Sew Fun

So I love teaching and I love sewing.  I got the idea of teaching a sewing class.  I mentioned it to my wonderful sister-in-law Gail, who is a college professor on the west side of the state.  She ran with it and asked her teaching friends if they'd be interested.  They were and so I taught my first Sew Fun class.  It was a make and take.

The class cost $20 for each student and they received everything they needed to complete Noodlehead's fabric bowl.  I provided fabric, interfacing, rivets, and handles.  All they needed was a sewing machine.  It was a great experience and I learned a LOT about teaching sewing.

The first thing I learned was there are a ton of people out there that have always wanted to learn to sew and many of them are intimidated by the process.  Maybe their first exposure was in a school setting and they didn't receive the help they needed because there were 29 other students in the class.  My class was small...10 people so I was able to reach out to everyone as  they worked.

The biggest challenge we faced was sewing machines.  Everyone brought one but not everyone knew how to work them or even thread them.  I spent a lot of time playing with machines and not as much time helping to teach skills.

Everyone worked at a different pace so I wasn't sure how to explain the steps.  I made the bowl up in different steps and took them to show what the bowl would look like as we progressed.  That was a good idea because the visual helped me quickly explain what to do next.

By the end of the class, everyone had a finished bowl and was happy with what they had accomplished!

I think everyone enjoyed the class and I've been invited back next month to teach a small zippered bag.