In the Art Room: Sewing and Embroidery

No matter what your passion is in life, I bet the seed was planted when you were young. One summer, when I was probably 10i-sh, my grandmother taught me how to embroider. And I've loved creating stuff with fabric and thread since. 

This year, I decided to open up my art room to the folks I work with for a Sewing Group. Some of my 4th grade students caught wind of this and wanted to know if they could join. I kinda put the idea on the back burner as I had no freakin' idea how I'd use sewing machines with the youngins...and I kinda thought the kids would forget about it. But, as you know if you work with children, they never forget anything. When one of them started pricing sewing machines at the local thrift store and another petitioned her friends to enquire about a class, I started to toy with the idea of making it happen. When I accidentally said, "I'll think about it," the kids cheered and asked, "Yay, can we start TODAY?!" 

There is a wonderful enrichment program at my school called Gentry's Educational Foundation founded by Evelyn Hickerson, a teacher. I approached her about teaching a sewing class and she agreed to purchase some sewing machines. Because she's seriously that awesome. This woman is so dedicated to the education of all students that she'll stop at nothing to make it happen. We are so fortunate to have her enriching all of our lives. 

In my after school sewing class, I had almost 20 students (3rd and 4th grade) and two adult helpers. I was a little nervous having that many children sewing on machines at once...and I also felt like the kids should have some basic sewing and embroidery skills first. So I decided to start by having the kids create an embroidered sampler using this book as my guide.

I picked up this book years ago when I wanted to teach sewing in my art classes. I've since had to let go of that notion (30 minutes just seemed impossible to teach sewing to the under 10 set) but was thrilled to give it a go with this group. My after school classes were a lovely 60 minutes in length and that felt like absolute heaven. No rush, plenty of time to explain, chat and sew. 

Interested in giving this a go? Here's what we used:

• Gingham fabric
• Patterned fabric
• Embroidery floss, 24" in length, split into three strands
• Bees wax. This isn't necessary but it does come in handy. We ran our embroidery floss over the wax to prevent it from tangling.
• Large eyed, sharp needles
• Embroidery hoops
• Graph paper
• Sewing machine
• Pins
• Stuffing

1. Our first of business was writing out our names. We first did this on graph paper using the guide found in the book. This was then rewritten onto the kids' chosen piece of gingham in pencil.
2. Next we learned how to split our embroidery floss. I had the kids work with a partner to prevent the floss from tangling. This was then threaded into the needle, doubled over and knotted.
3. After that, we hooped our fabric. 
4. We didn't embroider our name first. We chatted about what a sampler was and how this would showcase a sample of embroidery stitches we learned. Our first stitches to learn were the running stitches seen under the name.
5. Once those were complete, we moved onto cross-stitching our name. Some students sewed buttons onto their sampler while others learned how to create a satin stitched heart.

All that took a couple of sewing classes to complete. Once they were finished, the kids chose a piece of fabric for the back of their pillow. Thankfully I'd just been donated a huge stash of fabric (which included some coveted Scooby Doo fabric). The kids laid their samplers on the fabric, cut it to the same size and pinned it right sides together on the top and sides. We left the bottom open for adding the stuffing.

Now I wasn't at all comfortable with the idea of the kids sewing for the first time without adult supervision. This is where my two super adult sewers came into the picture. They called each child one at a time to a machine and gave them a private sewing lesson. Perhaps in the future I'll be more comfortable leaving the kids less supervised...but until then, I'm all about the one-on-one.

So what were the others doing in the meantime? Well, they set their pillows aside and began creating mini-stuffed animals! In My First Sewing Book, the author gives a ton of animal patterns for the kids to chose from. I simply enlarged them and laid them out for the kids to pick from. Of course, I gave them the option of creating their own stuffies too (see last photo, ya'll. Too cute). With that sampler under their sewing belt, this proved to be the perfect project for them to work independently on while they waited for their turn at the machine.

