We Made Pillowcases

Some day I might learn to quit paving the road to hell with my good intentions. Or not.

I had the brilliant idea of scheduling a sewing class at the Community Center. This is one of those chicken-and-egg situations that involves throwing a bunch of stuff at a wall and seeing what sticks, metaphorically speaking. Until we offer classes, we can’t generate interest in the classes, and until there is interest in the classes, we don’t know what classes people want to take. Also, I needed to test out the reservation plug-in on the website. That part, at least, worked well, as every student reserved a spot and paid through the website.

Two ladies signed up for the morning session. I had interest from a mom with two girls, as well, but they had a conflict in the morning so I said I would do an afternoon session for them. I took all my stuff up to the Community Center yesterday morning; Susan’s husband, Jim, came over and helped me unload the car. Susan and Jim live right across the road.

Class was supposed to start at 9 am. At 9 am, I had no students.

9:05: No students.

9:10: Still no students.

9:15: I texted Susan and told her I was waiting until 9:20, then going home.

9:20: I got back in my car and headed for home. I live about five minutes away. As I was pulling into my driveway, Susan texted me and said she thought the students had shown up. I turned around and went back to the Community Center. When I arrived, two ladies cheerfully got out of the vehicle and said they were late because they “had to stop for coffee.”

I put on my polite face and invited them inside and we had a class on making pillowcases.

[I could have been snide about the fact that they were half an hour late, but I am representing the homestead foundation and trying to generate interest in our organization. Also, just because they had been inconsiderate didn’t mean that I needed to be rude in return.]

One lady had some quilting and sewing experience, but the other lady was a rank beginner. The lady who had never sewn before was delighted that she actually made something. I took a picture of her finished pillowcase:

That was the only picture I got. It’s hard to remember to take photos when one is in the middle of teaching.

I took a break for lunch, then went back for the afternoon class. This was a mom and her 10 year-old daughter and the daughter’s friend. We had a great time. The daughter’s friend is a sharp little cookie who has a bright future as a sewing designer, LOL. She would have made pillowcases all night if we had let her. Unfortunately, I had only brought enough fabric with me for each of them to make one. Mom also asked if I would teach beginning knitting classes as she wants to learn.

I probably will offer some classes again, but not until after Christmas. The class fee generated some income for the homestead foundation and every little bit helps.

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I’m looking at a stretch of open days on my schedule and contemplating what I want to work on next. After dinner last night, I got out the Squash Squad wool embroidery pattern and prepped the first block:

This was a Sue Spargo stitchalong on Instagram two years ago. I tried to follow along, but there were all sorts of problems with Instagram. (I am no fan of Instagram.) I couldn’t find the posts with the instructions, Instagram TV didn’t work properly, etc. I gave up in frustration. When the printed pattern became available, I bought it. This second attempt is proceeding much more smoothly. I will have plenty to work on in the evenings this winter. I just love all those bright bits of wool.

I think tomorrow is going to be a marathon cutting session for clothing patterns. The fabric does me no good until it is sewn into something. In the meantime, I’ve been making up serger technique samples here and there and adding them to my class materials.

The husband spent all day yesterday getting the guts of the wood boiler system hooked up in the basement. I think he’s getting close to the end of this part of the project and we should be able to fire it up soon.