Gold Rush Pillow

We talk a lot about how tough life was in a mining camp and in early California in general. This activity gives students a small taste of what that life was like.

Miners in California had a rough life and very few comforts. Most were men who were away from their wives and families. When they had a hole in their pants or jackets, the men had to mend it. When they had a hole in their tent or blanket, they didn't buy a new one, they mended the one they had.  So clearly, I had to teach my fourth graders how to sew!

Each student had to bring a 12"by 12" piece of fabric with a western or California theme to it. Here are some of my favorites.

Each student also needed to bring in a needle and a spool of thread. Some of them got really excited and brought in their own little sewing kits!

So the students started by flipping the fabric inside out. I told them they want the "ugly sides" out. They then had to the thread the needle! What a challenge this was! I told them they had to try and do it three times before they could raise their hands and ask me to do it.

Once the needle was threaded they would sew the pillow in one side and back down that same side, keeping the stitches very small. They will need to sew along 3 and half sides. This was really hard for them to do so I usually had a couple of "room moms" come in to help (This AND the knots, the re-threading of needles, and the finger pricks!). 

Once they had sewn three and half sides they flipped the fabric inside out, so now the pretty side was showing. At this point, they filled their pillow with stuffing. They need to fill it so it had enough "cush", but not so much that they couldn't sew it shut.

 The last step was to sew their pillow shut. For this step they had to sew "down and around," as opposed to in one side and back down that same side (it makes it easier to keep the stuffing inside).