Lesson video

Hello, welcome to lesson three or five for textiles.

You've just caught me doing some sewing, haven't you? That's because today's focus is sewing.

Look I've put my favourite jumper on not because I'm feeling miserable, actually, I'm quite excited, but because it's absolutely covered in little stitches.

And that's what we're going to be learning about today.

We probably won't get to do something quite as well knit as this, but I am going to show you how to start sewing.

If you've never sewn before, don't panic, I'm going to show you how to do it.

Now my message, my most important message is that you do not give up.

Don't panic if something goes wrong.

Keep going, keep trying and you will learn how to do this.

Sewing is all about perseverance, about not giving up.

You've already got lots of the skills you need.

Let me remind you.

Do you remember at the end of our last lesson we were talking about weaving.

And I hadn't quite finish this or still not finished it.

It's taking me a very long time, but it's grown a bit.

And the skills that you use when you're weaving are very similar to the skills that you use when you're sewing.

So you already know more than you think you do.

You weave the weft through the walk, don't you? You go up and down, under and over.

And when you're sewing you do something very similar, except this time, you use what's called a needle.

And the needle is this thing that pushes the thread in and out of your material, your canvas.

And that's what makes the picture.

Now sewing can take a long time.

So if you don't get everything finished by the end of this lesson, you can always come back and finish it later on.

Right, let's get on with our lesson, shall we? So the equipment you're going to need for this lesson are, a sketchbook, remember, that can just be your book or some pieces of paper that you stuck together.

A pencil or something to draw with.

Some scissors.

Now if we're using scissors and we're also going to be using a needle, which it can be quite sharp, you are going to need adult supervision for this lesson.

Some colouring materials, a needle, and some fabric, and some thread.

Today's lesson we're going to find out what sewing and embroidery are.

We're going to learn about the equipment that we sew with.

We're going to learn to sew.

And then we're going to create our own sample of sewing.

So now remember what I said earlier, if you haven't sewn before, don't panic, I'm going to take you through this step by step and I'm going to show you exactly what you have to do.

If you have sewn before, brilliant, then we'll just be building on what you already know.

So it doesn't really matter what stage of sewing you're at.

Whether you're an expert or whether you're just a beginner.

There's something for everyone in this lesson.

So our keywords are a sampler.

Now sampler is the word, the name we give to a piece of sewing.

So if you're doing some sewing you're doing a sample or sampler.

Embroidery, and embroidery is just decorative stitching.

I've got embroidery on my cardigan, haven't? A needle, a needle is usually a piece of metal and it has an eye, a hole at one end, that you use when you're sewing.

A stitch and a stitch is a single loop of thread.

And thread.

Remember, we've looked at thread before, haven't we? We used it with our weaving and we unpicked them and we untwisted some in our first lesson.

A thread is a long strand of twisted fibres.

So before we get started on anything else we just need to warm up, don't we? And this is what we're going to do.

We're going to be using lots and lots of dashes.

Just like you can see in the picture there.

There are small dashes, long dashes, dashes with big gap, dashes with a little gap.

Gap that's what we're going to be using.

And what I want you to do first is to draw a large square in your sketchbook with dashes all around the edge.

Pause the video and do that now.

Have you done that? Good, well done.

Right, we are going to create patterns that go across your square out of dashes.

Ooh, what does that mean? Let's have a look.

Here's some ideas.

There are all sorts of different dashes.

So you could have them standing up, you could have them in different sizes.

I want you to see what patterns you can make using that idea of dashes.

Here are some that I've done using different colours.

So you could do black and white if you haven't got colour pencils, or you could have a go.

I just used two colours there.

You might want to use lots and lots.

Now it's your turn.

So you're going to create your own patterns that go across your square using different dashes.

Pause the video now and I'll be waiting for you when you're finished.

Have fun.

Ah, now this is what I came up with.

Can you see I've got the original rectangle of dashes there and I've made crosses and zigzags.

And then between each row of patterns I've just done a straight line of dashes going across the page to separate them.

Then I had to go using colour because I was enjoying myself so much.

See how pretty it looks? I wonder, oh, yes, yours does look very good.

Well done.

You've got lots of similar ideas to me, haven't you? Well done.

Now let's look very carefully at this picture.

What can you see? I can see a cat, can you? Looks like it's smiling at us, isn't it? But if you look more carefully at how it was created you can see that the cat is made out of little tiny dashes that have been joined together.

Look carefully at his eyes, can you see that it's made of four dashes almost in a square? And his nose is made of a triangle of dashes.

Each one of those dashes is a stitch.

And that's why we were looking at dashes in our warm up because that will help give you ideas for later on in our lesson.

