Sewing Machine Post Made Me Think - Do You Remember Jr Hi Sewing Class?

[donaldbuzz&minnie]

All these questions about which sewing machine to buy got me thinking. Are you old enough to remember mandatory (for girls!) sewing class? Did it make you love or hate sewing?

I thank my good fortunate that my grandmother had already taught me how to sew. Sewing class in my school was soul-killing. I would never have picked up a needle again if that had been my only introduction!

 

[Christine]

All these questions about which sewing machine to buy got me thinking. Are you old enough to remember mandatory (for girls!) sewing class? Did it make you love or hate sewing?
I thank my good fortunate that my grandmother had already taught me how to sew. Sewing class in my school was soul-killing. I would never have picked up a needle again if that had been my only introduction!

Yes, it was painful. It was not mandatory for me but it was part of Home Ec. We rotated through Cooking, then Sewing, and embroidery/crochet/knitting. Hated most of it.

Sewing was soul-crushing. I find it very difficult and frustrating. We had to make a tote bag. Thank goodness for my mother who helped me. I struggled mightly with cutting out patterns. Now my grandmother and taught me how to thread a needle and do some basic hand stuff, but I did also pick up some good tips for sewing buttons on and the blind stitch.

 

[fla4fun]

All these questions about which sewing machine to buy got me thinking. Are you old enough to remember mandatory (for girls!) sewing class? Did it make you love or hate sewing?
I thank my good fortunate that my grandmother had already taught me how to sew. Sewing class in my school was soul-killing. I would never have picked up a needle again if that had been my only introduction!

I also already knew how to sew, so I didn’t mind it. We had to do one project where everyone did the same thing, and then one project of our choosing. The class project was a sun hat, and for my individual project, I made a couple of stuffed animals (a hippo and a dolphin). I always liked to sew, anything but pants though. I have a terrible time getting them to fit correctly.

ETA - I was browsing on Etsy for the holidays and someone is selling the pattern I used for the toys. Boy! That really takes me back!

 

[dcassetta]

I made a wrap skirt that I actually wore. My skills today are limited to sewing a button and fixing a falling hemline!

 

[Donald - my hero]

OH MY GAWD, yes!! We had no choice, girls did home Ec and boys did shop. We had a choice of two sewing project and then good grief the things we had to do in the kitchen -seriously we needed to set a table properly with the correct number of spoons, forks, knives and dishes (i still laugh when i see a "dessert nappy") AND how to wash them?? Really?? I know the school was in a rural area but come on, how to wash dishes in the correct order??!!!
I chose a wrap around skirt and then i think at-shirt for the required knit material? I still remember getting yelled at and being told "You better hope you marry a rich man so you can buy all of your clothes and get a cook"
NOT what you should say to a very stubborn, strong young woman. I got my great grandmother's old Singer Featherweight after my grandparents paid to add a motor instead of the treadle so I could cart it around with me and started a life-long love of sewing. The kids at the local elementary school were so happy when our youngest graduated because my costume making skills were unbeatable, heck I even entered a national contest with costumes I made for my twin nephews and their sister -Tweedle-Dee & Tweedle-Dum and Alice and the darned things won!! They were in the magazine and I got a massive prize basket full of over $200 stuff. (probably should have kept a copy of the magazine!) I made most of their clothes, sewed all of my holiday dresses, including velvet floor length gowns with matching purses. And the cooking??? Yeah, I opened a home-based baking business and did custom order cookies, cakes (including a few wedding cakes), Christmas good baskets.

I HATED those classes with a passion, none of the skills they taught me stuck, I'm sure I put the wrong spoon out when we eat in front of the TV, and I do NOT follow patterns as printed. YouTube for me to get ideas and then draft my own patterns from what is swirling around in my brain at the moment

 

[disneyseniors]

All these questions about which sewing machine to buy got me thinking. Are you old enough to remember mandatory (for girls!) sewing class? Did it make you love or hate sewing?
I thank my good fortunate that my grandmother had already taught me how to sew. Sewing class in my school was soul-killing. I would never have picked up a needle again if that had been my only introduction!

I took mandatory sewing during home ec. We also did cooking and other things for daily living like check writing (which is kind of obsolete now, lol) I didn't mind the sewing at all. We had to make a skirt and blouse, with buttons and peter pan collar, and model them at the end of the class. I did most of the zippers for everyone in my class and actually liked doing zippers. I didn't take up sewing until I was in my 30's.
We also learned to cook and bake which I loved. My parents got pretty tired of my homemade muffins!
I think a mandatory class for both boys and girls should be included in all high schools.

