Specially Made By

My Students

Pride of accomplishment is clearly evident when I watch a student pull her friends in to my classroom and show off the garment she/he is working on. I want to enhance that experience by letting the whole school see how wonderful my students' work is, but I need a place to display their work safely.

The majority of my student have never used a sewing machine before.

They enter my classroom with a love of clothing and fashion, thinking that they can make something in one class. By the end of the semester they have learned patience, sharing, commitment, math skills, reading, writing, and some necessary social skills. They have also discovered how proud they feel when they can say, "I made if myself!"

My Project

I think it is vitally important to be able to inspire and motivate my students by showing them examples of what they can make. I always try to do this by the clothes I wear to class, as well as by what I hang on the walls of my classroom. I want to expand on this idea by inspiring ALL students to be creative by showing them what and how much they can make in my classes. The best way to do this is with a venue in the school hallway outside of my classroom door. My students need a place in the hallway where they can proudly and safely show off garments they have designed and sewn in my classes. In one of my previous schools, I had a display case. It was so gratifying to see my students bring all their friends to that case and show off their latest creation.

In my former school, whenever I hung new items in the case, it would draw big crowds of students to see what my students had sewn.

Ultimately this led to larger enrollments in my classes, too! In order to support my program, I've solicited fabric donations from all local church and civic groups in town. They have been very generous, in these days of shrinking school budgets and increasing class sizes. Additionally, during the semester we do a charity project with these donated fabrics.