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Radiant Home Studio | Sewing Patterns & Surface Design

Radiant Home Studio

September 3, 2015 ·

Zipper Pouch Girls Sewing Day

Sewing

Last week, I spent the day sewing with my daughter and 6 of her friends. It was a zipper pouch girls sewing day! The girls we invited all had basic sewing skills (able to thread the machine and sew straight stitches…) and a desire to learn more. My goal was to introduce a couple of new techniques to them so that they could expand their sewing skills beyond straight stitching.

Preteen Girls Sewing Day |Handmade Style and Happy Home | Radiant Home Studio
Photo by Janet Phillips
Photo by Janet Phillips

We made pencil pouches from Handmade Style by Anna Graham. I ordered a fat quarter bundle of Happy Home by Sew Caroline. (My sample was made with Cultivate by Bonnie Christine.) This fabric line is so cute and the girls loved it! By ordering a fat quarter bundle, they were able to mix and match fabric designs freely, without worrying that the fabrics wouldn’t match. We talked a little bit about choosing fabrics that have some contrast and they all ended up with really nice fabric choices.

Preteen Girls Sewing Day |Handmade Style and Happy Home | Radiant Home Studio
Preteen Girls Sewing Day |Handmade Style and Happy Home | Radiant Home Studio

The pouch is simple to construct and allowed them to practice installing zippers. Typically zipper pouches need to be turned inside out to be finished. This pattern is finished with bias binding, so I thought the directions would be less confusing for the girls. The 3 main things I taught them were how to apply interfacing, how to use a zipper foot, and how to use bias binding. I think the older girls left knowing enough to try their new skills on other projects, which was the goal.

Preteen Girls Sewing Day |Handmade Style and Happy Home | Radiant Home Studio
Photo by Janet Phillips

Overall, I think they did a great job, but I learned a few things that will be helpful next time. I prepped the patterns, interfacing, and bias binding strips ahead of time. I definitely needed another sewing adult present to answer questions. I imagined giving directions one step at a time and then sending the girls to their machines to complete the step. The truth is, it was much more disorganized and everyone needed my help at once.

We also ran into a problem because we only had 2 machines with zipper feet and 8 people that needed to use them. I really thought zipper feet were standard attachments that came with everyone’s machine, but apparently that is not the case.  The lack of zipper feet ended up making the entire project take about 3 hours. (This is something I can sew myself in 20 minutes.)

Photo by Janet Phillips
Preteen Girls Sewing Day |Handmade Style and Happy Home | Radiant Home Studio

By the 2 hour mark, the younger girls (8-9 yr. olds) had reached the end of their attention span and just wanted to finish. The older girls graciously waited while the younger ones finished and went to play. When the moms arrived, the three 12-13 yr. old girls were still working diligently to finish. Though these girls normally play well together and are all friends, I saw the difference a couple of years can make in their maturity and ability to concentrate. Next time, I may separate the girls by age.

My hope is that they all left feeling like they accomplished something more difficult than what they thought they could do. I’ve always thought the best way to learn sewing is to try one new skill each project (or until you feel comfortable moving on). Learning to sew is learning by doing. First tries are never perfect, but they give you the confidence to try again and gain new skills with each project. I hope the girls left ready to try something new!

Preteen Girls Sewing Day |Handmade Style and Happy Home | Radiant Home Studio

And that was our zipper pouch girls sewing day!

p.s. Thank you to my friend Janet of Janet Phillips Photography for sharing her beautiful photos with us!

Previous Post: « Blue Ridge Dress Pattern Swap
Next Post: Make Bias Binding from a Fat Quarter »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Krista says

    September 3, 2015 at 11:39 am

    Excellent attempt! That project is a really good idea, and they turned out fabulously!

    Thank you so much for telling us how it really went. 🙂 I’d love to do something like this someday if time and life permit, so it really helps to have some tips in the arsenal when I’m ready to go.

    Pity we don’t live closer–I would definitely volunteer to be your “other” adult! 🙂

    • Sara Curtis says

      September 3, 2015 at 2:28 pm

      Thanks Krista! I’d love to have you 🙂 I have another friend in mine, but she works during the week. If I plan for a Saturday class, she should be able to help! It might be good to have the moms stay too. Even if they don’t sew, they might be helpful for ironing and cutting. Since these are mostly big families like ours though, it’s hard for the moms to find a place for the extra kids. We’ll figure it out!

  2. Mama Lusco says

    September 4, 2015 at 12:00 am

    What a wonderful project for young sewers! I have dreamed of doing this with my girls. Thanks for the helpful hints!

    • Sara Curtis says

      September 4, 2015 at 3:04 pm

      Thanks! I have wanted to do something for a while too. I finally just sent out an e-mail to our friends and gave myself 4 weeks to gather supplies. The planning was much less work than I thought it would be, and the deadline helped me get it together.

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