I love enabling people to sew, knit, quilt and embroider. Any chance I get, anywhere I go, if you sit beside me and look the least bit interested I may just hand over my needle and thread and tell you to have a go.
My favorite part of doing that, and especially now that I’m a teacher, is witnessing light bulb moments when someone grasps the stitch or when someone celebrates something that may have challenged them.
But most often, getting to these moments require skill reinforcing assessments that I can assign for homework. I imagine my students privately exclaiming, “Homework for a sewing class?!” But really, truly, it helps if you practice before and after a lesson.
One of the reasons I picked “The Stitching Coach” as my business name is just like in sports, athletes need to warm up before a game and practice in between to improve their performance. Handouts are part of “The Stitching Coach Playbook,” keeping those skills fresh in your mind or reviewing when you need a refresher.
I’ve curated a solid collection of free handouts for my sewing machine students and created my own for my quilting students. But I need to work on getting more resources for hand embroidery and knitting students.
What made me aware of the deficit happened while reading The Knitting Guild Association‘s teaching certification materials. On Oct. 1 I officially became a TKGA member and enrolled in the certification program to improve my knitting classes and add to my credibility as an instructor.
It also made me realize that none of my classes have a written lesson plan – they are all in my head. That will be my next project, to create an actual tangible “playbook” that students can print from my website or that I can email to students when they purchase lessons.
Below are some of my favorite links to sewing machine worksheets. Do you have a favorite resource that has given you an “ah-ha” moment or that you have used to teach others to knit, embroider or machine sew? If so, share them in the comments.
Sewing resource links:
Driver’s ed for machine sewers: https://so-sew-easy.com/sewing-machine-practice-sheets/
Core skills workbook: https://www.uen.org/cte/facs_cabinet/downloads/ClothingII/AdvancedSampleBook.pdf
Great for teaching students with vision or sensory disabilities: https://dcmp.org/media/5139-sew-cool-productions-the-basics-of-sewing
Just keep stitching,
Coach Dawn
You can find me @stitchingcoach on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Youtube.
