American Girl Sewing Circle: Sew Your Own Doll Clothes

Do you love dressing and designing outfits for your American Girl? Do you know how to use your sewing machine, or are you comfortable with hand sewing? If so, join our sewing circle and make some new friends while you learn basic and intermediate sewing and fashion designing skills! In this class, we will be sewing several items of clothing for your American Girl doll (any brand, including Our Generation dolls, will work as long as they have a soft body and are 18"). 

A "sewing circle" is a club, or group of friends that get together regularly to sew. With a shared theme, sewists can practice and help one another with projects, get to know one another and really encourage and support one another in the art of sewing! 

During this course we will be sewing the following items for your doll:
Week 1 - Basic circle skirt with stretchy waist
Week 2 - Pajamas (t-shirt & matching pants set)
Week 3 - Swimwear (both one-piece and two-piece outfits)
Week 4 - Dress (lined and hemmed, with back closure)

At the start of the class, we will review sewing basics and machine operations, just to ensure that we are all on the same page and can proceed with adding intermediate sewing skills. For those with a sewing machine, it will be helpful to make sure your machine is in proper working order before class starts, and that it is ready for use. Students who prefer to hand-sew, or are new at machine sewing may find that it may take longer to complete their outfit, which might require them to sew offline between classes. 

Some of the sewing skills we will be learning and improving are: 
- How to choose fabric and supplies
- How to trace, cut out and arrange pattern pieces
- How to make the most of your machine and adjust settings and tension when needed
- Pinning and sewing seams (by machine or by hand)
- Finishing inner seams and hemming
- Sewing buttons and sewing closures (Velcro)

Fabric choices may vary, depending on student preference, so we will begin the class with a basic circle skirt and then discuss fabric choices for the next class. There will also be a supplies list for each week of class, for each project. For every class, please have your straight pins, pincushion, scissors, ruler, cutting mat (or other hard surface),  thread and machine (or hand sewing needles).

This class is a great way to meet other American Girls fans and learn to sew and design clothes. All of the learned skills can be used to sew wearable clothes for you as well! Among the patterns provided upon enrollment is an optional child-size pattern to make the skirt and pajama set. If you purchase enough fabric for you, your doll can have a matching set as well! Instructions for this will be included and discussed during class. These extra projects are optional, but the class welcomes you to share any and all projects you sew between classes. 

Note: it is helpful to have a webcam or device that can be set up at chest level to allow the class to view the student's hands and sewing space. This will help me to supervise the sewing easily and catch any errors. Since sewing machines are often loud when in use, I will be muting and unmuting microphones when necessary. Otherwise, I encourage students to interchange relaxed, fun conversations and show support and encouragement to fellow classmates. Nonverbal participation is also possible through the chat option. Please feel free to contact me in advance if your child has any special needs or requests! Please also contact me if you have a student who wants to join the class but is outside of the age range, as we may be able to accommodate them.