Today's zoom lesson was on how to do reverse applique. Mark on one of the pages of the embroidery booklet, various shapes. They can be only circles, squares, triangles, leaves, hearts. A page of each shape or a number of different shapes on the same fabric page. Mark with a pencil, fabric marker or chalk. Fold each shape in half and make a small snip with the scissors. This snip on the folded fabric is so that you do not cut the rest of the fabric by mistake Insert the scisso

Last year in sewing class we had a doll making session. I allowed everyone to choose what type of doll they wanted to make but laid down some ground rules. I believe in teaching them life skills from an early age and planning and drawing a pattern before beginning to work is one of those skills. They first had to draw a design of their dolls, measure the size, calculate how much fabric they needed - more or less, and write down on the pattern sheet whatever other materials, d

One of her purchases from our morning trip to the charity store was a red and white checked cotton tablecloth. She took one look at it and decided to make a box pleated skirt. We had a cup of coffee and cupcakes that she had made for us And she immediately began to measure and mark her pleats .I love the enrergy of the young ones (she is 18 and has been studying sewing with us since age 9) they want to see the results immediately. She purchased flizeline, or vilene or pellon

Yesterday I showed you how to cut a t shirt apart. Now I will show you what you can do with the sleeves. If the sleeve of the t shirt is wide enough you can make a tube scarf out of it. If it is narrower you can cut the sleeve into 2 pieces, snip the ends into pairs of strips Tie the pairs of strips together on both sides And here is your tied infinity scarf from the sleeve of a t shirt. You can make yoyos from the circles that you cut from the remaining piece of the sleeve O

All the parents of small children and also not so small are in a dillema about how to keep the children entertained and happy while in quarantine. There are books and screen time but they can't do that 24 hours a day. With schools closed how does one occupy high energy children at home? I have come up with a number of tutorials where the supplies don't cost any money and children can learn a new skill and have hours of fun at the same time. For the first few projects you wil

Last week I had a large group of students in the summer sewing classes. When that happens I divide them into 2 groups, each one with their own instructor. The students in one of the groups were beginners so they learnt basic hand stitching and made fabric flowers, yoyos and stitched buttons on their bags. They learnt to sew on the machine and made pillows, bags, pouches and dolls. The students in the second group have been coming for a number of years and all know how to sew

We had a hat making session last week. 2 of the teeenage students brought hats from home and said that they wanted to learn how to make them. When I teach, the fabric that I use is from upcycled sheets or men's button down shirts and what they usually do is make a prototype from a sheet, tweak the pattern if necessary and then make the finished version. Pattern pieces for the one side of the hat. The hats are lined so that they can also be reversible. They found some interest

Rag Quilting is believed to have started in the 1700's. Houses were not insulated against the harsh and cold winters and pioneer women found inventive ways to provide solutions for warmth and insulation. Rag quilts were made from leftover fabric and worn out clothing. These quilts had many uses. They served as blankets, curtains and draft stoppers under doors. Modern day rag quilts are used as blankets, play rugs, memory quilts and art quilts. They come in all shapes and si