For a Stuffie, you'd need the following:

• Two pieces of felt per student
• Embroidery floss
• Needle
• Thread
• Pins
• Patterns (or paper for creating their own)
• Stuffing

1. After picking their pattern, the kids pinned the pattern and two pieces together. This was then cut out.
2. After removing the pins, the kids were told they had to use a satin stitch to create a face. Buttons were available for eyes. 
3. Once that was complete, the two felt pieces were pinned together and stitched almost all the way around with a whip stitch.
4. Stuffing was added and the stuffie was stitched closed. Most kids were able to create more than one.

When their turn was up at the sewing machine, they stitched those three pinned sides. Stuffing was added to the pillow and they had the option of hand-stitching the pillow closed or using the machine again. I was surprised that not all of the kids picked the machines. I think some of them really enjoyed the control of stitching by hand.

Since completing these stuffies, the kids have started bringing in things they've sewn at home. They've independently created purses, pin cushions and stuffies for their buddies and siblings. Which makes me so super happy.

And excited. I've already started my yearly process of begging for longer art classes next year so I can do this with all my students, not just an after school class. I know how much I loved creating like this when I was a kid...and I want all of my students to have this very same experience.

Do ya'll sew in your art room? Would you mind sharing with me the projects you do? I'd love to have more ideas and share them with my sewing group! Thanks, ya'll!

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In the Artroom: A Starry Night Collage and Thoughts on Teaching Art

Friends, Ima be honest with you. I've been in a funk. It started with a sinus-y head cold that morphed into no-energy-itis which developed into a bad case of nobody-likes-me, everybody-hates-me, I'm-just-gonna-sit-over-here-and-pout. I have blamed my cold and lack of energy for my bad attitude but, if I'm being truly honest, there have actually been a couple things eating away at my thoughts. And one of them has been teaching art.

So here's the deal: I recently joined a group on Facebook called "Art Teachers". And it's pretty rad, interacting with art educators, seeing the work of their students, hearing their struggles and successes. But there have also been some, um, debates. It seems that there are two camps of art teachers out there: those that teach choice-based art and, well, those that don't.

Now before I go tip-toeing into a land mine (because those aforementioned debates have gotten very feisty), lemme first say that I am not a choice-based art teacher. Nor do I know very much about the concept although I am intrigued. From my understanding, in a choice-based art room, children are allowed to work with their chosen art media to express their ideas. In a nutshell.

Here's what I love about the idea: children creating art based on their own individual interests and inspirations. In a choice-based art room, the kids are routinely introduced to new media and allowed to explore their ideas with that new material. Or they can use whatever other supplies that have been introduced throughout the year. It sounds so happy and harmonious and free. In my imagination, it looks like a college art studio filled with little people sculpting, painting and weaving their little hearts out.

But here's the thing that bothers me: a music teacher wouldn't simply show a child a room full of musical instruments, teach them a couple of the basics and tell them to then make music. Not without first teaching them all that there is to know about playing, writing and composing a piece, not to mention introducing them to both classical and contemporary composers. Because without those fundamentals, I imagine children would simply bang on the instruments, grow bored and lose interest. Is it possible the same might happen in an art room? I don't know.

I've heard the argument that if you, as an art teacher, know what the end product of a lesson is going to look like, then the work of art is your own and not your students. This really really made me question how I teach. Am I doing a disservice to my students? Am I robbing them of their creativity and exploration? Is this Starry Night/collage/painting/weaving project recently created by 1st grade actually harming the creative exploration of my students?

 Again, I don't know.

What I do know is that, like a classroom teacher giving a test to check for hitting benchmarks and understanding, I can see that my students learned the following (side note: each "Day" is a 30 minute art class. Yes, 30-super-short/very-precious minutes):

Day #1: How to mix a shade of blue with black and blue. How to use a variety of brush strokes and lines to show movement in their sky like our inspirational artist, Vincent van Gogh. How to paint the secondary color green and create a texture onto that paper.

