The Adventures of "E" -- Teaching Kids to Sew Part II

Oh my goodness... this has been in my 'draft' folder for almost a year!  Well, have a read and you can chide me for being a bad blogger. 

March 2012:

I had the opportunity to take some time off work while the grands had spring break.  E, my oldest grand wanted another sewing session.  I have blogged before about how she's learning to use the sewing machine.  We were guest bloggers on the American Sewing Guild blog, found here.

This time she wanted to learn how to use the embroidery machine. OOOOOO-kay... well, she's pretty good at threading the Viking so I thought we'd give it a shot.

She picked out a few spools of variegated embroidery thread to use.  We found stabilizer and some white-on-white cotton fabric.  I showed her how to hoop everything. 

She picked a one color design, since the thread color would change automatically.  Little sister thought watching the multicolored butterfly appear was very cool.  When the design was done E removed it from the machine and clipped threads.  Then she went on to pick another design and another thread color.  Much discussion ensued about what would look the coolest. 

Her first ever thread next!!

E did four more designs, including her initial in gold in a scroll-type font.  We talked about how to use these squares in a project.  She decided to make a place mat.  For a pattern she pulled a placemat from the linen closet.  



She is good a choosing complementing colors.



From the fat quarter bin she chose a lovely piece of blue plaid that coordinated with most of the embroidery thread she had used.  She used a scissors to rough cut a large rectangle for the center, and I finished up with the rotary cutter.  (I think rotary cutters are just a bit dangerous for a beginner, especially with a little sister running around!)  I also trimmed out the embroideries.

E took some time to arrange her embroidered squares in a pleasing layout, and assembled her place mat top.  Next we went to the ironing board.  Oh-oh!!  Even though we were being very careful, accidents sometimes happen, and she touched the hot iron with the back of her finger.  (2013 update:  she has since learned to use the iron without ironing her fingers...)

We took a break for some ice in a baggie for the burn, and had a beverage.  After the sting wore off, she decided that it was time to read a book for a while.  Mom came home and we stopped for dinner.

Next day we returned to the project.  E had chosen a white fabric with multicolored dots for a backing.  She pinned it up, and we discussed how to sew almost all the way around, leaving a whole for turning the project.  She remembered having done this way back when she made her little dog blanket last year, so she happily worked her way around the edges, pulling out the pins as she sewed, stopping to pivot at the corners. 

She turned it right side out without assistance.  Once it was turned, I pressed it.  Not wanting another burn, E declined another trip to the ironing board!  I showed her how to use the edge stitch foot to close the gap in the seam.  Voila!  This is one very lovely place mat!  And one happy grand, with a success in the sewing room.

Things to remember:

• It's fun to choose your own 'ingredients'.
• Build on previous knowledge.
• Don't be afraid to try something new.
• Accidents happen.  Be careful but be prepared.
• It's OK to take a break.
• Make it FUN!!
• Be proud of the finished product. 

Happy sewing!

To PFF or not to PFF...

There's a debate going on over at Gertie's blog on whether when you are sewing you should press any seam flat first before you press it open (she's coined the acronym PFF - Press Flat First).  I left a comment over the weekend when she brought it up.  If you want to check out what she said, there's a link to her blog on the right in my blog list.

Now when I was learning to sew, back in the stone age, I was taught to sew-press-sew-press and not to sew across a seam before it was pressed.  I was also taught that pressing was an up and down motion with the iron.  "Ironing" was a term for what you did after you got the clothes in off the line or out of the dryer.  This was before permanent press.  THAT is one of my favorite modern inventions! 

Ironing is different than pressing.    I learned to iron by watching my mother.  She didn't have a nice fancy steam iron, so she used a sprinkler top on a bottle, sprinkling all the garments and folding and rolling them up.  She put them in a plastic bag in the laundry basket, then started ironing the smaller pieces first, because they would dry out more quickly than the big ones.

My six brothers and my dad wore white shirts to church every Sunday.  Those shirts needed ironing every single week.  So did the five oxford-cloth dress shirts that Dad wore to work during the week.  In addition we ironed our blouses and dresses, pillow cases and Dad's work pants.  Believe me, I know how to iron!!  My DD asked me how I learned, and I told her by watching my mom.  She promptly covered her eyes!

I learned to press in my first sewing class in seventh grade.  I can't remember the home ec teacher's name, but I do remember some of my experiences very well.  I had to tear out a lapped zipper three times because I didn't do it her way, and she hated my blind hem (by hand, no less!!)  That class put me off sewing for a while!  If it wasn't for a friend of my mom's I probably would have stopped sewing completely by the end of ninth grade.  But that's a blog for another day.

I learned to sew about age 10 or so on my grandma's treadle machine.  Of course she thought I would burn my fingers on the iron, so the stuff I did was what we now call 'finger pressed'.  But finally in home ec class, I was taught to press.  Up and down, slide the iron as little as possible.  The goal is to flatten an area without distorting it.  Today's fabrics, with their blended fiber content and wrinkle resistance, are less in need firm ironing than light touching up.    Lots of times, after prewashing a fabric, I find the only area that appears wrinkly could be the selvedge edges.

My fellow sewing guild members say they can tell who presses and who doesn't; that garments that were unpressed during construction look 'home-made', while garments using the press/sew methods look hand-made, or more like ready to wear. 

When I sew garments, I sew/press/sew/press religiously.  When I'm quilting, sometimes I finger press the small pieces, or use my 'Little Wooden Iron', or press a quantity of pieces after assembly line sewing them.  But the point is, I still almost always press after each round of sewing.  And I can tell right away when I break my own rules!

I'm not saying that anyone who doesn't PFF is wrong.  There are always multiple ways to do almost anything.  You have to find the right method for yourself.  It's like a recipe book, use the ones you like that give you the results you want, and pass over the others.  But if your projects are not turning out exactly the way you want them to, one thing to look at is whether your pressing techniques need a little tweeking.  Try PFF, you might like it!

Sew on!