Come Stitch With Me

Yes, you read that correctly! I received an offer for an opportunity I could not resist! Starting August 21st, I’ll be teaching Storybook STEAM (literacy activities with a handicrafts focus) for a local homeschool consortium. I get to share great picture books and run a maker space one day a week. I’ll also receive a competitive stipend, which is a nice bonus.

I spent most of the day planning activities for K-2 and sorting through the supplies that came home with me when I left my former school. I typically teach sewing for students in grades 4 & up, so I wasn’t exactly sure what I had on hand that would work with the wee ones. I had more than I realized! In case you’re wondering, I’m not required to furnish supplies out of my own pocket. A supply fee is charged for electives. What little bit I do spend personally will be for things to make my life easier. Besides, I’m trying to get rid of stuff!

Sadie and I went shopping to take advantage of teacher discounts on red felt, small lefty scissors, a craft cord bundle and a few school supplies. I have what I need for the first month of activities. More are planned, but let’s see how fast the kids progress before I buy anything else.

Office Depot was closing out craft kits and supplies for under 50 cents each. These items will provide an optional maker activity center when needed. I also picked up the big pack of Cricut infusible ink markers on sale at Joann for my CraftLAB kiddos. Hobby Lobby has a whole new range of sublimination blanks. At least one half of the dynamic duo is really into sublimination, so I guess a field trip to Hobby Lobby is in our future.

Yes, I’m excited to be back working part-time! I’m able to do what I love to do and still have time for everything else I’ve come to enjoy about retirement. It’s also nice to be part of an organization where leadership tells you how much they appreciate you and their actions back up their words.

Last year I mentioned that I’d followed a former co-worker’s advice to put things I really wanted out there in the universe. Circumstances worked out so that I was able to join hubby in early retirement back In May 2022. I’d told several folks I was looking for a Singer 301 LBOW at a good price and I now have Miss Carmella, who is an absolute joy to sew on.

Well, I put it out there that I would be interested in returning to work part-time once our big trips were behind us. Today, I received an offer to teach crafting/sewing classes one morning per week for a local K-5 homeschool consortium. This is the only job offer I’ve received since retirement that has me excited about returning to work. The head of school is a retired principal from my former school district. She is one of my favorite principals. She’s even willing to work around my upcoming Alaska trip if I’ll start August 21st. Still want to talk things over with hubby before I accept because this will mean we’ll be tied to an academic calendar once again through early May. Add this to what I currently have in the works to teach at the quilt museum and I’ll have met my goal to work part-time 2 days per week.

And Sadie gets to go with me to the school gig. Bonus!

This sewing machine, along with its cousins the Janome TM30 and Elna 450, have a “memorized” buttonhole feature. You basically program a 4-step buttonhole for the first buttonhole and the machine memorizes it. Every other buttonhole afterwards will be created automatically to match the first one. They’re okay. I simply prefer my buttonholes a bit denser.

The compatible accessories listed for these machines include the R (automatic buttonhole) foot and buttonhole stabilizer plate. I have those in my collection of sewing machine accessories! Yes, they do work with the Elnita EC30 and make a beautiful buttonhole (with some modifications).

Elnita EC30 Buttonhole Stitch Settings:
Stitch #17
W = 5.0
L = .3
Upper tension lowered to 3
Slightly finer thread in bobbin (60 wt) – same color as top thread

Before stitching, be sure to interface the fabric where your buttonhole(s) will be sewn. You will position your fabric BETWEEN the buttonhole foot and stabilizer plate. Place your button in foot R and snug it up just as you normally would to make a one step buttonhole. There’s no lever to tell the machine when to reverse direction, so you’ll have to watch and be ready to hit the reverse button when the moving part reaches the stoppers at the rear and front of the sliding track. To me, it’s actually easier to use this foot to make a buttonhole than the foot that comes with the machine.

Buttonhole length is measured top to bottom inside the the bartack ends.

How long should your buttonhole be? A general rule of thumb is to add 1/8″ to your button size. I prefer to add 3/16″. My 3/4″ buttonhole needed to be 7/8″ to 15/16″ in length. Guess what? It was!