teaching newbies

last week i taught my second monthly sewing class at the library. the first month, i had three teens show up, each of whom had at least a little sewing experience. this month, i had two twelve year olds with no experience, a forty year-old with some experience but who needed some advice on a project she was working on, and an older woman with her mother who brought their own machine and their own projects and who knew quite well how to sew. my teaching partner and i spent most of our time with the twelve year olds. when the class got started, one of the girls had brought along her mother who seemed quite concerned that we didn’t have patterns to follow and whether the girls were picking fabric that was the right weight for the tote bags they were making, but eventually, she decided to go out into the library to work on her own projects. the other librarian who runs the class with me has the same “sewing by the seat of your pants” ethic as i do, so we work really well together. i mocked up a quick pattern for the girls to use and was thrilled and amazed when, three hours later as we wrapped up the class, each of the the twelve year olds had a completed bag that was reversible, had pockets and decorations and a big grin from ear-to-ear. their bags weren’t perfect, but we had been able to share some basic hints and tips with them that will serve them well if they continue to do more sewing. our goal was to basically throw them in, head first, and teach them to not be afraid of the sewing machine and fabric and mistakes. if their comments about the bags they’d made (“cool!”) were anything to go on, i think we succeeded.