Day #2: How to create a landscape collage by tearing the green paper and creating a foreground, middle ground and back ground. How to create a paper loom for weaving.

Day #3: How to weave. How to use collage to create a house by cutting out geometric shapes from recycled pieces of paper. 

Day #4: How to add a star to my piece (see this post on how we marbled these stars) and have it tell a story in your work of art. Is it a shooting star? A falling star? An explosion of color? What can you think of?

Day #5: How to add that house to the landscape and add other elements of their choosing to that landscape. How to brainstorm ideas for their work of art (what can go in the background? a dog house? a neighborhood? trees?).

(Houses about half finished...still working out ideas for the background and the shooting star.)

Knowing that they have learned all of this, is this lesson a bad one? I like to think not. My students surpassed my notion of what their completed piece would look like by adding animals, trees, dog houses, houses in the distance, moons, curtains in the window, you name it.

But I did have a notion what their finished work of art would look like.

Which again, brings me back to where I started. Sigh. 

Look, I've been teaching art for a very long time (this is my 16th year, time seriously does fly!) and I'm not even going to pretend I've got the answers or even a flipping clue. And I think those folks that do think they have all the answers are just fools. Or maybe cowards that are too afraid to question what they've always done. I mean, shouldn't we always be looking to do what is best for our students?

So, I ask you, honestly, what are your thoughts?

And, if I've offended anyone, choice-based or not, that was not my intention. Thanks, ya'll.

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DIY: A Felted Version of Van Gogh's Sunflowers

You know what, it may be 5 degrees outside but I don't care. I've decided to dress like a Big Ole (van Gogh-inspired) Sunflower-y Day regardless of the "I feel like I just walked into a freezer in Antarctica" temps (wait, do they even have freezers in Antarctica? I mean, isn't that whole place one big fridge? Shoot, I'd just be throwing my ice cream and popsicles out the window if I lived there. "Honey, where's the Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream?"..."I dunno, look outside!")

Wait. Did I just have an imaginary conversation with an imaginary Antarctic companion about throwing imaginary Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream out the window? Wow. The effects of brain freeze are frightening.

Let's return to our convo about dressing like a crazy person unaware of seasonal changes, shall we? I got the idea for this sweater whilst creating the Starry Night Light Up Dress (yes, I just said "whilst". I like fancy words that create the illusion of intelligence like Fortnight, Dodgy and Absobloodylootely. Which actually sound more like Madonna during the late 90's when she was going through her "Oh, hey, I'm now from Bloody England, mates. Brillant!" phase but whateves.)

Oh no. What was I talking about again?

Ah, yes. Van Gogh's Sunflowers. My little friends in Kindergarten town are currently learning all about van Gogh's Starry Night. And if you ask 'em, they can tell you more than you'd ever wanna know about the following: background, middleground, frontground (tell me I'm not the only one who gets this) and landscapes. Of course, they can also fill your ear with: the-World's-Smallest-Paper-Cuts, Tooth-Losings, He-Cut-Me!s* and I-Think-I-Just-Peed-Myself's. Oh, kindergarten. They're like that kinda-funny/kinda-freaky relative you're introduced to at the family reunion that you pray isn't truly related but married to some distant cousin. Not that that has ever happened to anyone who met me at a fam reunion. Ahem.

* Just an FYI for you non-teachers, "He Cut Me!" doesn't mean that the kids are jabbing each other with scissors and other random art room shanks so frequently that I like to make light of the situation. It's their expression for someone jumping line. Which, in kindergarten, is just as traumatic as getting stuck with scissors. Yes, seriously.

Since van Gogh has so many amazing masterpieces aside from La Noche Estrellada (that's right. I'm trilingual. I speak English, Espanol {not really} and Southern. Which is seriously it's own language),  I decided to dedicate a sweater to his paintings of sunflowers. Dude painted about 12 sunflower-y paintings, ya'll! So I decided to give 'em a shout out with this little sweater I scooped up at the thrift store.

