Sewing class back in schedule

Senior+Missy+Chamberlain+uses+the+sewing+machine.+

Drew Hawkins

Senior Missy Chamberlain uses the sewing machine.

Kelee Mills, Staff Writer

After being gone for so long, sewing class is back and better than ever. The sewing class is taught by Mari Beth Hull. In sewing class students can learn how to make different things like pillows, clothes  and blankets. 

“All of the students will be making pajama bottoms since there are so many in the class, and it is only one semester. The individual hand projects varied from person to person,” Hull said 

Sewing can be a very difficult skill to learn. Even learning how to thread the needle on the sewing machine can take two to three days. Depending on how big the project is, it can take days to weeks just working on one project. 

“I have not had much difficulty with the sewing machine. I grew up kind of using them with my grandma so I was somewhat familiar with them,” senior Kerrigan Payne said. 

 Some people take sewing class just to experience it and see if it’s something they enjoy doing.

 ¨I chose the class because I felt like it would be a good opportunity to learn more about sewing because I had no clue how to do anything with it before the class,¨ senior Missy Chamberlain said.

Senior Whitlee Pankey agrees.

¨It’s a good educational experience,¨ Pankey said.  

Hull has 16 students in the class this semester and thinks the class is satisfied with their progress.

¨It is going well. It is exciting to see the students accomplish tasks they say they cannot do and be proud of themselves,¨ Hull said. 

When the  class first began, students learned about clothing care, how to sew two-holes, four-holes and shank buttons on fabric and how to do a variety of hand sewing stitches. Then they made a small hand sewing project.

¨It was a good way for me to learn how to sew something somewhat professionally, and overall, I liked the outcome of my pumpkin,¨ Pankey said.

As they progressed through the class, students have also made pillows, learned how to read a pattern envelope and pattern pieces, and now they are beginning their bigger project, pajama pants.

 “Moving into sewing actual clothing is kind of intimidating, but I think I’ll catch onto it pretty quickly,” Payne said. 

Hull is also teaching students how to make wise clothing selections for their body size and shape, how to care for their clothing, how to make alterations to a garment– like hemming a pair of pants– and creative ways to use the fabric. 

In a year long sewing class, the students would choose the garment they would like to make instead of  all the students constructing something similar like pajama pants. 

“There are so many useful things to learn in this class that an individual will actually use for the rest of their life,” Hull said.