Let's look at something else.

Look carefully at how the flower has been made.

Can you see? It's very beautiful, doesn't it? I wish I could sew something as lovely as that.

Yeah, you've guessed it.

It's made of lots and lots of dashes.

And each of those dashes is a stitch.

So loads of stitches have been used to create this picture.

So sewing can be used to create pictures as well as dashes and shapes and patterns.

Using stitches in this decorative way is called embroidery.

And that's one of our key words, isn't it? Embroidery is decorative stitching.

It's not just stitching to hold your clothing together.

It's stitching that you're using to add decoration or pattern or detail to something else.

Embroidery is sometimes used on logos of clothes or badges.

And you can see there.

I bet if you look at some of your sportswear you may well find some embroidered badges on those.

Lots and lots of people do.

I know my son has definitely got some embroider badges on the caps that he wears.

There's and they're quite beautiful, aren't they? And they're made of lots of lots of very small stitches that are combined together so it makes those outlines.

Have you got loads with embroidery on? Have a little thinK.

Now look carefully at this picture of a wolf.

He's very handsome, isn't he? He looks like he's staring straight out at the page at us.

It's been embroidered with lots and lots of stitches.

So you can make patterns with stitches, but you could also make pictures.

Look how beautiful he is.

And look, here's a bumblebee and again, yeah, the bumblebee has been made using lots of stitches using embroideries, it's decorative stitching.

And here are some more animals.

I've got a thing about animals on this page, haven't I? And each of those animals has been embroidered.

Now that will take someone quite a long time.

So don't panic if you you're thinking, oh, I couldn't possibly do that.

These are all things that somebody who's been embroidering for a very long time would do.

And I have to say I would struggle and I've been embroidering for a very long time too to great pictures quite as beautiful as those.

Embroidery can create pictures.

Look there's a little boy and he's trying desperately to catch his football and, yep, he has been embroidered in.

If you look carefully at the football you can see every single little stitch there that's been used to colour as the picture of him in.

Or you can make pictures of buildings as well.

And you can see the end of stitches most clearly I think in the trees.

Embroidery can also be used to create rich and ornate patterns.

Isn't this beautiful? Quite different to the other things that we've looked at.

It almost look like a star or a flower in the middle there, doesn't it? And look at how beautiful the colours are.

And the way that lots of different stitches have been used.

They're not just the same, are they? There's zigzags and there's circles.

And there's loops and twists, isn't it beautiful? So which of the following best describes what embroidery is? Is using colouring textiles to make them interesting embroidery? Or is using stitches to add detail and decoration to fabric? Which of those do you think embroidery is? Yeah, I expect you got that right, didn't you? Using stitches to add detail and decoration to fabric is what embroidery is.

And that's what we're aiming to walk towards doing today.

And we're going to start at the basics.

So first of all, what is a stitch? A stitch is made by something called a needle and some thread.

And the needle is used to pull the thread through some fabric.

Here the picture is that, you can see in the picture, can't you? The needle is being pushed through the fabric.

And you can see quite clearly there, can't you? That that person is pushing the thread through the fabric to create those crosses.

And those crosses are being used to create the picture.

Each stitch then creates one dash and the dashes are all combined together to create whatever the picture or the pattern might be.

Right, let's see if we can learn to sew.

So the first thing you're going to need to do is to thread your needle.

So you need to get your needle and your thread at the moment.

Now the needle might have a sharp end, so be careful of that.

And you will need adult supervision for this part of the lesson because we are going to be using scissors and we are going to be using a needle, which as I just said can have a sharp end.

Now you're going to thread the needle.

Now that means you're going to put the thread through the eye of the needle.

That needle doesn't look like it's got an eye to me, but it does.

The hole at the end there is called the eye and that's where you push the thread through.

Okay, now I'm going to show you how on a video.

So what do you need to do.

The first thing you need are some scissors and needle, some thread and some scissors.

So you're going to cut yourself some threads.

You don't want it to be too long because if it's too long it's all going to get knotted up and that's annoying.

Cut the end of your thread and make sure the end is nice and blunt.

Then very carefully, see how closely to the end I'm holding that thread, you push the thread through the eye of the needle, all right? And then you pull it along so the needle is almost halfway, can you see that? That can be quite tricky.

So if you don't get that done and you can't do at the first try, keep trying, try again.

If you find the end of your thread is all fluffy just get some scissors and blunt it off.

Cut the end again so it's nice and blunt.

And then you're going to push it through.

So you're going to pause the video and once you've paused the video you're going to thread your needle.

Take your thread and push it through the eye of the needle.

Good luck and I shall see you when you've done that.