While at the thrift store, I also picked up a couple of green 100% wool sweaters. I promptly washed them in hot water which felted them nicely. SIDE NOTE: My moms-in-law just informed me that I shouldn't do that again as it can seriously mess up your washer. She speaks from experience after doing the same and having to have her machine repaired. 

At the craft store, I found the perfect sunflower yellow 100% wool felt and began laying out and planning my design. You'll notice in the photo above I cut out two layers of sunflowers and overlapped 'em a bit. In the next coupla pics, you'll see that I soon scraped that idea. But more on that in a sec (wait, did I just call you a "butt moron"? I believe I did. My bad).

Creating the center of the sunflower was easy enough. With a felting pad underneath, I applied the brown roving to the flower shape and commenced punching with that pink tool you see on the right. For a crash course on felting (as well as a lil list of my felting faves) go here and scroll southward.

For some of the leaves and the stem, I used those aforementioned felted sweaters cut into the desired shapes. And punched 'em into the fibers of the sweater.

For a little variety, I added light green roving to some of the leaves for veins.

There were two reasons I ended up ditching the doubled-up flower idea. One, once the wool was felted, you couldn't see the difference between the top and bottom layer, it all just became flat without that 3-D effect you see in the earlier photo. And the other reason was that two layers of felt and the sweater were difficult to felt though. So I just used one layer of felt (in the photo above, I had already started so I was trimming off the extra flower petals as I went along). To create a little dimension, I shaded with the brown roving.

And I think I like it. Like, I think it's finished. But I'm not sure. More leaves above the large flower on the left? Another small flower on the right?

Forgetaboutit and move on? That's what I'm leaning toward.

Outfit Details: sweater: thrifted; dress: vintage, thrifted; belt and shoes: Anthro; sunflower tights and crinoline: amazon...by the way, these are FOOTLESS tights. Look closely, ya'll. I'm wearing a pair of turquoise tights underneath. Because I'm a super genius.

And there ya have it! What Not to Wear in the Wintertime Unless You Happen to Hate Winter and Wanna Pretend It's Summer. In January. In 5 Degree Temps. Whatever. I bet they dress just like this in Antarctica. 

Chat soon, ya'll!

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What the Art Teachers Wore #77

Dot-Tastic Monday: Okay, I gotta admit, it was by total accident that I wore this polka dotted dress on Monday...which proceeded to inspire my wardrobe for the next coupla weeks. All for the love of The Dot. dress: vintage, Wasteland in San Francisco; shoes: Swedish Hasbeens, Anthro; belt: Pin Up Girl Clothing; necklace: Target

Have ya'll read the book The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds? Well, I have. And so has Rebecca. Like, 24 times. Once for each class we see. And, I gotta admit, I never tire of the book. It's that great. So when I found out that there was something called International Dot Day, I knew we had to participate. Rebecca suggested we hang the kids' painted coffee filters (created for a future art project) and, viola! We dot-a-sized the entire school. More details on our project later this week.

For the occasion, I've decided to wear a polka dotted outfit until our school's Open House this Thursday. Which means, when all is said and done, I will have worn dots for 10 days. At first I didn't think I could pull it off and thought I'd be doing some dot-tastic DIY's but, as it turns out, this hoarder's wardrobe is just full of dots. It's a little nuts. Someone might have a problem. Just sayin.

But back to the dot. All week, we've been stressing the theme of The Dot which is to inspire. Without ruining the plot, an art teacher inspires a student who then inspires an aspiring artist in return. During deep convo about this theme with my first grade students, this happened:

Me: So! What do you think would happen if this story continued...?

First Grade Dude: That little boy in the story will be expired.

Me (without correcting him because I'm dying to see where this goes): Oh yeah? And what do you think will happen when everyone sees our dots on display for Open House?

F.G.D.: Then our family will expire, our friends will be expired and, well, everyone will expire!

Yeah, so. Let's hope nothing that dramatic happens. I'll keep you posted. Until then, I hope your week is dot-tastic!

