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I am an international school educator, currently working as a Primary Assistant Principal in China.This blog is a space to explore thoughts as a teacher, a parent and a learner. I'm interested in different ways of imagining and realising education and present this blog as a platform to explore and share ideas.

Monday 4 October 2021

Boys can Sew Too!

 



Having ignited a passion for needlework in my son (see my blog post, Real Tools and Materials December, 2018) it is wonderful to see him continue to explore different textile arts as he grows older. Now he’s gained mastery over a number of media, he’s able to let his creativity fly and realise his designs with minimal support.


Sadly, very few boys are given the opportunity or encouraged to explore crafts such as sewing and knitting so miss out on this creative avenue. Most needlework kits are marketed towards girls, with the usual predominance of pink or sparkly motifs and packaging. There are very few learn-to-sew or learn-to-knit books for kids which are gender-neutral and certainly almost none aimed at boys. Even a trawl through Pinterest or a general Google search brings up very little on this subject.

In general, textile arts rarely feature in school curricula so it is not just boys who are missing out. Is it the thought that needles pose a safety concern for schools or could it be that fewer teachers possess the needlework skills to pass on to young learners? While there has probably been an uptick in people taking up needlework during the pandemic lockdowns, lifestyle changes have made it a much less-practiced skill than a few generations ago. I was interested to read that because of a lack of manual dexterity, traditionally honed through handwork activities during childhood, young trainee surgeons are struggling to master the skills required to perform their job. (BBC, 2018) With the dominance of academic subjects over practical ones, needlework has been pushed to the fringes of the curriculum and often has disappeared altogether.


The benefits of needlework are numerous and serve young learners so well in various areas of their life. To be able to produce something through your own creativity and hard work is a real confidence-booster for children. In a consumer-driven world, being able to exert control over a process, manipulate materials to one’s own design and learn about failure are highly valuable experiences, along with skills and attitudes of problem-solving and perseverance. The delayed gratification and engagement in multi-step or extended processes that needlework demands can be so valuable in an age when so much can be had at the click-of-a-button. I observe that my son can become completely engrossed in a textile project and finds his inner calm through the focused quiet of the activity. For more information about the therapeutic benefits of sewing and knitting check out stitchlinks.com, an organization promoting research into the benefits within mainstream healthcare systems.

 

If you are interested in exploring textile arts with a child – boy or girl – check out some of the more successful projects my son has worked on. He has explored hand and machine sewing, knitting and needle felting.

 

Hand sewing and machine sewing

Projects have included dressing-up costumes and accessories, purses and pouches, clothes and other items for toys. With the sewing machine we started off with simple explorations of the settings and learning to coordinate hands and feet.


 
 



Learning to thread the machine and wind the bobbin is an important skill to be mastered.


Patchwork is a relatively easy and highly-satisfying sewing project to do. Rummaging through my fabric collection to pick out pieces for the bunny blanket was very much a part of the fun. Some of those pieces had been saved from clothing items my mother had made when I was little!




If you have old T-shirts lying around, you can try re-fashioning them with new designs, appliqued on.

 


 

One useful tip I would share for sewing is to use fabrics which don’t fray and therefore don’t require hemming, such as felt, T-shirt material and some types of velvet. There are quite a few aspects to sewing which are fiddly and time-consuming, hemming being one of them, which children starting out can find off-putting.




 
              







I would also recommend allowing your child to use scissors which do indeed cut fabric. Of course, supervise the use, especially in the early stages, but more importantly, teach your child to handle them with care. Trying to use child-safe or even ordinary scissors designed to cut paper is almost impossible with fabric and does not lead to safe usage. With the sewing machine, the problem can be that the child has forgotten that their foot is still on the pedal and could start sewing without intending to. Reciting the steps of the process out loud helps children to remember the safety processes and to ensure they are mentally present and aware of everything their body parts are doing.


 


 

 

Knitting

I first learnt about finger knitting during a visit to a Waldorf school and was really taken by the calm focus I could see in the young children I observed busy engaged in it. I went straight home and taught my son, who’d just turned four, and he was hooked. Many of his toys soon acquired scarves. He still loves this craft – he’s nearly seven – and it’s kept him busy on many a dull shopping trip or journey. He’ll put the wool in his rucksack and walk around, busily knitting – the ultimate craft-on-the go! Knitting with needles has proved to be equally absorbing, though the rewards are not as instant and there seem to be more opportunities for dropped stitches and frayed tempers.



 

 

Needle felting

This was a craft that was new to me, so me and my son have learnt it together and have taught each other tips as we go. One of the main appeals of needle felting is the complete transformation of the material as you work with it – the soft fluffy wool roving becomes hard and moldable as you fuse the fibers together by jabbing it. Yes, we’ve had a few pricked fingers but it’s never been serious enough to prevent either of us from carrying on right where we left off!






Choosing the fabric can be a fabulous, multi-sensory experience for children too. My son and I love to go along to the fabric markets in places we've been living - India and China - and revel in the colours and textures on display!





I hope that some of these projects give you inspiration to try textile arts with your own children or those with whom you work. It can be a lot of fun for you too; who knows, maybe you’ll learn a new skill or revitalize those that you’ve not thought about since childhood! If that’s too much of a stretch, at least encourage children, particularly boys, to take up textile arts and to view it as something for everyone, regardless of gender.

 

 


References:

https://www.bbc.com/news/education-46019429









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