On the last day of the before school sewing class, a beautiful, two sided ornament was created.

Before School Sewing Class

First the sewing needle case......

then the pumpkins!!!!!

The pumpkin patch is being created. Stay tuned! More next week.....

A "creature" pattern was made, and beginning to take shape.

Beary Happy!!

Look at these beautiful bears! To celebrate summer vacation one mom organized a special creative Saturday morning topped off with pizza and cupcakes! A younger brother had an idea and created his favorite baseball player, Jason Bay (see the red socks?)....soooooo cute!!!

SUMMER BEARS !

My first summer class! School had just ended and these children were ready to create. First they chose the buttons or beads they wanted for the face and other adornments, then very carefully, they each created a unique bear. Great care was taken when creating these bears and they are just adorable!!

"Kente Cloth"

These "Kente Cloths" were woven by third grade students. In preparation for the International Festival, I taught them about Kente Cloth and how to weave. After they wove their pieces, we hung the "cloth" in strips and it just kept growing! The five cloths, representing five classrooms, were hung in the cafeteria on the day of the festival.

Birds and a Pig

Another class of young students just ended. Instead of teddy bears this class made birds.....and a pig. At the beginning of each class the kids pick the felt color, thread color, embellishments and the size of the bird, I thread the needle, knot, and untangle. The kids in this group were 5-8 and very enthusiastic. We had many laughs. The first step in my classes is to make a needle case, this teaches the kids how to hold a needle, sew on a button and how to pull the needle all the way up or down through the fabric. After they get the basic idea of what to do with the needle and thread they are ready to create a bird, teddy bear......... or a pig.

Good Old Fashion Tie Dyeing

With the bright sun shining and the birds chirping away I am looking forward to outside activities. Tie dyeing is a very popular outside activity and seeing these photos makes me look forward to some warm summer days!

For these young students I put the fabric dye in squirt bottles. Using long rubber bands the students tied the the t-shirts as they wanted then squirted the dye randomly. The two shirts below are a good representation of the work of all the students.

More Fun With Textiles - Resist Dyeing

The students loved this project! I gave them squeeze bottles of thickened flour and water. After the designs were put on the fabric the pieces were put on the grass out in the bright sun. When the pieces were thoroughly dry small sponges were used to put the fabric dye exactly where they wanted the color.

More Bears Added to the Bear Family

We begin all bears with a face. The students can choose buttons, beads or thread for the eyes, nose and mouth. Some students add bracelets, "clothes" or earrings. After they are stuffed, I put out ribbon and it is used in many different ways.

Young Students Sewing for the First Time

Teaching people to sew is one of my favorite activities. When I am teaching children, sometimes as young as three, I show them how to put the needle in the fabric and pull the thread up and then put the needle down through the fabric and pull down, then do it again. I give them scraps and let them to what they will. We then move on to a small felt object, usually a teddy bear. There is always someone who will have to expand on the idea...... as your will see in the first photo. They get so much pleasure making a fabric collage with many different pieces of fabric and at the same time they get the feel of a needle and thread.

Gyotaku

We had so much fun printing with rubber fish. Some children chose to put the fish on pieces of fabric to frame and hang in their rooms, some children chose to put the fish on t-shirts, all the kids had fun!

Success!!!!

Watching children learn to sew is heartwarming. After learning to thread a needle we began this bird by stitching up and down for an eye, then by sewing on the wings. We glued the beak in place, glued the two sides in place and just began to stitch. I love the piece of trim added to this bird. A student saw the scrap in my bag and asked if she could use it on her bird....adorable.