Feltcraft Level 1/Life Skills: Star Pin Catcher, a Practical Hand Sewing Project
In this one-time class, learn to sew the overcast stitch and make a beautiful and safe place to keep your sewing tools! Begin your mastery of one of the most useful life skills!
Ms. Diane Sutliff
Average rating:
5.0
Number of reviews:(187)
What's included
1 live meeting
55 mins in-class hoursClass Experience
In this one-time class we will make a small star-shaped pin catcher and learn the rudiments of hand sewing. We will talk about how felt is a unique type of fabric. We will learn how to: thread a needle, anchor the ends of the thread, estimate how much thread we will need to complete a seam, cut out pattern pieces from felt, and we’ll learn how to manage tricky skeins of embroidery floss without frustration. We will also be practicing visual estimation skills as we work to make our stitches the same size and with equal spacing. The pin catcher will also serve to keep our pointy needles and pins accounted for, right from the beginning. Additionally, we will be exploring ways to embellish these projects to make each finished piece unique to the learner. We will talk about both decorative stitches and appliqué. Our students can add anything they wish to their work to make it their own! Hand sewing is an important life skill, giving kids the tools they need to repair or create clothing and home textiles. Hand sewing also provides hand/mind linking work that is harder to come by in these days of digital devices. Our sewists will come to understand more about garment construction and gain new appreciation for clothing industry designers and workers. This is the FIRST LEVEL in a series of one-time feltcraft classes. Each subsequent level introduces new skills, concepts, and ways of thinking so stitchers can begin to imagine projects on their own. This L1 class specifically introduces the skills of: cutting pattern pieces, managing needle and thread, securing tails of yarn, and the overcast stitch. Most students will complete the pin catcher in class. All students will have all the skills they need to complete pin catchers on their own. Preliminary class? If you think your learner would like to try out stitching on a simpler scale before jumping in here, please consider my series of one-time Needlecraft classes. The first one is Needlecraft 1: Running Stitch Bookmark. There we work on plastic canvas while we learn to thread a needle and explore variations on the running/straight stitch. This project is done with colorful yarn, and gives plenty of opportunities to explore patterning with stitches while practicing yarn management and stitch size. I have been teaching hand-sewing skills to children for many years, and am an accomplished sewist. I have carefully selected feltcraft projects that are appealing, practical and open to customization. I have two cameras set up in my classroom, and my bird’s-eye-view camera clearly shows my hands so students can see exactly what I am doing. I will be cutting, sewing and embellishing these projects right along with you.
Learning Goals
Our learners will understand the rudiments of hand stitchery, and have the skills to: cut patterns pieces, thread a needle, anchor ends of thread, utilize the overcast stitch. They will improve visual estimation skills on the small scale of stitch size. They will begin to gather the skills to repair or even create clothing or home textiles.
Other Details
Parental Guidance
In this class we will be using needles, which are sharp and can easily get lost. We will be talking in class about ways to help needles stay found and how to stitch safely when others are around. We will be using straight pins, and again will talk about how to help keep those handy and accounted for. We will also be using scissors, and a pair sharp enough to easily cut felt will require care when using.
Supply List
* Wool or wool/acrylic felt. This is a better level of crafting felt that is easier to work with and the final project is much more durable. General acrylic craft felt will do in a pinch, but it can be more difficult to push the needle through and tends to fray at the edges. * Embroidery floss. We will learn how to care for the skeins so we don’t have a huge tangle, and how to extract plies without frustration. Our visible stitches will be part of the design, so a color assortment is nice to have. * 4 glass head straight pins. I like quilting pins because they are longer and have a big head. Perhaps a sewing friend or neighbor can share a few from their sewing box. * 1 embroidery needle. They come in a variety of sizes from #1 thru #5, and an assortment is handy until your learner settles on a favorite * Good scissors, both for snipping threads but especially for cutting felt pieces, which are notoriously slippery. * Pencil * Index cards to be made into thread keepers and to be used for keeping notes * 6-8 cotton balls, a few shredded tissues or some poly fluff for stuffing the pin catcher. * Ziplock bag or shoebox to keep everything together between sewing sessions! * Patterns printed at home from the pdf file in our Outschool Classroom
Language of Instruction
English
External Resources
Learners will not need to use any apps or websites beyond the standard Outschool tools.
Joined September, 2021
5.0
187reviews
Teacher expertise and credentials
I have been teaching hand-sewing skills to children for many years, and am an accomplished sewist. I have carefully selected projects that are appealing, practical and open to customization. I have two cameras set up in my classroom, and my bird’s-eye-view camera clearly shows my hands so students can see exactly what I am doing. I will be cutting, sewing and embellishing these projects right along with you.Reviews
Live One-Time Class
$12
per classMeets once
55 min
Completed by 3 learners
Live video meetings
Ages: 10-14
1-6 learners per class
