Come Stitch With Me

You CAN teach your kids to sew using any sewing machine, but there a of couple features that will make life much easier for you, the teacher:

1. Speed control feature – this is a slider, usually featuring tortoise and hare icons, that allows you to limit the max speed of the sewing machine when the foot pedal is pressed all the way down.
2. Automatic needle threader – makes threading the needle a cinch for older eyes.

Speed controllers can be found on a variety of mechanical and computerized machines. Caveat: not every computerized sewing machine offers a speed control feature. Viking Emerald 118 and Janome Magnolia 7325 are more recent mechanical models with this feature. Some older mechanical Swiss Elnas of the late 1970’s-80s’s era (Carina, Air Electronic, Stella) also feature a speed control feature (but no needle threader!).

Many newer computerized machines in the $200 & up range offer the speed control feature. Several Brother and Singer machines sold at the big box stores meet this criterion. Smarter 260 by Pfaff, Elnita EC30 Janome MOD 30 & 50 models are other options to consider in the “around $300” price range. If you are willing to up the ante to the $500+ price point, look at the Baby Lock Jubilant/Brother NS80, Elnita EC60, Viking Jade 20, Pfaff Passport 2.0 and Janome MOD 100/200 or 740 series machines. Here’s an article written by sewing machine repair guys listing their favorite machines by price point.

Note the Elnita EC30 is their recommended machine for the under $300 price category.

Machines I have available for kid’s sewing lessons include the Elna STAR Edition, Elnita EC30 and Baby Lock Jubilant. The Elnita EC30 does offer good value for the money. My local sewing machine dealer recommends this model as a travel/back-up machine. (It’s a minor thing, but the stitches on the front of the machine need to be a darker color. There’s not enough contrast.)

A few weeks ago, I mentioned that I was looking to replace my Janome 8900 with either a sit-down mid-arm or a newer machine with a similar size throat space. I was able to sew on all the machines at the Kansas City Quilt Festival last week. I will say that I wholeheartedly agree with the aforementioned sewing machine guys’ assertion that the Bernina 770QE is one of the best sewing machine-only machines (meaning no embroidery module) out there. The M7 Janome is a fine machine, but the Bernina 770 felt just right. I was really impressed with the Juki Kokochi machine, but the stitch regulator on the Bernina 770 was even more impressive. I’ll be practicing the ruler work skills I learned in Kansas City on my Janome 8900 for a while, though. A new washer/dryer and hot water heater are much higher on the priority list right now. Who knows? Perhaps with some practice, I might decide I don’t want a new machine after all.

We are making an unlined/exposed seam bag with zipper tabs.

Needle: Universal 80/12
Thread: Polyester, 50wt (some swear by cotton thread – I’ve had mixed results)
Presser foot: All Purpose
Other adjustments: Lengthen stitch length to 3.0
If quilting: loosen upper tension to 2.5-3; reduce foot pressure; walking foot or dual feed with be helpful.

Use clips instead of pins for sewing!

1. Wash bag thoroughly and allow to completely dry.
2. Square front panel first, then lay face down on top of back panel and trim back panel to fit.
3. Fuse vinyl between sheets of parchment paper.
4. Use glossy vinyl (Heat & Bond or Pellon is fine).
5. Optional: Add batting and backing to each section and quilt.
6. Trim zipper to 3/4″ less than top edge. Use 2″ wide fabric to make tabs. Add tabs to each end. Glue stick or double faced basting tape may help hold zipper in place while sewing.
7. Install zipper, face down with right edges aligned. Attach zipper foot and adjust needle position as necessary. Sew zipper, moving pull out of the way as needed. Fold edges back along zipper and topstitch.
8. Sew bag together using 3/8″ or edge of presser foot as seam allowance. OPEN ZIPPER ALL THE WAY BEFORE SEWING SEAM. Backstitch at beginning and end of seam. Do not sew zipper tabs into seam.
9. Turn bag right side out, poking out corners and zipper tabs with finger or point turner.

Link to video for reference.

This past week, I attended the Kansas City Regional Quilt Festival. It was AWESOME! Part of the awesomeness was no doubt due to the fact this was the first big, in-person quilting event I’ve been able to attend since summer 2019 (due to COVID-19 and hubby’s cancer surgery/recovery).

I chose to take hands-on classes for ruler work and mastering machine stitches. I also attended a number of seminars and product demos. It was fun, inspirational, and I learned a great deal.

Takeaways for my own teaching practice:

1. Visuals matter. Students need a physical object or a detailed image/diagram of the completed project and each major step along the way.
2. Don’t be so determined to get through your lesson plan that you leave your students floundering.
3. If a student is frustrated, offer help, but let the student work through the frustration at their own pace. Walk away. Realize they’re done for the moment and heavy pushing from you is only going to further exacerbate the problem.
4. Passing out materials as needed for some classes might be better than distributing all project materials in one big kit at the beginning of class.
5. Keep it simple. Provide the essentials to get students started. Don’t overwhelm them with every little detail.
6. If a component of your advertised class will be omitted for some reason (materials arriving late or unavailable), let your students know.
7. Carefully review any discounts you plan to offer. A 15% discount for class attendees on same day/future purchases seemed the norm. End of show discounts for equipment used during the show is typically 35-50% (not the 10% offered by one instructor).