Sewing lessons begin tonight. The first project is in the shape of a tube. I think it all comes back to the tube. Take a piece of fabric, fold it over, stitch it and you’ve got a tube. There is something about this shape that seems to have so much opportunity. We are going to embellish it with stitches, a ribbon and trim and slide it over a vase to make what I am calling a vase cozy. My friend Shara made one of these a few years ago and I have always wanted to do one as well. It seems like a good project to start with.
We are are going to dive right in. I thought about spending the evening going over all of the tools in detail, but that is like waiving a cake in front of someone and not letting them eat it until next week. I have opted for teaching about the tools as we go, context specifically. I am taking a page from Craftapple’s post, and giving them fabric with lines on it to follow to get comfortable with the sewing machine. However this is not to say we aren’t going to cover some of the basics. My mantra for all of the lessons will be:
- measure twice cut once — this is SO true. I wasted o much fabric just planning this simple vase cozy for tonight.
- fingers – always keeping your fingers AWAY from moving parts, blades + hot irons
- close the blade – retract the rotary blade after use.
We aren’t going to get into cutting tonight. I am actually a bit nervous about letting them loose with a rotary cutter, the Mom in me. I purchased this cool little tool called the Gypsy Gripper to stick onto the ruler so they won’t have their fingers down near the blade. I have the fabric for the cozy already cut out, so tonight all they will be cutting will be their ribbon and trim. Getting use to the pedal speed on the machine will be experience enough. Next week we are going to start the pillow case.
