Fabulous First Day of Sewing Camp

WHEW!!  What a morning we had!  It was truly fabulous.   The students were incredibly enthusiastic and excited to learn.First, we learned how to trace and cut a pattern to make a Needle Book.  Gotta have a place for those needles!!  Then, the students drew designs on the front of their needle books to personalize them.

That's when the    real fun began.  The students took thread and needle and made those designs really "pop".  Don't you just love how they are all gathered around out on the front patio sewing?!

Incoming 2nd grader sewing her design onto her needle book.

I love when the kids gather together to sew and chat.  They were also helping each other whenever they could.

Incoming 3rd grader working on his needle book.  Look at that concentration!!

It wasn't all sewing today - we started on some glue batik fabric squares that will eventually (by the end of this week) be turned into pillows.

After the design of their choice was drawn onto the fabric square, they used a thick glue to cover all the outlines.  Stay tuned for the update on their next step tomorrow ;o)

All the designs were so lovely and unique!

Each needle book was also unique...

This guy is a lego fanatic -  he wanted to and probably will at a later date, add the other 6 lego buttons that he found in the button box to this needle book.

Love the button choice for this one!

Everyone finished their needle book!!

Next up - pincushions!!  Every seamstress needs a pincushion and the cuter, the better!  These seemingly simple projects help the students become proficient in threading their needles, tying knots (they all learned quilter's knots), and keeping consistent tension and stitch length.  All these skills are so very important to polished finished projects.  We also briefly touched on what a seam ripper is and that truly great sewers are very good friends with their seam rippers :o)

The first finished pin cushion.  This student did not want to use any of the patterns that were provided and instead drew his own shape and proceeded to sew it together.

And last, but definitely not least, Zombie Bear!!  This pincushion was made by an incoming 6th grader with a serious sense of humor!  She decided NOT to sew up the head nice and neat and then promptly decided to let a little of the stuffing come out as hair (or brains, depending on who you ask in this household!).  She loves it and I love how creative she is!