Tag Archives: sewing machine

Kids club progress

Kids club progress

Today was the last session of kids club before half term, the last 4 weeks have flown by! It has been great seeing them learn and get excited about the different crafts. We introduced them to the sewing machines and also how to felt and make a little bag.

They had to draw their initial of their name then sew as close to the line as they could, just using the needle to punch holes in the piece of paper.

They also made some felt and then hand sewed it together to make their bag. I thought the sewing machines with the needles were bad enough, but a classroom of 20 kids all with needles in their hands topped it today! and then my nightmare came, helping them sew buttons onto their bags – I hate sewing on buttons!!!

 

It really has been a learning curve for me and have certainly realised a lot of things:-

When one child needs the toilet, they all need to go!

Kids aren’t deaf and don’t need to be shouted at (I spend a lot of my day with elderly people!)

You have to learn how to multitask as they all want to speak to you at the same time!

You have to be strict with them and you have to tell them no occasionally (again very difficult for me as I am so used to encouraging people all the time in my day job, but sometimes it’s not appropriate all of the time with kids!)

My hysterical shriek breeds hysteria in the kids (note to self dont shriek and flap arms in the presence of kids!)

So there we are, I have survived the last 4 weeks! I have next thursday off which of course I am using by learning a new craft – knitting!! so very excited about finally learning how to click clack!! However looking forward to getting back to kids club as we will soon be doing Christmas stuff!!

Sarah x

Many thanks to Maeri for the Photos

Small but perfectly formed

Small but perfectly formed

The John Lewis Mini may be one of the smallest sewing machines on the market, however it still has enough ‘go’ in it to compete with the rest. My sewing started when I was given one of these little beauties for Christmas. It has all the features you will need to do most basic projects including a choice of different stitches and also comes in a range of colours! It operates on a drop in bobbin system and has a free arm for doing small projects. If you are looking for a machine for your child or even for yourself to see if you enjoy sewing without spending big bucks then this is the one for you. So far I have made cushion covers, lap quits and even a tunic for myself. One of the things I really liked was that it chugs rather than whizzes the fabric through therefore giving you time to keep up with it. On the downside, it struggles with quite thick material and you can’t change the feet on it, however once you start more advanced projects and know sewing is for you then you can branch out into a bigger model. I have just bought a Singer machine so will see how I get on with the plentiful stitches and feet to choose from! If your thinking of getting one of the minis but not sure if it’s for you, please get in touch and we can have a chat!

Have a look at it in more detail on the John Lewis website.

Have a great Sunday, I’m off to do a bit of sewing!

Sarah x