I need a beginning sewing project

[Tiggeroo]

I am doing a long term sub assignment in a class that is primarily sewing, not my content area. I am going to spend some time covering fashion, color choices, clothing styles, etc... I will also cover careers in the fashion industry and fabric maintenance and cleaning. But I want to break it up with some simple sewing projects. I am crafty and have done many little things but am not comfortable working with them on the sewing machines. What are some alternatives to a sewing maching. I was thinking a simple embroidery project with small hoops or maybe some pillows or something similar. I need something that I could spend a weekend doing myself a bunch of times and feel comfortable working with the students on. I need a simple step by step set of instructions.
I have in the past done cross stitch, embroidery, hand sewn pillows and little stuffed animals, etc.. but it's been awhile. I was thinking that something for Valentines Day might be nice. Or perhaps a baby toy since many of them unfortunately have their own children and definitely have friends and sisters with them.

 

[pixiewings71]

Pillows are very easy, as are tote bags. Aprons? Skirts are generally pretty easy to do too.

 

[golfgal]

Our kids made pillow cases and those string/backpack things that are all the rage. They still use both actually. They are all just straight stitching so nothing complicated on the sewing machine.

When the kids were in elementary school they had an elective every Friday for 2 hours. One mom came in and taught knitting. It was so popular she was asked back and all the BOYS took the class. It was fun to see the boys on the playground KNITTING.

 

[LuvOrlando]

That sounds so nice. The first thing I ever made was a little pillow with a pocket in it for my kids Tooth Fairy teeth.

good luck

 

[rie'smom]

How about a Valentine's day squeeze toy?

Cut 2 hearts from felt- maybe 5 inches

get crunchy cellophane

sew around the heart using a blanket stitch leaving an opening to insert cellophane

close with blanket stitch

If you wanted them too, they could embroider the baby's name or just embroider baby on the front of the heart.

 

[clh2]

What is the purpose of the class? Sewing is a far cry from embroidery and cross stitch.

Did the school give you a course description, or are you creating the course description? If the course description or syllabus contains sewing on a sewing machine - I think you would need to learn how to teach that.

There are some easy projects that could be done on a sewing machine, that use fleece, like this fleece scarf:

http://www.sewing.com/projects/uploads/fleecescarf.pdf

There are also ways to sew an old t-shirt into a tote bag - sorry I couldn't find a link quickly (occasionally the girl scouts in our areas do this.)

And - there is always hooded baby towels that can easily be made suing a wash cloth and a bath towel. Couldn't find a link for this either, but DD mayde one of these when she was in 4th grade for her teacher who was going out on leave for (obviously!) a baby. There are many designs out on the internet - just find one and go with it!

 

[merryweather20]

If I were in high school, and I was expecting to learn how to use a sewing machine, I'd be pretty ticked off if we spent alot of time hand sewing. Even an apron would take a good bit of hand sewing. I had the same issue with a cooking class one time. We had a whole tricked out kitchen with different kinds of ovens, tools etc, and we spent most of the time on our buts in the class.

I'm betting you can find someone to show you how to use the machines. People at fabric stores are usually pretty friendly.

It also sounds like you might have some leeway ie. not just sewing? I'd teach them how to crochet and knit. Yarn is one of those things, that you can get for free for small projects. Any one that knits always has a bit of a skein left from each project. An inner city school near me started a lunch time knitting program in September and thus far all 40 of the students have been using nothing but donations for all their projects. I'm not sure what sort of budget you might have for needles, but I've seen them for 5 cents apiece at my local goodwill. Even retail you should be able to do 75 cents which isn't too bad. They could do some simple scarves, or dish towels or baby clothes

 

[SunFloridaDisney]

Pillows are very easy, and seems like the students would like them.

Anything with just straight stitching should be easy enough.

I helped at my kids school one time for exploration day, we had lots of boys as well as girls sewing. We made (in one day) a quilt that they all helped with. Each student sewed together four blocks, then we joined them all together, and just tied knots to hold the back and batting to the front. It hung in the school office and all the kids were proud of their part.

Good luck to you.

 

[akcire]

I am doing a long term sub assignment in a class that is primarily sewing, not my content area. I am going to spend some time covering fashion, color choices, clothing styles, etc... I will also cover careers in the fashion industry and fabric maintenance and cleaning. But I want to break it up with some simple sewing projects. I am crafty and have done many little things but am not comfortable working with them on the sewing machines. What are some alternatives to a sewing maching. I was thinking a simple embroidery project with small hoops or maybe some pillows or something similar. I need something that I could spend a weekend doing myself a bunch of times and feel comfortable working with the students on. I need a simple step by step set of instructions.
I have in the past done cross stitch, embroidery, hand sewn pillows and little stuffed animals, etc.. but it's been awhile. I was thinking that something for Valentines Day might be nice. Or perhaps a baby toy since many of them unfortunately have their own children and definitely have friends and sisters with them.

Let them practice hand stitching...or if you change your mind these can be done on a machine.

How about cloth diaper wipes--also know as 2 flannel squares sewn together. They can be used as clean up cloths. You can make them as fancy as you would like.

There are also Un-paper towels, which are basically the same thing, but a little larger.

Final thought. My friend makes for every kid starting kindergarden a tote bag. She takes 2 full sized felt rectangles sews them on 3 sides, and uses ribbon for handles (sometimes with crayon themed ribbon). They are just big enough for a coloring book and some crayons. She has the list of the kids beginning school--so she adds their names. If you were doing this for a class of older girls, you could have them make them and donate them to the next incoming class of preschoolers or kindergardeners.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

My dd who is very uncoordinated did a tote bag in 6th grade. If she can so that you can too.

