Sewing and the Trivium

Learning to Create

Join me as I use the tools of learning to delve into the world of needlecraft.

 
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  • Jenni Beth
    • May 2
    • 2 min read

Beginner Sewing Summit - Rebecca Page


I know I don't have too many subscribers yet, but I wanted to write up a quick blog post about the Rebecca Page Beginner Sewing Summit. It is a free event put on by Rebecca Page patterns, and it has a bunch of classes that you can take. Each class is free for the first 24 hours it is up (the 24 hour time periods start at 9am ET, which would be 6am my time). It runs from this Monday, May 3rd, 2021 to Friday, May 7th 2021.


Each day there will be a different line-up of classes, and I recorded a class this time. My class is called "Serger Basics with the Paris Party Top," and it will be on Thursday the 6th. Teaching a sewing class online was a new thing for me, but I really enjoyed it!!


The pattern I used is a free Rebecca Page pattern called the Paris Party Dress. It is a patter for separates, but I only sewed up the top portion this time so I could talk about how to sew with knits on a serger. I sewed up two versions of the top, both with the same fabric. One is full length and long sleeved, with a scoop knit neckband:

And the other is a crop-length short sleeved top with a boat neckline finished with binding:

So sign up and play along at the link above. If you really end up liking the classes, there is a VIP pass you can purchase to continue to have access to the videos for a year. It is $59.


Here is the link for signing up one more time: Rebecca Page Beginner Sewing Summit.


Enjoy!!


Jenni :)


This post contains various affiliate links. Purchasing patterns using these links does not cost my readers more, but the designer does provide me with a small commission from any sales. The commission helps to fund my fabric costs, and is very appreciated.


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Disclosure: I am an affiliate and promoter for these two designers, and I will make a small amount of money if you make a purchase after clicking on my link. The cost to you will not change. These are designers whose patterns I love, and that I would sew up for myself whether I was an affiliate or not. The fabric stores are just ones that I love. I do not earn any money if you purchase from them :)

 
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Why "Sewing and the Trivium"

The Story

Classical educators like to divide education into developmental stages called the Trivium. These are called "Grammar," "Logic," and "Rhetoric." Grammar refers to the first steps of learning anything: learning the vocabulary of the subject being studied and memorizing facts about that vocabulary. Classically speaking, this corresponds to the elementary years of learning - years when students never seem to grow tired of astounding the adults around them with fact after fact about things they are interested in. Have you experienced talking to a six year old who is really into dinosaurs? enough said...

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Adults also begin learning with the grammar of a subject. Each subject has its own unique terminology and facts that need to be mastered before one can explore the more complicated applications of that subject. Sewing is no different. What is a french seam? What kinds of knit fabrics are better for different applications? What is a dolman sleeve or a raglan top? These are grammar queries.

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In classical education, logic refers to the action of logically processing the grammar facts students have learned, or are learning. The student who is particularly suited to this type of thought is the middle-school scholar - the student who wants to argue his or her way through the world and "be right" about all the things. This pattern of thought includes bringing different ideas together, comparing and contrasting them, analyzing what an authority figure says about an argument, and deciding whether different arguments are consistent with each other. In the sewing world, logical questions include things like, "How is knit fabric different than woven fabric?" and "Why does this pattern ask for a particular fabric type?" as well as tasks such as mashing two patterns together or changing the sleeve/length/placket from how the pattern was designed.

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The final part of the classical trivium, rhetoric, is when a student makes an argument of his or her own by developing a "thesis" or main point and then laying it out for someone else in writing or speech. Typically, students are ready for formal rhetoric in their high school years - years that they are very concerned about what they look like to other people and gain an interest in learning to craft a message in a way that will be most effective for their purposes. Examples of rhetoric in sewing would be fully-formed tutorials or sew-alongs - or even the writing of a blog post itself. Anything that is explaining previously thought-out/tried-out projects can count as rhetoric. 

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My goal on this blog is to lay out my sews and thoughts using this framework. And that is why I chose this title.

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"Blessed is the man...whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does he prospers"

Psalm 1: 2-3

Tree Leaves
 

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