Look at these! The kids’ class have been finishing their back packs and they’re loving them. Fierce concentration as they bent over their machines has given way to whooping it up showing off their new creations. “I love this” hoots one, spinning round with her back pack. The atmosphere’s more party than sewing class.
Made to play and party in
The teens class is breaking up for the holidays. The jumpsuits, playsuits and skirts they modeled for the fashion show will be getting some serious wearings this summer, and two of the girls are already making plans for September term that involve an eye-popping pink fabric. There’s a gorgeous blue off-the-shoulder dress on the dress form, which I assume is a made-to-measure creation. Nope: made by one of the teens. Wow.
The grown-ups class is quieter – there’s no bags gleefully sailing through the air, but we’re having just as good a time as the kids. It’s week 5 for us, and we’re confidently diving in to set up our machines the moment we arrive, and now chatting whilst we sew.
“It’s either this or stilts.”
I’m not the only one in the class fed up with having everything shortened. Trousers, especially jeans, always need taking up for three of us . Learning to do it ourselves is one of the main reasons for coming to classes. One of the girls has been given a sewing machine, and wants to learn to use it (“evening TV’s rubbish anyway!”) so she can shorten her trousers, and mend her kids’ clothes.
Today we’re making a neat little lined bag to give us practice sewing the right seam allowance. Looking at the techniques we’re learning: measuring, pressing, and getting a neat finish, it’s easy to see how that translates to cutting and re-hemming trousers. Only rolling up jeans when we choose to will be a real joy, and projects like the Sewing Bee’s Refashion Challenge suggest we can go further still. I’m not planning to transform my jeans into a skirt, but a pair of cropped jeans? Now there’s a thought.