Remember, it might not happen first time, especially if you've never done it before.

So don't give up.

Just keep going you will get there in the end.

See you in a minute.

You managed that? Well done.

Good, now you've got your needle threaded and you've got your thread your needle on it, make sure your needle isn't too close to the end otherwise it will come on down really easily.

We're going to look at what to do next.

Let's see what the video does.

So you've got your needle and you've got your thread there, haven't you? So you take your needle and you pull your needle so that the one end, can you see? I always call it the tail.

So one end of the tail is a bit longer than the other.

And you're going to tie a knot in the longest end of your tail.

That can be quite tricky.

So again, don't give up, keep going.

You want to try and make sure the knot isn't too small, otherwise, it would just pull through your thread.

Now once you've done that you come up from underneath the thread, underneath the fabric and you pull your needle through right the way until the knot meets the end.

Then you go back down and you pull it back underneath and you come back up.

A little bit like weaving, isn't it? Up down.

So coming up now, up through the fabric.

And, ooh, now if you make it too long the way you put your needle in will alter the length of your your stitch.

So think about where you're coming up each time.

See, each time you can see, can't you? That I'm thinking about where I want the needle to go.

And you push the needle through and pull it through like that and push it down.

As you push it down you need to make sure that you're very careful of your fingers that you've got underneath holding that fabric.

Otherwise, you might jab the needle into your fingers.

And then you keep going.

Can you see that I moved the needle along the thread a little bit so that the tail wasn't too short? And to go back into the fabric, up and down, pull it through till it sits flatly.

Don't pull it too tightly, otherwise, you'll find your fabric is all gathered up.

We just want it to sit flat.

And you're going to come back up and that's it.

And then you see, can you see? There are one, two, three, four, four stitches, and that stitch is called running stitch.

And that's the first stitch that anybody ever learns when they're sewing.

Now it's over to you.

There you go, you can see the running stitch in that picture there, can't you? That's the most basic stitch.

Once you've mastered that, then world's your oyster.

You've got all sorts of other stitches that are based on that that you can create.

So you're going to stop the video in a minute.

You're going to make sure you put a knot in the end of your thread.

And you are going to make sure your thread is not too long.

You're going to be careful of the sharp point of the needle.

And you're going to keep an eye on the tail of your thread so it doesn't get caught up in a loop.

Keep an eye when you're sewing, where you're going otherwise getting a big tangle on the back of your thing, on the back of your material, all right? Right, pause the video and have a go at some sewing.

Good luck.

Remember, if it goes wrong the first time you can unthread the needle and start all over again.

You've never sewn before.

It is likely to go wrong the first time.

If it doesn't, brilliant, but it may well do.

Don't panic.

Don't get in a big muddle over it, don't give up.

Keep going because remember whenever you're learning something new the first time you try it it's tricky.

But every time you do it it'll get easier and easier and easier, all right? If you have been sewing before, then I'm sure you know what you're doing.

Pause the video and see if you can do some running stitch.

How did you get on? There's some sewing that I did earlier.

Did you manage to master running stitch? Once you've mastered running stitch you can do all sorts of different patterns based on that same idea of pushing the needle up and down through the fabric.

And depending on where you put the needle of, where you push it up and where you push it down, the thread that you leave behind will create a different shape.

Can you see the running stitch in this picture? Look at all the different patterns that you can make based on that idea of running stitch.

Around the edge there's a sort of a checked square, isn't there? That's merely done by doing running stitch in one colour and then filling in the gaps when the red afterwards.

You can make all sorts of patterns using running stitch.

And that's links right back to the work we did at the beginning of the lesson, doesn't it? Where we were using pattern and we were making dashes and using our dashes to create pattern.

And each of those dashes that you draw on your paper is a stitch.

You might find it useful to have a look at your work from earlier to give you some ideas because your next challenge is to see if you can create some different patterns using stitches.

So by changing the direction of your stitch you can create patterns based on that running stitch idea.

And that's what we're going.

Right, let's have a look then.

So you hopefully have mastered running stitch by now.

You've got the idea that you put the needle up and you push it back down and you can pull the thread and you can make a short dash.

What we're going to do next is have a go and see if we can have some fun with those dashes.

See if we can make some different patterns.

Now try and use the ideas that you had in your sketchbook earlier.

Use the board we drew with dashes, but the only difference this time is that rather than drawing the dashes we're going to sew the dashes.

So let's have a go.

Now I'm going to try and sew and talk to you at the same time.

This could be interesting.

So normally, when I sew I hold it like this and then I can see what I'm doing.

But I'm going to have a go at sewing backwards so you can see what I'm doing.

