YES !

Yesterday I was at Millrose cottage in Ballan, teaching a beginners class with a difference.

Do I even need to talk about how beautiful this shop is?

I’ll admit to being a bit nervous about my first attempt at teaching kids – yes I work in a primary school but I am not a teacher. What if they got bored? or if the day was too long? What if someone died in a bizarre sewing machine related tragedy? (I do tend to melodrama when I'm anxious)

Pfft, These little rock stars showed me a thing or two I can tell you. They were totally focused. They cut, sewed, and even embroidered! I was so impressed. We had four Big Topics to cover and they probably got sick of the sound of my voice but I’m sure they can all tell you all about Right Sides Together, Back tacking, Basting and the Softie Sandwich.In fact, they probably had nightmares about it last night- I do tend to bang on.

Yes we had assistants (parent and grandparents) with us but the kids did everything , even the bits I was sure they would not want to do, like embroidering the mouth. They owned that dog! Obviously I lucked out with an awesome bunch of kids and a couple of them were already skilled up, but one new friend went from almost zero experience, to a completed dog. There was lots of laughter, there were a few “Uh-oh jodie, that bit went weird” and “I can’t sew through my eyeball mess” but it really was fun. Yes, we lagged a bit in the afternoon but once we got to stuffing that dog and the end was in sight everyone perked up and those ears were not even a challenge.

Do you remember my little rant when I first designed these beginner patterns ?

well dudes I rest my case.