PENNSYLVANIA FASHION REVUES BEING PLANNED—VOLUNTEERS WILL MAKE IT HAPPEN!

Every 4-H’er in Pennsylvania who sews a wearable garment will have a Regional Fashion Revue to participate in again this year.  Also, the 2013 State Fashion Revue is being planned for August 7, during State 4-H Achievement Days.  Thanks to the many volunteers (and paid staff) who are stepping up to continue this important part of our 4-H Clothing Program!

On a recent conference call, representatives of every region in Pennsylvania confirmed their plans.  Hooray!  The Fashion Revue Regions are aligned like this:

2013 Pennsylvania State Fashion Revue Organization                                     

Region name, chair and included counties                                                                         

Northwest--Paula Lucas-- Erie, Crawford, Mercer, Venango, Forest, Warren, Clarion, Lawrence, Butler

Southwest--Pam Paletta, Mary Fidler—Allegheny, Armstrong, Indiana, Westmoreland, Washington, Greene, Fayette, Beaver

Central--Dotty Bartek, Donna Kirby--McKean, Potter, Elk, Cameron, Jefferson, Centre, Clearfield, Clinton, Blair, Somerset, Cambria, Bedford, Huntingdon, Fulton                            

Northeast South--Linda Hendricks--Mifflin, Juniata, Union, Snyder, Montour, Northumberland, Columbia, Lycoming

 Northeast North--Jan Cohen, Karen Bracey--Bradford, Tioga, Sullivan, Susquehanna, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Wyoming, Carbon, Monroe, Pike, Wayne

Southeast Capital--Martha Gregory--Cumberland, Dauphin, Perry, Adams, Franklin, York, Lancaster, Lebanon

Southeast- Del/Val--Patti Colby--Berks, Lehigh, Northampton, Schuylkill, Bucks, Chester, Montgomery, Delaware, Philadelphia

 

There will be one regional event for each of the above, with the possible exception of the Southeast Region where they are still working out the details of one or more events so that all counties can participate.

For those of you who do not have a lot of experience with Fashion Revue, you may want to know the official objectives of the State 4-H Fashion Revue.  They are:

4-H Members Will:

1. Select colors and silhouettes to enhance personal coloring and body type.
2. Coordinate and accessorize an ensemble suitable to an occassion.
3. Acquire poise, practice good grooming, and improve posture.
4. Recognize good fit and quality construction.
5. Enhance personal development through modeling and stage presence.
6. Broaden interaction with youth from across the Commonwealth.
7. Acquire new ideas and helpful suggestions and make improvements.
8. Sharpen written application skills.
9. Acquaint themselves with faculty, services, and facilities of The Pennsylvania State University.

Maureen and I both particpated in Fashion Revue in the 1960's and 70's (boy, we sound old!).  We proudly watched as our daughters gained experience and skills during their Fashion Revue careers.  We know that it is a strong program that benefits the participants.  We hope you'll join us in making Fashion Revue available for the current generation of 4-H boys and girls who are learning by doing in 4-H Fashion Revue!

Planning has already begun for many of the regional events plus the state event, but we can use more help.  If you are a parent or a bona fide clothing leader, please contact your regional chair (or us) and we’ll find a job that you can do. 

Fashion Revue will continue well into the future if we work together as volunteers to make it happen.  Yes, we know that there have been staff cuts, but the Clothing program in Pennsylvania has long depended on clothing leaders at the club level who do the teaching of skills, career guidance, and clothing selection advice.  Fashion Revue is a culminating activity that allows our kids to test their limits, see others’ quality work, learn from workshops about the sewing industry and techniques and so much more. 

There are some good resources for preparing your kids for Fashion Revue here and here and  here and here and here .  For help on writing commentaries, go to this site.  Maureen and I highly recommend these sites to get you more informed and help your kids before the event.

If you have any questions about Fashion Revue or any other aspect of being a 4-H clothing leader, please comment below or send us an e-mail.  We would love to hear from you!

Happy sewing!

Linda

 

THE PERILS OF CHOOSING A PROJECT--avoid my disasters!

