Class Recap: Hand Sewing (K-2)

 We had a great time learning how to hand sew in my three part summer course.  Here is what we did each week:

Week One: String Art

Learning Goals:

• How to thread the needle
• Sewing motion: jumping up from the surface and diving back down like a dolphin
• Creating a front and back of our sewing piece
• Using these skills to create string art

This project is a great introduction to hand sewing as it does not use knots (which as a knot tying adult with many years of experience, forget how tricky they are!), rather we tape the ends of the yarn to the back side of the project. This allows us to focus on threading the needle and practice our sewing motion. 

View a video of students sewing their string art on my Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CvFAP-Utm5P/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Week Two: Embroidered Wall Tapestries 

Learning Goals

• Continue to practice threading the needle and our sewing motion
• Learn how to tie a knot at the end of our thread
• Learn how to sew on beads to our tapestries
• Use yarn to create a picture on our Monk’s cloth

Week two was the time to learn the trickiest part of sewing, knot tying!  We then created our own embroidered wall tapestries on Monk’s Cloth. I chose Monk’s cloth because it is a loose, woven fabric and can easily be sewn with plastic yarn needles.  This fabric easily unravels, so to prepare it for use, I zipped around the edges on the sewing machine, and when they were done sewing, attached a paint stir stick and string for hanging. Students really enjoyed adding beads and made some wonderful creations! 

This is a “T” for the artist’s first inital

Week Three: Stretchy Glove Stuffies

Learning Goals:

• Continue to practice our skills of threading the needle, knot tying, and sewing motion
• Learn how to sew on a button 
• Sew on a 3-D form

In our third class, we put all of our learning together to make an adorable Stretchy Glove Stuffy. I chose this project because most of the stuffy was already sewn for us. I wanted students to feel accomplished, not overwhelmed at the prospect of sewing a stuffy, and the stitching the face on, and the top of the glove shut was the perfect ammount of sewing. This project was tight in our 1 hour class together, but they did it! 

We started by learning how to sew on buttons (a great life skill), and how to sew on pieces of felt.  After we had our faces ready to go, we stuffed them with polyfil and sewed the opening shut.  These turned out adorable, and the students were very proud of their work. 

Overall, this was a great group, ready to try anything!  I love teaching sewing because it shows students that there is more to art than just drawing. Artists use all sorts of mediums to express themselves creatively. As an added bonus, when teaching sewing, students learn a vital life skill that they can use forever!  It’s a win-win in my book!