A Newsworthy Moment

Did any of you ever get the opportunity to be mentioned in a newspaper article as a child? I remember that I did once or twice through 4-H or school and it was awesome! Family and grandparents clipped the article and that 15 seconds of fame made me feel briefly like Elvis! (Don't laugh, my pop culture tastes were a bit different from the other kids, lol)

This past Sunday, December 1st, Sew Cute 4-H @ Cox (our Sewing Club at school) was very lucky to get a featured article in the Pasco Times section of the Tampa Bay Times! In addition to two photos, the article included several quotes from our awesome kiddos! All the children were thrilled to see that our little slice of the world was officially 'newsworthy!' (I have to admit, I was pretty dang excited myself, and yes, my grandmother clipped a copy for me!) With everyone's help I was able to secure enough copies for each child that was quoted or pictured to take a laminated copy home to their family! Thank you everyone who assisted with sewing club or with getting extra copies for our students. Please go check it out online if you haven't already.

~Farm Girl Teacher

Learning to Sew: Scruchies

You read that right, I'm bringing back the scrunchie! :) But first, check out the bookmarks my kids made....  see that tutorial, here.

 
Let me start by sharing the same back story I shared with my kids. Sometimes I debate whether or not I should 'waste' time telling the kids these stories, but several mentioned to me at the end of Sewing Club that they liked hearing all about Ms. Wooten's Granny Woot and wanted me to tell them more stories while we waited on their parents to pick them up. :) It's the small things that makes me happy sometimes... Anyway, back to my story.

I really started sewing regularly during middle school. At that time I got off the bus at my Granny Woot's house and spent the afternoon with her until my parents got off work. While Granny didn't have internet or a working DVD player, she did have several additional fun things I managed to get myself into. (Ivy tunneled gardens, rows of corn with hidden snails, record players with tons of records, a giant pantry, her 'office,' the list goes on...) One of the things I was drawn to was her 60's model Singer Touch & Sew. I had grown up around fabulous seamstresses and I loved watching my mom sew beautiful costumes, dresses, clothes, etc. With a lack of modern technology, the sewing machine called to me, begging me to sit down and create. I rummaged through one of Granny's many cabinets until I came across a beginner sewing video. I fired up the VCR and began my first wearable project, a scrunchie. I must have made several hundred scrunchies, I seriously think everyone I'd ever come in contact with owned at least one of my custom scrunchies, regardless of their gender or hair length.

Ever since then scrunchies have always held a special place in my heart. Initially a scrunchie was going to be my first kids project in sewing club, however when I realized how many boys I had I decided to save it. I wanted their first project to be something everyone could use.

After the bookmarks, all the kids were hooked and the boys were okay with 'girl' projects. They either used 'boy' fabric so they could wear them as bracelets, or they sewed scrunchies for loved ones in their lives.

They really are fairly simple to create. The fabric is 16"x4" and the quarter inch elastic is about 3 inches long. (That's a rough estimate I just kind of wrap it comfortably around my wrist and snip.) You're welcome to use my instruction sheet, if you can't print it from the website email me and I can send it as an attachment. Enjoy!

 ~ Farm Girl Teacher

Learning to Sew: Beginner Worksheet and Bookmark

Sometimes, it can be difficult to determine where that 'square one' is that we need to start. Check out these things we used in sewing club, they are very useful for adults and for children!

My first suggestion for those of you who have never used a machine, or who have recently gotten a new machine, would be to remove all threads and stitch a paper first. This is a great way to get the feel for your machine, practice stitching straight lines/corners, and learn to 'steer' without pressure. I often do this myself on machines I've never used with notebook paper, however I created the following worksheet for my sewing club to provide better instructions, and to make it a little more interesting. When the kids first heard 'worksheet' they looked a bit disappointed, but when they realized they used a machine rather than a pencil to fill out this worksheet, I thought they might die from anticipation! :D

After students got a feel for the machine, they began their first project. Originally I was going to have students sew a scrunchie, but after realizing how many boys I had in the club, I decided to go for something more gender neutral first. I wanted something the students would actually be able to use, and landed on a fabric bookmark. The bookmark is perfect because it doesn't take a lot of supplies to make. (The most expensive part was the interfacing.) I made this pattern guide that I blew up using a poster maker. The students had to check the poster BEFORE they asked me for help. (So they learn to use their resources/gain self-sufficiency. Lol, what can I say, I'm a teacher first.)

You'll notice I didn't give measurements for the fabric rectangles, I pre-cut the interfacing and cardboard for them to use as a stencil. While I initially considered having them perfect their measurement skills, I want to prepare them to use a pattern piece on the next project. The fabric rectangles should be 9" x 3" the interfacing is 8.5" x 2.5" and the bookmarks have a quarter inch seam allowance. The students were responsible for determining the size of their opening, and they quickly learned that too small openings were a pain! :)

I hope you/your children love this as much as my students did. Let me know if you have any questions!
Happy Stitching! :)

~Farm Girl Teacher

More Than an Ability to Sew

"Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow." -Anthony J. D'Angelo

As a teacher one of my goals is to develop a passion for learning within my students, however I think we so often view a passion for learning as limited to the capacity of schooling. This last week I started an after school club at the school where I teach so that I can share one of my passions with my kids. While talking with a coworker we began discussing how so many other life lessons can arise from this club. This new sewing club teaches basic sewing skills to our third, fourth, and fifth graders, but more than that, it teaches lessons of love, passion, learning, frustration, commitment, responsibility, acceptance, teamwork, sharing, community, pride, and humility.

A  love of a project containing our blood, sweat, and tears.
Passion for our craft, whatever it may be.
A love of learning how to develop our skills and further our abilities.
Skills to deal with frustration that occasionally accompanies a complex or difficult task.
A personal commitment to overcome frustrations and reach the finish line.
Responsibility necessary to accept one's own mistakes and shortcomings. 
Acceptance that we will always have shortcomings, but they need not inhibit our ambition.
Teamwork necessary to overcome hurdles together.
Sharing our knowledge with another to provide them with the support or knowledge they need to overcome their hurdles.
The love of the community that has donated materials or time to help us accomplish our goals.
Pride that comes only from sticking with and finishing a project or learning a new skill.
A certain amount of humility to keep our pride from overrunning us, often based in the knowledge that there is always something more we can learn, we will never have perfect knowledge. Instead, we will have something better, a drive to gain more knowledge.

I truly believe I am teaching so much more than an ability to sew. THAT is why I do what I do.

~Farm Girl Teacher