In the Art Room: Stitching Pizza Plushies!

A little over a month ago, I got an email from Trixi Symonds over at Coloured Buttons. She asked me if I'd like to join her super fun #sewasoftie project for the month of July. Her concept was simple: introduce kiddos to stitching with a month long sharing of sewing projects via her Facebook page (which, by the way, is LOADED with fabulous sewing inspiration for kids of all ages). I happily agreed and used my recent trip to Italy (and love for all things pizza) as my inspiration. 

Another reason I chose pizza is because my kiddos always find inspiration in food. Are your students/kids like that? It's so funny to me: give a kid a piece of clay and it's guaranteed that they will come back with a clay cookie, pizza or a taco. I know when I share this project with my third and fourth graders in the spring, they'll be all in. 

Let's talk supplies:

* Craft Felt in bunches of colors. I find that I have a TON of craft felt. Does it multiply? Are teachers secretly dumping the stuff in my storage closet? The latter is more than likely the case. It would also explain the ziplock baggies of broken crayons I always receive (y'all, I don't even use crayons!). 

* Chenille Needles are my jam. They have a big eye that is great for threading and a nice sharp point which is perfect for puncturing that felt. 

* Thread can be tricky. Get the cheap stuff and it can break with a slight tug. We use embroidery floss with the single thread...not the one with 6 threads. Cuz we ain't got time to be splittin' hairs. 

* Paper for creating a pattern and for making a needle threader.

* Scissors are great...and if you have one for fabric and another for paper then you are just the bee's knees. 

* Pins and a Magnet to park those pins. They make these great pin wands that my students love. You just wave them and the pins snap right to the wand. 

When I first got the idea to create this lesson, I kept getting more ideas. First it was allowing the kids to create toppings that can be changed at any time. Kind of like the felt boards I played with as a kid. That's why I created the segment in the video where the toppings are changed. Then I thought it would be great to introduce button sewing...for that the toppings would have to be tacked down. And, of course, I had to throw on some puffy paint because PUFFY PAINT MAKES MY WORLD GO ROUND. Thank you, Puff Daddy for the Puffy Paint. He's the one who invented it, right?

Then I got the idea for a silly-faced pizza. I spotted these giant googly eyes at the craft store and thought it would be fun. Because I wanted to add arms like we did with the Stitched Monster project, I knew I'd have to go about sewing a little differently. Originally I was going to make one video...but I decided that two was best: one for the Stuffed Pizza and Button Sewing and another for the Funny Faced Pizza. 

So, just some thoughts on sewing with kids: I usually do a fibers unit in the spring, after clay. Kids love sewing, weaving, felting, you name it...and it's a great follow-up to clay as they pink-puffy-heart-with-sparkles LOVE clay. However, sewing is a challenge that you and your students need to be prepared for. Whenever we tackle something new, I remind the kids that we are learning and that takes practice and patience. I tell them that some of them will get it right away...and others will take a little longer...but we will ALL get there. With practice and patience. It's important to emphasis this so that frustration does not lead to a defeatist mentality.

Now, I'll have my students glue their items down with tacky glue. But, for those kids creating at home who wish to change the toppings of their pizza frequently, they could simply keep their cut pieces in a sealed bag. 

This pizza was created the same way as the first but I really wanted to introduce button sewing. What better way to do that than with pepperoni buttons?! And, of course, puffy paint. 

No doubting that I grew up in the 80's...I got puffy paint in my veins. 

Shortly after posting my Stuffed Pizza video on my YouTube channel, Jeanne Kemp, an art teacher out of Baltimore shared this with me. She'd done the project with her students! How fun and they did a fabulous job. I had pizza for dinner in their honor. 

This project is a little more involved simply because of the addition of sewing the arms and sewing three sides verses two. For that reason, I'll reserve this project for my older students. 

I def don't plan on purchasing them all googly eyes as I don't have that kind of budget. So, more than likely, if my students decide to make a face, they'll have to create the eyes from felt. No biggie. 

 I really had fun creating these pizzas. They got me excited about hand sewing again...and the upcoming class I'm taking at Alabama Chanin. More on that to come. LOVE to know if any of you all have taken a class there before! 

Until then, have a super fun time stitching your pizza! 

Arrivederci!

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Art Teacher Travels: Alabama Chanin, Florence, AL

 True Confessions: I've lived within just two hours of the amazing Alabama Chanin and I had never ever been. If you are not familiar, let me just say that you might want to read here to get yourself super informed. But I can provide the condensed version, if you like: Alabama Chanin is the creation of Natalie Chanin a Florence, Alabama native. Florence is a rural town of about 40,000 near the Northwest corner of Alabama, lodged between Mississippi and Tennessee. For years, Natalie was a stylist and costume designer who traveled the world. 

