Celebration Central

This week was full of so many celebrations rather than frustrations!!! There were a few frustrations, but we definitely turned those frowns upside down. I can tell each week that the students are getting more comfortable with the machines. The students now typically only have questions about the pattern instructions rather than fixing their machine. To me, this is the biggest celebration of all!

This week, my students have to feature another student's blog in their post. So, in this post, I want to feature one student from each class that had such a great week of sewing...which is very hard to pick because everyone had a fantastic week.

1st period: My student Andrew accomplished so much this week! He finished his hoodie! Thursday during 1st period I was helping a student and someone tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around and Andrew was standing there. He didn't say anything, he just stood there. I asked if he had a question and was very confused about why he wasn't saying anything. Then it hit me, he was wearing the hoodie that he had just finished! I exploded with excitement and so did other students in the class!!! I cannot express how much joy I felt when I realized what was going on. Here is what he had to say about it --> Super Epic Fashion Blog

Here is a picture of the hoodie!

You can see just how proud of Andrew I am and more pictures on my Instagram @OnFireForFACS and on my twitter @_Mrs_Hawk_

2nd period: My student Jahred had a very up and down week. He has been sewing a fox backpack since the end of November and has gotten very frustrated because some of the instructions contradicted each other and the wording didn't always make sense. He started the week off so frustrated because he was having a hard time with the sewing machine and the instructions. I did my best to help him, but honestly, there were instructions that threw me for a loop. We were able to find another way to go about doing what we thought the instructions were asking us to do. Once he completed the backpack he was so excited. I felt like I had done my job as a teacher when I saw this posted in his blog "This is the most excited I have ever been about an assignment and I can't wait for it to be finished." To see more about Jahred's experience and his blogging partner Taylor, check out their blog --> Dream Big Fashion

The final product of the fox backpack!

Stay tuned because I will be featuring more students as we continue on this journey of blogging. In the meantime, if you would like to see what all of my students are up to check out all of my student's blogs on the right-hand side of this blog!

Zipper Pouch and More

Update on the "big reveal": The way that everything fell I had to change the blog reveal date. This Wednesday we will be done sewing accessories (more on that to come in future posts). So, it made sense to use the rest of the week on blogs.

Zipper Pouch: My students have been creating different sewing projects to prepare themselves to be able to sew from a pattern on their own. This project was no different. Main goal- Sewing in a zipper! This was the first time that I had an entire class learn how to sew in a zipper...I didn't even learn how to sew in a zipper in my high school fashion class. It was very successful!

The students went into the project very hopeful. Some quickly made it through the project and helped others, some made it through by the due date, some struggled through and had to come in on their time to finish. Either way, they all made it through and all the zipper pouches looked great!

This is one side of the pouch that has been sewed on one side of the zipper

We started off watching a video of instructions. We watched one step a day. I would stop the video at pivotal parts and go into in-depth explanation or point out small details. I think that helped them understand a little bit better.

Frustrations: My students may feel differently, but I think one of the biggest frustrations has been the zippers. Once the students sew all of the fabric on to create the pouch, they have to turn it right side out. This means that they have to unzip the zipper on the wrong side. Once we had a few students have this issue I turned the frustration into a celebration simply by having the students unzip the zipper halfway.

January Update: The post above I actually started in December, but one day turned into two and next thing I knew it was January and I still hadn't posted on my blog.

 

My students and I are now going to make it a weekly habit to blog. We will all blog every Friday. Each week they will have to have certain elements in their blog to get full points. Today we started out easy. Students needed to write a minimum of two paragraphs about what they are doing and insert two pictures in. I told my students that everything I have them do, I will do on my blog as well. So, stay tuned because we are going to try and do something different each post. If you would like to check out my student's blogs, I have linked them on the right-hand side of my blog.

To see more into my classroom follow @OnFireForFACS on Instagram and @_Mrs_Hawk_ on Twitter!

Our First Sewing Project: Lanyards

Recently, my students created their first sewing project, lanyards!

Set up: Before we started our ascent into the wonderful world of sewing, I did a demo of each stitch that they could potentially see on our journey to become great at sewing. After the demo, they would go back to their machines and practice the stitch that I showed them. They learned how to create a running stitch, backstitch, zigzag stitch, edge stitch, and they also learned how to create a button and a button hole (more on that later). I didn't want to overwhelm them with all kinds of stitches, so I kept it pretty basic in hopes that they would become experts on the basic stitches.

The lanyards: The students were very excited to get their first sewing project started. I usually start with this project because it is fairly simple and a good way to start working on their sewing skills. I have used the same lanyard instructions for a long time and don't remember where I found them. However, they are fairly similar to this blogger who creates her lanyard out of ribbon, like we do. I'm actually considering using these instructions next time.
→ https://www.mayarts.com/make-your-own-lanyard-with-ribbon/

Frustrations: The frustrations were more with me and trying to demo a button hole for my students. My first period was really the only struggle I had. With my first period being the first group to see the demo, I personally had some struggles with the machine. The machine that we have at school (as I have mentioned in earlier posts) is different from what I am used to at home. On the machine at school, you have to stop the creation of the buttonhole when each part is complete. Whereas, my Brother machine at home automatically stops for you. My machine can be found here →https://www.brother-usa.com/products/CS6000I
The machines we have at school can be found here →https://www.janome.com/machines/sewing/classmate-s-750/
The students were very understanding when I messed up and it helped them see and understand that even when you have been sewing for a long time, you are still human and will make mistakes. We have a saying in my classroom. "Your best friend is your seam ripper".


