I decided a couple of months ago to see if anyone around here wanted to learn to sew. I posted something in the local Facebook group and got quite a response. I ended up with 4 students, and have another that I think will be starting in a month or two. I started out thinking I'd have an adult class and a kids class. The adult class ended up being two private lessons because there wasn't a good time for everyone to meet. I started the kids class a little later- after Adele and Ian got done with the soccer season. I have really enjoyed teaching sewing and I hope that I will get more students in the future. I expect that during the summer I will have more kids classes. Ian has been really excited to learn to sew and has joined my kids class. With him there are 3 in that class and I think that's just about as many as I can help at the same time.
The adults I teach both have different levels of sewing experience. One is a beginner and we have made trick-or-treat bags, crayon rolls and aprons. The other girl has been working on a dress, and hats and props for her photography business. She takes lots of pics of newborns so she wanted to make some hats, bonnets and diaper covers for the babies. The kids I teach so far have made tomato pincushions, tote bags and next time we will start making some dolls.
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| My sweatshop |
Since the girls I teach are interested in making dolls I have had to come up with a pattern that wasn't too hard for them. The doll at the top of the post was the first doll I made. I decided it is way too small and difficult for kids to make when they don't have a lot of sewing experience. So I came up with the pattern above. I'm still working on the hair! The first one I made has the dark brown Yoda hair/ears. I literally started laughing out loud when I turned that doll right side out. The hair was not supposed to do that! The next one turned out slightly better but I have some more experimenting to do. This is my first attempt at doll-making.
This summer I have two jobs, plasma and sewing camp. Hey, I'm revisiting my inner college student. I never did the plasma thing before when I was in college so I decided to give it a try. It's actually not too bad. And it's easy money. Next summer I will be a nurse so I won't have to sell my blood. At least not this way. As far as the sewing class goes I am torn about what to do. I may still teach a few students, because I think that it is something that people really want. I and I actually really enjoy teaching. So I may pick a handful of my favorite students and teach a little bit, depending on how crazy my summer is. 
