Inside the Teacher's Mind

April 4, 2025

The truth is that I can't describe this for the generic teacher, but I can tell you what it's like for me.  

The first thing I need to do is schedule the class, which means I have to visit Bernina and check the available dates.  Why Bernina?  Well, it's a happening place.  There is always something going on over there, and frankly, it's just populated with happy people and people who are knowledgeable.  Another reason is that it's hard to fit into their calendar, which suggests that there's always a class in session.  And finally, the store has the room, table, and equipment (if a student doesn't want to cart their heavy machine to class, they can use one of the demos for the day). If the student forgets a thread, a foot, a needle, or any of the other myriad little gadgets needed for sewing, the "Bernina Wall" is filled with wonderful notions and valuable tools.  As a teacher, I've been known to peruse the wall from time to time, not only to see what's new but also to stay up-to-date on the latest trends.   Some of the tools are designed for crafts or quilt classes, but they can also be used for dressmaking.  

With a location and time slot confirmed, the store manager, Emily, at Bernina starts promoting it on her social media and advertising for me.  I do some, too, but it's nice to have her do her followers as well.  

I put together a "supply list," which is more of a description of the class, including the necessary supplies, what students will take away from the class, and what they will learn.  So here's the very first thing I'm thinking about:

1. They have to learn some skills and I prioritize what they must learn to what they can learn in addition,
2. Next is they must walk out with a garment, so that they have something to show for their class time.
   
   Both of these are important to me.  I remember when I was taking classes, and if I could walk out with a pattern and an almost-finished garment, I felt I had gotten my money's worth.  Many instructors (and I've taken classes from some of the best to learn their techniques) don't do that.  They may teach a technique but not what to do with it.  That's not much use when you finish the class - at least to me it's not.  
    
3. Learn what to do with the new skill you have learned. You not only have a pattern or something that can guide you through the project I'm teaching when you're at home and that almost-finished item, but you must also learn how to use the skill(s) I've just taught you.  Can you do this with that technique?  What can't you use the method for?  These are as important as the class itself if you create something in class but don't know what to do with it.  

• Student:  I don't know what I don't know, so I don't know what to ask.
• Teacher: I don't know what you don't know, so I don't know what to teach.
• Then: As a teacher, I know what you need to learn next, but a student may not always see that, because of course they don't know what "that" is, so how would they know they need it next.  
  
  For example, I have a student here locally who is soaking up the design concepts and techniques as fast as she can.  But she doesn't know how to ease in a set-in sleeve and doesn't understand the who purpose behind a set-in sleeve.  I've told her I would teach it to her, but she's not to be deterred from her quest for learning how to put a garment together.  So I simply have to wait till she gets to that point that she will have to discover for herself that she needs to learn this.  

This brings about what to teach.  I've gotten down how to organize the class and work through the steps of a class session, but what to teach?  That can go anywhere from talking about thread types (what to use and why), or putting together a seam, to pad-stitching and why it's worth it when working with rolled collars and lapels.  And that doesn't even include fitting, styling for your shape to make it flattering for you and of course comfortable.  Sometimes I think that last three get lost in learning all the techniques, as if making the seam better is going to help the fitting or flattery of the garment.  It really doesn't.  An adequate seam technique will fall far into the background if the fit, flattery, and comfort are paramount.  

Like the student, I'm left wondering what would be the most enlightening, invigorating, and encouraging subject(s) to teach.  That's where the excitement in teaching sewing is for me.  I remember when I was mentoring under my teacher; one day, I finally realized I could create anything I saw.  My only limitations were the fabric and budget because at that time, I had a lot of free time and didn't mind devoting each day to learning more about sewing.  It did come as a realization all at once.  However, it was well past when I could actually do anything.  In other words, the realization came way after I could sew anything.  That's typical because you have to go through the challenge of sewing just about anything and everything, to the point where you realize that you actually know enough to go out on your own.  

I will say here that two mindsets that aid in this a lot. 