🎉Celebrations: Almost all of my students completed their lanyard with ease and they looked awesome! One of my students who started off struggling a little bit with the different types of stitches had a huge victory when they created their lanyard. I was so proud! It turned out awesome! Unfortunately, I only remembered to take one picture of my student making a yellow chevron ribbon lanyard (Not the one who had the huge victory, although this lanyard turned out awesome as well):

This student is putting the finishing  touches on her lanyard

Overall: I think it was a success, but I think my students will be more excited about sewing when we get into things that they get to pick out and choose for themselves.

Countdown: I have decided to reveal this "secret" blog to my students on December 3rd. 30 days! Stay tuned. I think I may try and keep this blog going and feature some of my student's awesome blogs about sewing!

Want to see more from my students?

Follow me on Instagram @OnFireForFACS

Follow me on Twitter @_Mrs_Hawk_

Practice Stitches

Hello, Friends of Fashion!

As I mentioned in my first post there are many ups and downs in sewing. My students and I experience both every day. One thing I warn them about when we get on the machines is: Some days you will come into class and everything will go well and you will just be happy as a clam about sewing. Other days you will come in and your sewing machine won't work and you are going to get so frustrated you want to quit. I always make sure to tell my students multiple times to do your best to work through the frustration because nothing is going to be solved if you just quit. If you can work through it, you will be glad you did. With that being said there were way more celebrations than frustrations today! 

Today's Objective: Use your sewing knowledge that you've gained in class to practice using the machine with fabric. 

I always let my students try for themselves first before I demo each specific stitch. They love this because they get a chance to experiment with stitches that they may not get to use in class. Since they have already sewn on paper they have a little more knowledge of what to do with the machine. At the beginning of class, I quickly mention what every stitch will do and challenge them to create a backstitch for the first time. Today, I wrote instructions on the whiteboard that described how to create a backstitch using terminology that was on their sewing test. 

Frustrations: So, apparently there are different shapes of bobbins. Some are rounded off at the top- 

 and some are straight at the top-

   

If you can spot the difference, gold star for you! 

 

(I do not own the above images they can be found on Google)

This actually provides hardships for my students because the rounded bobbins fit in the machine, however, they are not made for the machines we have in class and can make the thread tangle up at the bottom. It is an easy fix for me, but very frustrating for my students. Pro Tip: When there is an issue instead of having the students raise their hand or shout out your name, designate a place on the board as the Help Me! area. This way the students can write their name on the board and you know what order to help students. It gives them a chance to stand up and walk to the board and stretch their legs from sitting at the sewing machine all period.

Celebrations: The celebrations outweighed the frustrations today. To me, that makes it a very successful day!!! Today, I had one student successfully wind her bobbin! (As seen in the Boomerang below)

Also, one of my students figured out something about the sewing machine that I didn't know and taught me!!! I don't have a Janome machine at home (I'm more of a Brother kind of girl). So, I am figuring all the ins and outs while my students are figuring the ins and outs. Overall, it was a great Friday of sewing! I can tell that my students are starting to enjoy it more and more.

Below are a few pictures from today

If you want to see more of my wonderful students doing their thing follow me 

on Twitter- @_Mrs_Hawk_

or on Instagram- @OnFireForFACS

The Beginning

Hello Fashion Friends!

Let me start off by saying I am brand new to blogging. I have decided to start blogging purely for my fashion students. The purpose of this blog is to not only provide an example for my students who are going to eventually create their own blog about sewing in class but to also show the ups, the downs, the frustrations, and the celebrations when it comes to sewing in a high school class setting. As of right now, this is a secret blog that I haven't told my students about. They have no idea that I am blogging about them and their accomplishments. This December (2018), I will reveal it to them and they will be able to use this an example for creating their own blogs about sewing in my class. 

Classroom setup: The first two periods of my day begin with fashion (which I love). In my first class I have 13 student (2 boys and 11 girls). In my second class I have 17 students (2 boys and 15 girls). Some students want to have a career in fashion, some took the class for the fun of it, and some got put in the class.

What we have already done: We recently started sewing. First, they started sewing on paper. I always have my students start sewing on a piece of lined paper without thread and they do this ever before they learn how to thread the machine. They practice sewing straight lines by essentially poking holes in the paper with the machine. This way those who have never sewn before can learn how to use and become comfortable with the machine. After they see me demo sewing on paper, they try it for themselves and get comfortable with putting their hands on the machine and figure out exactly how the machine works. Today, we learned how to thread the machine correctly. Tomorrow will be the first day that each student gets to use fabric. 

Frustrations: Students have had a hard time threading the machine needle. My tip- Choke up on the thread like you would a bat (sports references work well for a lot of my students) and once you do, you will have more control.

Celebrations: Every student took what I call a Hands-On Threading the Machine Test. They thread the machine without my help for a 50 point grade. While they are threading the machine, if they miss something or do something incorrectly I ask them to look back at what they have done. If they can fix it I don't take off any points, but if I have to show them then I take off one point per time I have to show them. This happens after a demo and a lot of guided practice. Anyway, all of my students passed with flying colors. Everyone scored a 50/50!!!

Want to see more from my classroom?

Follow me on Instagram- @onfireforfacs

Follow me on Twitter- @_Mrs_Hawk_