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Chris V
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Last year was the first year of our local Catholic homeschooling co-op. We focused on three classes through out the "school-year" (Sept. through June): Music, Art, and Little Flowers / Blue Knights. This year a fellow Mom and I came up with adding a sewing class (which might take the place of either music or art, we're not sure). I've offered to help faciliate this and be a big part of the planning for this class. Did I mention that I hardly sew? In fact, my 6 year old daughter might teach the class better than I.  After all, she's become a little expert in her own right.
Our co-op has children that span the spectrum of ages, from newborn to age 16 or so. There will be roughly 25 to 30 kids (though we'll separate the kids according to age / skill level so that we can better cater to their interest and needs at that time). My focus will be on the younger kids, so what I need help in is finding good projects and resources. Ideally, I'd like to have the year planned out before we start because I'll be welcoming two new little babies at the end of the year, and would love to be able to just hand over what I've planned out to the next Mom, to minimize her efforts.
Just brainstorming here, but I'm thinking about:
Beginner projects
Discussion of the types of sewing
Talk about sewing tools and techniques
DVD's for the kids to watch (as a gateway into a new project or technique, perhaps?)
We will be meeting once a month. Would it be too much to have a new project each month? Or would an ongoing project be better (keeping in mind I'm going to cater my portion of the class to beginners and youngsters).
I would really love to hear any suggestions or advice you can give me! Thank so much!
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Pilgrim
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The book "Sewing with St. Anne" from CHC might be helpful. It discusses sewing tools, methods, etc., has instructions and patterns for projects, it even has a glossary of sewing terms. All with the lovely extras always included in CHC's books, poems stories, history of sewing items, etc. HTH! What a neat class to teach!  Oh, and I think this book is good for beginners. 
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mom2mpr
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Another resource. If you can get your hands on the 4H Sew Fun project book it might give you some ideas, too. I bought it for my dd and we are looking forward to learning a lot and doing a project or two.
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Chris V
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Thank you so much for the suggestions so far!
I love the idea of incorporating the history of sewing as part of the class ... when my oldest was little, my Dad used to DVR old Mr. Rogers episodes for her, then put them on a DVD and mail them to us. I remember seeing episodes of Mr. Rogers touring a quilting shop and an old-fashioned loom-weaving shop. Where did I put those?! ... wonder if I could get them online somehow.
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JodieLyn
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there's another sewing book that's been recommended here.. that's more boy friendly than sewing with St Anne (a nice book).
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Jodie, wife to Dave
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JodieLyn
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well here's one of them.. by the same author as Sewing with St. Anne
Tin Cups and Tinder
But it seems to me there was another little series for kids on sewing.. 
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Jodie, wife to Dave
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: July 25 2011 at 7:35pm | IP Logged
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ahhhhhh
finally found the books I was thinking of
Buckles and Bobbins for boys
and
Stitches and Pins for girls
I haven't used these but they looked really neat when I heard about them.
also remember that you could have really little ones sew with yarn and yarn needles through pre-punched holes in card stock or felt.. the felt is fun because you can cut our shapes and sew around the edges and stuff into little pillows.. or make puppets or such.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
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Chris V
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Fabulous, Jodie! Thank you
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Chris
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JennGM
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JodieLyn wrote:
well here's one of them.. by the same author as Sewing with St. Anne
Tin Cups and Tinder
But it seems to me there was another little series for kids on sewing.. |
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This book is fabulous, but only a bit of hand sewing projects -- 2 or 3, I think. Really good ones, though.
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Dove
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Asking around for someone who is experienced in sewing to help out is also something you might do.
I know our 4H always had a lot of adults involved who were good at sewing.
There are so many good projects available through 4-H I am surprised more home schoolers don't use them as foundations for unit studies.
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JennGM
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I'm bumping this thread because I'm pondering similar things.
I love Sewing with St. Anne, but I wanted a few more masculine projects. Tin Cups are mostly handsewing projects. My sons said they want to learn to sew (with a machine).
When I learned to sew there were some basic projects:
tote bag
pillow (with zipper and applique)
pants following a pattern
My sister made an apron for her class.
Thoughts?
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MichelleW
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I have used the series Jodie mentioned above with my kids. Here is the link at Rainbow Resource for Buckles and Bobbins: Sewing for Boys
She is really great at teaching in a clear step-by-step way. My kids have learned a lot with these books. FWIW, my sons have used their sewing skills on so many projects! My oldest built a glider and sewed the wing fabric. You will be surprised at what boys can do with these skills!
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greengables
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We have just finished a co-op this year in which I helped with the sewing. There were boys and girls in the class with ages ranging from 8 to 16 or 17. My 11 year old son participated. He enjoyed learning to sew and having his own machine-made gifts to give away at Christmas!
He began with a sampler and then there was a list of projects he worked through. I will find our list so you can see the order of projects and then post them. I thought the head teacher in the co-op did a great job coming up with projects of a proper progression of difficulty. If my son didn't particularly want a project for himself, he made it for a sister, aunt, or niece. Some of the projects were: a pillow case, a pin-cushion (I loved this!), pajama pants, a tote bag, a pencil/pen holder, etc...
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JennGM
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Oh, that would be great. Looking forward to the list.
How did they work out having a machine for each child? Did your son need to bring his own machine?
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Jennifer G. Miller
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greengables
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JennGM wrote:
Oh, that would be great. Looking forward to the list.
How did they work out having a machine for each child? Did your son need to bring his own machine? |
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I found the list!
First year students:
1st Semester
1. sampler to learn basic machine control and stitching control They sewed on fabric with drawn lines - straight lines, circles, etc... Then they hemmed the edge of one side.
2.pillow case
3. mug rug (like a coaster)
4. pajama pants
Then there were other little projects used as fillers (like a pencil case, bookmark, headband, eye cover, etc...) if the students finished all those before the end of 1st semester.
2nd Semester
1. Big Chunk pin cushion
2. Reversible tote bag
3. Owl rice bag - Cute owl project which was one of those filled with rice for like a hot/cold pad
4. apron - we helped them add an applique initial on these.
Then there were other little projects used as fillers (like a pencil case, bookmark, headband, eye cover, etc...) if the students finished all those before the end of 1st semester.
We also did a hand sewing section to learn hems and buttons!
2nd year students had different projects such as:
tie or skirt, zippered pencil bag, hand sewing, composition notebook cover.
The long answer to "Did your son need to bring....." is:
My son brought our machine for 1st semester, but it was his older sister's machine and she took it with her to college at the end of 1st semester. At that point, I thought I would have to bring one of my good machines which I did do a few times, but it made me nervous because of a mishap in 1st semester when I slightly backed over daughter's machine when I was exiting the garage, thinking the machine was in the van not BEHIND the van! Thankfully, my daughter's machine only suffered minor scratches! No wonder she took her machine! LOL!
Anyway, then I realized the co-op had a few machines available to students so instead of buying a less expensive machine for son, we borrowed the one at the co-op!
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MichelleW wrote:
I have used the series Jodie mentioned above with my kids. Here is the link at Rainbow Resource for Buckles and Bobbins: Sewing for Boys
She is really great at teaching in a clear step-by-step way. My kids have learned a lot with these books. FWIW, my sons have used their sewing skills on so many projects! My oldest built a glider and sewed the wing fabric. You will be surprised at what boys can do with these skills! |
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Thanks, Jodie and Michelle, for recommending those!
And I always forget about Rainbow Resources...definitely cheaper.
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Jennifer G. Miller
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4Real Forums : Living Learning
Topic: Co-op resources for sewing