To succeed in sewing, you must have a growth mindset.  And this isn't hard or something that takes years to happen.  It's a realization thing.  It's probably something you already do but don't realize it yet.  None of us popped out of our mommas' wombs knowing very much, and we've had to learn everything.  If  you condemn yourself to thinking that you can't learn anything, then you'll be stuck in a dull, uninteresting life that won't be very fulfilling.  If you understand that it's normal that you don't know everything (or anything), but you can learn, then you will learn and most likely learn a lot if not everything about a subject.  

Having that kind of mindset makes learning new techniques that much easier.  There's an understanding that it might come simple and it might not, but that working through all the questions and puzzles the new technique requires is part of the learning process.  Because it didn't come to you instantly doesn't mean squat.  Some are easy to get, and some take some time.  Ultimately, learning a new technique is a long-term benefit.   

• There's the benefit of knowing how to do something new. 
• There's the benefit of problem-solving, and of course that's one of the main ways to keep your brain sharp for a long time.
• There's the benefit of congratulations and praise that I hope you give yourself when you've learned something new, applied it and it looks the way it's supposed to.  

As a teacher, I'm still unsure which topic would mean the most to my students.  I know that this becomes an individual choice for students, but I can't help but think there's an area that is worth revisiting or exploring for the first time.  

Here are some of the subjects that I came up with:

• Fitting - this is the physical addition of ease, and dart-making and more at the mechanics of fitting.
• Flattering - this is that slight curve, or hem variance or some small feature that will take the garment from ho-hum to singing like a nightengale!
• Comfort - Sometimes we're willing to sacrifice a little comfort for looks and sometimes we're not.  
• Styling - this is as much line in flattery, but also about colors, projection of colors, working with the whole look to make sure that it fits your activities, and the usual things that you do to fit your needs for the life you lead.
• Construction - this can go all the way from setting in a sleeve and the variances (like how much CAN you actually ease into an armhole and it not look like a puff sleeve), to working through various hems for various fabrics, (knits, challis, silk, charmeuse), to whether or not to use certain feature like top stitching, under stitching or blind tacking parts of the garment in place.
• Features - there are traditional locations of darts, directions of buttonholes for various garments.  Making a garment which includes the fitting and styling, means that you may have to move around certain features, darts, seams, folds and how do you do that so it looks like a well-made garment, and not a shambled mess of tucks and top-stitching that isn't exactly kosher for good clothing.  
  
  Now Issay Miyake was great at skewing with these sorts of traditional lines, but he did it with a good deal of artistic sense.  By that I mean, he followed the classic rules of the Elements and Principles of Design.  This falls under the purview of "You Have To Know The Rules To Know How To Break Them!"

Which parts of these interests you?
Which parts do you feel deficient?
Which parts scare you to death?

These are the questions that every good teacher will ask.  Usually, what scares the students the most is directly where the teacher should be going.  I recall a time in my class with my mentor, and I mentioned that I didn't feel comfortable with lapels and collars on jackets.  She immediately told me to get five pieces of corduroy and that we would make five jackets so that I wouldn't ever be afraid of them again.  I brought them to class and struggled through the first two, then hit a home run on the third.  She said that I had put the collar in incorrectly and that I needed to remove the collar (leaving the lapels in place), cut a correct collar piece, and reinsert it into the jacket.  She gave me an A for that lesson and then told me that if it were her jacket, she wouldn't have bothered doing that with the collar, but that I needed to learn not only how to do it but also that it could be done.  I gave her one of my smirky looks but agreed that I needed to know if it could be done.  

What skill do you wish you had that you don't?
What scares you the most?
What would make you sing with joy to successfully accomplish something?


Help make our time here more helpful for you, and help a poor teacher who's in a quandary of a mess trying to read your mind and not having much success at it!!!!

The SewingArtistry Resource Library is designed to contain information to not only make your sewing better, but to aid in you fitting and flattering your shape, size and style.  Check it out. 

Look for future classes coming in 2024
The Core Pattern Shirt, (one of my favorites for woven core pattern that you can make into a myriad of different garments), 
Basic Knit Top (core pattern class for knit basic tops, shells, tees, dresses, and tunics)
 

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