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

[neverlandsky]

Home Ec. made a heart pillow and an apron. Plus cooking. Also has to make blown out yolk egg babies and have active baby doll too that we were graded on. Plus had to take shop and welding. All were mandatory in Jr. High.

 

[WDWEPCOT]

Part of my 6 years of Home Econ since my father forbid me to take shop as I was a girl and girls don’t do such things
Made a heart pillow / drawstring shorts / apron - I can’t recall what else -! Already knew how to sew / cook / clean etc had been doing it for years as my mother was to sick to do these things
I do recall doing embroidery and I recall hating it - again already knew how and didn’t care for it - can safely say never done it since
sewing comes in handy often as I’m short and need to hem pants frequently- usually do this by hand or mend something - but the only item made from scratch gas been my Fish Extender and I needed a machine for that one !!

 

[BlueStarryHat]

I took Shop for half the year, which I loved, and then Home Ec the other half. I *loved* Shop class, and I just tolerated Home Ec. This was in elementary school 6th-8th grades. I had been taught basic sewing by my mother, so Home Ec was sort of boring unless it was a cooking day. I already knew the sewing stuff. As I recall, the boys in the class only took Shop.

I actually really enjoy sewing, and have taught myself more than the basics. I don't do it much anymore, except for hems and stuffed toy repairs, though.

 

[Christine]

I guess my junior high was cutting edge. This was probably late 70s. I don't believe Home Ec or Shot were mandatory for anyone but most people took it as the choice of electives was few. But we got to both: home ec and shop so not only did I do sewing and cooking but I did wood and metal shop and learned to use some tools. I would say the shop classes had about 10% girls in them. Most boys did not choose home ec so much lower percentage there.

 

[tazdev3225]

I remember it and how much I HATED it. My mom is a fantastic seamstress, she even made my wedding gown. She forced me to learn how to sew and even started a 4-H club teaching sewing to me and my friends. I was never had an interest in it but she persisted. Then came the dreaded Home Ec. classes. The only highlight was I got to make a pair of bell bottom jeans, all the rage in the early 70's. Mom threw them out. The skirt I had to make was interesting. The teacher asked what we thought we deserved on the project for a grade. I told her my mom said I deserved an "F", I got an "A". My mom was right. The straps fell off as did the pockets the first time I wore it.

To this day I am not much of a sewer. I have been known to hem pants with bright orange thread and you can see my stitches, of course I have also used a stapler to hem pants. Mom still shakes her head at times and wonders where I came from. I did much better with cooking classes.

 

[disneyseniors]

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.

You are so lucky to be a natural at sewing. I took the classes, and to this day I can Only follow a pattern to make something. I can't just wing it and make something from scratch. I mostly make quilts and wall hangings, that sore of thing, but I have made my grandsons fleece hooded jackets which turned out pretty cute

 

[disneyseniors]

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.

You are so lucky to be a natural at sewing. I took the classes, and to this day I can Only follow a pattern to make something. I can't just wing it and make something from scratch. I mostly make quilts and wall hangings, that sort of thing, but I have made my grandsons fleece hooded jackets which turned out pretty cute

 

[NotUrsula]

You are so lucky to be a natural at sewing. I took the classes, and to this day I can Only follow a pattern to make something. I can't just wing it and make something from scratch. I mostly make quilts and wall hangings, that sort of thing, but I have made my grandsons fleece hooded jackets which turned out pretty cute

Why, thank you. I come from a long line of tailors on my mom's side; I had absolutely zero choice in the matter of learning. (She started me with standing on a kitchen stool pressing seams at age 4 and I progressed to making my own clothes by first grade. I was sewing for money by the time I was 10.) It does help that I have always been capable of thinking in sort of "exploded 3-D" -- I can see a whole garment and break it down into the necessary pieces in my mind. I do have a totally unrelated career, though; sewing just doesn't sufficiently pay the bills, because most people see it as unskilled labor, and it pays accordingly. These days I mostly only sew for others on a volunteer basis, mostly making theatrical costumes, which I like best of all.

I'm actually rather infamous for not having the necessary patience to quilt; most people I meet these days who sew are quilters, and they tend to assume that I do it, too. Nope. Don't have the patience, and don't own the tools, either; I can make drapes or re-upholster a chair when I need to, but all the finicky flat pieces of a quilt strike me as a nightmare. I'll stick to tailoring.

 

[RedAngie]

At my junior high in 7th grade, both boys and girls had to take one quarter of both Home Ec and Shop. They were electives after that and in 8th grade.

I think I made a skirt in sewing. Most boys in the class made a necktie.

Oh, and practically every subject in my junior high was labeled as some kind of “art.” Domestic Arts for Home Ec, Industrial Arts for shop, Musical Arts, Creative Arts, Mathematical Arts, Physical Arts for gym, etc.

