. Block Club's 2024 coverage described Gem: A Vintage Collective at 2894 N. Milwaukee Ave. as a shop carrying work from more than 30 artists and vendors. Its current organizer profile lists daily hours of 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Block Club's November 2025 gift guide included Firefly Fiber Arts Studio at 2860 N. Milwaukee, with its workshops and locally made goods, and Bric-a-Brac at 2845 N. Milwaukee. With Firefly a few doors south of The Insect Asylum, the fiber-arts theme runs from one end of the walk to the other.
Sipping Turtle Cafe at 2959 N. Milwaukee sits between the two museums. The husband-and-wife owners opened it in spring 2020. The same owners closed Poke Okie at 2945 N. Milwaukee on Sept. 27. Block Club reported the space is slated to become a modern Japanese sushi restaurant with beer, wine and sake, which could open in December. That depends on a City Council ordinance lifting the tavern-license moratorium on the Milwaukee block between Kimball and Central Park avenues. Ald. Anthony Quezada of the 35th Ward introduced the ordinance after community feedback.
When we look at a North Side block, at Joe Kotoch Group we check how small storefronts like the former drapery store at 3050 get a second use, because that tells you how a corridor is changing. If you own on or near this stretch of Milwaukee and want to know what new tenants like these mean for your building's value, let's Start a Strategic Conversation.