Choosing the right project is a challenge for those of us who sew with kids—or with anyone who is still learning, for that matter! The key is to make sure that they have some challenge or new skill, plenty of repeated skills, and an end-product article or ensemble that they are excited about wearing. A few times this process has gone terribly wrong for me and my charges. Fortunately, we came out of it on the other side—stronger and wiser!

Scene One: my daughter's first year in 4-H. My daughter had been sewing by my side since she was four, but she hadn’t really done any garment sewing. I would say what she had been doing was “playing”. Now, we parents know that a child’s “playing” is their work—they are working to make sense of the world and how they fit in to it. She had done that—but I hadn’t really taught her to sew yet. Yes, she could control the machine, knew about back-tacking, could thread the machine, and she was motivated. I think I was more motivated, though. I thought my 8-year old could handle a simple sleeveless dress— no darts, no zipper, but facings at the neck and armhole.

Boy, was I wrong!I had decided that I would make a dress for her from the same pattern at the same time, so that I could demonstrate every step for her. Then she would go to her machine and do what I had just done—in my dreams! We had our respective dresses cut out, and we started to sew. I don’t remember if she had even stay-stitched yet, but at some point early in the game, it became clear that she was panicking about the project and that she didn’t really understand how the facings would go on, be trimmed and understitched, and create an edge. I realize now that I was asking for just too much abstract thinking from an 8-year old. In addition, I was asking her to use fine-motor skills that probably weren’t “there” yet, either.

How did I solve it? I admitted that I was wrong. We back-tracked and started with the more traditional first-year sew-er project in our 4-H club. She made a simple pair of pull on pants—from inexpensive cotton that had a small print in it (which helps to camouflage tiny errors in our sewing, by the way!). It was perfect! There was a little bit of curved seaming (at the crotch) but mostly straight sewing; she learned to make an elastic casing and insert elastic, she learned how to finish seams and hand hem using a catch stitch. That was a plenty-long list of new skills for one young girl. (I finished the pretty little dress that she had begun and she wore that to Fashion Revue for the times before and after competition, when she wasn’t in her just right pants and the cute little purchased sweater set that she wore with them.) Please pardon the photo quality--taken before I had a digital camera.

Finding the right balance between your enthusiasm (or your reluctance to get too complicated), your student’s enthusiasm, budget, goals, etc. is a challenge. When it is your own child, it may be easier to read skill levels and aspirations(although some people say that they can’t sew with their own kids—that would make me sad—sewing has been a wonderful bond for my daughter and me).

Scene Two: A few years ago I worked with a young lady who bit off more than she could chew (with my acquiescence—I hadn’t completely learned the lesson from my daughter’s dress, evidently), and we almost lost her from sewing because of it. Thankfully, her mother talked to me about her daughter’s concerns and we broke down the project into manageable chunks that seemed more reasonable. We decided that she didn’t have to make the top that she had been planning; the wool jacket and slacks would be more than enough for the project. I changed my “charge-y” style a bit to suit her personality. I encouraged and praised more than I had been and we got through the tough time. That was four or five years ago. I am pleased to say that, each year since then, she has chosen more and more advanced articles/ensembles and has learned to break down seemingly daunting projects into more do-able pieces. She is headed to fashion design school in the fall, thanks to her talent and our willingness to work together to choose appropriate projects for her—adding a few new skills each year that have added up to some outstanding ensembles with excellent workmanship.

Some points to remember:

• Assess the skills and experience that the child already has--it's good to repeat and reinforce skills that have already been used in previous projects.
• Discuss what new skills you think would be a logical addition in the next garment(s)--you want to add at least one or two new skills, but not too many!
• Discuss how all of that can be manifested in a particular garment that the child will be excited about wearing.
• Keep the lines of communication open so you know if there is trouble in paradise.

The goal is to have happy sew-ists who are building skills and the confidence that they can do it again in their next garment—perhaps with you helping them less and less with each project.

One of my great satisfactions is seeing the kids that I have worked with remember and use a skill that they learned last year (or last week). So gratifying!

More another time about a logical progression of skills and some specific suggestions of things to make. In the meantime, you might like this chart that will help you with that task: Sewing Skills Progress Chart

Teach ‘em to sew—you’ll learn and they’ll learn!

Linda