In the early 2000's, Natalie returned to her home of Florence with the intention of creating a line of hand-stitched garments. During that time, she was connected with many people who used to work in Florence during the textile boom in the 80's. Many of those folks were without employment as jobs had moved South of the border. This inspired her to create a place for people to work, create, dine, design...you name it. And that magical place is called Alabama Chanin. 

I decided to give Alabama Chanin a visit after taking a road trip from Nashville to Tupelo to see my favorite friend, Mallory. Mallory runs a wonderful art program for kids that I had the pleasure of teaching one day. More on that to come. Between the drive from Nash to Tupe is Florence, right smack dap in the middle. I knew I would have to drop by and see what it was all about. 

Let me just say, that when I was listening to good ole Siri for directions, I thought I was being lead astray. I found myself in an unassuming industrial park filled with nondescript metal buildings. After telling me "you have arrived" five times as I drove up and down the deserted road, I happened to look to my left and see a little read awning with the words Alabama Chanin, The Factory written on them. Really? This is it? I almost turned around. I'm so glad I did not!

The moment I walked in, two things happened. The first was that I was greeted so graciously and politely. I know what you are thinking: but of course, Southern hospitality! Lemme just say, I've lived in The South for nearly 20 years...Southern hospitality isn't as common as you'd like to think. However, in this place, I was warmly greeted and made to feel completely at home. 

The second thing I noticed is this: the place was AMAZING. It used to house a textile factory (how appropriate, right) and looked every bit as such from the outside. But, once inside, it was like I was in Andy Warhol's The Factory meets Brooklyn-hip Heaven. The concept was an open one with the beautiful Alabama Chanin clothing on display. Just beyond that were carefully curated items such as pottery, printed dishtowels and table runners as well as cookbooks and aprons. Steps past that was a counter service restaurant with, I cannot stress this enough, The Best food I've had in a very, very long time. There was also a bridal dress area and a work station for classes. And that was just in the front room. The designing, creating and manufacturing happened just beyond the walls of the space you see in the second image. 

 Of course, what first drew me in: the garments. 

 Natalie is a pioneer in the slow design movement. This is in stark contrast to the fast-fashion we know of all too well. Her garments are created from start to finish from organic cotton. They are hand-dyed with organic dyes; printed, painted and/or stamped and hand sewn. 

 Natalie employes those in her community. Those left without jobs when fast fashion took jobs to other places. 

What that means is you are looking at a piece of clothing that was created from beginning to end, from the ground (literally) up, by hand. What that also means is Alabama Chanin clothing is anything but cheap both in quality and price. 

 I am not even going to lie to you, I was shocked by the prices on the pieces of clothing. We're talking into the hundreds if not a thousand or more for the bigger garments like coats. 

But look. By hand, y'all. Every stitch. Every piece painted and sewn and cut away. All by hand. Each piece, a work of art. 

Here's my favorite part about Alabama Chanin and Natalie: she shares her craft with all who are interested. Meaning she's not an artist who safeguards her secrets. She has her roots based in the quilt making traditions of the South. Traditions that have been lost over time. It seems her goal is to bring the teaching of those traditions back. And she starts with those in her community.

But she also reaches beyond with the many books that she has written on the tradition of her craft and the art of stitching as well. 

As I was there, poking around, snapping endless photos, my stomach started to growl. It was not my intention to do anything beyond pop in for a bit before heading home but with a talking tummy and the amazing smells coming from the cafe, I decided to stay. After I placed my order at the counter, I wandered in the direction of these laughing ladies to secretly see what they were up to. I had read that every other Tuesday a sewing group met and I was intrigued by what they were creating...but I did not want to intrude on what looked to be a fine and fun party.

 Immediately after snapping this photo, the women grabbed me and drew me in. A sweet woman named Judy introduced me to everyone and had them show me what they were creating. 

 I found that my new friend Rita, shown here with the skirt she's been working on for many a Tuesday, actually lives near me...and makes the two hour trek every other week to spend time stitching with her friends. 

Isn't her piece beautiful?

 This fitted corset style top is one being created for the daughter of this lovely lady. One thing I learned: never ask how long these ladies have been working on their piece. It's a labor of love...the hours spent do not count. Would you believe those sweet ladies invited me to bring my lunch over and dine with them? I had a wonderful hour of chatting, learning and watching them create.

 Before leaving, I headed over to the hand stitched bridal area. 

 I was told that one woman had already made three trips from Maine for dress fittings. Can you imagine? That is going to be one amazing dress, y'all!

