The older kids have been asking me for months if I can teach them to make their own Nubbins in art class. (for the uninitiated, "Nubbins" are little armless plush monsters I make). The kids see me working on the hand-sewing on them at church a lot and want to make their own. (the Nubbins are pretty popular amongst the church kids!) I finally decided to take the plunge and give them a crack at it...and they've learned that making Nubbins isn't as easy as I make it look! (and teaching them isn't as easy as it sounds!) I'm sure they'd have an easier time if they used a sewing machine, but I'm not confident enough to let them use my sewing machine just yet! Plus, I think it's better to get a foundation in hand-sewing first. After all, that's how I started out!
A few of the life lessons I tried teaching through this today was that no one is perfect, mistakes happen (so don't freak out), and that the only reason I make it look so easy is that I've has LOTS of practice! (I'm not sure exactly how many Nubbins I've made to date, but it's most likely in the hundreds.) I've been doing this for almost as long as these kids have been alive!
They actually had started these last class...sewing on the teeth and heart. One of them had gotten to stitching up the sides, but was having trouble getting the stitches small enough (I made him start over twice), so before class today, I used a marker and made dots for them to follow to make their stitches.
Stuffing the Nubbins after stitching them, turning them right-side-out, and attaching the safety eyes.
Stitching the Nubbin closed.
The finished product!
They were so satisfied to have made their own Nubbins!
2 comments:
Your art class is SO much cooler than any art class I had growing up. Yay for Nubbins!
They must be and should be so proud!
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