Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Co-op sewing class


Last fall I taught a sewing class for the kids in our co-op, and I'm just barely getting the pictures together for this post :) There was two classes- the younger kids (4-7) and the older kids (8-12) and we ended up doing three projects- plastic canvas bracelets, fabric stuffies, and felt ornaments.
The kids sewed the bracelets in whatever design they wanted with yarn, then sewed a button and a yarn loop to close it. The younger kids did need a bit of parental help, but they picked the colors they wanted and did most of the work. The older kids were able to do all the work themselves.
The sample bracelet I made.
Some of the bracelets being modeled.
The next project was some stuffies. I searched far and wide for an easy project the kids could do, and finally came across these, which looked super cute and fairly simple. After looking over the designs, I drew some patterns on paper and sewed a couple samples. I used a velour-ish sheet from IKEA, leftover from LMS's Finding Nemo room. I incorporated a green strap from the sheet into the back of the doggy and used some scraps of fleece for the spikes on the dragon. The dragon was a bit more involved because of the tail and spikes, but the rest of the patterns I drew up were fairly easy.
Top: doggy, Bottom: dragon

I didn't take pics of the other kids' stuffies, but here's LMS's kitty cat that she sewed by hand. She picked out the buttons herself, too. Isn't it cute?

The last project was some felt Christmas ornaments. The kids sewed buttons and had help gluing trim to pieces of felt. They then sewed a second piece to the back, as well as a loop for hanging.
Some of the kids chose to do plastic canvas and yarn ornaments, using shapes I picked up at JoAnns.
(I didn't get pics of those, though)
The ornaments I made to show the kids.
Again, I didn't get pics of the other kids' ornaments, but here's the one LMS made. Pretty good sewing for a 5 year old :)
The class was a lot of work, and didn't quite go as I had hoped (I intended to do some machine sewing with the older class), but in the end, I think the kids learned a little bit, at least. Lots of parental involvement made the whole thing possible, especially with the younger kids. I'm not sure that I'll attempt another sewing class at the co-op, but I will be doing some sewing with LMS. She's been asking me to make clothes for her Nanny, so I'll use the opportunity to give her some practice with my sewing machine (with my help, of course).
Have you done any sewing with your kids, and how did it go?

No comments:

Post a Comment