Sewing Pillowcases

The new leaders had the girls sew pillowcases. Lainey loved it. In fact, she enjoyed it so much that she has made another one for herself and has plans for one for her brother and one for her friends birthday.

What was great about this activity was that the leaders made it very easy for the girls to do each step on their own. This class has 8 and 9 year olds in it, with the majority being new 8 year olds. They designated two class times for this project.

Each girl was asked to bring 1/3 yard fabric, 3/4 yard of matching fabric and pins.

For the first class they gave each girl 2 patterns cut from large paper ahead of time. (This was really cool because the girls were able to take the patterns with them so they could make more at home if they wanted to. I had only wished they had typed up directions for the girls to take home also. This way the girls could refer to the directions when they went to make it again instead of having to refer to their moms.)

The girls were then showed how to pin the patterns onto each piece. (When I went to buy the fabric I wondered why we were getting 1/3 yard for the top piece when it could easily be done with 1/4 yard, however, when I went to help I saw that it gave more of an opportunity for the girls to use the scissors this way, you don't need to cut the fabric if you have only a 1/4 a yard).

Each girl was then able to use some sewing scissors that were provided. They took turns.

When they were done cutting their pieces they were called over to a sewing machine. They were able to pick from a pile of scrap material and showed how to sew a piece together using the machine. They were able to practice a few times.

The second Lesson was spent sewing their pillowcases together. We ended up missing that class but I am assuming that while the girls were waiting for their turn on the sewing machine, they were kept busy by practicing their Article of Faith and playing games.

* One FUN way of practicing an Article of Faith is to have the girls sit in chairs in a circle. Then each girl on her turn is to stand and say one word in order of the Article of Faith they are saying. So child one stands and says, We, child two stands and says Believe, child three says IN, child four stands and says God, ect. You try and have them do this as quickly as possible. It can be quite fun. If a child misses a word the group has to stop and start all over again.

The top piece of the pillow case pattern measured 11 x 20 inches. Notice the fold line on the 11 inch side.

The main piece of the pillow case pattern measured 20 x 26. Notice the fold line on the 26 inch side.