Sew...Disappointing

Hannah wants to be a fashion designer.

Well, that's what she's said she wants to grow up to be since she was four years old. There have been some other careers that have crossed her mind, but she always comes back to fashion design. She's had a tiny bit of experience with sewing and knitting, and is usually a very enthusiastic student for anything art-related. When the pottery class she'd taken recently was oversubscribed for their next sessions, we decided to sign her up for a sewing class.

Hannah had a great trial class at HipStitch, a new sewing school in Newton. She eagerly participated in more lessons, with a goal of making a dress for herself and a matching dress for her American Girl doll, per the school owner's suggestion. But as the lessons went on, it was clear she wasn't accomplishing much, and Hannah's enthusiasm waned. At the end of six two-hour classes, she had very little to show for her participation.

I corresponded back and forth with the owner, who in the end seemed to place blame on Hannah for not being experienced enough and needing simpler projects. She is refunding some of our money, and said she hopes Hannah can come back for more classes when she's older. Hannah unhappily agreed that the class was not a good fit for her in the end. I feel like she was set up to fail - the task was just to big for an inexperienced child - and the school wasn't capable to teaching the number of students enrolled.

Hannah's been very fortunate to take a number of enrichment classes: karate, pottery, Spanish, swimming, soccer, tennis, ballet, tap and art. It's the first time that she's come away with such disappointment. While disappointment is a part of life, it's just a shame that her first sewing experience was such a letdown. Hopefully when she's a bit older we can try sewing classes again.