Green to the Seam

Summer Fun in the Sun Day Camp!! Audrey and I have had so much fun teaching at All Saint's School in Carmel Valley, California.The campus is amazing and the staff is so welcoming but best of all are the adorable students. Each and every girl is just a bundle of energy, fun and enthusiasm for sewing. This was Audrey's first real job, work permit and all so she has been really happy about the opportunity to teach.

Our class is called "Sew Much Fun" and we are focused on Eco-Friendly and Up-Cycled projects. Reuse is the the theme and each project was made from the left over scraps from a previous project or an old clothing item that needed an update. 

The girls are pictured here in their t-shirt hats. We created them from up-cycled t-shirts. Every girl chose to add some type of animal ears to her hat. This student brought in a shirt with a girls face on the front. It made up into a really cute hat with eyes.

 I could not resist a picture of this cute little face, as it was the first time she had held still in several days. This little pixie is such a tiny girl that I had to have her sit on my lap to sew on a machine because she could not reach the petals. Notice her flower bracelet on her wrist. This is a Yo-Yo flower that she made herself. The girls really enjoyed making the flowers and adding them to purses, bracelets, hair clips and headbands. This was an open project that could be worked on at any time.

 Three of the girls working on their own with the Yo-Yo flowers. They were all very motivated to continue to learn all week. The flowers taught them to do a basic running stitch, gathering and also sewing on a button. At ages 6-9, they were a very young group but did amazing work on all their projects.

 Another sweet face, and happy camper. She is also wearing her creation in her hair. This little seamstress was very methodical and careful with each stitch. I think I could hire her!

 Working on the machines could be a scary prospect but when teach, Audrey and I approach it like driving a car. You hit the gas petal to make the machine go and control it with a wheel. Drive straight, follow the rules and you wont' have an "accident" and need that seam ripper. And PLEASE don't drop the pins on the floor!

 We start out with paper to practice and move to felt shapes on the first day. It was readily apparent that each of these girls was more than ready to move on to bigger projects after just 3 hours of class.

 A bunny ear hat from a plain white T!

 Audrey is a great teacher and she never realized it until this past week. Here she patiently teaches a student to put her pattern pieces onto the fabric to cut out her project. I was so proud of her skills with the young girls. She was so responsible and mature.

 I told the girls to cut their length of thread the size of their arm to waist, here a student concentrates hard to get a long enough thread for her needle.
A little time for socializing at the machines made me smile to myself so I had to snap a picture. I loved how the girls made friends quickly even though they were from four different schools.

 The students small hands working the sewing machines always amazes me. I know I was sewing by age 8 but I never saw myself so it seems like these girls are just so small. Its such a great age to expose them to this wonderful creative art because they will be able to use these skills the rest of their life. I have adults ask me all the time to do the simplest tasks such as a hem or sewing on some buttons. They pay me to so something that is a Life skill in my opinion as much as learning to swim or cook.

                                        The "Face" hat made for some fun in class.

 I really loved how these two cousins worked with each other in class. One of them had already had some sewing experience and she was so sweet about helping her younger cousin master the pivots and curves.

 Here our darling little cousins model their hats with cute floppy puppy dog ears, completely made from up-cycled shirts. What a great way to learn a new skill, get a fun beanie had and be Eco Friendly all at the same time.

Our week continues to be full of fun with more new projects coming up later. Audrey and I can't wait for each day and are already collecting ideas for classes next summer. American Girl doll creations is the top request so far. Anyone have any other great ideas?