This year, sewing is
officially in the mix of topics covered by my school’s STEM/STEAM/Maker course.
I decided to provide an excellent introduction to the topic this year to allow
for further depth in the coming years.
Where did I start?
Hand sewing is where we
all began. I had the students do a sample (test sew) before diving into the
real project. Each student was given a piece of muslin in which to practice a
running stitch and sew on a button. I chose these two skills since they were
going to be necessary for the first actual project. Muslin fabric was used
since it is cheap, cuts down on issues with patterns, and stitches are easy to
see and remove.
In my initial planning, I estimated
the sample sewing would take about 15-20 minutes. In reality, all my classes
were happy working on the sample for the whole class period. All the while there
was plenty of excitement. Individual instruction was much needed in how to knot
the thread. Students were striving to be creative, and the majority of samples
turned into “real projects.” Finished inventions included treasure maps, miniature
pillows, embroidered faces, little purses, and creatures.
What
was the first project?
For
the first project, the students were to sew precut felt pieces to form a little
gremlin. Using precut pieces saves class time and allows focus on the main goals
of the lesson: practicing the running stitch and sewing on a button. Even
though the project was straight forward, students found ways to be creative and
differentiate their gremlins.
The
gremlin template and lesson plan can be found on Style Engineers (we skipped the pin part and left it flat).
