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Oh, golly. I had such big plans.
We've dabbled in a little sewing teaching with my kids, but never really progressed beyond letting them push the pedal while I "drove" and the like. When my daughter wanted some pants that you can't find in stores (everything right now for little girls is either leggings or joggers, both of which she hates), we went online and found a pattern from 2005 on eBay so we could bring it back to some nice wide leg capris.
I could have just MADE THEM FOR HER. But why do something fun when you can ruin it by making it a lesson ;)
Really, I knew better. I knew we should start with pillowcase or pajama pants, but I figured we'd do this together and I could give her the simple tasks - learning to cut, learning to press, doing the straight lines on the machine while I handled any fiddly bits.
I honestly think that there must have been something lost between my generation and my grandmother's, because she had infinitely more patience than I do for teaching kids! I'm so grateful for it, otherwise I'd never have sewn a stitch!
I have an adorable, eager student. I have a Bernina that is a dream to sew on - especially when I throttle the speed down as slow as it goes so she never feels like she's chasing a runaway train (runaway train is my preferred speed), and I have the patience of a gnat.
We tried the original plan, but I kept butting in where I oughtn't and doing for when I should be guiding her to do it herself. I've resolved to sign her up for the next kids class at the shop because clearly both of us need professional help - the small cute one needs a professional sewing teacher. I need a different kind of professional! Ha!
If you have any tips for teaching kids that you've used with yours, I'm all ears! She jumped right in to ironing and I set her to some patchwork while I worked on the pants. (look at that concentration face!) She was so proud of her stitches, and I am so proud of her effort.
I'd just like her to enjoy it, and I'm not helping with that at all! Mamas, grandmas, aunts, friends - you have something I don't. I'm an eager student, so if you can teach me to be as amazing as you are, I'd sign up for that class.
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Roxi Thompson
May 01, 2022
Keely – You are doing great! At age 5 my grandson wanted to “do a sewing project,” so we chose fabric and made 10 bean bags. It really was fun and he learned to sew a straight line pretty well. At least if the seam was crooked, it didn’t matter and we could go back and re-sew over the too narrow seams. And the grandkids are still enjoying the bean bags. The other thing they like to do is practice sewing the decorative stitches on my B880 Plus. Now they’re spoiled for sewing with any other sewing machine!