Dontcha love this dress? Girl traveled all over Europe this summer and picked this dress up in Stockholm. How many people get to say that? "Oh, this ole thang? Stockholm, baby. Stock-I'm-a-World-Traveler-holm."

Not read The Dot? Why not let youtube read it for you?

1960's Does Dots Tuesday: There's this little thrift store I rarely go to and on the day I do, I find this sweet 1960's two piece. What you can't see is the sweet bow at the neck and the delicate buttons down the back. Can you tell I love it? shoes: vintage, thrifted; daisy necklace and earrings: gift from a friend

I love those sandals. They will more than likely come up missing from her closet. Don't tell her.

Art teacher buds, have you ever participated in International Dot Day? This was my first time...and I loved it! I can't wait to share with you what else we've created to celebrate this awesome book.

Dotted Window Wednesday: Chaining these coffee filters together took some trouble shooting. I'll have so spare you the trouble and show you are secrets this week. dress: thrifted; sweater: ebay

Not gonna lie, this colorful window makes me pretty happy.

Picture Day Thursday: Yay! Nothing like remembering it's Picture Day until you are walking out the door. So I just stuck a palette in my hair and called it a day. dress: Target; belt: Plato's Closet

Oops, he forgot "Be Expired!"

PANTS! Friday: Seriously. I have more students make comments when I wear pants than any other day. It's kinda craycray. blouse: gift from a friend; jeans: Target; shoes: Anthro

Guess who got her hairs did?! I love it, don't you? When it's straight, she's got an Ariel vibe and when it's curly, she's totally that girl from Brave. The kids love it. And check out that awesome hair bow. Her mom created that for her when she was a kid...the kids and I love it's sparkly awesomeness.

And, in celebration of a good book, it's Book Fair Week at our school! This year the book fair has an Egyptian theme (where were they two years ago?!). So to kick it off, we dressed a lil crazy and caused a ruckus on the school's morning announcements. That's one of my dear teacher buddies wrapped up in toilet paper. She's such an awesome sport.

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What the Art Teacher Wore #74

Wearing Red Monday: Okay, lest you think I force my amazing student teacher to wear certain attire, it was Color Week in Kindergarten-land. Hence the Red. But don't hold me to that not-telling-her-what-to-wear bit. Because once she got her lessons planned, corresponding outfits were the next step. As it should be, right? (Although, I'm just gonna out myself and say that there might have been one or twenty occasions where the outfit came first and the lesson second. It's called priorities, peeps.) my dress: DIY here; shoes: Crocs; belt: Pin Up Girl Clothing. I'll do better this upcoming week finding the source of Rebecca's attire.

Well, look, ya'll! I've got a partner-in-art-teaching-crime! Meet Rebecca Tenpenny, student art teacher extraordinaire*. I'm so thrilled to have Rebecca in my art room for the next several weeks (ya'll, she's already teaching! How awesome is that?!). The units she has planned are so exciting that I almost can't wait to see the finished result...but I have a feeling that the process is going to be so stinkin' fun that I'm trying to pace myself. And, yes, I am torturing her with outfit photos...the above being our first attempt. We were going for some sort of sorority girl pose and ended up doing the kindergarten "I-Gotta-Use-It" stance. I'd say the photos get better...but as you'll see, they, um, don't. 

One of Rebecca's lessons is based on the artist Andy Warhol. Oh, Andy. How I loved you in high school (and still do, don't get me wrong...it's just that Andy was my first artist love). I had The Velvet Underground on replay, demanded a subscription to Interview magazine for Christmas and copied so many of his prints that I coulda been dubbed Andy Wanna-be. So I'm stoked about this project the kids will be doing. Art teacher buddies, what Warhol-inspired lessons have you done with your students? Lemme know cuz I totally wanna steal them.

Until we chat again, later, dudes!

