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Teaching Sewing To Others Can Be Rewarding
Why is now a good time to begin teaching sewing to others? Sewing has entered the mainstream and has been popularized by television. Such shows as Project Runway are bringing this creative skill into the spotlight.
It is not that sewing has not been on television for a long time, long running television shows on PBS, such as Sewing With Nancy and Martha’s Sewing Room, have been instrumental in teaching others to sew, and honing the sewing skills of those of us that already sew.
The interest is not just in sewing, but in quilting and machine embroidery as well, these arts have been popularized by public television. With the mainstreaming of sewing to television, the young as well as older persons are asking where they can learn to sew. As a result now is a good time to start a business teaching others to sew. When I was a young girl growing up, there were plenty of opportunities for learning to sew. Many of us were taught by our mothers or some other adult relative, and like me many supplemented their sewing education in the school system home economics classes. Some even began their sewing education in the school system in home economics classes. Some also went on to earn home economics degrees in colleges.
But today in our fast paced world and due to the economy sewing is not really taught in schools as a valued skill, and what is taught does not focus on garment construction.
One of the best reference books on setting up a business teaching others to sew is: The Business of Teaching Sewing by Marcy Miller and Patti Palmer of the Palmer/Pletch sewing method.
This book on teaching sewing can be found at Palmer/Pletsch.com There are some tips in the book on how to be a great teacher. One tip that I especially found inspiring is “To be a good teacher you must be an effective teacher. Remember to be natural, be yourself, and to express your own ideas in your own manner. Teach yourself the skills and techniques to be great.”
Some other tips from this excellent publication to name just a few are:
• Know your subject very well
• Put the audience at ease
• You can’t teach until you motivate students to want to learn
Sewing For Others
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