 

[Tiggeroo]

Today was my first day. They lost the teacher mid-year and are working on a replacement. It must be advertised for a certain amount of time and hiring takes a bit of time. I am not sure how quickly this will get done. I have the most experience as a sub, my teaching cert and probably feel a bit more comfortable trying something like this so I'm there. If they can find a more qualified sub in while they are doing this they will bring them in. I didn't have any time to go over the material and they are not sure they want me attempting sewing machines with students, at least until I get to know them a bit. Our school is challenging and there are some students that a very skilled person might have a tough time doing something like this with. Also, two of the classes have 22 students.
The class is technically called Fabrics and Textiles. Part of it can be spent on cleaning of fabrics and part can be spent on fashion as well as careers. In fact it is supposed to be.They can also do some needlepoint and hand sewing. I just don't know what was covered so far. I am going to show a movie with a worksheet this week so that I have some time to sort thru what to do with the class and can find out what was covered. I need to see what materials are available for them to work with and get a better sense of how long I will be there. I don't want to spend the whole time doing worksheets and if need be I would rather tackle a hand sewing project then have them bored.
At some point the students do need to spend some time on a the sewing machines. If there is no sign of a replacement by the middle of next week I will tackle how to work a sewing machine. Do you really think I could get enough of the basics to guide the students through making a tote bag? In order to do this I need to feel that I am fully able to help the students with most problems they will have completing this task. Tomorrow I am going to see if there are a few students in each class who are particularly strong who if need be could also help the slower students.

 

[LisaR]

My dd who is very uncoordinated did a tote bag in 6th grade. If she can so that you can too.

I did the same thing in 6th grade except I sewed the top of the tote bag together! It was the last time I touched a sewing machine.

 

[Kat77]

At some point the students do need to spend some time on a the sewing machines. If there is no sign of a replacement by the middle of next week I will tackle how to work a sewing machine. Do you really think I could get enough of the basics to guide the students through making a tote bag? In order to do this I need to feel that I am fully able to help the students with most problems they will have completing this task. Tomorrow I am going to see if there are a few students in each class who are particularly strong who if need be could also help the slower students.

Do you have any experience on a sewing machine? Can you thread one? Do you know what to do if there is a tangle? If your answer is yes, then you should have no problem making tote bags or pillowcases with the students. It is all straight stitching. Very easy.

Here is a sock monkey pattern I plan to do with DD11. It could easily be hand sewn. http://www.craftbits.com/project/sock-monkey

Tanktop tote: http://www.craftbits.com/project/5-minute-tank-top-tote
Tshirt pillow: http://www.craftbits.com/project/t-shirt-pillow

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I did the same thing in 6th grade except I sewed the top of the tote bag together! It was the last time I touched a sewing machine.

Did you get an F for that?

In all seriousness the bag is pretty elaborate for a tote bag. I was shocked when she brought it home. Basically she worked on that for 1 quarter.

 

[Mom-to-2-Princesses]

I helped at my kids school one time for exploration day, we had lots of boys as well as girls sewing. We made (in one day) a quilt that they all helped with. Each student sewed together four blocks, then we joined them all together, and just tied knots to hold the back and batting to the front. It hung in the school office and all the kids were proud of their part.

Good luck to you.

If you aren't sure about using sewing machines then I think hand quilting would be the way to go! And I like the group project.

We were at a National Park last summer where they had a free class on making a potholder size quilt. It was just 4 squares, a border, batting and backing. (I say potholder size and not pot holder because of the type of batting used -- not heavy enough to diffuse any heat). It was interesting watching my girlfriend getting totally confused about sewing opposite sides together to get the seam inside while my 10 year old was whipping through hers! You would be able to tie in color chosing and even if you had them do a 4 square pattern you could do a lesson on quilt blocks and their place in history (they were used by the Underground Railroad, etc)

Good luck to you!

 

[golfgal]

The tote bags are really easy. It is two pieces of fabric sewen together on 3 sides. The top is folded over and sewn with a gap to thread a string/ribbon/etc. through. Done. If you want to get "fancy" you could string the fabric through and add grommets to the bottom and make it a backpack.

I found directions-pictures and supply list included:

http://mamaurchin.com/pats-tuts-and-how-tos/how-to-sew-a-string-backpack/

These are VERY handy to have and would make great diaper bags for teen moms too.

 

[luv2sew]

There are many questions that would have to go along with any suggestions, like where does the fabric come from. One project that I did with Girl Scouts that did not have sewing on a sewing maching involved was a jeans roll pillow.

Take a old pair of jeans (the kids could bring these in from home and one pair can work for two kids) cut off the legs but do not disturb the "tube" that you get....from that tube you will cut it to a size of a roll pillow.

They can decorate the pillow using anything you can think of embroidery, fabric swatches glued on with fabric glue, fabric paint, iron on stuff or just plain sharpee markers being careful to not let on side bleed through to the other which you can prevent with some freezer paper inserted between the lawyers.

When decorated and dry rubber band one end, leaving about 2 inches past the rubber band for a ruffle type effect and stuff the inside of the roll with stuffing or plastic pellets. Then rubber band the other end. Finish off with a ribbon tied over the rubber bands.

You can also use the other part of the jeans to make into purses later if you want to tackle the sewing machines.