 

[jdb in AZ]

I didn't mind cooking class -- eating the food was the best part.

The part of jr. high sewing class I remember the most was when the teacher ran the machine needle through her finger nail. Don't know if she failed herself in the class. My mother sewed wedding gowns and men's suits, so she was naturally a much better teacher. I mostly mend and make quilts -- tailoring just isn't my thang.

 

[cvjw]

I had home ec in high school in the 80’s and made a polo type shirt and possibly a skirt. I loved it.

Both my boys had a home ec type class in middle school. They both made an apron. They are mid 20’s now. I am not sure that class is offered anymore at their middle school.

 

[barkley]

we had to take either cooking or sewing-my mom made me do sewing. I took the summer school class so I could knock it out in 6 weeks. I hated it.

I took mandatory sewing during home ec. We also did cooking and other things for daily living like check writing (which is kind of obsolete now, lol)

home ec was no longer required NOR offered when my kids were in school (one is 30, one is 27) but the school still had an in-tact and functioning home ec room so it was used to teach 'life skills' to special Ed kids like my youngest-cooking, sewing, how to operate a washer/dryer on different fabrics/cycles and yes-even balancing a checkbook (along with basic budget and finance concepts). I don't think the bulk of the kids in the school even knew about that old classroom let alone what skills were being taught in it until my youngest started getting on the bus for the ride home with batches of cookies and cupcakes as well as a couple of realy nice personalized throw pillows he had made. it created questioning among some of the students as to why none of these skills were available for them to learn. despite strong interest and the availability of staff qualified to teach the course material the school never opted to offer it as an elective.

 

[georgina]

All these questions about which sewing machine to buy got me thinking. Are you old enough to remember mandatory (for girls!) sewing class? Did it make you love or hate sewing?
I thank my good fortunate that my grandmother had already taught me how to sew. Sewing class in my school was soul-killing. I would never have picked up a needle again if that had been my only introduction!

Old enough? I'm 62 and never had a mandatory sewing class. (Went to overcrowded catholic schools, maybe that's why?) There was an optional sewing class in my high school which I did not take. No cooking class either.

My kids (boy and girls) who were born in the 90's had a sewing class, they made pajama pants I think. None of them seemed to mind it. They also made wooden clocks in the shop portion, we still have them.

My mother-in-law who was a chemistry major at Purdue in the 1940's had to spend a semester living in a house and learning those oh-so-important skills like ironing and making a bed! I'm sure the men didn't have that one.

 

[Kitty 34]

Took Sewing in 7th grade. Mom made me wear the gawd awful dress I somehow made in that class. I never sewed again.

 

[NotUrsula]

Yeah, I remember it; I remember sewing rings around my teacher, too. Her big interest was cooking, and she could barely thread a machine, so I just sat in the back and worked on my own projects while everyone else spent 6 weeks working on making one very simple apron. I took HomeEc junior year, which also happened to be the first year that the gender requirement was changed; girls could take Shop and boys could take HomeEc starting that year. Both those classes were electives, but a lot of people took them to get an easy A for skills they already had. I think that the state had dropped Shop and HomeEc as required classes sometime during the 1960s; I took HomeEc as an elective in 1978.

I remember turning in my "home" project at the end of the class; I'd been hired by the school to make a new set of uniforms for the dance team, so I turned in 12 of them. The teacher took one look from across the room and then just waved me and my garment rack down the hall to the dance room and gave me an A. (I'd also made all the costumes for the drama dept. for 3 years by that point.)

I'l give my HomeEc teacher this much, she was a very good candymaker. That's what we did in the cooking class; baked and made candy (she had a side business making wedding cakes, and she used to stay extra hours using the school kitchen for that;; she and one of the cafeteria ladies also did a steady business in holiday pies just before Thanksgiving.) Looking back I'm kind of surprised that the candy-making was allowed; boiling sugar can result in some spectacular burns. I didn't take home any sewing skills I didn't already have, but the candy-making is something I was happy to learn, and I still make several of those recipes nearly 50 years later.

 

[jlundeen]

Wow, I was just thinking about this the other day.... I also am of the generation with girls Home Ec and boys shop - my son luckily was required to do a cooking part also, and learned enough so he wouldn't starve.

