Courses · Fabrics & Sewing · Kindergarten to Grade 12
Fabrics & Sewing
Making cloth and sewing it is one of the oldest crafts, and one of the most useful. These courses follow cloth from the cotton field, the sheep and the silkworm to the finished seam. Students learn how natural and synthetic fibers differ, what thread count and a serged edge mean, and how to sew by hand and by machine, crochet and knit. They go on to design and make clothes, pillows, curtains, costumes and furniture covers. Each lesson starts with a real story, from the spinning wheel and the Jacquard loom to Elias Howe’s needle, and ends with something made by hand.
Choose a course
Grades K–2 · Ages 5–8
Threads & Weaving
Wool from sheep and cotton from a boll, paper and yarn weaving, lacing cards and big plastic needles, sewing on a button, finger knitting, a first crochet chain, a stuffed pillow, and a simple costume for a Christmas pageant.
Grades 3–5 · Ages 8–11
Fabrics & Sewing I
Natural and synthetic fibers, weaving and knit fabric, the running stitch to the blanket stitch, a first seam on the sewing machine, a crocheted scarf, knitting on two needles, a pillow and a curtain, and a simple garment or costume.
Grades 6–8 · Ages 11–14
Fabrics & Sewing II
Fiber science and thread count, grain and seam finishes, mending and hand-sewn closures, machine-sewn pajama pants, crochet and knitting patterns, lined drapes and a slipcover, and designing a historical costume.
High school
Grades 9–12
Textile Science & Clothing Construction
Fiber chemistry and burn tests, yarn and fabric structure, thread count, finishes and fabric testing, the sewing machine and serger, reading and altering patterns, fitting, and a fitted garment, with labs and tests.
Grades 9–12
Home Décor, Costume & Upholstery
Design and color, pillows and cushions, curtains and drapes, quilting, slipcovers, re-covering and upholstering a chair, and designing historical and Bible-story costumes for the stage, with labs and tests.
How every lesson works
Each K–8 course has 8 units of 4 lessons, one lesson a week for a school year, with two sessions a week: one to learn and one to sew. The same eight subjects return at each level, deeper each time: where cloth comes from, fabric up close, hand stitching, machine sewing, crochet, knitting, home sewing (pillows, drapes and furniture covers), and design, clothing and costumes.
- Warm-up. A feel-and-guess fabric test, a look inside a closet, or a question to think about.
- Watch. A hand-picked YouTube video from a museum, a university extension service or a good sewing teacher, with a note on when to watch it.
- Learn. The story, how they figured it out, and the fabric science, in short sections a parent can read aloud.
- Picture study. A public-domain painting or photograph, such as Vermeer’s The Lacemaker or Millet’s spinners and knitters, to look at closely and talk about.
- Sewing project. A real thing made, with a pattern card listing the fabric and notions and each step.
- Sewing notebook. Fabric swatches, stitch samples, measurements, and what to change next time.
Safe at every age. A parent supervises. Young children use blunt plastic needles, safety scissors and yarn while an adult does the cutting and ironing. Older students earn sharp needles, the iron, the sewing machine and the rotary cutter step by step.
Each unit ends with a short review and a unit challenge, such as a stitch sampler or a mended garment. In the last week the student holds a family sewing fair to show the year’s work.
Every project uses ordinary fabric-store supplies, and many use old shirts, sheets and towels. A sewing machine is needed only for the machine-sewing lessons, and those lessons give a hand-sewn option. Each unit also lists optional books, free resources and simple tools.
Every course can also be downloaded as one printable PDF, with the video links printed in each lesson.
Videos open on YouTube. Each one was checked for the lesson and for the content, but YouTube shows its own recommendations and ads around them, so parents should stay nearby.