Cowl Class

I was unsure how the Easton Cowl class would go yesterday, but it exceeded all my expectations. I had four students—my friend Tera; one of the store employees; another woman who took Serger 101 a couple of weeks ago; and a fourth lady who had never been in any of my classes. I was so proud of that last student. She came in and said, “I never make anything for myself because it never fits.” I said, “We’re going to fix that,” and by the end of the class, she had a top that looked great on her.

We started with a discussion about measurements—”they are numbers, not judgments”—and how to determine what size to make. Each student tried on the top I had made so we could see how it fit. I talked about tracing and grading, design ease versus wearing ease, differences between fabrics, and other details. They measured each other and wrote down numbers. I had them trace their patterns and they started cutting them out.

Tera brought a Joanns remnant of DBP and managed to get a top out of a bare yard of fabric, although she had to make 3/4-length sleeves:

Barb made her top out of some of the Quilting Traditions DBP that the store is carrying.

I need to put pattern weights on the supply list—I forgot, and Diane had to get creative with her supplies.

Diane actually made her top entirely on her sewing machine. That was great, because even though sergers are great for knits, they aren’t essential. We need to do more to encourage people to take these classes even if they don’t have a serger.

This group of ladies worked steadily with only a short break for lunch, and by 3 o’clock, we were posing for a fashion shot:

Three of them stayed an extra hour so they could hem their tops. Barb and Tera got to use the coverstitch functions on their machines.

Diane said to me about halfway through the class that this was the first time she had taken a class where she wasn’t anxious and nervous about what she was doing. That made me feel good, because I want my classes to be a fun experience for every student.

We’ll probably do this class again. I am teaching the jacket class next month but that will be it for 2022. I need to sit down with the class coordinator and my calendar soon and schedule 2023 classes.

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A cold front was blowing in yesterday morning as I was driving to class, making it a very blustery and rainy day. Our wood boiler is keeping the house nice and toasty. We also have plenty of hot water.

I’ve got a meeting at church this morning and then I’ll probably come back and sew. I want to knock out a few more tops before I switch over to quilts. I have also gotten far enough into that second serger project to see how it’s working out and what changes I want to make to it.