 I immediately fell in love with this area. 

 Look at this hand stamped and stitched treasure. 

 In our mass produced, fast paced world, learning about slow design and seeing the beauty of it was truly inspiring. 

 So much so that I signed up for a class right there on the spot! I'm taking the beginner hand sewing, stamping and applique class. I'm thrilled to learn this technique and bring it back to my students. I'll be sure to share with you here as well!

 Here's a view of the left side of The Factory from the entrance.

 And a view from the very back, looking over the tables in the cafe and the store front. 

 The food was so good that folks were coming in from outside to dine. I mean, for real. I don't even cook and I was asking if they sold a cookbook. I get a meal during my class...and I daresay that might be what I'm looking forward to the most!

Until I report back with my adventures at Alabama Chanin, I leave you with a view of this piece being worked on my one of the sweet ladies I lunched with. I am so excited to go back and learn about this beautiful technique!

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Art Teacherin' Book Club: Growth Mindset Coach, 3

Hey, y'all! I'm so excited about this week's Art Teacherin' Book Club meeting. In case you didn't hear, co-author Annie Brock will be joining us at 8pm CST right here! How awesome is that? I was so thrilled when a fellow art teacherin' buddy reached out to me to say that she knew the authors...I was all, "hey, can you hook a girl up?" And she did! Annie will be joining us and fielding any thoughts, questions and concerns we may have about growth mindsets.

Even if you are not currently reading The Growth Mindset Coach (um, you really should be), please know that you are welcome to join our chat. Here's all you have to do: 

1. Like and/or follow my page. 

2. At around 8pm CST, I should pop up in your feed. If I do not, try refreshing your feed or popping by my Facebook page. 

That's it! It doesn't get much easier than that!

Now, if you've joined a Facebook LIVE before, then you know the comments fly by. And, if the comments are lengthy, they tend to get cut off with a "see more" button. Ain't nobody got time for "see more" when more comments keep rollin' in! So, to keep us all on track and to allow Annie enough time to share her journey, I thought it would be good to establish a couple of ground rules. So here we go:

1. Questions will be answered by us first. You can see a general version of the questions we'll be throwing Annie's way in the first image. We will answer the questions first...and then give Annie the floor. For example, when I ask for an introduction to kick off our chat, I'll want to hear from all y'all. Once we are done introducing ourselves, where we teach, our demographics and the number of years we've been killin' the art teacherin' game, we'll give Annie the floor. This will make it so her comment remains onscreen the longest giving everyone ample read time. 

2. Allow Annie's comments to remain. If you've joined our chats before, you might have noticed that new comments push the older ones out. If Annie responds and we flood the comment box then her comments will vanish and she'll have to repeat herself for those who missed it. I'll try my best to read what she has to say...but in case I miss it, let's allow Annie to have the last word. Meaning, once her comment is up, please do not comment until we've all had time to enjoy her words and are ready to move on.

3. Please keep your answers short. Frequent chatters might know  why keeping your answers short is important. If you type out a lengthy paragraph, the totality of what you have to say will not show. Instead a "see more" button will interrupt your comment and, I hate to say it, ain't nobody got time to "see more". So, keep your answers short, on point and we'll be able to see them. If you have a lot to say, simply break it up into bite sized bits so we can see it all. 

I am THE WORST at following rules and directions such as the ones I've laid out for y'all. My therapist says I have issues with authority (I thought I was paying him to tell me I'm right!) That being said, I think laying these ground rules will make it so we can get the most out of our special guest, Annie Brock, and enjoy our chat. Big shout out to Annie...we are so excited to "meet" you and chat about The Growth Mindset Coach with you. We are thrilled to bring your ideas to our art rooms! 

See you on Wednesday, 8pm CST right here!

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Art Teacherin' 101: Episode 38

Winner of the Growth Mindset Coach Playbook announced at the end of this post! 

Because I'm a world renowned over-sharer, it may come as a surprise that there was a time, not that long ago, when I didn't blog, post videos, share on social media or present...anywhere. I honestly didn't think that what I had to say was important, valid, and/or worthy of being listened to. It wasn't until it was pointed out to me that I should share, that I had ideas, methods and projects that some might find useful, that I finally did. But only after years of folks gently coercing me to do so. If I could travel back in time and have a shoulder-shaking moment with myself, I would say, "just do it! And do it right now!" And I'm here today to deliver that same message to you, if you find yourself on the "should I? or shouldn't I?" fence. Here, let's chat:

Now that I've hopefully got you convinced that you are amazing, you have a voice and you have ideas that need to be shared with the universe, let's chat about some of the finer details:

* Where to Share? That's one that deserves serious thought...and is totally up to you, your time and your favorite means of communication. Are you a visual person? Try an Instagram account for your art teacherin' outlet. Love to chat and interact with other art educators? Twitter might be your jam. Facebook is kind of a combo of both and the most popular...therefore a great way to reach many parents and peers. Make videos for your classes? Consider sharing them on YouTube. Blogging, well, I'm not gonna lie, that one requres a lot of time and effort to reap the reach-of-desired-audience rewards. Be honest with yourself. Do what you know you will enjoy...because that is what you will stick with.

