Simple sewing projects
You can choose any of these simple projects to make with some scrap materials that you might already have around your home. Ask a parent on how to use your sewing machine if you have one. If you don’t you can do these by hand as well—they just take longer.
Sachets
These are great if you can get some fresh dried lavender or you can use dried potpourri from the store. Cut two squares of equal size from scrap material. Place scraps right side together. Sew a continuous running stitch around three sides of your square, real close to the edge. Turn the squares right side out. Fill with your scented items. Tuck the unfinished edges inward and do a whipstitch to close your sachet. Give these as gifts or put some in your drawers.
Easy apron
This is great to make for a child or a girl’s group. You will need one tea or dish towel and a roll of ribbon—7/8” or 1.5” wide in coordinating colors.
Measure the waist of who will be wearing the apron and add about 36 inches, to determine your ribbon length. Cut the ribbon. Line up the middle of your ribbon piece with the middle of the dish towel. Secure it with some pins. Sew a simple running stitch to secure it to the towel. If you have a machine, it will hold much better. If you must hand stitch it, be sure to go back on the edges a few times to secure it.
Denim skirt out of jeans
Take a pair of jeans and decide how long you want your skirt to be. Add an extra 1 ½ inches for your hem. Cut across the jeans the length you want the skirt to be. Use a seam ripper to unpick the inner seams of the jeans. Unpick the front and back seam a couple of inches . Then, overlap the angled edge of the jeans over the other side of the jeans. If it’s still puckering and not quite laying flat, unpick the seam just a bit more.
Next, sew the flap down, stitching right along the original lines where the jeans were sewn together. Do the same on the back. However, you may have to fold the edge of the flap under just a bit, so that there are no raw edges. Now, you’ll need a bit of fabric to fill in the gaps between the pant legs. Cut a piece from the pant leg. Place it between the gap from the back side and pin in place. Sew in place, right along the same seam lines. Repeat on the back. Then trim away the extra flaps of fabric on the inside of the skirt.
Trim the bottom edge of the skirt. Then fold under the bottom edge 3/4 of an inch under and the another 3/4 of an inch. Sew in place. Iron your hem flat. Now you can wear your skirt.
**Please note that when sewing through thicker fabric like jean, go slow as to not break your needle.
You can also google some simple sewing projects—that will be a future part of this home ec course