So remember, I want to think about the shape of the stitch that I'm going to make on there.

I've just pulled it through from the back.

And where I push the needle back in will depend on how or determine how long the stitch is.

If I went here I'd have a great big long stitch.

If I went up here, I'd have a short stitch.

I'm just going to have a go at seeing if, there we go, there's one.

If I can work out how to make a star by combining those dashes, those stitches.

So I've made, yep, made across so far, can you see? And then what we're going to do is to see if I can bring the needle up, can you see I'm bringing it up there? It's a bit hard to see on the black.

I chose black because the yellow would contrast and you'll be able to my stitches easily.

And I'm going to go back in there and I'm going through the middle.

And I've made a star.

All right, so by combining those dashes, thinking about where you put the needle you can make all sorts of different shapes.

Now earlier, I tried to do a triangle, but it wasn't very successful.

Let's see if I'm better this time.

So I'm going to go there and we come up here.

And I'm going to see if I can go there.

I'm just thinking each time where am I pushing the needle up.

And then where am I pushing it back down.

Notice when I pull the needle through I sort of hold the thread at the same time.

If you pinch that bit in the end where the eye it's a nifty trick to stop the needle coming unthreaded.

Oh look and I have managed to make triangle this time.

That's good, last time I tried that I made a square.

Now, this is how I actually would be holding the thread, the material if I was sewing properly.

Let's see, there's one more thing I wanted to show you.

I would quite like to have a solid line of sewing.

So I just quickly create a line with my running stitch.

There's the running stitch.

And what I want to do, I'm going to come up at the end of that stitch that I've just come.

So I'm coming up through here, I'm going to pull the needle through.

And I'm going to go back down where the stitch ended last time and fill in the gap.

And can you see that makes a straight line? Right, now you're going to have some fun.

See if you can play with the stitches.

Remember, if it goes wrong, it really doesn't matter.

This is just about experimenting and seeing what sort of stitches you can make.

Use the ideas from the lesson earlier when we were doing the warm up.

And good luck.

I'm looking forward to seeing what you make.

So it's over to you.

Look there's some sewing that a child I know has done.

You're going to have about doing something similar.

You're going to use the running stitch and you're going to see if you can create different patterns using that idea of running stitch.

Think carefully about where you're putting each stitch.

Think about where you're putting the needle, where you're bringing it out and when you're pushing it through.

Try to create your own patterns using the running stitch.

Look at the, remember look at the exercise we did in your sketchbook because that will give you some ideas.

Pause the video and see if you can have a go now.

I'm really excited to see what you create.

Hello, how did you get on? Oh wow, you did do well.

Here's some sewing that I did earlier whilst you were off busy.

Now let's have a look at this a little bit more closely.

Can you see all the different patterns I made? Now you can still see the running stitch, can't you? There's three rows of running stitch.

And then I've swapped and I filled in the gaps with the red.

Let's have a look.

I'm pleased with the patterns that I made.

I like the way I've used the different coloured threads.

And I like the way they contrast with the dark background.

It was tougher than I thought it would be to make sure that the stitches stayed the same size.

And I would have liked to have added a border around the edge of this just like we did in our warm up.

But to be honest, I ran out of space after I'd done the sewing.

So I didn't have that option.

But if I did this again, I think I'd try and start my sewing a little bit further in.

Now what you need to do is to use your sketchbook and you're going to record what you think about your sewing.

You might want to stick your sewing into, never stitch it and that might be tricky.

Now to stick your sewing into your sketchbook or you might just want to do a sketch of it.

But record what you were thinking about, what you think about you're sewing.

Were you pleased with it? Did you like it? Was it trickier than you thought? If you were going to do this again what would you want to remember? Pause the video now and see if you can record your thoughts in your sketchbook and I'll see you when you've done that.

Thank you for joining me today.

I hope you enjoyed the lesson.

I certainly enjoyed teaching it.

And I really hope that you've learned or begun to learn to like sewing.

Sewing is something that people have been doing for 1000s of years and it's a really useful skill.

If you found it tricky, don't worry.

It's all about not giving up and persevering.

Make sure that you have a little practise between now and our next lesson, and you'll get better at it, I'm quite sure.

If you've begun to master running stitch and you think you're beginning to get the hang of that and you'd like to try something else, have a look on the internet there are all sorts of different stitches you can learn to do.

There are hundreds and hundreds of them.

In our next lesson, we're going to learn about applique.

Anyway, take care.

Keep practising , don't give up and I'll see you in our next lesson.

If you'd like to share your work with me then your parent or carer can share it on these addresses here.

I'd love to see what you've been doing.