Painted Doves

Painted Dove #1

Teaching is hard enough, even locally, even to your friends.  I can’t remember that I ever taught a class “cold,” that is with no preparation.  I have classes that are ready to be taught.  I have their papers and examples stacked in boxes in my studio--maybe eight or ten of them.  But I couldn’t get a call at 7 AM to go teach at 9 AM, like substitute teachers do in the schools, never mind the question of the kits.  If I am being paid, I want the class to be the best it can be, the best I can make it for that group of people.  It is my reputation on line--something that all people drag around with them.

So the first thing is an idea.  I get an idea for a class, and I might think about it for a couple of days, or a couple of weeks, or even months before I put anything on paper or needle to fabric.  I need to know if it is practical to teach.  How many hours of teaching?  Most classes are for 1 day, 2 days, or four days.  So how complex is my idea?  If my idea is a one-day class, then what level of stitcher am I aiming for?  Basic--a student with little or no stitching experience; Beginning--a student who has limited experience, but may be acquainted only with one embroidery technique.  Let me interject right here: a person who has exclusively done cross-stitch for thirty years is still a Beginning stitcher.  Beginning-intermediate--a person who has taken a few embroidery classes in a couple of techniques.  Intermediate--a student who has taken several classes and knows her way around a needle and thread; Intermediate-advanced--a person who has taken a great many classes in several techniques and who has begun to experiment with changing colors and designs from kits and graphs to suit themselves.  Advanced--a person with a great deal of experience, who is proficient in at least one technique outside of cross-stitch, and who designs in her preferred techniques.  Master--a person who has passed one or more of EGA’s Mastercraftsman programs or the equivalent in ANG, a person who designs her own work and teaches others, a person who holds EGA or ANG advanced teaching certifications; and a teacher who teaches teachers.

 

This is a lot to think about.  But let’s say that I have decided to teach a one-day class in Battenberg lace of a dove.  It will be simple with just two fillings in it.  Something this simple might be Beginning or Beginning-intermediate.  So I start planning the dove and I stitch two or three of them to see how long it actually takes me to complete them.

I find it takes me three hours to do the first one, but that includes elementary designing.  The next two were about two and a half hours each.  So I calculate that it would take a Beginning-Intermediate about four hours to complete a dove.  A one-day class lasts six hours.  I am paid to teach six hours and so I will fill that whole space of time.  As I see it, I have some options--to add another filling to the piece, to have each student make two doves, or have them paint the doves after they are finished. 

Option one will push the level of student out of Beginning into exclusively Beginning-intermediate.  Option two sounds dull even to me who loves Battenberg lace.  And option three has the beauty of getting the lace away from its stark whiteness (okay, granted; some people love the stark whiteness); of getting stitchers out of the feeling that their stitching itself is sacred and should not be tampered with further; and it adds another layer of interest both to the class and to the teacher.

Taking option three, I start painting the three doves I already have.  I time how long it takes me.  I test the simplest way of painting.  This takes about an hour--close enough to the six. I estimate how much the paint will cost on top of the needle, threads, and Battenberg tapes.  I look up on the Web that Battenberg tape is $2.50 a yard plus $1 shipping (each student will need a yard).  The linen thread for the lace is $6 plus $1 shipping for a large spool--enough for the whole class.  If I use fiber-friendly acrylic paint in five colors, that is about $1.25 per color for the whole class.  I need needles--two each per student; ¼ yd. muslin for each student at $2; white paper plates to mix the paint on and to paint from, $1.50 for the whole class, and plastic or glass jars to hold water for each student (out of my stash).  A plastic table cloth (or two or three) depending on how many students, at $2 each table; 3 or 4 mil plastic to cover the muslin sandwich that has the design drawn onto it which I have in my kitchen, if not in my stash; basting thread I can take out of my stash, a set of detailed instructions with some pages in color; and finally my drawing the design onto muslin for however many students take the class.  I also have to go to Hobby Lobby for the paints, plastic table cloths, and white paper plates.  I have to go to a fabric shop to get the muslin and needles.

Let us say that we average the class size at ten students with two tables to cover.  The costs per kit would be: $2.50 for the tape, $1 for the thread, $0.65 for the paints, $0.50 for the two needles, $2 for the muslin, $0.50 for the plastic table cloths, Let’s say $1 (each) for the gas and time to go shopping for this stuff.  Now the most expensive stuff of all:  writing the instructions, printing of the instructions, making the kits; my teaching fee, and transportation if it is more than a twenty mile round trip.

So $2.50 + $1 + 65¢ + 50¢ + $1 = $5.65 just for the basics.

A set of instructions for a one-day class would cost around $7.50 for each student.  In a four-day class, that is bumped up to about $40 depending on how many pages and how much color.  In a perfect world, I wouldn’t have to charge for my transportation or teaching fee.  My teaching fee is normally somewhere between $200 ad $400 a day depending on the venue.  That pays for over thirty years experience in stitching including classes in many, many types of needlework; that pays for almost thirty years of professional teaching experience, and that pays for all my study and certifications.

I hold pilot classes for all region and national classes.  With those classes I am not allowed by EGA policy to charge a teaching fee.  Everything else must be paid for.  So if you get a chance to take a pilot class from any teacher, seize the opportunity--it is a good deal.

How much should the class be?  Well, I am not certain.  I have never taught my Painted Doves in Battenberg lace. 

Painted Dove #2