let me warn you, this is going to be a long one. I apologize for not updating before, my only excuse is.....no, no excuse. I suck and I'm sorry. I'll do better.
It's Week Two!!!! Can you believe it? Neither can I. Honestly, when I first started talking about doing this, I couldn't even imagine being at this point. So I bet your all wondering how things are going, right? Let's start at the very beginning...
During the first week of school I went into the 6th, 7th and 8th grade classrooms and did a short presentation on the "Fashion Academy". Did you notice the name change? I needed something that would attract kids. After School Stitch, which was the name I came up with for fund raising purposes, just wasn't cutting it. One evening I started brain storming names and I was saying them out loud. As soon as I said "Fashion Academy" my 11 year old jumped up and said "Oh yeah! I'd go to that!" And that is how we got the new name.
I guess the new name worked because I received 37 applications. Yikes! Out of those 37 I was able to narrow it down based on talking to their teachers. Even after that, I was only able to get it down to 18. I really wish I could have taken all 18 but it would have meant splitting up the program and having some kids on Tuesday and some on Thursday. So I required them to go through an interview process. I sent them sheets of paper with their interview time and location and expected them to show up on time. Without exception, they were all on time and in some cases, dressed up for their interview. One boy wore a tie. How could I not accept him? The interviews were great and almost made it harder because now I had seen them face to face and knew how amazing they all were. I got it down to 10 kids but it was stressful and heart wrenching. The Fashion Academy consists of 8 girls and 2 boys (Surprise!). I even gave my own daughter the boot so I could fit another kid. Don't feel too bad for her, she's acting as my assistant and still gets to be involved in the class.
I bought 7 Singer sewing machines (I tested them out first and compared it to Brother's low end machine and it won. I'm as surprised as you are.) from the Viking Gallery at Joann Fabrics. The good thing about buying from Joann is that they will service your machine right there in the store and they matched the Brother price. BOOM! I had gone to the local Sewing shops here in town but none of them were willing to give me a deal or were really receptive to working with me at all. HAVE YOU PEOPLE NO HEARTS? Also, the sales lady at Joanns, Ginger, volunteered to come to the first class and teach the kids how to use the machines. I was overjoyed. On Sept. 24 we had our first class. It was a little bit bumpy but it worked. We had 5 sewing machines set up and 2 kids on each. Ginger and I walked around the hallway (we are in a hallway.) and were able to divide our time up between everyone quite well. In any case, they all came back for the next class, so it must have went better than I thought. BUT GUESS WHAT? I forgot to take pictures. (side note: Ginger was so excited about the class that she has volunteered to come back again.HUZZAH!)
The second class came and my resolve to take more pictures vanished. We started our first project, which was a pillow case, and everyone was working so amazingly and I was flitting (like a delicate little butterfly) from table to table helping where needed. Taking pictures flew completely out of my head.
BUT yesterday! YESTERDAY! I got smart. I gave my daughter the camera and made her the camera girl for the day. She took some amazing pictures. About 100 in all. And here for your viewing pleasure are some of them. With commentary.
This is how our class is set up. We have 6 tables set up along one side of the 3rd floor hallway. To be fair, the hallway is very nice. It's in a newly remodeled part of the school and it's fairly wide with good climate control. Sometimes. We don't have enough outlets but we are making it work. I have 2 kids and one sewing machine per table. The last table is off to the side and used for ironing and demonstrating. In these pictures you see the kids hard at work on their pillow cases.
Not only are they learning the basics of sewing but they are also learning patience. A valuable lesson for all of us. I keep saying "Slow it down. Take your time and do it right." After they rip enough seams, they'll learn. 7 out of the 10 finished their pillow cases by the end of class yesterday and they were able to start thinking about designs for Halloween costumes.
Does anyone recognize fabric that you've donated? Let me know. It would be fun to find out what your original intention for that fabric was. Speaking of donating.....( get used to it) we are still accepting fabric donations, Joann Fabric gift cards or Walmart gift cards. Our first fund raiser will not be until Christmas so please, if you like what you see and you want to help keep it going, you can make a donation (sorry, we do not have non-profit status so it would just have to be out the goodness of your heart) to the program through me or send it directly to Vieau School, 823 South 4th Street , Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53204.
We have some more people to thank! Thank you Pam Penn. Pam is a weaver and an active member of WHI and a Board Member at ABK Weaving Center! Thank you Megan Westra. Megan is the Children's Pastor at Transformation City Church here in MKE. Thank you Jane Moore. Jane is a fiber artist and educator who works primarily in felt. I'm really hopeful that Jane will be able to come teach my kids a felting class later in the year. Lastly, but not least, thank you Judy Kabriel. Judy is a Board Member at ABK Weaving Center and also sells her art at the Racine Artists Gallery.
Thanks everyone, I'll talk to you again soon.
harmonie
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