Published: July 28, 2007 05:57 pm      

Kids discover creative craft of sewing

DANVILLE — Robin Rice guesses the lost art of sewing skips a generation these days.

“I know my own girls. I’m trying to not let that happen,” she said.

She is passing on her knowledge of stitching to her daughters while teaching the craft of creative stitching at Danville Area Community College’s College for Kids program.

She works with three to five young sewers at a time, mostly girls, who are learning the basics this summer.

The kids come away from the class with projects they can use — a box pillow, sun dress, scrunchies or even a rag quilt.

The girls each will get to take home a purse or wallet made of juice boxes at the end of their week-long course.

Rice helped her students with a whip stitch. She held the fabric, but the girls knew what they were doing.

After just a few quick lessons, the students knew what they were supposed to do with a needle and thread.

Rice would help them cut the outline of the fabric, but soon after, the kids were at the sewing machines, tackling their next line of stitching.

Mikayla Uplinger, a third-grader at Trinity Lutheran School, said she wants to learn how to sew because of her grandma, who does some of it herself.

“It looks so fun,” she said. “You can make stuff by sewing that’s not made of paper.”

Baylee Shepherd, a fourth-grader at Judith Giacoma in Westville, finished up her pillow made of jellybean-covered fabric by completing a whip stitch around the seam.

In the meantime, Uplinger was measuring out some ribbon for another project on the rotary cutting mat.

At a sewing machine, Georgie Kiser, a third-grader at Southwest Elementary School, was busy sewing straps on her sundress, which was covered in orange sunflower patterns.

The dress comes in a kit, with pre-sewn gathering at the top of the garment.

But the girls got to pick out their own fringe, and also hemmed the dresses to suit their height. They were also in charge of sewing up the seam in the back.

Kiser said her mom’s friends sew, and occasionally have made things for her to wear.

She took the class to try it out herself.

“I wanted to know how to sew, too,” she said.

She’d already created three sundress projects in just two days. She held up a sundress in progress, which was just a flat sheet with the gathered top.

Soon, it would be hemmed and fitted to her frame.

She won’t stop with the dresses, however.

Next, she planned to make a new denim skirt out of an old pair of jeans.

As soon as Rice finishes holding a piece of cloth for one of her students, the next ones are on their way to the next step of their current project, where they need help cutting fabric with the rotary cutter. After so much flannel cutting for the quilting class, the blade is almost dull.

A NEW LOOK

These days, it’s not a wonder that people’s busy schedules have gotten them away from making their own sewing creations.

Rice is no exception, even though she still finds time to make different things for her kids. She is going back to school at St. Mary of the Woods to become a high school math teacher, but she is also an aide at Benton Central High School in Benton County, Ind., where she’s from.

The mother of four — 9-year-old twins, and two girls, ages 6 and 2 — occasionally makes dresses for weddings her children have been in.

The kids also like her home-made pajama bottoms.

She admits that her daughters are more into it, but her son even enjoys having his own custom-made John Deere or camouflage pajama pants for bed.

If she finds time for it, she’ll occasionally create a pair of custom-made pants, a skirt or a blouse for her children.

She also helps her daughters with 4-H sewing projects.

Even when she makes projects like Easter dresses, which are a little tougher, her daughters enjoy picking out their own patterns and fabrics.

“They don’t have to worry that every other child in school will look like them,” she said.