No papers or projects to grade! No tests! But lots of fun!
For the past couple of years I have been teaching a class called "Needle Me This!" (An homage to the Riddler from TV's Batman.) Yeah, I know, I am dating myself.
Why I created this class...
I grew up in a small town in Missouri outside St. Louis only 3 houses from one grandma and 1 mile from the other. And my great-grandmother lived halfway in between. All of them were sewers and needle artists. From them I learned hand sewing, crewel embroidery, Swedish embroidery, pulled thread work, smocking, crocheting, etc. (My grandma J. tried and tried to teach me to knit, but I found it too hard to keep the tension even, so I gave up. I needed what I tell my students all the time, "More practice!")
I was one of the lucky ones. I had women in my family who not only did needle arts, but were also willing to "pass it on."
A lot of my students these days don't even get to see their grandparents that often. Our families are all too spread apart anymore. Plus lots of them don't have grandmothers who know this stuff nor do they have the time to teach them. A lot of grandmas nowdays have full time jobs. Heck! I'm old enough to be their grandma and I'm STILL working full time.
Anyway, back to my Summer School class...
I want to leave a legacy of Needle Arts. So, in summer school I have been teaching students to crochet a scarf with a simple single crochet stitch. It's really fun. The kids do a 2" x 2" sample of some scrap yarn and then get to start on the real thing. This takes most of a week. Remember, I've got about 20 kids and almost all have no experience. It takes awhile to get everyone going.
This was done by one of my students in about a week of 2-hour classes!
After about a week, I introduce a second project: a needle point bracelet or a macrame bracelet--it all depends on what kinds of kits are available. I give them a couple of days for that. Most of them work on it and then go back to their scarves (those take more than a few days).
How many of you made loop potholders when you were a kid? I lived in a neighborhood with no girls even close to my age, so I did a lot of reading and stuff I could do by myself. I made potholders for my mom and grandmothers. Some of them became rugs for Barbie. I remember jumping on my bike and riding to Ben Franklin for more loops.
Anyway, it's a really fun and fast project. Plus the kids taught me you could make a bracelet or a long belt by fingerweaving the loops. Yeah, teaching the teacher--it happens!
So far, the class has been pretty low tech. Next time, we'll continue with the other projects, plus how technology is introduced into a basically hands-on class.
Happy sewing and quilting!
Vickie
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