Teaching Sewing to Teens and Tweens

A few thoughts about sewing …

Teaching sewing to young people is a wonderful opportunity to help young minds be creative, develop confidence, learn practical life skills and just have productive fun. When I see the light bulb of understanding go on inside a pupil’s mind I am thrilled. All the prep for a class is worth it when someone has that ah-ha moment.

When teaching tweens and even teens, start with simple but stylish projects that will help them learn basic skills and have fun at the same time. Some students are just interested in the finished product. That’s good but I like to encourage them to enjoy the process of sewing. It’s not just how fast you sew that counts. Students need to enjoy the process while they become competent sewers.

One year I decided to go big with a class of brand new tweens and teens. We were going to make an A-Line Skirt. Easy. Simple. Stylish. But too big for a first project. One or two days into the class I turned around to see that there was a sign posted on one of the sewing machines. Quite to the point, it said “I quit.” The student was gone. She had vanished. No one knew where she had gone. Oh dear! After a quick search of the building and no student I finally went outside. There she was sitting in the family car waiting for her sister and mother to come when class was over.

Project 1- Easy Strip pieced Mini shoulder bag

We talked and decided it was just too stressful and we would need to loosen things up a little. We talked about her desire for perfection and that it takes everyone time to learn but it was more important to learn and enjoy the process and not feel the pressure of the finished project. I am happy to say she completed her skirt and came back many times for more sewing classes. She was even teaching one of her friends how to sew.

My point, too big too soon and frustration sets in….let’s start new students with simple projects that teach the basics; each project building on the last. I will be sharing some very simple projects that help build basic skills: working with a paper pattern, cutting out pattern pieces, sewing straight lines with accuracy, turning corners, and sewing curves. These steps are the building blocks for many hours of sewing fun!

Before your students start sewing spend time discussing the parts of a sewing machine. Once they know the new vocabulary everyone will be on the same page. It also helps them during the learning process if they understand the function of the different parts of the machine. What does a feed dog do? Why a bobbin thread and a spool holder? If your students learn on one machine in class but they know the parts of the machine then they won’t be intimidated when they see a different machine at home. Different but the same.

One more thing ….So often when young people are being taught to sew they are encouraged to practice sewing on ruled notebook paper. I was taught to follow the lines. I was really good on those lines. The only problem with that is the eye becomes accustomed to following the lines and not the seam guide. We become fascinated with watching the needle go up and down. The needle will do its job. We have to learn to do our job and guide the fabric along the seam guide. Over the years I have abandoned the practice of using paper and started to use scraps of fabric right from the beginning with my students.

To make it easy for them I use the inside edge of the presser foot as the seam guide. On most machines this will give you a generous ¼” seam allowance. With stacks of scraps at the sewing station young sewers will have fun and develop accuracy while they sew. They will learn how to control the fabric by gently guiding it to keep it even with presser foot. Paper has a different feel and acts differently.

You will have some students who insist on doing the work of the feed dogs. They will push and pull with all their might. As teachers we need to give them time to learn to gently guide the fabric so the feed dog will its job. That takes time and practice. They also need to be reminded numerous times to backstitch at the beginning and end of seams. Be prepared for half inch or longer backstitches. Again, time and practice.

I hope you will enjoy these easy projects. They are great for beginners and fun for those who have been around awhile.