p e l l i e

starting tonight

psarah — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 14:28:24 +0000

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.

project development

psarah — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 21:04:32 +0000

Developing the projects for the class has been quite fun. In the process I have come up with several other classes I would like to teach. Some being several weeks in a row and others being a simple Saturday. Being a teacher I have experience with curriculum and the sequencing needed to build knowledge but I also know as a learner that I like to be very hands-on. So we are going to aim for completing a project the first class. Assigning a long drawn out project to begin with dampers the excitement and makes sewing seem more like a time-based chore. I am aiming for smaller, quicker projects to give them a sense of accomplishment.

I know that there will need to be flexibility depending on the speed in which the class moves, but to date I have decided on:

- a vase cozy
- a custom pillowcase
- a recycled pillow
- a small tote

getting started

psarah — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 20:37:38 +0000

I have always wanted to teach sewing lessons. You would think being a teacher by day would turn me off to teaching in my free time, but I love to sew and I feel passionately about putting this knowledge into the hands of young girls. My Mom taught me to sew and it was one of the best things we shared together. I of course was the typical daughter student, although I did better with the sewing lessons than I did with the piano lessons. We had a sewing room in our house and all of her fabric was housed in these tall closets. I used to go into that room and pull out all of her fabric just to look at it. It wasn’t anything fancy, but my mother has very good taste so the colors were always very beautiful. I remember sewing small dolls and clothes for my dolls. Eventually I was able to get on the machine by myself and while it was not the decade to be making your own clothes, I used it to embellish and make bags when I could. I still have a few pieces of fabric from her closet that will always take me back to the excitement I felt when I could put simple pieces of fabric together to create a form.

In planning these lessons I have searched the web for advise and was surprised to find that in this DIY era, there was very little written specifically for people who want to teach sewing lessons. There is plenty for the self-directed sewer, most of which is written for an older audience. I did find one site, “Teach Kids to Sew” in which you can download lesson plans for a price. The downloads, which you have to pay for, seem fairly thorough, however I found the site difficult to follow. Craftapple’s blog gives some “from the trenches” advise along with some good advise. The Kids Can Sew site seems directed to those who want/need to make a full-time profession out of it. My intention with blogging on the subject is that perhaps I can impart some wisdom onto others who want to share their knowledge. Sewing can be empowering and can be used in a million different ways. You don’t have to be able to make couture dresses right out of the gate. You don’t ever have to make an item of clothing if you don’t want. It is a multi-faceted tool that can allow anyone to take it as far as they want to go.