* Give It a Test Run. If you are going to start an Instagram account or dive right into blogging, might I recommend a test run. What I mean by that is this: keep your blog posts or social media accounts private for a pinch. Type up at least four blog posts; line up no fewer than a dozen IG posts and keep them private. Then step away from them for a few days. Did you enjoy typing up those blog posts? Is that something you think you'll enjoy doing on a continual basis? Great! Now you have four posts all lined up and ready to roll out. This will make it so you have some breathing room and don't feel like you have to crank out content and not enjoy the process. As for your social media, like Instagram, look at those images before making your account public. Do your images make sense together? Do they look like they belong with one another? Do they have your "mark", so to speak? It takes time to develop a "look". Be patient with yourself and pursue who you are. This will help you carve out your very own niche. 

* Beware of Being a Lookalike. When I first began blogging, it was way different than the blog you see here. Back in 2007, it was a blog created to sell my Etsy creations (many moons ago, I created ceramic belt buckles), not share my art teacherin' pursuits. I had no idea what I was doing. I had just read on some Etsy forum that if you wanted to sell your wares, you should have a blog. So I had a blog. With no direction, no look, no vibe, no clue. I turned to my favorite blogs for inspiration...which became gentle copying, shall we say. I tried to fit myself and my blog into a box that I thought others would enjoy. Needless to say, it felt unauthentic and I quickly dropped out of the blogging scene. Not until 2012 did the blog you see here come to life. It was at that point, I was ready to be myself and use my true voice. I threw the notion of what other folks might think out the window and just went for it. Staying true to my voice and my interests is what has made me a blogger for the last 5 years. Regardless of what social media path you take, follow your voice. If you feel something is off, if you feel untrue to you, stop. Change it. Be you.

After all, YOU have something to share! So YOU should do it. Present! Post! Do what suits you. Just know that you have something powerful to say. And we want to hear it.

Congratulations to...Kimberly Schultze! Kimberly, please email me at cassieart75@gmail.com so we can chat about getting The Growth Mindset Coach Playbook in your hands! 

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Art Teacherin' Book Club: A Giveaway!

Exciting News! I was recently contacted by a lovely publicist for Ulysses Press, the publishers of our current Art Teacherin' Book Club read The Growth Mindset Coach. The authors, Annie Brock and Heather Hundley have a follow up book that is due to be released very soon titled The Growth Mindset Playbook. And you can enter to win this book! 

Here's how:

* Leave a comment below! Tell me a little bit about why you are interested in learning more about growth mindsets. Lemme hear how you might want to use this in your art room. Share what you had for dinner last night...really, write what you like! I just want to hear your thoughts on growth mindsets.

If you are so inclined...but not required to enter:

* Share this blog post on your fave social media outlet. Just so your friends can learn about this opportunity (thus lessening your chances, I know...but you are being a good person and isn't that worth more? Don't answer that). 

I'll be back on Sunday to share the winner! 

Now...do you think you can handle even MORE exciting news?!

Mark your calendars because on Wednesday the 19th, on our third book club chat, co-author of the very book we are reading, Annie Brock, will be joining our chat. I KNOW! Big thanks to a fellow art teacher who put us in touch, Annie has graciously agreed to join the chat that evening. Come prepared to ask her a lot of questions that you've had while reading her book: how she started on this journey, what it looked like in her classroom, what she had for dinner last night, you get the idea. I'm super stoked that she's kindly offered to take time out to join our wild and crazy art teacherin' bunch!

I'm also stoked about our chat this week. We'll be pouring over the first month of school (whichever that may be for you) and how best to teach growth mindsets to our artists. What resources, books, videos, yoga poses, you name it, will best excite and educate our kiddos on changing their minds for the best. Come ready to chat at 8pm CST right here. Some folks have told me that they don't see the chat at times...I think the best thing to do is make sure you have a strong internet connection and be certain to like/follow my page. I should then pop up in your feed at 8pm...so you might wanna have your laptop on mute so as not to frighten the children.

Looking forward to reading your comments (I had pesto lasagna for dinner last night that I actually made, in case you were wondering) and book clubbin' with you soon. 

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