My mom also had taught me her way of sewing, that of course, cut a lot of corners, and the instructor almost had a fit trying to un-teach (didn't work). I did retain enough so that I passed the course, but that teacher really disliked me...(mutual). We did part of the year with cooking, sewing and home keeping, manners, and that kind of stuff... (like how to stand, how to sit, how to walk like a lady - even got copies of magizines so we could see how co-eds dressed....) This was the mid 60's though, so... you know.

I always had my own sewing machine once I ws an adult, and husband and two kids later got into embroidery machines and made a ton of stuff and started a little craft show business... still have them, but don't do much with them anymore.

 

[rlk]

In the 70's, Home Ec was mandatory for girls in my junior high. We didn't get to choose, everyone had to make a hideous bell-sleeve blouse and an apron. The highlight was sewing the Bric a Brac trim on our apron pockets. I can't remember what we cooked for that section.

 

[FreeTime]

I am under 50 and we had it required in HS. Boys and girls. Home Ec including sewing and cooking. Then, we all had to do woodshop also.

 

[PollyannaMom]

I had a half-year Home Ec course that was split between sewing and baking. I made an apron, a quilted pillow, and I think a dress for my little cousin. When we got to the baking part, we were allowed to bring the cookies and stuff to our next class to share!

I was also part of a pilot program at my school that assigned some girls to wood shop for the other half of the year (and some of the boys to Home Ec). I enjoyed that too, but only remember a couple of the projects - a candle sconce and a desk box that we got to engrave a plastic label plate for.

I'm glad I took both - it was a big confidence booster and made me more likely to tackle things around the house now.

 

[jo-jo]

I did the sewing/cooking. I sewed my finger. Every so carefully guiding the materiel , slowly slowly pushing it along, next thing I knew, the needle was through my finger next to the nail. Raised my hand, Oh Mrs. Smith, I need help. She just back turned the wheel like this happens in every class.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

I took Sewing 1 and 2 (voluntarily) in Jr. High. It wasn't required, but my mom sewed a lot when we were growing up (gotta love matching pj's for all the kids!) and I really wanted to learn. I think it's a good skill to have and I still sew occasionally. I have my own sewing machine and have made simple costumes for my kids. I'm good with sewing buttons and mending which always comes in handy. I just fixed a stuffed dinosaur in my classroom last week. I also fixed a stuffed cat with a dangling leg. He feels much better now!

 

[BayouQueen]

Yes — sewing in jr high and cooking in high school. I made a lopsided skirt, and amazing refried beans for our Mexican dinner because my cooking partner’s family owned the best Mexican restaurant in town and shared their recipe.

I also took private sewing lessons with a couple of friends. That was fun, but somehow sewing was always a battle. The bobbin always won.

 

[Imzadi]

I learned to sew the summer before the mandatory Home Ec class started. So, I already fell in love with sewing way before class started. I actually made my own dress which I wore to the first day of class. It was one of the "Make it in one night" very simple, A-line dress. I told the Home Ec teacher and she announced it to the class.

I loved Home Ec class. One time I was walking by the classroom and I found out other students were going in there to sew during lunch hour and also again for a couple hours after school was over, every day. I turned into one of them too. To know now how much teachers are under paid, and all that extra time our Home Ec teachers put in staying with us, overseeing our work, and troubleshooting projects for us, was really a labor of love on their part.

I couple years later, I happened upon a sewing book at the library called Mrs. Patch's Learn To Sew Book and the kindly little old woman in all the illustrations reminded me of my Home Ec teacher.

I really loved to sew. One of the first factory outlet malls opened near me. The prices for clothes were so cheap. But the sizes were all Large and Extra-Large clothes. Since I was a Small, I learned how to alter all my own store bought, way too large clothes on my own. This was way before the Internet or YouTube. But, it was similar to how bridal shops fit brides into sample gowns. They put on a gown of one large size, then pull and pin all the excess into the back. I would do that in the factory outlet fitting room to see if I could later sew, sometimes 3-4 inches off each side of a pullover sweater and such. Maybe it would need some taken in at the shoulders too. I just somehow figured out how to do that.

And all of this was done with a simple straight stitch and zig-zag sewing machine. No frills, no fancy presser feet or sewing accessories like there are nowadays.

I don't sew as much anymore. I can't stand to have to sit down and take a seam ripper to rip apart something I just sewed that ended up wrong. Of course, something always ends up wrong and needs to be redone. I used to have the patience for that. I don't anymore. I used to have a real passion for sewing, so the time, even ripping apart seams again, flew by. Now, it's more a chore to have to alter or repair something as I don't have the energy I used to have to get things done.