Hello Friends!
The first sewing camp, Sew Cool Accessories, was held last week at Pulitzer & Panetta Creative Studio in Huntington.
pulitzerandpanetta.com We had a fun time!
Our project was to make the incredibly cute Keep your Cool Smartphone case from the Straight Stitch Society, designed by the fabulous Liesl Gibson. You can see her amazingness at
http://oliverands.com/
First order of business was to learn to thread a needle! Most of our campers had experience sewing, but we started by reviewing a few basic stitches. The running stitch, which is a basic sewing stitch of going up and down. We focused on trying to make the stitches even in length and evenly spaced on our hoops. Then we moved on to backstitch, which as it sounds, you move your needle forward from underneath (back of the fabric) and then when on the top (right side) of the fabric, you go backwards, putting your needle in the previous stitch ends, thereby connecting the stitches. You have a continuous row of stitches. This is a strong stitch, which is useful when strength is called for or for reenforcing corners or seams.
Then came the hard decision! To make an ice pop or the adorable ice cream sandwich. I was sure that ice pops would win, but in the end, most decided to make ice cream sandwiches. I couldn't decide, so I made both!
The project let the girls really express themselves with colors and stitches. They had a lot of fun with it!
The project offered so many learning opportunities. The phone holder is lined with a batting material, which none of the students had worked with before. It is also lined and has an adorable pocket inside, perfect for stashing some money and ID with your phone all in one place. The keychain is an added bonus!
The last step was setting in a snap, which required the use of a craft hammer, which was quite cathartic! We had so much fun with that, I forgot to take pictures!
This was a lot of sewing in a short time, but look at the amazing results! And those smiles! Now the phones can stay safe and the girls have total bragging rights that they made it themselves!
And while I taught them the finer points of pattern reading and lining up notches, I got an education in current pop music. Which was perfect, so I knew which songs I should download onto my new iPhone.
Thanks girls!!
As a bonus, they took a look at some of my knits for Fall I am currently working and pronounced them cool. They will be at Rexer-Parkes come the end of Sept. This fall, we will have more than just knits for babies, but super warm and cozy hats and accessories for children and adults!!
I am also planning on attending the Greenport Maritime Festival and possibly the Huntington Fall Festival. An Etsy store is on the horizon...
Stay Tuned!!
This coming week, August 12th, I am teaching Fantastical Friends at the studio, where kids ages 6 and up can make their own stuffed friends. They can be cute or ferocious! Whatever they come up with! There is still room available if you know a child that might want to join us.
Here are some pics of a penguin being made. Our little camper has a sweet penguin already and wanted to make him a friend! So cute!
Sewing isn't just for girls. Jut this past week, I taught a friend of my son's how to make a stuffed friend and he decided to make a rancor, (you may know it as that big gigantic beast that chases after Luke Skywalker after Jabba the Hut drops him into the pit in the Star Wars series). It was the first time he tried his hand at sewing. Isn't is cool?!
Create on!
