Advanced Sewing Club........Snowmen and Snow Scenes

We had a great time at sewing club this afternoon.  My mom (she's my assistant!) and I worked with 9 veteran seamstresses who have all completed at least one semester of sewing club and/or sewing camp this past summer. 

Although all the snow in our area has melted and it felt like spring today, we made two "snowy" projects......a little stuffed snowman and a snowy scene. 

I'm hoping to teach the girls some embroidery this semester and the snowy scene project was a step in that direction.  They used chalk pencils to draw snowflakes on a blue background fabric.  This piece was then placed into an embroidery hoop (they were very amazed that they got to KEEP the hoops!).  Next, they stitched their snowflakes with white craft thread.  The last step was to sew a "snowdrift" at the bottom (white felt) using a running stitch.  Then the extra fabric was trimmed and hot glued to the back of the hoop.  I think these turned out so cute!!

They also made snowmen out of felt, using felt pieces and/or buttons for the features and embellishments.  Most of the girls didn't finish this at class, but they are going to be SO cute when they are done!!!

Fun times at Beginner Sewing Class

We had our first beginner sewing class of the semester today and it was tons of fun!

First off, each student received a special, handmade, personalized sewing bag with basic sewing supplies inside.  Here's a photo of the bags waiting for students to come and find them!!  I made a needle book and apple pincushion for each student and placed these supplies inside a small plastic box.  They will bring their bags and supplies to each Sewing Club class for the rest of the semester. 

Today we learned the basics such as how long to cut your thread (roughly from fingers to shoulder), how to thread a needle, how long to make the "tail" of the thread (the length of your hand), how to tie a knot, how to do the running stitch and how to sew on a button.  We practiced these skills by sewing a running stitch down a small rectangle of felt.  One student decided these could be used as bookmarks.  GOOD IDEA!!

Our two projects for the day were felt bracelets/cuffs and small felt pouches.  These simple projects allowed the kids to practice sewing on buttons and using the running stitch to make something functional.  Here are some photos of their creations: