Published: July 01, 2008 11:12 am      

Stitching memories

4-H Sewing camp teaches basics

Intermediate skills 4-H sewing camp at the Stephens County Fair & Expo Center was a bit of a family affair this year, with mother-daughter quilters sharing their stitching expertise.

While Shawnda Gunter, who will be a seventh-grader at Comanche in the fall, was working on a summer top in the recent 4-H camp, her mom, Shawnie Sager, was splitting her time between volunteering to assist the campers and helping to set up the annual quilt show for Stitching Memories Quilt Guild, of which she is a member. Both mother and daughter entered quilts in the show, which was held in a nearby Expo Center room.

There were plenty of other adults around to help the 24 girls and one 9-year-old boy who attended the sewing camp, too.

“This is a week-long, get-’em-started session on darts, gathers, set-in sleeves, collars and plackets,” said Brenda Gandy, OSU Extension educator, who was conducting the camp.

Those same sewing tasks give experienced seamstresses fits, too, she noted. It’s not easy to sew a set-in sleeve without getting puckers, but the kids were doing quite well with it.

“Of course, they quickly become expert at the ‘frog stitch,’ too,” she said.

Frog stitch?

“You know, rip-it, rip-it!” Gandy said with a laugh, as nearby campers nodded.

“Later in the summer, we will have another session to work on fair projects. We show them what to do this time, and tell them to go home and practice what they’ve learned. If they make a pillowcase at camp, we tell them to make a couple more at home, and we’ll enter the third try in the fair,” Gandy said.

Also assisting the youngsters with sewing techniques as she does every year was June McGuire, chairman of the county Oklahoma Home and Community Education groups’ Cultural Enrichment Committee and a member of Oak College OHCE group.

“Our one boy did great. He wants to be a tailor someday, and he’s well on his way,” Gandy said.

For information about future 4-H sewing camps, call Gandy at 580-255-0510.