Name: ______________________________ Date: ______________ Period: ______
Directions: Parts 1 and 2 are the step cards. Follow the numbered steps. Each step has one action and a picture described in words, so you can do this from the sheet even if you missed the demonstration. Part 3 is the self-check. Part 4 is the exit card.
Word bank in other languages
| English | Turkish | Portuguese | Spanish |
|---|---|---|---|
| thread (noun) | iplik | linha | hilo |
| thread (verb) | iplik geçirmek | passar a linha | enhebrar |
| eye of the needle | iğne deliği | buraco da agulha | ojo de la aguja |
| knot | düğüm | nó | nudo |
| stitch | dikiş | ponto | puntada |
| running stitch | teyel dikişi | ponto corrido | puntada corrida |
| even | eşit (düzgün) | uniforme | uniforme |
| tight | sıkı | apertado | apretado |
| flat | düz | plano (esticado) | plano (liso) |
| pucker | büzülme | franzido | fruncido |
THE PRINTED PRACTICE CLOTH
This is the description of the cloth itself so it can be printed or drawn. One cloth per student, two if there is time.
Size and material. A half sheet of white cotton muslin or an old white flat sheet, cut to about six inches wide and nine inches tall. Cut with the fabric shears and a ruler. A thrifted flat sheet cuts into about sixty of these.
How to make the lines. Two ways, both fine. (1) Run the cut squares through a copier or an inkjet printer with the lines set up as a page, one cloth per page, taped to a carrier sheet of paper so the fabric feeds. (2) Draw the lines by hand with a ruler and a fine permanent marker on a stack of cloths. Hand drawing thirty cloths takes about twenty minutes once.
What is printed on the cloth, top to bottom.
| Where | What it looks like | What it is for |
|---|---|---|
| Top edge, quarter inch in | A row of small printed letters: your name line, "Name: ______" | So the cloth belongs to somebody |
| One inch down | A straight dotted line across the full six inches. The dots are about a quarter inch apart. Above the line: "1. RUNNING STITCH" | The running stitch practice, Lesson 5.6. The dots show exactly where the needle goes down and comes up, so spacing is a matter of hitting the dot |
| Three inches down | A gentle curved dotted line, like a wide smile, across the full width, dots a quarter inch apart. Above it: "2. THE CURVE" | Curve practice, Lesson 5.6. A curve teaches you to turn the fabric, not the needle |
| Five inches down | A solid line across the width with a second dotted line a quarter inch below it. Above them: "3. SEAM LINE (a quarter inch in)" and a small arrow labeled "edge" pointing down to the bottom edge | The backstitch practice in Lesson 5.7, and the place where a seam allowance becomes visible: the solid line is the seam line, the space below it to the edge is the seam allowance |
| Seven inches down | A straight dotted line, dots an eighth of an inch apart, half the width only. Above it: "4. SMALL STITCHES (grade 8 stretch)" | The shorter stitch length comparison in Lesson 5.7's stretch |
| Bottom two inches | Blank | Free practice, and the place to try something twice |
Image described in words for the printed cloth: a plain white rectangle, taller than it is wide, with four horizontal guide lines running across it from left to right. From the top: a straight dotted line, then a wide shallow curve made of dots, then a solid line with a dotted line just below it and a tiny arrow pointing to the bottom edge, then a short line of very small dots. Each line has a small printed label above it. The bottom of the cloth is empty.
Part 1: Step card, set up the thread
Step 1. Measure the thread.
Pull thread off the spool from your hand to your elbow, then stop.
Picture: a hand holding the end of a thread at the shoulder end of the forearm, with the thread running down the arm to the fingertips, about eighteen inches.
Step 2. Cut it at an angle.
Cut with the snips so the end comes to a point.
Picture: small snips cutting a thread on a slant, leaving a pointed tip, not a blunt one.
Step 3. Flatten the cut end.
Press the cut end flat between your finger and thumb.
Picture: a thumb and finger pinching the last half inch of thread flat.
Why not a longer thread? Write the three reasons:
- ______________________________________________
- ______________________________________________
- ______________________________________________
Part 2: Step card, thread the needle, knot it, and sew
Step 4. Hold the needle against something light.
Put the needle in front of your palm or a white page so you can see the eye.
Picture: a needle held up flat against an open palm, with the small oval eye visible against the skin.
Step 5. Move the needle onto the thread.
Hold the thread still between two fingers with a quarter inch sticking up. Move the needle's eye down onto the thread. Do not push the thread at the needle.
Picture: two fingers pinching a short standing end of thread, and a needle coming down onto it eye first.
Step 6. If it does not go in three tries, use the threader.
Push the wire loop of the threader through the eye. Put the thread through the wire loop. Pull the loop back out and the thread comes with it.
Picture: a small diamond-shaped wire loop pushed through a needle eye, a thread lying inside the wire loop, and an arrow showing the loop being pulled back out.
Step 7. Pull about four inches of thread through the eye.
You are sewing with one strand, not two, so do not double it.
Picture: a threaded needle with a short tail on one side and the long working thread on the other.
Step 8. Make the knot: lay the thread along the needle.
Hold the needle in one hand. Lay the long end of the thread along the side of the needle, near the point.
Picture: a needle held upright with a thread lying flat against its side, the thread end pointing up past the point.
Step 9. Wrap the thread around the needle three times.
Wrap tightly, right next to the point, three turns.
Picture: three neat coils of thread wound around a needle just below the point.
Step 10. Pinch the wraps.
Pinch the three wraps between your finger and thumb and hold them there.
Picture: a finger and thumb squeezing the coiled section of the needle.
Step 11. Pull the needle all the way through the wraps.
Keep pinching. Pull the needle through and keep sliding the pinched wraps down the thread to the end.
Picture: a needle being pulled upward out of a pinched coil, and the coil sliding down the thread turning into a small tight knot at the end.
Step 12. Test the knot.
Tug it. If it slides off or pulls apart, tie a second knot on top of the first.
Picture: two hands pulling gently on either side of a knot at the end of a thread.
Step 13. Sew the running stitch on line 1.
Come up from underneath at the first dot. Go down at the second dot. Come up at the third. Go down at the fourth. Keep every stitch and every gap the same length.
Picture: a side view of cloth with a thread going over the top, under the cloth, over the top, under the cloth, like a dashed line above and below.
Step 14. Load two or three stitches before pulling through.
Push the needle in and out a few times before you pull the thread. It is faster and straighter.
Picture: a needle weaving in and out of the cloth three times with the thread still slack behind it.
Step 15. Keep the cloth flat on the table.
Do not hold the cloth up in the air. Free hand stays behind the needle, never in front of it.
Picture: cloth lying flat on a table, one hand flat on the cloth behind the needle, the other hand holding the needle.
Step 16. Stop when about four inches of thread is left.
Do not squeeze out two more stitches. Finish off: three tiny stitches in one place, then a knot, then trim.
Picture: a short thread tail with three small overlapping stitches in one spot and snips cutting the tail close.
Part 3: Self-check
Rate your own line. Circle one number in each row. 1 is not yet, 3 is good.
| What I am checking | 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Even stitch length: all my stitches are about the same size | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| On the line: my stitches follow the printed dots | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| No puckering: the cloth lies flat, it is not gathered up | 1 | 2 | 3 |
The one change I will make next time, and why:
Part 4: Exit card (tear off or write on an index card)
- The three setup steps in order: ______________, ______________, ______________
- My three self-check numbers: even ______, on the line ______, no pucker ______
- The one change I will make tomorrow: