I used to be a quilt shop owner and taught many classes every week. We found that most other local quilt shops were teaching very technique based classes for more experienced sewists, so there was a need in our area to go back to the basics. We had classes where we literally just taught people how to use their machine and basic sewing terminology! We gained many new customers and loyal quilters doing this and we loved having an opportunity to pass on this craft!
Whether you're a Mom or Grandma wanting to teach an aspiring sewist from home, or you're a shop owner wondering where to start with offering beginner classes, I feel confident my pattern "Your First Quilt" is a perfect one to start with!
Materials List
Fabric
The pattern offers instructions for either a Layer Cake or (11) 1/3 yard cuts. I would choose one of these for your class so everyone is doing the same thing.
Page 6 of the pattern offers additional instructions if people would like to add borders to their quilt. There are 3 different border width options depending on how large they would like their quilt to be, and each option has varying yardage requirements. Decide if you would like your class to include border instructions or not.
OPTIONAL BORDER YARDAGE REQUIREMENTS
Tools
This is a list of things you will either need to have available for each student to use, or require them to bring with them:
- Sewing Machine
- Cutting mat
- Ruler
- Rotary Cutter
- Pins
- Seam ripper
- Thread snips
- Iron & ironing board or mat
- Fabric Scissors
FUN IDEA- Since this class is targeted toward beginners and a lot of them might not have these tools on hand, if you are a quilt shop selling these notions you could curate a beginner quilting notions kit or offer them a discount when they purchase 3 or more items from this list!
Marketing
The following sections you are free to use on your website and social media to market your event! Download the images and copy/paste the description. Add your personal details and you're ready to go!
Class Description
Have you ever wanted to learn how to make your first quilt, but don't know where to get started? This is the class for you! In this class we will be using the quilt pattern "Your First Quilt" by Storyhill Designs to help walk you through making your very first quilt top!
We will:
- Show you how to use your sewing machine
- Guide you in picking out your materials and tools
- Show you how to cut your fabric using a rotary cutter and ruler
- Demonstrate using a consistent 1/4" seam allowance
- Begin sewing your quilt top together
- Give you resources you need to confidently turn your quilt top into something you can be proud of!
WARNING: This hobby is highly addictive and we are certain you will be hooked for life 😉
Class Date-
Class Time-
Class Instructor-
Class Cost-
Photos
Calculating Class Cost
As a former shop owner, calculating the cost of a class was always very difficult for us. If you've been teaching classes for awhile you probably already have a formula or way of doing things, so go with it! But if you're still unsure how to price a class here are a few things to consider:
- Teacher- If the owner of the shop is teaching it, do you want to be able to pay yourself, or are you just using the class as a way to sell materials and gain future customers? Are you paying an employee? Maybe have a slightly higher hourly rate for when they teach classes. Are you bringing in an outside teacher? They might already have preferences on how they like to get paid, but if not it could be a percentage of the ticket, or a flat rate per student, or an hourly rate you both agree on.
- Materials- Are they included or not, or do you offer a required kit purchase? If your goal is to get material sales yourself, you might want to either work the material price into the class, compile a kit they are required to purchase, or offer a discount to students when they purchase from you. If you simply give them a material list, sometimes they either choose to buy from somewhere else or they bring fabric from their stash.
- Tools- Are you letting them use tools in your classroom or requiring them to bring their own? If you offer sewing machines for students to use, maybe you have a separate machine rental fee. If you are providing ironing and cutting stations, consider costs like rotary cutter blades, spray starch, etc.
One thing to think about as you try to attract beginners, is that they are most likely testing out this hobby to see if they want to commit. Often times this means they will be deterred by higher prices, simply because they haven't been totally sold on the hobby of quilting yet. For more advanced classes, you're attracting experienced quilters who know that teacher expertise is a worthwhile thing to invest in, but beginners need to be encouraged by a low barrier to entry!
Class Length
My suggested class length for a quilt without borders is 3 hours. My suggested class length for a quilt with borders is 2 sessions of 2-3 hours each, probably 2-4 weeks apart.
First Class Session
If you are leaving borders out of your class instruction, I would expect to spend the first hour getting beginners familiar with their machine. Some of them might have sewn a few simple things before, some of them might be familiar with their machine but never made a quilt, and some of them might have just taken their machine out of the box! The second hour will mostly be spent on cutting and the third you can get them started on sewing. They will not finish their entire quilt top in this class, but if they can get least familiar with the steps and ask you any questions they have and you can monitor their seam allowances and give suggestions where needed. They can go home and finish the quilt top on their own.
Optional Second Class Session
If you are offering the border instructions, I would tell students to go home and get their piecing either completely or almost finished by the time they come in for the next class. At this next class their quilt top should be ready for borders. You can cut their border fabric together based on their desired width and then they can sew them on so they leave the class with a finished quilt!
Suggested Class Outline
For my class outline example I will use the example time frame of 12-3pm but you can obviously plan your class for whatever time frame you need.
Session 1
12:00- Student arrival and station set up
12:15- Introduction to your sewing machine
- Teach them the "anatomy" of a sewing machine
- How to wind a bobbin and thread their machine
- Help each student find their 1/4" seam and use a seam guide, 1/4" presser foot or tape so they can easily line up their fabric
12:45- Reading the pattern
- Show them how to familiarize themselves with a pattern before they get started.
1:00- How to use a ruler and rotary cutter
- Using scraps of fabric, demonstrate to them how to line up their fabric on a cutting mat, find the correct cutting line with their ruler, apply pressure to the ruler so it doesn't move, and line up the rotary cutter with the side of the ruler.
- Always include safety warnings and instructions in this demonstration
1:10- Get materials ready for cutting
- Depending on if your class is using the yardage or Layer Cake options, help your students understand what sizes they are cutting and how to do so
1:20- Begin cutting
- Depending on how many cutting stations there are and if any of your students have used a ruler and rotary cutter before, this part could take awhile so be patient with them! I suggest having them cut all their pieces so they don't need to do any of this at home alone.
2:00- Lay out
- It's your call on if you want them to lay out their entire quilt or just the block as it's laid out in step 1. Help them understand this is a scrappy quilt so the layout doesn't need to be perfect, it's meant to look a little "thrown together."
2:15- Begin sewing!
- Students might be surprised that there are so many steps before the actual sewing begins! Show them how to start sewing sets of (2) C squares together according to their lay out, and then that set to a B rectangle.
- Depending on how far you would like to get in this class, you can either have them only work on piecing their blocks and then they will need to assemble their rows at home alone, or, what is probably more helpful, have them simply piece (3) blocks for row 1, and then assemble the entire row so you can show them how rows are assembled. If they get far enough, you could even have them assemble row 2 and then sew the rows together.
3:00- Wrap it up!
- If this is your only session with the students give them one last chance to ask any lingering questions they might have for completing the quilt top at home alone.
- If you have followup resources for them, let them know!
- Instruct them to scan the 2nd QR code I have on page 1 of the pattern, to find a free resource I have written on finishing your quilt. This gives them everything they need to know about backing, binding, batting, quilting and more!
- If you are having 1 more session, let them know what they should have completed before the next class.
Session 2
12:00- Student arrival and station set up
12:15- Welcome
- Ask how sewing alone was, look at each student's progress and evaluate if they have any more piecing to do before you move on to borders.
12:30- Discuss Border cutting
- Direct each student to page 6 of the pattern and identify what size they want their finished quilt to be. Maybe even highlight that row to help during cutting.
12:45- Begin cutting
- Any students who still have piecing to work on can do that while other students begin cutting their border strips.
- Remind them how to use the ruler and cutter if necessary, and help them measure out the width of their strips.
1:15- Sew strips together
- Show them how to sew their strips together, either end to end or mitered.
1:30- Explain border troubleshooting
- If you are a long armer or have worked with quilts with wavy borders before, you know there is definitely a WRONG way to do this! But there are multiple right ways. You can either use your favorite method of attaching borders, or just copy the instructions I give in the pattern.
1:45- Start sewing
- At this point, some students will be ready to sew their borders on, and some might still be catching up depending on how much they were able to do at home. Allow the rest of the class time for students to just work on whatever they need to do!
3:00- Finished quilt top!
- Hopefully most of your students were able to finish their quilt, how exciting!
- If you have followup resources for them, let them know!
- Instruct them to scan the 2nd QR code I have on page 1 of the pattern, to find a free resource I have written on finishing your quilt. This gives them everything they need to know about backing, binding, batting, quilting and more!