4-H sewing club

S comes from a long line of 4-H members.

I was a 4-H-er.  

My mom was a 4-H-er.  

My grandma was a 4-H-er, 

and my great grandma was a 4-H-er!

So this summer we are making S a 5th generation 4-H-er & have started a 4-H sewing club for her and 4 of her friends.

We call ourselves the Sew Fantastic Club.  (Painful puns are very much a part of the sewist culture)  Our first meeting we made club friendship pins.  I tried out using my inkjet printer to print the club name on some ribbon like this.  We made felt 4 leaf clovers (the 4-H symbol) like this. On the little tiny saftey pin we each picked out a seed bead in our favorite color and gave one to each of the other club members so we have a bit of each other in our pins.  It's not really a tradition to have club pins, but I thought it would be a fun way to make us a group right from the start even though most of the girls don't know each other well yet.

The second week we cut out paper triangles, wrapped bias tape around their top edge and sewed them into pendant banners.  It was a good looooooooooong straight line to sew for their first time on a machine.

The third week we talked about how woven fabrics are constructed and sewed book marks and intentionally frayed the bottom edge to make a fringe.  (I was wondering if bookmarks will be quaint archaic relics in 20+ years when S is the 4-H leader for her daughter.)  S wanted to try out some embroidery on hers, so I picked a gingham background and taught her some "chicken scratch" embroidery. . . yes, chicken scratch embroidery; it's a real thing.  Google images of it and be amazed.

This week we made little pincushions for their own sewing kits.  Everyone was so happy with their pin cushions.  They are adorable!

If you are teaching kids to sew here are a couple of tips that have been most helpful for us.  It seems when you are freaked out about working with a machine that has always been off limits because it might be dangerous, adrenaline kicks in high and you sometimes just stomp on the pedal and go desperately fast hoping that the mistakes will correct themselves faster that way.  My machine has a feature where you can limit the speed at which it will sew.  I set it on the slowest setting and we are having better control.

Next important tip is watch the side of the presser foot as you sew and keep comparing the space between the edge of the fabric and the side of the presser foot.  It appears, understandably, that human nature says "Watch that sharp needle that is zipping up and down dangerously close to your fingers!".  But then the stitching wanders wildly around the fabric.  So be aware of the needle, but watch the seam allowance and side of the presser foot instead.

I have found S in at the sewing machine just sewing random stuff that she's thought up a couple of times already.  It's clear that she's going to need her own machine and her own space in my hobby room soon!