 

[disneydreamer1980]

We had to take Home Economics for half the year and Tech Ed the other half when I was in middle school. Both were coed though. This was in early to mid 90s. Sewing and cooking were the two major parts of Home Ec. I had to sew a drawstring bag in the sixth grade, and I still to this day have that bag and it’s held up great. It’s my odd sock bag lol. I had to decorate it so I painted a cat with puffy paint on the front pocket. My kids call it the ugly cat bag lol



I must’ve done a quality job, that bags been in use for 30 years and it’s still going strong lol

 

[indimom]

Late 80s. Girls and boys took home ec and shop class in junior high.
Home ec we made sweatshirts and a stuffed animal.
Shop class we made clocks and napkin holders.

 

[EsseG]

My junior high home ec teacher learned her skills in the 1930's, the heyday of home economics as a science. Although I knew the basics of sewing, she taught us the "Bishop Method" of garment construction and had us tailoring our own wool jackets by 9th grade. I still make biscuits and sauces the way she taught and can pad-stitch a lapel in my sleep.

We didn't appreciate her at the time and made fun of the required "puberty projects", we called them. She called them handwork to pick up between other chores in the housewife lives she thought we'd have. Embroidery, huck weaving, and smocking, anything to keep our minds and fingers occupied.

My sewing machine has always had a special space in any home I've had, ready to alter ready-mades or sew a first communion dress. And I can't sit down without a project in my hands.

Thanks, Hannah Hawkins. I know you're stirring that white sauce in the afterlife.

 

[georgina]

6 years? Wow. That's a lot. I had little room in my HS schedule for electives (one class period reserved for religion) I think I managed one year of chorus and one year of leisure art, which was fun. Everything else was math, science, English/literature, social studies, required P.E., and foreign language.

 

[AppleDumpling]

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

Same. Home Ec was required for girls when I was in Junior High (I think for 2 years). We made wraparound skirts. I had a great teacher and enjoyed the class, though I liked the cooking part better. We also learned to crochet and made scarves and granny square vests (it was the 70’s). I would’ve been interested in Wood Shop as well, but girls weren’t allowed (nor boys in Home Ec) in those days.

When DS was in middle school, all students were required to take both “Home and Careers” and Industrial Tech classes. He sewed a pair of flannel lounge pants and a throw pillow.

 

[fly girl]

Late 80s. Girls and boys took home ec and shop class in junior high.
Home ec we made sweatshirts and a stuffed animal.
Shop class we made clocks and napkin holders.

Pretty much the same as me.
7th grade: had one semester of home ec, one semester of shop. Coed, equal number of boys and girls in both classes.

Home Ec: balancing a checkbook, baking cookies (still use the piece of bread trick to keep cookies soft), learning to sew with and without a machine.
Shop: I enjoyed the shop class and I know we did something with metal but I can't remember what it was. When it was wood, I made Salt & Pepper shakers my dad still has.

 

[tony67]

Yeah - home ec (cooking sewing etc..) and shop class in junior high.

Also
Photography - where we took photos, discussed composition and developed film and printed photos in a darkroom and made a calendar with our photos.
Printing - we learned to run a printing press and made personalized note pads.
Accounting - we learned to balance a checkbook and general accounting rules I still use today.
TV Production - learned video equipment and general TV Production etc..
Computer Programming - they taught BASIC on a DEC mini and for more advanced folks we learned C on an Acorn computer - in the early 80s - when I got to college they were still teaching pascal.

These are all things that have helped in in life in general and its unfortunate we don't teach some of these things today.
We are too busy with other things I guess

Oh and just to say it were were not some rich school district - at least half the school was on government assistance - we got 5lb blocks of orange cheese for example.

 

[NannyBeBe]

I too Home Ec in high school in the mid-60s. I loved it and still use the skills I learned -- setting a nice table, removing stains, wrapping gifts, simple cooking skills, etc. We learned to sew a straight line by sewing on lined paper with no thread in the machine. It's sad that those things, along with shop, are no longer taught.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

We didn't have any classes like that in Junior High. In High School I took Home Economics - we did cooking, budgeting, and sewing. I enjoyed it, even though my mom taught all her daughters how to sew and cook from the time we could stand on a step stool at the stove and push the pedal on the sewing machine.

 

[NYCgrrl]

Sewing wasn’t offered at my jhs or hs.
Some girls took typing and/or steno and boys had some kind of machinery class.

My Mom taught me all I know about sewing starting with hand needle crafts before moving on to a machine. She was a true needle artist which helped make up for the fact that she couldn’t cook worth a dang, . Elder sister was taught the same way and I still give her items that need buttonholes made so she can hand bind them. None of my younger sisters could sew including the one who took formal classes at a Singer shop and had three girls .

 

[RangerPooh]

Nope. Not a required class. By the time I reached middle school (early 90s) they had phased it out. There was a cooking class though. We were supposed to have a sewing unit but it didn’t happen.