Andrew Warhola (that's right, did you know there used to be an "a" at the end of that name? After it was once misspelled without an "a", Warhol decided to go with the change) was the youngest of four boys born in 1928 in Pittsburgh. His parents were immigrants from Slovakia. As a young boy, Warhol developed this illness that caused skin pigmentation blotchiness. For that reason, dude spent a lot time bedridden, surrounded by his sketch books, magazines of movie stars and the company of his mother. Later, Warhol would call this the period of his life where he developed as an artist.

Another constant during his childhood was the entertainment of the radio. I can only guess that many commercials lead to his interest in popular culture as that was the world he was surrounded in.

When the kids were looking at these works of art by Warhol today, they were asked "What do you wonder...?" To which one girl replied, "I wonder if there are sparkles in those cans! Or paint!" To which another said, "Um, I think it's soup. And he really likes it."

Mellow Yellow Tuesday: So Rebecca's got this super awesome last name: Tenpenny. It's received a lot of feedback from the kids. My fave was when Rebecca asked the kids just how much ten pennies would be. One second grader replied, "It would be one dime. And we can't call you Miss One Dime because that would be ridiculous." So true. dress: vintage Swirl dress I got for cheapish; flower: made by me; shoes: Shoe Carnival

Lou Reed and Nico? Seriously? Does it get any better when you are a wannabe beatnik/hippie high schooler? Warhol managed the band and they were the house band during The Factory era.

Geez, love this album. Uprooting it tonight.

Feeling Blue Monday: Okay, more like feeling black and blue due to the beating the kindergarten gave us. Granted, it was their first day ever in art...and I have them for 45 minutes at a time...AND I had three said 45 minute classes back-to-back (which had me and Rebecca doing that "I-Gotta-Use-It" pose by the end). But still. They. Ate. Our Lunch. Not gonna happen this week. Oh no. We have plans to divide, taser and conquer (kidding! ish.) dress: vintage, Buffalo Exchange; palette pin: gift from a friend; shoes: BC Shoes, old

Speaking of The Factory, Warhol's famous studio that brought together all walks of life, what would you pay to be a fly on the wall at one of those bashes? I'd like to think that only the coolest and most intelligent and funny walks of life hung out here...which I'd also like to think wouldn't mean the likes of some twerkin' Miley Cyrus. {shudders}.

I gotta tell you, while I'm fascinated with Warhol, the ideas behind his work and that whole era of awesomeness, I don't think I like Warhol as a person. From what I've read, he would love you (figuratively, in the case of Edie Sedgwick) then leave you. Once you boosted his ego and celebrity status, he was done with you. That doesn't sound like the kinda person I'd wanna call a friend. 

Green Day Thursday: I have another "Tenpenny"ism. After introducing herself, one of the kids asked, "Doesn't she have more than ten pennies?"...to which Rebecca replied, "No, I'm a teacher." So true. dress: vintage, thrifted

But there are a lot of artist jerks in the world (and just jerks, period)...and that doesn't lessen the impact a dude like Warhol had. I mean, the guy practically invented Pop Art (with a lil help from Lichtenstein, Rauschenberg and Oldenburg), there's no denying his genius.

Okay, I was disappointed that several classes didn't know who this was. I mean, c'mon, we live in Tennessee! It's Johnny Cash, ya'll (...just kidding! I know it's Bob Seger.)

Orange You Glad It's FRIDAY?!: Ya'll, I love teaching. But, honestly, these last three weeks have been the longest known to man, not gonna lie. dress: The Limited; belt: gift from a friend; necklace: Target; crinoline: thrifted

Can I just tell you that after a great little discussion about Warhol that totally impressed me, I called on a hand-raiser only to be asked, "Is he about to pick his nose?!" Yeah. That's it. Way to dash my hopes and dreams, ya'll. Although, you gotta admit, it does kinda look like it...

* I'll have you know that Rebecca's not my first incredible student teacher. I had the Amazing Carly B. several years ago and the Talented Lauren Reese just last year. You can see what Lauren and I wore here.

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