The students were so excited, they were shedding their pants. Jodi Hartman, a teacher at Kaua‘i High School, was almost as excited as the students assembled in her classroom following school Thursday. “It’s all right,” Hartman said. “I’m letting them
The students were so excited, they were shedding their pants.
Jodi Hartman, a teacher at Kaua‘i High School, was almost as excited as the students assembled in her classroom following school Thursday.
“It’s all right,” Hartman said. “I’m letting them borrow some sheets so they can cover up.”
About three dozen students congregated for an afternoon embroidery session.
Embroidered jeans, it seems, are all the rage, and on Thursday, the students had a chance to do hands-on learning.
“I’ve never sewn in my life,” said Chassity Acoba, a senior, as she gingerly guided her jeans through an appliqué project.
Hartman’s had help in teaching the high-schoolers to sew on a volunteer basis, after a full day of classes. Erika Hessheimer, the manager at the Singer Sewing Machine store in Lihu‘e, gave a discount on two embroidery machines for Hartman to buy with grant money.
“Erika helped us with the prices,” Hartman said. “Otherwise, the students wouldn’t be able to do this.”
Hessheimer also brought several other machines from her shop so students could work with specialized machines.
Volunteer instructors Jane Gantt and LuAnne Smith also helped out Thursday.
“In addition to learning how to sew, the students also work with some of the Special Education students in mentoring,” Hartman said. “They’ve also done bags for the Child Protective Services agency.”
The bags are distributed to other agencies that fill them with personal care items so children have the basics for personal care.
“They’ve also learned to make lei,” Hartman said. “Once they learned how to crochet, they’ve made baby hats and headbands, too.”
This kind of thing isn’t new to Hartman. A few years ago, she had students baking batches of dog biscuits for the Kaua‘i Humane Society during the holiday season.
Nor will the denim embroidery be her last.
Future projects include students creating squares for a quilt for the YWCA’s abused women’s shelter.
In the meantime, she’s got her hands full after school every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday from about 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. or so.
“This is supposed to be a fun activity,” Hartman said.
There’s little doubt the students find it so.
“The students were so excited, they were taking off their pants,” she said.
Gantt, who spends part of her time on the East Coast, chuckled at the antics of the budding seamstresses.
“I came all the way from Charlotte, N.C. for this,” she said, referring to where she also teaches sewing.
As the students and their friends flitted from station to station, proud smiles lit up the classroom as students showed off their accomplishments, waddling around in makeshift togas.
“This is tiring work,” Hartman said. “Some days, I go home and I’m just dead.”
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@kauaipubco.com.
